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What's Mode Number?


Guest Jose
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When I boot into Mandrake 9.0 it does not go into Lilo graphic interface, instead it goes to text and print (on screen) Boot:

If I don't press enter after 10 second or if I wait 10 seconds the system boots (starts it's linux thing), but then says the following:

 

"You passed an undefined mode number, press enter to see or space bar to continue."

 

I once pressed enter and was given a list of what I believe to monitor parameters (80X25)etc. Most times I press space bar and continue the bootin process. I suspect that this problem is related to Linux and my video card. Am I right? And what does the undefined mode number mean?

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Guest Stumbles
When I boot into Mandrake 9.0 it does not go into Lilo graphic interface, instead it goes to text and print (on screen) Boot:

If I don't press enter after 10 second or if I wait 10 seconds the system boots (starts it's linux thing), but then says the following:

 

"You passed an undefined mode number, press enter to see or space bar to continue."  

 

I once pressed enter and was given a list of what I believe to monitor parameters (80X25)etc.  Most times I press space bar and continue the bootin process.  I suspect that this problem is related to Linux and my video card.  Am I right? And what does the undefined mode number mean?

 

Well it sounds like there is something wrong with your lilo.conf file in the /etc directory. The 80x25 are indeed the monitor parameters. It is set by adding "vga=xxx" to lilo.conf.

 

Now I think the "graphical" aspect of lilo needs something higher than the mode currently set for the display. I have a Rage 128 AGP so I can use "vga=791". If you have a similar video card, it should be able to handle that mode.

 

On thing you could try before fiddling with that is at the lilo prompt type;

 

??????? ask

 

The question marks are what kernel choices lilo prsents you with and the one you normally select (or allow the timeout to select for you).

 

Anyway adding "ask" should present you with a list of choices for monitor resolutions. The choices should range from 0 to 9 (I think).

 

Once you find a resolution you like, change or add "vga=X" to your lilo.conf, then run /sbin/lilo and reboot

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Guest Stumbles
When I boot into Mandrake 9.0 it does not go into Lilo graphic interface, instead it goes to text and print (on screen) Boot:

If I don't press enter after 10 second or if I wait 10 seconds the system boots (starts it's linux thing), but then says the following:

 

"You passed an undefined mode number, press enter to see or space bar to continue."  

 

I once pressed enter and was given a list of what I believe to monitor parameters (80X25)etc.  Most times I press space bar and continue the bootin process.  I suspect that this problem is related to Linux and my video card.  Am I right? And what does the undefined mode number mean?

 

Do you see a line like this in /etc/lilo.conf:

 

vga=x

 

where is a number?

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Guest Stumbles
Why don't you post your /etc/lilo.conf file so we can see it?

 

Here ya go;

 

boot=/dev/sda

map=/boot/map

vga=791

default=linux

keytable=/boot/us.klt

prompt

nowarn

timeout=100

message=/boot/message

menu-scheme=wb:bw:wb:bw

image=/boot/vmlinuz

label=linux

root=/dev/sda1

initrd=/boot/initrd.img

append="devfs=mount quiet"

vga=788

read-only

image=/boot/vmlinuz

label=linux-nonfb

root=/dev/sda1

initrd=/boot/initrd.img

append="devfs=mount"

read-only

image=/boot/vmlinuz

label=failsafe

root=/dev/sda1

initrd=/boot/initrd.img

append="devfs=nomount failsafe"

read-only

other=/dev/fd0

label=floppy

unsafe

image=/boot/vmlinuz

label=TVout

root=/dev/sda1

initrd=/boot/initrd.img

append="devfs=mount quiet XFree=tvout"

vga=788

read-only

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I am new to linux and am not sure how to copy and paste the file for inclusion here on the board. Should I use a terminal window and vi to open the file and then how do I paste? Or can I use any other word processing program to open it and will it let me paste it to here?

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Guest Stumbles
I am new to linux and am not sure how to copy and paste the file for inclusion here on the board.  Should I use a terminal window and vi to open the file and then how do I paste?  Or can I use any other word processing program to open it and will it let me paste it to here?

 

What operating system and what application do you want to copy and paste from?

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Wow, it took me a few tries at different linux applications to be able to cut and paste the lilo.conf file. I found that I could not copy and paste from vi or any terminal into this window in Galeon. But I tried gedit and it worked. Below is my lilo.conf file.

 

 

boot=/dev/hda

map=/boot/map

vga=normal

default=linux

keytable=/boot/us.klt

prompt

nowarn

timeout=100

message=/boot/message

menu-scheme=wb:bw:wb:bw

image=/boot/vmlinuz

label=linux

root=/dev/hda1

initrd=/boot/initrd.img

append="quiet devfs=mount"

vga=791

read-only

image=/boot/vmlinuz

label=linux-nonfb

root=/dev/hda1

initrd=/boot/initrd.img

append="devfs=mount"

read-only

image=/boot/vmlinuz

label=failsafe

root=/dev/hda1

initrd=/boot/initrd.img

append="failsafe devfs=nomount"

read-only

other=/dev/fd0

label=floppy

unsafe

 

My mandrake linux 9.0 is in a computer all by itself, no other OS. It's a 500mhz Compaq Presario 7360, with a 20mb hard disk, 128MB of RAM (I'll have to add to that soon), onboard video and audio and I am not at all sure about the motherboard. I changed the vga and I still get a few errors upon booting up. But it still goes through.

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To copy and paste from a terminal/vi you need gpm installed and running at boot. Verify it's running in a terminal with;

service -s

For more, see service --help. Or you can start and stop with

service gpm start

 

Verify if running in the Mandrake Control Center>System>Services

 

Verify install in a terminal with

rpm -q gpm

if it's not, install with;

urpmi gpm

 

Then just use the mouse to highlight in a terminal, go to galeon, and put the cursor were you want the copied terminal info, and press the middle button, scrollwheel, or thumb button.

 

Concerning your your graphical boot. Have you looked at (mcc) Mandrake Control Center> Boot>Boot Config? Is bootsplash and bootsplash-themes installed?

http://www.mandrake.com/en/archives/cooker...05/msg01674.php

 

A Google Search

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So are you saying "during" boot up, its text? Or are you saying that the lilo menu itself is text? I may have misunderstood. If you are getting a text boot process with no graphics, you need to check and see if you have bootsplash installed.

 

You can do this in a console with

 

urpmf bootsplash

 

To install, try

 

urpmi bootsplash

 

Not sure about the mode issue..

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