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amit
Amit Singh
Joined: 06 Feb 2006
Posts: 76
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 Posted: Fri Feb 17, 2006 7:46 am Post subject: Test-driving Linux on an Intel-based Macintosh |
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| "Test-driving Linux on an Intel-based Macintosh" is a technical description of how my colleagues Mark Smith, Benjamin Reed, and I ran Linux on a 17-inch Intel-based iMac. Moreover, we are releasing a test-drive mini-distribution as an HFS+ bootable disc image. Simply burn it to a CD and boot with the opt key pressed. The distribution uses the 2.6.15.4 kernel, with a user-space environment based on the Busy Box software. Be sure to look around for interesting information in the /proc and /sys directories while in Linux. |
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danB
Joined: 21 Feb 2006
Posts: 5
Location: Germany
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| Posted: Tue Feb 21, 2006 12:52 pm Post subject: First results... |
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I tried to test-drive your first distro on my iMac, unfortunately it didn't boot as expected. Here's what happened:
-> Downloaded the disc image (and yes, I did download the 20-image for my 20" iMac  ), burned it
-> Reboot, option key, selected CD for booting
-> Screen turns white
That's it. After waiting for about 30 secs I rebooted, back into MacOS X. The only thing on my machine that is not standard is the RAM (1,5 Gig), but I don't think that this could be the reason... I'm a bit of a programmer myself, so I know that this small amount of info will not be enough to figure out whats wrong here.
But anyway, just wanted to let you know that there are some folks out there who are very thankful for your work and eagerly waiting for the Knoppix version that you announced.
Best regards & keep up the great work *thumbsup*
danB
[EDIT]: Fixed a typo |
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mpamio
Joined: 21 Feb 2006
Posts: 3
Location: NE of Italy
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| Posted: Tue Feb 21, 2006 1:18 pm Post subject: Re: First results... |
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| danB wrote: | I tried to test-drive your first distro on my iMac, unfortunately it didn't boot as expected. Here's what happened:
-> Downloaded the disc image (and yes, I did download the 20-image for my 20" iMac ), burned it
-> Reboot, option key, selected CD for booting
-> Screen turns white
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Exactly the same result. iMac Intel 17", correct image (17"), RAM: 1GB (I have only 1 SODIMM (slots: 1GB + 0GB)). does it means something?)
Marco
_________________
iMac17" CoreDuo 1x1GB ram
University of Udine - Italy
United World College of the Adriatic |
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barbro
Joined: 21 Feb 2006
Posts: 4
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| Posted: Tue Feb 21, 2006 3:13 pm Post subject: |
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I had the same issue (1GB - 512MB x 2) - except my screen stays black. Take one of the chips out and it works fine. Well, except the screen is all corrupt - i.e. they don't have the right measurements for the 20" screen yet.
The guys over at mactel-linux have the same problem, and have been working on it i think (we've been chatting on the talk page)
best,
Barry |
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mark
Joined: 17 Feb 2006
Posts: 21
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| Posted: Tue Feb 21, 2006 4:23 pm Post subject: |
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| barbro wrote: | I had the same issue (1GB - 512MB x 2) - except my screen stays black. Take one of the chips out and it works fine. Well, except the screen is all corrupt - i.e. they don't have the right measurements for the 20" screen yet.
The guys over at mactel-linux have the same problem, and have been working on it i think (we've been chatting on the talk page)
best,
Barry |
Thanks for giving this a try. Barry is right. Since we only have a 17" with 512MB of RAM, that's all we can really test on at this point. We'll try to get a hold of a 20" sometime soon so we can fix the issue.
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The only good OS is no OS. |
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barbro
Joined: 21 Feb 2006
Posts: 4
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| Posted: Tue Feb 21, 2006 4:26 pm Post subject: |
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happy to give you a shell account if that helps (not that a shell is much use for kernel debugging...) or test kernels for you.
-Barry |
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mark
Joined: 17 Feb 2006
Posts: 21
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| Posted: Tue Feb 21, 2006 4:32 pm Post subject: Re: First results... |
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| mpamio wrote: | | danB wrote: | I tried to test-drive your first distro on my iMac, unfortunately it didn't boot as expected. Here's what happened:
-> Downloaded the disc image (and yes, I did download the 20-image for my 20" iMac ), burned it
-> Reboot, option key, selected CD for booting
-> Screen turns white
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Exactly the same result. iMac Intel 17", correct image (17"), RAM: 1GB (I have only 1 SODIMM (slots: 1GB + 0GB)). does it means something?)
Marco |
We've received reports of this problem with machines with 1GB of memory. If you have 2 sticks, you can remove one. Machines with a single stick of 1GB are not currently working with our changes...
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The only good OS is no OS. |
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mark
Joined: 17 Feb 2006
Posts: 21
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| Posted: Tue Feb 21, 2006 4:36 pm Post subject: |
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| barbro wrote: | happy to give you a shell account if that helps (not that a shell is much use for kernel debugging...) or test kernels for you.
-Barry |
Could you download the program http://www.osxbook.com/tmp/displays, run it, and post the output?
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The only good OS is no OS. |
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barbro
Joined: 21 Feb 2006
Posts: 4
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| Posted: Tue Feb 21, 2006 5:06 pm Post subject: |
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1 display(s) total, main display ID is 0x4271680
Display 0
ID = 0x4271680
pixels = 1680x1050
bits per pixel = 32
bits per sample = 8
samples per pixel = 3
bytes per row = 6912
active = YES
asleep = NO
builtin = YES
online = YES
model number = 0x9c5a
serial number = 0
vendor number = 0x610
logical unit number = 0
Quartz Extreme = YES |
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mark
Joined: 17 Feb 2006
Posts: 21
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| Posted: Tue Feb 21, 2006 5:23 pm Post subject: |
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| barbro wrote: | 1 display(s) total, main display ID is 0x4271680
Display 0
ID = 0x4271680
pixels = 1680x1050
bits per pixel = 32
bits per sample = 8
samples per pixel = 3
bytes per row = 6912
active = YES
asleep = NO
builtin = YES
online = YES
model number = 0x9c5a
serial number = 0
vendor number = 0x610
logical unit number = 0
Quartz Extreme = YES |
That's very useful. We've updated our 20" download link. Give it another try if you'd like!
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The only good OS is no OS. |
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barbro
Joined: 21 Feb 2006
Posts: 4
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| Posted: Tue Feb 21, 2006 5:28 pm Post subject: |
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| Still won't work with 1gb tho? I don't really want to play yank those guys out again... |
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mark
Joined: 17 Feb 2006
Posts: 21
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| Posted: Tue Feb 21, 2006 5:35 pm Post subject: |
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| barbro wrote: | | Still won't work with 1gb tho? I don't really want to play yank those guys out again... |
Sorry, we have no way of looking at the 1GB problem yet. You'll have to yank if you want to help. 
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The only good OS is no OS. |
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torncanvas
Joined: 21 Feb 2006
Posts: 9
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| Posted: Tue Feb 21, 2006 10:51 pm Post subject: |
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I have a Macbook Pro 2.0 Ghz and tried the 17" version since the resolution is the same. It didn't work tho.  All I get is a gray screen. Here's my info:
1 display(s) total, main display ID is 0x42715c0
Display 0
ID = 0x42715c0
pixels = 1440x900
bits per pixel = 32
bits per sample = 8
samples per pixel = 3
bytes per row = 5888
active = YES
asleep = NO
builtin = YES
online = YES
model number = 0x9c57
serial number = 0
vendor number = 0x610
logical unit number = 0
Quartz Extreme = YES
Oh yeah, I have 2x1 GB RAM. |
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amit
Amit Singh
Joined: 06 Feb 2006
Posts: 76
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| Posted: Tue Feb 21, 2006 11:25 pm Post subject: |
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| torncanvas wrote: | I have a Macbook Pro 2.0 Ghz and tried the 17" version since the resolution is the same. It didn't work tho. All I get is a gray screen. Here's my info:
...
Oh yeah, I have 2x1 GB RAM. |
Your issue is probably related to the > 512 MB physical memory, and not the resolution, since your "numbers" are what kernel expects. Of course, this resolution-based differentiation of kernels is only temporary nonsense -- a non-experimental kernel should (and will) determine the resolution properly. Since we only have a 17-inch iMac with 512 MB physical memory, we can't test other configurations. If you (or somebody else, for that matter) is willing to test, we can give you a version of the kernel that only uses 512 MB, even if you have more memory in the system. It may work, so it's worth a shot.
Amit |
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torncanvas
Joined: 21 Feb 2006
Posts: 9
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| Posted: Tue Feb 21, 2006 11:30 pm Post subject: |
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Yeah, I figured that was the case. Sounds good, though - hook me up. I'm willing to help out however I can.
By the way, I'd love to test out Knoppix and try to get XP running on it, too. Did you use VMware Player and run an existing virtual machine or did you create one in Knoppix with the beta version of VMware Server? Or are you using VMware Workstation? |
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