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newbie new install - black screen prompt [solved]


Guest qatsab
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Hi,

 

I have tried to search through the help topics on this forum and was not able to find what I was looking for.

 

I recently installed Mandriva Linux 2007 Free for the first time and I am now thinking of giving up. I got this version of Linux because I read from several sources that it provided an easy install for a newbie such as myself.

 

The installation went OK and there were no obvious problems. The installation finished and rebooted but then I ended up in a black screen with a prompt for me to enter a user name and password. I followed with what I entered as my user name and password but then nothing further happened. I am very new to Linux and have no idea where to go from a prompt for a linux system.

 

I followed some tips for using XFdrake on one of the posts in this forum because the post suggested that maybe the installation did not load a proper driver for my graphics hardware. However, I tried several different configurations and finally tried a config of a basic vesa graphics card but still I got the same result. I tried the test function in XFdrake several times during these configurations but I ended up in a blue screen with a black 'x' cursor that stalled the system and I had to reboot again.

 

Anyway, I am using an old Packard Bell computer - main board model Biostar MS5AA with built in graphics (sis 530 i think - this is what the mandriva installation directed to me first but did not work)

It is a 400mhz AMD K6-2 3d Now! Technology Support

Bios are Award Modular Bios v 4.51PG

I am using the original monitor that came with the system -

Proview

Model - 564 PX

Product number - PS 508

100 / 240 V 60/50hz 1.8A

 

I was installing Mandriva Free 2007 which I downloaded from the mandriva site and loaded onto four CDs

I used the i586 version of the CDs

 

When the black prompt screen appears - it reads

"Mandriva Linux Release 2007.0 (Official) for i586

Kernel 2.6.17-5mdvlegacy on an i586/tty1

 

If there is little or no help to this situation - maybe a more experienced user of Linux can direct me to a more newbie oriented version of Linux that would work on this older system I have.

 

Any help that anyone can provide would be much appreciated.

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Welcome aboard :)

 

After you have set up the graphical display, try it with "startx", as already said. If it bombs out, I guess that the monitor is the problem-maker. Was the monitor detected well? (If you have another monitor, try with that one for narrowing down on the problem).

 

I have sis chipsets on some of my computers and using the sis driver, they work perfectly, thus I think it might be the monitor.

 

Check the xorg.conf entry if there are entries for your monitor and graphic card typing

 

cat /etc/X11/xorg.conf | less

 

(for exiting the display of the file contents, press Q)

Report if there are entries like

 

Section "Monitor" 
				Identifier "unknown"

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thanks george and arctic for your quick reply,

 

i expected to wait a day or two for any response so your prompt messages were a sight for sore eyes - sore from both the strain of sitting in front of a computer and also straining to see the light at the end of the mandriva linux tunnel.

 

anyway, i took the advice from both of you and entered in 'startx' which did something - though i don't really know what - here is the screen i was given

 

after_startx_command.jpg

 

as you can see i ended up where i started - back at the prompt

 

i also entered in the code suggested by arctic and this is what i got

 

xorg_command.jpg

 

i still end up at the prompt - when i tried the startx command - the monitor did try to do something - it went blank - flickered and i ended back at the prompt. what is going on - i always understood from the linux user groups that most of this setup stuff was mostly gone and that it was pretty much automated.

 

i have even checked the most basic things - my monitor connections to the computer are secure and nothing else is installed on the computer

 

i cannot try the suggestion by arctic to test my system on another monitor because i don't have another - though i can try to get one at a later time and test it then.

 

hoping that anyone will be able to help.

 

qat

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Hi there,

 

Maybe as root type

XFdrake

then change your configuration. I would as a start change your graphic card to maybe vesa so that you can at least get logged in with a GUI. So 1st change the graphic driver, then as normal user type

startx

& see how you get on from there. From your screen shot it looks like you have an error with DRI..

 

HTH

Edited by jaraeez
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actually the startx problem has to do with his user setup, not a server configuration problem. we need to use an editor, and since vi is the only command line editor we'll have available to us, we start it as such:

vi ~/.xinitrc

take a look at this file, see if you see something like this:

exec xvt

(or it may just read xvt) press i (might need to press it twice) to go into "insert" mode, and put a # in front of it:

#exec xvt

and add a line:

exec startkde

then do the startx again.

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For exaple aiglx still doesn't work with the latest nvidia cards cause of theyr drivers.

The beta drivers for NVIDIA cards work with AIGLX, however the current stable work fine with XGL (an alternative to AIGLX). Personally, I use the beta NVIDIA drivers, regular X.org and beryl (no need to XGL or AIGLX with them) - but that's not in Mandriva ;)

 

Anyways, AIGLX fails...we might need to fix that if changing .xinitrc doesn't work (it's possible it could continue to load anyways).

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hi everyone,

 

i feel almost bad for saying this because of the number posts from several people who wanted to help with this situation but i went back to try to do other things myself.

 

i tried several configurations for the graphics driver as others have suggested and tried the basic vesa driver but without success. i also tried upgrading the install to see if the automated software would be able to fix it but to no avail.

 

i wasn't expecting the great suggestions that everyone provided this morning so last night i went ahead and reinstalled the entire operating system. actually i was giving up and was trying to get rid of the mandriva operating system. i soon found out that that wasn't easy as well. i was trying to fdisk and format my hard drive using a windows boot disk but to no success - i couldn't repartition the harddrive the way i liked it so i ended up reinstalling mandriva - thinking that i could use some available software to uninstall later. the expert linux users out there are probably shaking their heads as they read this.

 

anyway, i grudgingly and patiently reinstalled and accessed the internet on my newer windows computer to see how i could uninstall. the new install showed some different screens and prompts than the first install which i found strange. however, it still did not automatically load my graphics setting and asked me to configure it. i used the same sis 530 driver and the test came back positive (i was able to see the multicoloured screen and the prompt asking for yes or no). this time i went for minimal install and did not check any boxes for additional software - one of the new screens i encountered was one asking me if i wanted to add something called 'x', explaining that it was a neccessary for a minimal install - so i checked it. (just a short note - in my first install i asked for lots of extras - office, web, mulitmedia, etc - with still enough room for the 4 gig hard drive and its partitions)

 

the install went ahead and magically the mandriva desktop came to life. you could hear the operatic chorus in my office singing Hallelujah!, Hallelujah!. i was smiling ear to ear in the dark late room where i worked. there were no more black screen linux prompts, error messages or lock ups - i was using mandriva linux!

 

now i am just configuring the system to operate on minimal settings - everything is slow going on my 400 mhz system. however, everything is working fine now. i am now hoping to learn more about this operating system and yes i am keeping mandriva on my computer.

 

thank you to everyone who posted to this topic and offered their help with my troubles. one of the reasons i wanted to use a linux based system was the community of linux users i have heard about on the internet. i have read from many sources how easy it is to find help from others with linux based troubles. i can now share some of your frustrations, troubles, trials and tribulations when things don't work out - as well as the elation, surprise and euphoria when those troubles are resolved.

 

i think they just design linux to get your heart rate going. anyways, i will be fine with my new operating system and access the world of tutorials, help forums, tips and tricks on the internet.

 

thank you to everyone again, take care and have fun.

 

qat

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Nice to read that you got it sorted out that fast. I just came back from work... ahhhhh, the life of a journalist.... you always get back to the forum when everything is already solved. :P

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nice post there. As sayd before, thanks for sharing ur solution. My guess, is that if u selected to go through the ackages on ur own, you might have ticked off something related to x. Anyway, congratulations and wellcome to the Microsoft free world. :D

 

Btw, tyme, the nvidia beta drivers will cause kde to jam, i mean, it will not load, and instead it will go to a blank screen.

Edited by G_Rammstein
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