I am trying to get this sparc to run debian Etch. I don't have internet connected to it. I download .iso's on another machine, create the CD's and boot from them.
I'll skip some of my adventure. I got past the blank screen by entering: expert video=atyfb:off (I stumbled upon this guess myself) I continue with the installation and it seems normal. However, when I finish and reboot (this time using: Linux video=atyfb:off), I get an error indicating "no screens found". I am left at the black screen, but with a login prompt. From here I can enter commands. I've googled around and I think I have a Creator 3D video card, but I don't know how to verify this. It seems that other people have had success by removing this card and relying on the other mother board monitor input. I don't really want to do this because I have a Sun-style monitor that is a newer one that has both the "Sun-style" connector and "PC-style" connector. I am hoping to use this same monitor for both this Sun sparc ultra 10 and another PC. This Sun sparc ultra 10 configuration doesn't seem that unique to me. I know we had many of them at work (where I got this one). I have to believe that this can be made to work. Oh yeah, just to let you know, I know that both video cards are good because I had earlier loaded Sarge and gotten this to run well. In fact, I tried to go back to Sarge without success. I guess I've lost those brain cells that allowed me to figure that one out earlier (about a year ago). And yeah, I had things running well with Sarge on the same day I decided to go up to the newest and greatest Etch. Thanks in advance, Kurt
