[Dannie2221]

i just installed Mandrake 9.1 with windows ME as a dual boot on a 4 gig HD with 32 megs RAM and a 200 meg CPU.

everything seemed to be fine, except when mandrake booted for the first time. the screen came up, but it was messed.

on the left side, there was about 1/3 of the screen that was normal (solid blue background) but on the other 2/3, on the right, it is a rainbow of horizontal and vertical lines. i can barely read the text that says this is mandrakes first time booting, and u can configure, or w/e it says the first time. i hit enter, and seems to be doing something, but it just looks the same, and the mouse is switching from the little watch to a regular arrow.

this happened before and i thought it was a vid card problem, but i installed again and i thought it would be fixed....guess not.

this is my first time with linux so.....

thanks
Dan

[Dannie2221]

ERRATUM: i am using win98SE along with Mandrake 9.1 not winME.

[codejockey]

I assume you are using a graphical login (you know, one of those pretty windows instead of the boring command line ... ). I also assume that Windoze doesn't have any problems with your video card. Anyway, I suspect that for whatever reason, X-windows is not using the right values for your video card. It would be helpful to know the manufacturer and model for your video card and monitor, as well as what (video-related) options you chose during installation.

Any info appreciated. Hope this helps.

[Dannie2221]

I am using a Trident TGUI 9680 video card with an old IBM 8513 color monitor. during installation though, i couldnt use that monitor because the screen was just a lot of fast moving horizontal lines, so i used my acer monitor thats on this computer. when linux was installing it recognized the acer monitor, and the ATI graphics card that is built onto the motherboard...but i dont use this one. so i changed the monitor to the IBM and the vid. card to the Trident. also, when i finish the installation, it says it ended abnormally, then a few termination signal lines, then it says i can reboot safely. when i do, i reboot linux and then i get the problem....

o and the ATI card does noy work well with windows....it has the yellow exclamation point next to it.

im wondering if i shouild just update my vid. card and monitor to save trouble

Thanks

[codejockey]

Switching the monitor and video card caused your problems. X-windows is still configured for the video card and monitor you used during installation, but you're now using a different combination. I'm surprised that your 8513 monitor and Trident card would not work properly. My guess is that the resolution/refresh rate set by the Mandrake GUI installation is higher than the monitor can support. If Mandrake offers a text-mode install, you could re-install and have X-windows configure itself for the Trident card and 8513 monitor. Alternatively (and somewhat easier), if you can boot Linux in text mode (requires a boot floppy or the installation CD), you can re-configure X-windows directly to use the 8513 monitor and Trident card. Of course, you can always upgrade your card and monitor, and if you're looking for an opportunity to do so, this may be it.

The Windows problem with the ATI card is a separate issue.

Hope this helps.

[Dannie2221]

I don think I was clear enough...

I always use the same video card, the Trident...I dont use the ATI at all...

Mandrake DOES offer a text install, and I did use it.

The only thing I switched after the installation was the monitor.

At the summary part of the install, Mandrake recognized the ATI video card, and the Acer monitor, so i switched both of these to the correct ones that i would be using (IBM monitor and Trident card)

I agree that the resolution/refresh rate is my problem, but i told Mandrake the correct monitor to use during installation.

The last bit about booting into Linux w/ the installation disk sounds like a good idea, but im new to Linux and not sure how to go about changing things manually...so any more specific help would be appreciated

Thanks

[codejockey]

If you have a boot disk, you should be able to boot to a command prompt (text login/text mode). From there, you can modify /etc/inittab to change the default runlevel from 5 (where I suspect it is now) to 3 -- which says don't use the GUI login, use the text login. The line you will change will look something like this:

id:5:initdefault:

You should change the 5 to a 3, save your work, and try booting your system. With luck, you will be presented with a text-mode login prompt. Login as root. You can now experiment with X configuration at will, until you get what you like (utilities such as Xconfigurator make the process much easier). BTW, I recommend that you leave the default runlevel at 3 for just these sorts of emergencies; you can start X windows anytime by using the startx command.

Can you get to your system in text mode?

Hope this helps.

[Dannie2221]

i ended up reinstalling but this time using the ATI card built into my motherboard, and i took out the Trident al together....this worked.

after installation i booted into x and set up the first time config. and i could see everything.

the only problem i had was after the config wizard, the KDE desktop took forever to load, it never actually finished. i dont know if its because i have a slow computer or because i installed it wrong, but i think its just a lack of speed on my end....nothing to worry about so thanks for your help.

P.S. - is there a shutdown command from text/command line mode? dont laugh im new.

Thanks again.

[codejockey]

Way to go! -- glad you were able to resolve the Xwindows configuration issue (even if it meant a re-install -- but sometimes that ends up being the easiest, anyway ...).

Your slow loading time for the KDE desktop may be due to the limited memory you have (32 Mbytes?) and paging/swapping. You might want to consider upgrading your system memory as memory prices are pretty cheap and the benefits are significant (even 128 Mbytes will be a substantial improvement).

And finally, yes, there is a shutdown command in text mode ... oddly enough, called ... shutdown. Actually, there are several links to this command so that you can issue commands such as halt (equivalent to shutdown -h now) and reboot (equivalent to shutdown -r now). And I'm not laughing -- none of us were born knowing this stuff. I think it's great when somebody takes the initiative to ask questions and to learn about what's really going on.

Again, congratulations. You're up and running, and on to the good stuff.

[Dannie2221]

hey thanks for the info, and yes im ALMOST up and running....

i used the startx command since i was in text mode because of a bad shutdown (this is before i read your last post) but it didnt work

it seemed like it started to load, the x came on the screen, the background turned blue, then it just went back to command just like that....there was some info on the screen, didnt look like errors but just text that didnt look too dangerous, but then again, what do i know....

also, i tried the command a few more times, and my background turned RED instead of blue for those few seconds, not sure of the normality of this but hey....

i can post the info on the screen if you think it will help.....

P.S. -- i tried 'shutdown' as a command but it said it was a bad command, probably just doing something wrong, so i'll search the web tonight and see what i can find...

thnaks again for all the help.....great site.

[codejockey]

Here's a few things to check --

You might look for a file /var/log/XFree86.0.log, which is produced by the X server during startup. You can review this log for possible clues about your problem. If you don't have this logfile, see if you have a similar one in /var/log (possibly XFree86.8.log or similar) with a current date, and check that one for info. Finally, you can always run startx as follows to collect the output: startx > startx.log 2>&1 & When startx completes, review startx.log for possible clues.

Re: the shutdown command: if you executed this command as root, you should not have had a problem. If you did execute shutdown as root, try gtiving the full pathname of the command (on my system it's /sbin/shutdown) and see if that improves things. If you executed the command as a normal user, /sbin is typically not in the PATH of a normal user, so the command would fail with an error of "file not found" or similar. Even if you provide the full pathname (/sbin/shutdown) you will (typically) be denied as a normal user, so you must become root in order to execute the command.

Now, having said that, there is a way to allow normal users to shutdown the system. You need to modify the /etc/shutdown.allow file (or create it if it doesn't exist) and add the login names of each user authorized to shutdown the system (one login name per line, max of 32 names; see the shutdown man page for details). I recommend not doing this.

Hope this helps.

[Dannie2221]

thanks for the info....i'll try that.

sorry for the belated response...i've been working like crazy.


Dan