Dang, this arrived with perfect timing! Get it, timing? See my [lengthy] next post for details. I'm still composing it.
a Michel Lanners wrote: > > On 3 Feb, this message from Andrew Sharp echoed through cyberspace: > > No, I'm getting no output on the monitor. > > Important side-note: control video hardware as initialized by OF is > notoriously bad at doing monitor timings. By default (i.e. after a PRAM > reset) it sets up some weird mode that resembles [EMAIL PROTECTED], but > isn't. > > Depending on your monitor, it may or may not sync to this sh... My old > Phlips 17B does, my newer Dell P990 doesn't. > > If that is your problem, get yourself a serial console, reset PRAM, and > boot with cmd-opt-O-F into OF, set your terminal to 38400 and conectit > with a null-modem cable to the modem port. You should have the OF user > interface there. > > >From there, do like this (from a mail from some time ago...): > > ______________________________ > > Fixes for Apple OpenFirmware 1.0.5 > > Alan Mimms ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) > Sun, 17 Aug 1997 19:08:19 +0000 > > Hi. > > I have finally had enough with the buggy screen and disk drivers in Apple's > Open Firmware on PowerMac 7200, 7500, 7600, 8500, 9500, and probably some > others I'm forgetting. So I have written some NVRAMRC based patches to > Open Firmware to hack around the bugs enough for my purposes anyway. I > hope the hacks may help you too. > > Start up and break into your Open Firmware -- Cmd-Opt-O-F during the boot > beep held down until the "user interface" for Open Firmware comes up on > your screen or, if you're smart, your serial port. The banner printed by > Open Firmware shows the Open Firmware version. These patches ONLY apply to > Open Firmware version 1.0.5. Other versions will crash if these patches > can be applied at all! > > Type at the prompt: > > nvedit > > and hit control-L to see the cryptic stuff that is part of your Open > Firmware's startup sequence. This stuff patches various bugs in the ROM. > > Hit control-N enough times that you no longer see a new line of > gobbledegook every time several times in a row. This means you're at the > bottom. Either paste the following into a terminal session (NOTE: must be > at least a dozen or so ms delay between characters and maybe 100ms between > lines to work right!) or else enter the following lines very very carefully: > > dev /bandit/gc/via-cuda > ' write value &W > : -&We &W swap - execute ; > : P1 4D8 -&We false 548 -&We ; > &W FC + ' P1 BLpatch > : P2 0C 2 ms ; > &W E0 + ' P2 BLpatch device-end > > : wBoot > begin > boot-device ['] $boot catch drop > ." -Waiting for boot-device" cr > d# 500 ms > key? until > ; > > Note that ALL whitespace above except for the line indentation is REQUIRED. > FORTH is a very very very strange "language". It may be safe to leave the > line indentation as I have it above when pasting if you wish. It's > wasteful but who cares? > > At the end of this laborious typing (or pasting) session hit control-C (yes > that's right: control-C is the end of editing session character in Open > Firmware). Then type at the prompt > > nvstore > > to save the changed NVRAMRC variable into NVRAM. > > The first block fixes a bug in the via-cuda driver in which not enough time > is given for the device to settle when it is told to set the video > controller's clocks up. > > The second block defines a FORTH word that can be used in place of the > normal boot-command contents to wait for the disk to spin up before > attempting to really boot. This avoids the standard "black screen the > first time you power on the computer each day" problem. > > Then type at the prompt > > setenv boot-command wBoot > > This sets up the default command executed on auto-boot (normally on power > on) to run the above disk spinup waiting hack. > > FYI: the reason I know about this stuff is that I worked for about two > years as the Copland booting guy. Sheesh... > > Please don't inundate me with a bazillion questions about Open Firmware. I > have a real job and it takes 60+ hours a week of my time. I get PAID to do > it. I just did this to fix MY PPC Linux box and I wanted to help you folks > out a teeny bit if I could. No, I don't work at Apple anymore. Cancelling > Copland was the last straw. I worked there more than nine years. (sigh) > > Happy trails. > a > > A copy of the universe is not what is required of art; one of the damned > things is ample. -- Rebecca West, The Creators, by Daniel J. Boorstin > ___________________________________________ > > Hope this helps > > Michel > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Michel Lanners | " Read Philosophy. Study Art. > 23, Rue Paul Henkes | Ask Questions. Make Mistakes. > L-1710 Luxembourg | > email [EMAIL PROTECTED] | > http://www.cpu.lu/~mlan | Learn Always. "
