Greetings from Texas, USA. Thank you for the distro and forum!

I am a complete linux newbie. Please excuse my current level of ignorance.

EDIT 3-3-2012
Having fumbled my way to solving my problem and learning some things, I thought I would post at top of thread to avoid adding to confusion of fellow newbies.
Problem Description:
Display sleeps / power save mode on first boot after successful install. May also be described as black or blank screen. /var/log/Xorg.0.log shows no obvious errors at end.

Possible Cause?:
nouveau detects "phantom" or connected displays that are not really connected. For kernel mode drivers, this happens at yaboot. For others, it happens at start x.

Possible Solution: (worked in my case for MintPPC 11)
1. Check logs for detected displays and determine which one you are actually trying to see.
2. Use parameters at yaboot to disable "phantom" displays or displays that are not really connected and force video settings for the port that is needed.
Sample code: This command disables DVI-I-1 and TV-1. It also sets DVI-I-2 to 1280x1024 refresh rate 60 with depth 24.

*note For same problem with nouveau in distro's not defaulting to kernel mode, "Option B" further in this thread may be a solution? On my hardware, this problem is not specific to Mint PPC, but occurs with any Distro I have tried that uses nouveau as default video driver.

I will attempt a "step by step" and post on page 2 of this thread.
Everything between here and there will just be an illustration of a n00b (me) fumbling his way towards a working display.

Update 4-17-2012: Beyond blank screen issue, current build Debian 7 Wheezy appears to have bug in nouveau that presents as corruption/blanks on lower portion of screen. May also negatively impact video performance. I noted some possible workarounds on page 3 of this thread.
END EDIT 3-3-2012

Summary:
Install MintPPC 11 on PowerMacG5 dual boot/single drive using G5 mini.iso and install url=mintppc.org Install completes, continues booting beyond yaboot and the display goes to sleep mode and stays there. Can still boot fine to OSX Leopard partition. I have tried -ofonly, linux 1, and linux single with same results.

Details of my tinkering thus far in hopes it may provide some insight:
1. Install YellowDog6.1 -- Successful. Video and sound work.

2. Install MintPPC 9.3 using mini_G5.iso and auto url=mintppc.org -- Same as with MintPPC 11. Install completes. Begins booting and display sleeps.

3. Ubuntu 10.04 live dvd. -- Same as Mint PPC display sleeps on boot. However, I do hear the bongo sound. I assume the machine is booting successfully, I just can't see the display.

4. Install Mint PPC 11 -- Install completes. Begins booting beyond yaboot and display sleeps. I can hear the disk churning as if it is continuing to boot. I just can't see it. I can still boot to OSX fine.

A couple general newbie questions:
1. "Blank screen of death" is found in many searches. Does this refer to my display sleeps issue? Or, is it an active display(not in power save) with blank screen?
2. F12 to open superdrive does not work when any of the distro's are booted. I can boot OSX to open it, but if I manage to hose my OSX partition, is there an alternate way?

EDIT Feb. 28 2012 - I'm demoting myself from newbie to freakin' n00b!

I could have sworn I tried this, but I can get to a prompt using the following well documented code at boot: prompt. I must have typed syntax incorrectly before.
I managed to get system up using nv. I would like to find a solution using nouveau so would like to continue the thread.

END EDIT Feb. 28 2012

Hardware used:
PowerMac G5 7,2 1.6Ghz stock except for RAM is 2.5gig. Everymac
Dell flat panel display model E196FP
Logitech keyboard and Mouse

Current state is back running YellowDog. Please specify if any advice is specific to 9.3 or 11 of MintPPC.

Thank you.

May have sourced cause via this page regarding Ubuntu 10.04.

At the bottom of that page it says

That sounds plausible at least for my Ubuntu live cd test. I don't have hardware to connect anything to the ADP port on the FX5200 to test. I am using the DVI port which is on the left if you are facing the back.

Can someone confirm this? Would same issue be present for MintPPC? That page says using nouveau was necessary for Ubuntu, but my working YellowDog appears to be using NV on the DVI port.

Me again. I'm new here, so please feel free to tell me to shut up. I thought keeping this updated with what I have and haven't tried may be helpful.

I now have a triple boot system:
1. OSX 10.5 = fine
2. YellowDog 6.1 = fine
3. Debian 6.0.3 = Same behavior as MintPPC and Ubuntu. Starts booting (I see the Penguin), and then display goes to sleep/power save mode. I do hear a "chirp/beep". I wonder if that is the same annoying beep linxupjemac is referring to here?

I wish I had a way to connect a display to the ADP port on the FX5200 to verify, but the behavior I am seeing consistently across Debian based distro's sounds exactly like the problem described here near the bottom under section "Screen Blanks / Monitor Turns Off."

My current plan of action is to boot via YellowDog, mount the root of the Debian install and try to create/edit xorg.conf files that way and play with the "UseDisplayDevice" and "ConnectedMonitor" settings.

Did you try to login using tty? CTRL+ALT+F1 for a regular keyboard, or CTRL+OPT+F1 for a mac keyboard would allow you to login if the PPC11 system is working.

Hi dimwit
Thanks for the suggestion and yes. I tried CTL+ALT+F1 on the various distro's along with CTL+ALT+just about every other key.

If I CTL+ALT+F1 followed by CTL+ALT+DEL, I hear disk churn for a while followed by a reboot. This further leads me to suspect the system is booting fine, but defaulting to the wrong display output port on the FX5200 card.

Just to clarify regarding all Debian distro's I have tried:
Yaboot works, select L.
boot: prompt -- regardless of using "linux nosplash video=ofonly" I see the Penguin and various boot messages going by and then monitor goes to Power Save mode. No backlight. Power indicator on display goes from green to amber.

Off to other priorities for a bit, and then I'll try mounting that root to play with xorg.conf via the YDL boot. (This will require some searching/learning on my part(newbie.))

@str8bs:

Welcome, welcome, welcome . . . interesting problem(s) that you are experiencing, I have a similar "sleeping" issue in my G4 iBook where when I boot into 11 from my OSX Tiger partition I will get to the login window, the desktop will load and then the screen will go black . . . and sometimes I can hit any key or the mouse and it will wake up, other times, not, and I'll have to re-boot and then it will work. Anyway, back to your problem, a number of us are having install problems with some of these recent mini.iso's--you can see my post about "mint install next to OSX 85% successful" detailing the problems with just getting the kernel to "recognize" the internet connection . . . so I can't load the proper xorg.conf file . . . and this has been going on for awhile . . . . This is a long and winding way to say that the chief moderator/head chef of mintppc has been on vacation this month--linuxojemac--has not posted since 2/5 . . . and so it may be a brief moment before he returns to the helm and hopefully many of these issues will be adjusted at that time????? Otherwise, if you've tried to get to a TTY command line window and can't get the display to show the terminal window . . . that probably exhausts my knowledge--I'm also hoping to get some other alternative info to solve the iMac G4 issues, don't have a lot of spare time where 3 to 4 hours is available for yet another installation process . . . after 3 or 4 tries it gets frustrating . . . . Good luck, and best advice, when you see a post from linuxojemac maybe try to bump your post.

e.e.p.

@EEP

Thank you for the welcome!

I managed to get a GUI and log in to desktop on the Debian 6.0.3 install! Even streamed some Youtube via IceWeasel and flashvideoreplacer.

I did this by adding nouveau to blacklist.conf and using "nv" as video driver. I will post back details after further tinkering.

@str8bs: That's interesting on using the Debian 6 install . . . I have a Deb Wheezy mini.iso waiting for a spare 3 or 4 hours to test out to see whether it will be work-able or not--so far I haven't found the time to do that. IF, as was suggested, the issue is the Debian kernel, then switching off to Debian shouldn't make a difference, unless Debian 6 is Squeeze, and that might move the kernel back to the previous one. I was hoping to get MintPPC11 going on the iMac so that it would be more up to date, but so far it hasn't proven to be simple . . . the suggestions for using "nouveau" or "nv" or even trying to install the xorg.conf file all require a working internet connection which it seems that the kernel has busted in my install . . . . Anyway, glad you found something that works . . . it's all Linux at the root.

e.e.p.

Everything in this entry is based on install done to G5 1.6 (7,2) of Debian 6 from /pub/linux/distributions/debian-cd/6.0.3/powerpc/iso-dvd/ File:debian-6.0.3-powerpc-DVD-1.iso.
I wanted to sort my video issues before moving on to my original goal of MintPPC. I will report back when I get time to test the same in MintPPC.

The following two options result in a fully functional system for me. A. uses "nv" and B. uses "nouveau".
My system is noticeably slower using "nouveau." Maybe one of you guru's can tell me why that is desired/default?

Option A - using "nv" driver
1. At boot:
2. Enter root password. After login
3. Add the following entries. (The commented(#) line is just for clarity.)Hit CTL+X, Y, Enter(Return)
4. Model xorg.conf after the attached "xorg.confNVworks.txtHit CTL+X, Y, Enter(Return)
5. Reboot.
This results in a working system for me.

Option B - using "nouveau" driver
1. At boot:
2. Enter root password. At prompt
3. If you tried option A, we need to comment out the blacklist entries. If not, skip this step.
and comomment out the entries like soCTL+X, Y, Enter(Return)
4. Reboot. Wait until you know the system has finished booting. (Note to developers:A default start up sound would be helpful here.)
5. Hit CTL+ALT+F1, then CTL+ALT+DEL. System will reboot.
6. At boot: prompt
7. Enter root password. At prompt enter Scan the file and find what the system is "naming" video ports and which one we are physically connected to. In my case, there are three ports: DVI-I-1, DVI-I-2, and TV-1 with my monitor physically connected to DVI-I-2 as seen in the log here: **Yours may be different. Take note of all ID's and which one/ones are detecting a display. These are not standard across drivers/hardware. IE: Some may report LVDS, DVI-D, VGA-0, etc.
8. Once we have documented ALL of the ports EDID's and noted the one/s we are connected to. Hit CTL+Z to exit the log.
9. Model xorg.conf after the attached "xorg.confNOUVEAU.txt." Hit CTL+X, Y, Enter(Return). Note that under Section "device", entries for ALL EDID's we noted need a corresponding entry. IE: where "Monitor-XXX-X" is defined by what was noted in Xorg.0.log and the text after is whatever we decide to name it. Then we need to create a monitor section for each port and "force" it to be disabled so that we leave the one/ones physically connected enabled. If more than one display is going to be physically connected the "Virtual" entry should be very large. (It is defining size of combined display desktops.)
10. Reboot
This results in a working system for me.
This link is focused on Rand, but it led me to getting nouveau working.

str8bs

@str8bs:

Thanks for that post with detailed information, that's huge, hopefully at some point I'll get a chance to try it out. Wanted to post back on the "Debian 6" . . . from rummaging around on the Debian site looking at the PPC installers there it looks like Deb 6 is the "Squeeze" variation, and that is what MintPPC 9.2/.3 is based upon, and that seemed to have less issues with install than what is now Deb 7 or "wheezy" . . . and it's "wheezy" that MintPPC 11 is based on and which seems to have "more" issues with the installation--which may have something to do with the newer kernel ???3xxx, whereas Squeeze is using 2.6. So it's the usual issue of trying to move forward, but keeping the stability of the old . . . "wheezy" would get us further down the road of time, but Squeeze might keep us from pulling our hair out. That said, I only had 9.2 installed on my iBook, never tried it on the iMac, so it might have been just as problematic as 11 has been . . . either way, considering that PPC has been around for quite awhile it would seem that the installation would go more smoothly for all variations?????

e.e.p.