Re: OldWorld ROM Macintoshes

Booting the Wallstreet using vmlinux-6.16.3+deb14-powerpc and 
initrd.img-6.16.3+deb14-powerpc from the latest Debian SID, the kernel 
(or initrd) appears to hang. The screen is blank, the backlight is on, 
but nothing happens (no messages on the fb console, no network). So 
apparently there are multiple problems. I didn't try hooking up a serial 
console yet to see if there are any messages there (I may try that later).

For now, I'm going to try a kernel bisect for the first problem (X11 not 
working in Gentoo), unless someone has a different recommendation.

-Stan

On 9/3/25 1:15 PM, Cedar Maxwell wrote:
> Stan,
> 
> Thanks for your reply
> 
> On Wed, 2025-09-03 at 12:39 -0600, Stan Johnson wrote:
>> Jeroen,
>>
>> That was a good suggestion, though it did not work with my
>> Wallstreet. I
>> think it's possible that there is an issue with the kernel and with
>> one
>> or more Xorg updates, and perhaps that's what is happening with
>> Cedar's
>> Wallstreet as well.
>>
>> Cedar,
>>
>> On my Wallstreet, I have Debian SID and Gentoo installed. X11 was not
>> working with the most current update of Gentoo, with either kernel
>> 5.18.0 or 6.16.2. Reverting to a Jan 21, 2025 backup, X11 works with
>> 5.18.0, but not with 6.16.2.
> 
> Just to confirm: you were still able to boot up to text mode only in
> 6.16, right?
> 
>> So I may be able to do a kernel bisect,
>> using the Gentoo installation that has X11 working with 5.18.0 as the
>> starting point.
>>
>> In Debian, I've updated to the latest Debian SID, with no X11
>> graphics
>> working with either 5.18.0 or 6.16.2.
> 
> Same question: Just confirming you can still boot just fine into text
> mode, just no X11 graphics mode.
> 
> In response to your previous emails, I think you are quite correct I
> cannot immediately blame solely the kernel version, it appears to just
> be a combination of the 6.16 kernel + my configuration, as reverting to
> the 6.1.0 kernel allows me to boot.
> 
> Or maybe my system is still booting 6.16, but just with no video
> output.  I still need to set up SSH server or attempt Serial to test
> this theory.
> 
>> I could revert to a backup from
>> 2024, but I think I'll try to use my working Gentoo installation to
>> determine whether there is a kernel regression.
>>
>> My BootX configuration is as follows (for working X11 in 5.18.0):
>>     Kernel: vmlinux-5.18.0-pmac (custom kernel, no modules)
>>     Boot Device: /dev/sda13 (Gentoo partition)
>>     More kernel arguments: video=atyfb:vmode:14,cmode:32,mclk:71
>>     No video driver: checked
>>     Options:
>>       Force SCSI ON: checked
>>       Force video settings: checked
>>       Use specified RAM disk: not checked
>>
>> -Stan
>>
>> -----
>>
>> On 9/3/25 2:19 AM, Jeroen Diederen wrote:
>>> What I have encountered in recent Debian systems is a library that
>>> prevents X to work and leave you with a black screen.
>>>
>>> What I always do is, boot into recovery mode and issue:
>>>
>>> mv /usr/lib/xorg/modules/libglamoregl.so
>>> /usr/lib/xorg/modules/libglamoregl.so.bak
>>>
>>> Then resume booting. It might work in your case too.
>>>
>>> Regards,
>>> Jeroen
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Stan Johnson schreef op 2025-09-03 14:34:
>>>> On 9/2/25 10:26 PM, Cedar Maxwell wrote:
>>>>> Kernel 6.16 causes a black screen.  No response to CTRL + ALT +
>>>>> F1, F2,
>>>>> etc.
>>>>>
>>>>> Please advise in troubleshooting.
>>>>> ...
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> I don't think you can necessarily conclude that the kernel is
>>>> causing
>>>> a black screen without more information. On your Wallstreet, did
>>>> you
>>>> replace Debian's 6.1.0-9 kernel that you mentioned earlier with
>>>> 6.16,
>>>> or did you upgrade all Debian packages ("apt-get dist-upgrade")?
>>>>
>>>> If you ran a full "apt-get dist-upgrade" then there may some
>>>> other
>>>> issue causing the black screen. Do you see boot messages as the
>>>> kernel
>>>> starts to boot? Does the screen go blank at about the time a
>>>> window
>>>> manager starts? If you disable X11 by not running a window
>>>> manager (I
>>>> think Debian uses lightdm by default for Xfce), do you get a
>>>> login
>>>> prompt? Are you able to access the system over the network (ssh
>>>> or
>>>> telnet) or via a serial port? If yes, does /var/log/Xorg.0.log
>>>> contain
>>>> any useful information?
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>> On Tue, 2025-09-02 at 20:31 -0500, Cedar Maxwell wrote:
>>>>>> Good news gentlemen.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Last time on OldWorld adventures: I attempted to install
>>>>>> several
>>>>>> versions of Debian but each attempt rendered the OS 9 install
>>>>>> unbootable both in QEMU and on the WallStreet.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> However, the unbootability on the WallStreet appears to have
>>>>>> been
>>>>>> caused solely by my shoddy mSATA to IDE adapter.  Although
>>>>>> the
>>>>>> installation didn't boot on QEMU, I tried another adapter
>>>>>> (still
>>>>>> JM20330 based) and it booted up.  Note to QEMU maintainers
>>>>>> perhaps
>>>>>> lurking on this mailing list: Is this the intended behavior?
>>>>>>
>>>>>> I attempted to boot into Debian 6.1.0-9 using an image from
>>>>>> 2023-05-
>>>>>> 08.
>>>>>> Mission success!  I don't know yet if this because of an
>>>>>> older kernel
>>>>>> version, or because I omitted the GRUB partition, but I
>>>>>> intend to
>>>>>> test
>>>>>> updating the kernel and reporting back. ...