Kernel 6.16 causes a black screen. No response to CTRL + ALT + F1, F2, etc.
Please advise in troubleshooting. 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. However, I believe Stan has > already proven that newer kernels run on the WallStreet. > > On Tue, 2025-09-02 at 11:46 -0600, Stan Johnson wrote: > > Hi Cedar, > > > > On 9/1/25 6:58 PM, Cedar Maxwell wrote: > > > > > > ... > > > My drive appears to already be essentially formatted the same, > > > except > > > you have additional partitions for your various other OS's > > > > > > My Wallstreet drive was initialized in Mac OS X (Panther), so it > > has > > additional Apple driver partitions. > > > > > > > and I have an additional partition for GRUB (to prevent the > > > Debian > > > installer from complaining, but maybe I should try again without > > > this). > > > > > > I think you should not have a GRUB partition on a Wallstreet. Not > > only > > does GRUB not work on the Wallstreet, but GRUB doesn't work on any > > PowerPC system that also needs to boot Mac OS or Mac OS X. I use > > yaboot > > on any PowerMac system that also boot Mac OS or Mac OS X. I use > > GRUB > > for > > testing on one Pismo that boots only Debian or Gentoo. > > > > > > > But since we aren't using GRUB this shouldn't affect anything > > > adversely. > > > You have a few additional Macintosh related partitions, but I > > > wasn't sure > > > if or how I should create these as the OS 9 drive setup only > > > created what > > > is shown below. > > > > > > Using Mac OS 9's Drive Setup to initialize the disk should work. As > > I > > understand it, you need Apple's drivers to be able to access and > > use > > the > > disk in Mac OS 9. > > > > > > > > > > I tried re-installing everything with the latest 08-29 image, but > > > now > > > the installation of Debian renders the drive unbootable (into Mac > > > OS 9). > > > Maybe something has changed with Linux/Debian, or I'm missing a > > > step, > > > but I don't see why it's ruining my OS 9 install since I made > > > sure > > > the > > > Debian disk partitioner shouldn't be touching any partitions > > > related to > > > OS 9. The partitions still appear just fine on my host OS. > > > > > > > > > I've seen something similar on several PowerPC systems; it seems to > > happen whenever the Debian installer makes changes to the partition > > table (that's a guess, and I haven't been able to duplicate the > > error). > > > > Your Mac OS 9 installation should still be ok. Try booting from a > > Mac > > OS > > 9 installation CD, run Drive Setup, select the disk where Mac OS 9 > > is > > already installed, then select "Update Driver" under "Functions". > > > > > > > ... > > > > > > How did you use NetBSD's pdisk IN Mac OS 9 to partition a drive? > > > Are > > > you saying you did this on a running system? I couldn't get the > > > NetBSD > > > installer to boot on real hardware nor in QEMU, and the > > > documentation, > > > although comprehensive, appears to be dated. > > > > > > NetBSD's pdisk can partition a drive that is booted in Mac OS 9, > > though > > if you change the Mac OS 9 partition, you may need to reinstall OS > > 9. > > There's no risk in using pdisk to modify or create other partitions > > once > > your OS 9 partition is stable (parted and mac-fdisk in GNU/Linux > > don't > > allow editing the partition table of an active disk). If I also > > need > > to > > create or change the OS 9 or OS X partitions, I usually boot OS 9 > > from a > > CF card in a PCMCIA adapter and run pdisk from there (almost any CF > > card > > larger than about 32 MB is good for that, though it's a little > > slow, > > but > > what isn't slow on a Wallstreet?). > > > > NetBSD's installer will boot on the Wallstreet if you copy the > > installation kernel to the disk and select it using "NetBSD Booter" > > in > > Mac OS 9. After installation, "NetBSD Booter" can boot NetBSD > > directly > > from your NetBSD volume (though I think the kernel must exist > > within > > the > > first 1 GiB of the NetBSD disk, but that's a different problem). > > > > > > > ... > > > > What "video=atyfb..." option are you passing to the kernel from > > > > BootX? > > > > > > video=atyfb:vmode:14,cmode:32 , but I tried vmode:10, cmode:24, > > > etc., > > > every combination since all I got after that was a black screen. > > > My > > > model is the 266MHz, which came with ATI Rage Pro, 14.1" display, > > > 1024x768, etc. > > > https://everymac.com/systems/apple/powerbook_g3/specs/powerbook_g3_266.html > > > < > > > https://everymac.com/systems/apple/powerbook_g3/specs/powerbook_g3_266.html > > > > > > > > > > > > > I'm fairly certain that there's a bug in the latest xorg-server > > that > > has > > broken X11 graphics in the Wallstreet (and other PowerBook G3 > > systems). > > I just updated Gentoo on a PowerBook Pismo, and the update failed > > with a > > different error, though I think the Xorg X11 server had already > > been > > updated, and X11 on that Pismo didn't work. So I restored my > > previous > > Gentoo installation and I'll have to try to track down exactly > > where > > X11 > > broke. It may be easier to test that with Debian SID, which I > > haven't > > updated yet on the Pismo (X11 currently works there after a Janusry > > 22, > > 2025 update). > > > > > > > > > ... > > > > > I don't have a faster G3 with SCSI, I had been taking the > > > > > drive > > > > > out and > > > > > plugging it into my modern PC and doing the installation with > > > > > QEMU. I > > > > > do have 512MB of RAM though in my WallStreet :- > > > > > ... > > > > > > > > That's interesting. I currently use QEMU only for m68k Macs but > > > > not for > > > > powerpc. > > > > > > From what I can garner from the mailing list history, this whole > > > exercise wasn't necessary until about 5 years ago when the QUIK > > > bootloader was removed from Debian, making booting directly on > > > OldWorld > > > impossible. > > > > > > There appears to be a more modern replacement developed: > > > https://github.com/andreiw/iQUIK < > > > https://github.com/andreiw/iQUIK> > > > > > > Is there a way to manually install QUIK (or iQUIK) instead of > > > BootX > > > to > > > eliminate the need for Mac OS, so that I can simplify the entire > > > approach? > > > > > > > > > I've tried to get QUIK working before but I have never been > > successful. > > If you figure out a way to install QUIK, please let me know. In > > defense > > of Mac OS 9, it makes a pretty good bootloader, and there are tools > > in > > Mac OS 9 that can help diagnose other problems, format old SCSI > > disks, etc. > > > > > > > Although the latest release is 2016, the author (CC'd) made > > > commits > > > as > > > recently as last year. Perhaps he can provide some insight. > > > > > > P.S. Stan: Any experience rebuilding batteries on Wallstreets? I > > > can't > > > find replacement cells (17670) or even smaller ones (17650), and > > > from > > > what I read 18650s won't fit. > > > > > > No experience, though I would like to rebuild all my PowerBook G3 > > batteries. I used to see batteries for sale on macsales.com (OWC), > > but I > > don't think they sell them any longer.
