Mailing List Archive

U60(2x450) kernel-2.6.14 came up cleanly under X-modular (afb=Elite
graphics). As a result, I have modified my candidate build script at
http://dev.gentoo.org/~fmccor/files/X-modular.sh better to reflect the
actual order things build in, and to put as much as possible into the
world file. If you have Creator or Elite graphics, you still must
install sunffb_drv.so by hand, as sketehed in
https://bugs.freedesktop.org/show_bug.cgi?id=4890 (but note that this
bug does not indicate the final steps, which are something like:
CFLAGS='-pipe -O2 -mcpu=ultrasparc[3]' ./configure
then, cd src
make -j2
cp .libs/sunffb_drv.so /usr/lib/xorg/modules/drivers
(The [3] means: on U2, U60, etc use '-mcpu=ultrasparc', on SB1000 and
other US3 systems, use '-mcpu=ultrasparc3'.))

Of course, if you try this, please read the script before using it, and
almost every package in it must be added to /etc/portage/package.unmask,
and each package in it must be present in /etc/portage/package.keywords
(e.g., 'x11-base/xorg-server ~sparc' (without the quote marks).)

Don't forget revdep-rebuild after the install. Some packages (such as
graphviz) will have elements linked against libraries whose versions
have changed, and these packages must be rebuilt.

Any feedback welcome, post to list please,
Good luck,
Ferris
--
Ferris McCormick (P44646, MI) <fmccor@gentoo.org>
Developer, Gentoo Linux (Sparc, Devrel)

U2(2x400), kernel 2.4.31-sparc-r2, came up cleanly with X-modular using
the script posted at http://dev.gentoo.org/~fmccor/files/X-modular.sh
with one exception: I did not let the script try to
populate /etc/portage/package.[unmask,keywords] files because I had
already populated them for X-modular. I do not know if the population
attempt catches everything. As always, revdep-rebuild after an install
is mandatory.

OBSERVATIONS
------------
1. VTswitch seems to be inoperable, any kernel, any system.
2. With kernel-2.6.14, AltGraph+<any key> seems not to work. With
kernel 2.4.31, that key is mapped to Mode_switch, and it works as
expected. With 2.6.14, it is AltR and does nothing. Remap it to
Mode_switch ( xmodmap -e 'keycode 113 = Mode_switch'); it still does
nothing. (Of course, also you need
xmodmap -e 'keycode 117 = Multi_key' with kernel 2.6.xx, but you already
knew that.) Perhaps with kernel-2.6.xx, Mode_switch is not the correct
mapping; I'll play with it later.

Regards and feedback requested,
Ferris
--
Ferris McCormick (P44646, MI) <fmccor@gentoo.org>
Developer, Gentoo Linux (Sparc, Devrel)

This is a random list of observations/incompatibilities/missing(?)
features I have noticed after installing X-modular on three sparc
systems (SB1000(2x900) kernel=2.6.13-rc3-vanilla, U60(2x450)
kernel=2.6.14-U60-2x450, U2(2x400) kernel=2.4.31-sparc-r2). Some of this
is repetitious, some is new. Some might have already been documented
elsewhere, but I just don't remember it.

1. (repetition ad nauseam): If you need sunffb_drv.so (Creator/Elite
graphics), you MUST rebuild it by hand; instructions in previous emails
and at https://bugs.freedesktop.org/show_bug.cgi?id=4890 --- this is a
serious bug (show stopper).

2. (repetition): VTswitch (CTRL-ALT-Fx) is missing, any kernel or
system. Probably a problem in kbd driver.

3. (repetition): I haven't figured out how (if at all) to activate
AltGraph under kernel-2.6 (OK with 2.4). It's needed for some graphics
(e.g., cent-sign, European quote marks, 1/4 symbol, and so on).

4. (new): Some libraries seem not to be provided (libXss, libdps,
libdpstk, and probably others). libdps is probably needed for DPSgtk,
at least (but see below). On the other hand, it might be that these
libraries are completely unneeded or that their facilities are provided
elsewhere.

5. (new) Some uncommon xorg-x11 utilities seem not to be provided. For
example, pswrap (also needed for DPSgtk), gccmakedep (needed for some
games), and doubtless others. They might be someplace disguised with
some other name, but I can't find them.

6. Probably other things that haven't made enough of an impression on
me for me to recall them. :)

There is probably a mechanism in place for officially reporting this
sort thing, but I am too lazy to look it up, and I think this
information is potentially of general interest anyway. Slight apologies
to those of you who receive several copies of this note or who have
already seen all of this from me. (But very slight.)

Feedback, other than flames, requested. If notes like this offend you,
I really don't need to know that.

Regards,
Ferris
--
Ferris McCormick (P44646, MI) <fmccor@gentoo.org>
Developer, Gentoo Linux (Sparc, Devrel)

If you want to play with X-modular on sparc and you have a Creator (ffb)
or Elite (afb) framebuffer, please give the replacement ebuild for
xf86-video-sunffb at https://bugs.gentoo.org/show_bug.cgi?id=111361
attachment https://bugs.gentoo.org/attachment.cgi?id=72028 a try. It's
a complete new ebuild, so you will have to do
ebuild xf86-video-sunffb-1.0.0.1.ebuild digest
before using it.

Thanks,
Ferris
--
Ferris McCormick (P44646, MI) <fmccor@gentoo.org>
Developer, Gentoo Linux (Sparc, Devrel)

I have keyworded xorg-x11-7.0.0_rc1 as ~sparc; emerging it at some point
in the build process for X-modular will go a long ways toward installing
everything you need. It does not completely overlap the script I have
been using, however. If you do both, you will have more than you need.
--
Ferris McCormick (P44646, MI) <fmccor@gentoo.org>
Developer, Gentoo Linux (Sparc, Devrel)

At spyderous's request, I have built X-modular in a chroot using the
ebuild:
emerge xorg-x11 (which for me is =x11-base/xorg-x11-7.0.0_rc1)
On a SB(2x900), this took about four hours and merged about 90 packages.

When I build X-modular with my own script, it builds about 139
packages, so it is instructive to see the differences:
1. For some reason, I left x11-apps/[setxkbmap, xrandr] and
x11-libs[libXcomposite, libXxf86dga] out of my script.

2. The script installs lots more fonts (adobe, bitstream, font-bh, and
so on).

3. The script installs freeglut. I don't remember why this was
necessary, but something in my initial build needed freeglut instead of
glut (even though they are the same thing, so far as I know).

4. The script installs several xorg-themes.

5. The script installs xmkmf & friends (imake and so on).

6. The script installs some extra applications; noteworthy ones are
xconsole, xrdb, xset, along with a few others that matter to me.

7. The script installs a fairly complete set of drivers: input-[evdev,
keyboard, mouse]; video-sunffb.

8. The script installs a few more x11-lib/ packages. libICE is
probably the only notable one.

Hope this is of some interest,
Regards,
Ferris
--
Ferris McCormick (P44646, MI) <fmccor@gentoo.org>
Developer, Gentoo Linux (Sparc, Devrel)