83mercedes Posted August 16, 2003 Report Share Posted August 16, 2003 OK I love Mandrake, but I wanted to see about Debian on a second machine... it really makes me appreciate the Mandrake installer! Problem is getting into X -- I can't. Using an Nvidia Geforce 4 Ti4400, selected 'nv' in the installation, when trying to go into X, the screen flickers a few times then says nope. I realize I am totally over my head here, but if anyone can help out, I would surely appreciate it. Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jlc Posted August 16, 2003 Report Share Posted August 16, 2003 did you run xf86config? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
83mercedes Posted August 16, 2003 Author Report Share Posted August 16, 2003 Thanks- yes, and it created the file, but after that no luck. I entered the exact specs for the monitor and the video card. ??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aru Posted August 16, 2003 Report Share Posted August 16, 2003 Are you getting any kind of error? Have you taken a look to /var/log/XFree86.0.log? (check the EE and WW entries) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
83mercedes Posted August 16, 2003 Author Report Share Posted August 16, 2003 It's a fatal error, no screens found. I'm not good enough at command line...at all. And now the whole thing is wasted, won't even boot, so I'll have to start over. This was the second attempt at an install, neither could get me into X... Thanks for the help! Anything else I might do? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bvc Posted August 16, 2003 Report Share Posted August 16, 2003 Post the X config file. Easy way to see it and avoid an editor is cat /etc/X11/XF86Config-4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jlc Posted August 16, 2003 Report Share Posted August 16, 2003 Also, check these links out. http://www.badoual.org/dir/repositorium/de...-deb.html.xhtml http://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/sh...&threadid=74279 The easiest way would be to apt-get a new kernel.I never did that when I used debian.Just did it the ond fashioned way and got the kernel from http://www.kernel.org There is a how-to there.Just have a look at your kernel.log in /var/log and do a modprobe to see what modules are loaded by the kernel - you'll need those with the new kernel. If I where you and never compiled a kernel I would try it with apt-get.If you don't have it you might consider installing 'synaptic' as a grphical frontend to apt to see what options you got there (there are a lot of different kernels available for debian). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aru Posted August 16, 2003 Report Share Posted August 16, 2003 ... and do a modprobe to see whatmodules are loaded by the kernel - you'll need those with the new kernel... I'm sure you wanted to say lsmod Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest KShots Posted August 17, 2003 Report Share Posted August 17, 2003 You probably don't want to run with "nv". I know debian uses kde2 still, so it probably should work, but just humor me: Try using "vesa" instead of "nv" (almost universally compatible). If this works, depending on whether or not you want 3D, you could already be satisfied. Otherwise, see what happens if you download the nvidia driver and run their shell script to install. Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
83mercedes Posted August 18, 2003 Author Report Share Posted August 18, 2003 Thanks for the replies... Since I am not astute in command line, I will probably try the last idea first, then once I get X to work at all, I will persue the installation of Nvidia drivers. You guys are great. Thanks again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DOlson Posted August 18, 2003 Report Share Posted August 18, 2003 I don't use the source method of installing the NVidia drivers on Debian, I just do it the same way I used to on Mandrake, and it works for me. You might wanna look at my tutorial, and if it still doesn't work, try reading the README file from NVidia, because there might be a section you need to add to your /etc/modules/modules.conf file or something. Good luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
83mercedes Posted August 18, 2003 Author Report Share Posted August 18, 2003 Thanks, I finally got Debian installed,! But it did not get my USB wheel mouse, (I borrowed a ps2 to make it work) and I had no sound, and finally got to X by using the vesa thing, but then only Gnome, when I tried kde the screen flickered a few times and wouldn't load. Man, I gotta tell ya, it really makes me appreciate Mandrake! I'll bet, that if I was to re-install Debian again, I couldn't do it! Frankly I don't know how I did it this time. Then, I figured I would try to do the nvidia thing and hosed it, I tried to edit the config-4 file first and then install the driver, and I know I have the kernel source installed, but the nvidia installer said I didn't, and the install failed, re-ran xf86config like before, but still no X. One of these days I'm gonna have to learn some command-line, or else just stick with Mandrake, I guess. At least for me, Debian is, I am pretty sure, over my head. :wink: After I sleep on it I may feel like tackling it some more... Thanks again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DOlson Posted August 18, 2003 Report Share Posted August 18, 2003 Just so you know for the future, I could probably have helped you if you messaged me on ICQ, MSN, IRC, etc. Also, Debian doesn't use XF86Config-4, it uses XF86Config. USB mouse is easy to get working if you know what to do (I had to ask the first time I set up Debian). You just gotta probe the right modules, then put the right device entry into XF86Config. Anyhow, if it wasn't for Mandrake's learn-at-your-own-pace approach, I wouldn't be running Debian right now. Mandrake does do a lot of stuff for you, and that's alright. ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
83mercedes Posted August 18, 2003 Author Report Share Posted August 18, 2003 hmmm, OK, that explains why all the xf86config editing and saving got me nowhere, cuz I was saving it to the xf86config-4 file! Well, maybe tomorrow I'll give it another go... by the way, if you have a link to look at regarding the mouse thing, I'd appreciate that as well. Also, I found one good thing: nano is a command line editor I can ACTUALLY use!!! Thanks DOlson. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DOlson Posted August 18, 2003 Report Share Posted August 18, 2003 If you're not comfortable with console stuff yet, don't bother trying Debian again for a while. Practise stuff with Mandrake, and learn as much as you can about configuring stuff without GUIs, and then later on, when you get more comfortable, if you wanna try it again, you'll be more prepared to handle things that pop up. Well, that's my advice, you don't have to take it if you don't want to. But because you asked: You will need the following entries in your /etc/modules file: usb-uhci hid input mousedev If you add those and you don't want to reboot, you can modprobe them into your kernel. Check the output of dmesg, and you should see something come up about your USB mouse. I have a Microsoft USB mouse, so I'll assume that's what you have (if it's not, you may need to do something different). Now edit the XF86Config file: Section "InputDevice" Identifier "Mouse1" Driver "mouse" Option "Protocol" "IMPS/2" Option "Device" "/dev/input/mice" Option "ZAxisMapping" "4 5" EndSection Anyhow, you can test the mouse from the console using cat /dev/input/mice and moving the mouse. If a bunch of stuff starts going on the console, then you know it's working. If not, either drivers aren't loaded or you don't have permissions on the device file... You shouldn't have to change permissions though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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