X won't start after Install [solved]

[crazypig]

Hello. firstly if you think this should be in another category let me know and i'll move it. I dont think theres a problem with the install, just the settings probably...I just bought Mandriva 2007 (Linux Format) and rushed home to install it. This was an upgrade from Mandriva 2006 and so the process was quite simple. Everything went very smoothly but when I rebooted, X wouldn’t start. It tried about 3 times and then produced some options. I've had a similar problem the last time I installed Mandriva and managed to fix it by editing xorg.conf. to be honest though I’m just fumbling around. Does anyone have an idea of what may be the problem. I've been thinking of getting a new graphics card. Would this help fix the problem. Any ideas?

 

[ianw1974]

What is your graphics card? Also, you can configure it easily enough by switching to a console by pressing CTRL-ALT-F1 and then login as root. Then:

 

service dm stop
service xfs stop

 

to stop any running instance of X. Now do:

 

mcc

 

and configure your card correctly. If that doesn't work, do the same again and choose vesa. Then later, install the appropriate driver for your card.

[crazypig]

Thanks for the advice and sorry for the delay in replying. I've been pulling my computer apart. I’m on the verge of upgrading so I thought I'd add a new graphics card and possibly everything else and then try to fix X. (rather than get it working and then break it again!).

 

I have a couple of questions that may help me toward success;

 

Is there a killer graphics card that I ought to get since I'm getting a new one anyway. Ie one that works well with the new 3D stuff in Mandriva 2007?

 

(and a very different question)

 

Is there any difference in xorg.conf files generated by different distros? I mean if I ran a different distro which configured x with my system. Could I copy it and then overwrite the one Mandriva makes? I’m sure this is the most inelegant and hugely ogre-ish way of solving the problem but if it works I’ll try it.

 

Once again, many thanks for your help and when I've upgraded my system. This will mean I know what I’m working with!

 

Thanks,.

[ianw1974]

I'd say buy nvidia, and stay away from ati. I had no end of problems with my ATI Radeon 9250 and cannot get decent opengl support from it.

 

Nvidia was a breeze to install and get working. Although some were able to get their ATI's working without probs, I'd rather take the easy route, than fiddle :P

[crazypig]

Thanks for the advice. I bought an Nvidia. Seems to be ok but I've decided to Upgrade the rest of the PC before I get into the xorg.conf stuff. Although, I copied the bits that looked interesting from a file created by Ubuntu and now I can see Mandriva but not move my mouse. Grr! Anyway, like I say, I’ll wait until I've got the whole system tip-top and then start panicking. Or maybe even re-installing since I've got backups of important stuff.

 

I may yet be here in a week or so with a ‘x won't work with my new equipment’ post! … or maybe a, ‘I love X’ post.

[crazypig]

Ok I’m back. I upgraded various things (Motherboard, processor graphics card) and then had a problem with booting everything up. A scary “kernel panic” error to do with not enough memory. Since I'd backed up all my data and lack of experience. I cheated and just re-installed 2007 and it worked. Plenty tweaks I scrubbed and need to re-do but it worked. So thanks for your help, I’m sure I’ll reach the next hurdle soon but apologies to anyone reading this hoping for a solution. I got lazy. Thanks for your help though. ?

[ianw1974]

Sometimes a reinstall is good, especially if lots of things have been played with. When I started, I was reinstalling a lot :P

 

Now, less and less so.