I've just upgraded from an ad-hoc Etch system (running kernel 2.6.8-3-powerpc) which ran Xorg no problems. I'm still on Etch, however this is a fresh install with kernel 2.6.18-4-powerpc and Xorg is unusably slow. As X starts, the system hangs for a minute or so, displaying the grey X background pattern in the bottom 2/3s of the screen and black in the top 1/3, also, the X cursor/logo in the center of the screen.

In the KDM login manager, I have to click on the user name text box, wait around a minute for the cursor to appear, then begin typing only to have X freeze up almost completely (I can still use ctrl+alt+F1 to get back to the terminal, however it takes upwards of 4 minutes to switch). I have tried using it with the kernel frame buffer interface (the FBDev option in the xorg.conf file) and without, both with the same effect.

My box is an iMac G3 (2001) w/ an ATI Rage Pro 128. My xorg.conf file is at http://www.copypot.com/3812 and my Xorg.0.log is at http://www.copypot.com/3813 .

Thanks in advance...

Since posting, I managed to get KDE up, after killing XDM and using startx, however, the system is absolutely unusable because of it's speed (or total lack of it.) The exact same version of KDE ran perfectly fine on my last system, so it's not that my machine is too low spec to support it.

What happens if you replace "r128" with the generic "vesa" driver? Probably this has nothing to do with your woes, but it might have some effect.

I get a no screens error. I had tried that too!

I do not think r128 driver was written correctly for PowerPC chips. It seems to me the r128 was written for x86 processors. What IsaacKuo have said probably changing to vesa will give you better results. If you want 3D acceleration, try upgrading the driver or setup a bug report. Also if your iMAC uses an IDE hard drive, make sure DMA is enabled. Read through /var/log/messages to find out more information.

I had tried using the Vesa driver, the problem is, it can't see any screens (as I mentioned above.) What can be done about this? Can Vesa be configured somehow to see my card? Having never had to do this, I have no idea what I'm doing, so all help is appreciated...

--- Added ---
These are the last few lines of my /var/log/Xorg.0.log file after letting X run for a few minutes (it just sits there, apparently doing nothing.) I'm not sure what these lines mean, maybe someone else can:

Also, I'm pretty sure I do have DMA enabled.

Thanks for your help, I've managed to fix it (more or less) after an hour or two of messing with various options in xorg.conf. I've managed to get it running pretty smoothly by enabling the "NoAccel" option for the video card (r128 driver). Everything seems fine! Although moving windows and the like is a bit laggy. It's not a major problem, just a minor annoyance, but if you know how to straighten out... ;-)

Thanks again!

It may be a hard drive problem or a corrupted filesystem. If you are using ReiserFS and did not include notail for each partition that was formated as ReiserFS, the files will soon be corrupted. Try using either EXT3 or XFS. Also make sure at the kernel boot line that you include the option ro which makes the boot read-only until it is properly booted. Scripts should change it back to rw.

Another problem might be a memory problem.