[SOLVED] Debian hangs on boot.

Zssfssz · 11-25-2011, 01:34 AM

I'm useing 6.0.3 and the install went perfectly but now here's what happens:
Turn on PC
BIOS beeps at me for my old CD tray being flipped with my new one
GRUB oPens
I select Debian
The normal output when a Linux os is starting
Once it goes into graphics mode (no other graphics have been show other than GRUB's graphics which are really simple pictures)
The screen looks staticy and I can sorta see some earths with a 'debian' on it broken apart in lines on the screen.
Then I can't do anything! I have to hold the power button for three seconds to manually shut it off!
LXDE
256megs of ram
9.5gig for Debian
438?(somthin round there) swap
Pentum 4
Dell Dinmension 4550
I really don't want to go back to Lubuntu or anything else.
I like how Debians packages are more organized than even Ubuntu's and it is universal among computers! Please Help!

widget · 11-25-2011, 02:08 AM

First I must say that I do not quite understand what you are asking.

Let us see what I do understand. You have Debian Squeeze installed with Lxde as the desktop environment. Is this right?

Have you ever been able to get into the system or is this the first attempt to boot it up?

Did you try recovery mode?

Zssfssz · 11-25-2011, 02:37 AM

Um... Recovery mode works fine but I have no idea what to do with the prompt. I have not gotten to the GUI yet.
Everything else is correct:
Squeeze 6.0.3
First time boot
The question was vague but:
How do I get Debian to work?

widget · 11-25-2011, 11:41 AM

All right, now we have some place to start with.

Try recovery mode again. You will get a text login prompt. Give user name. Give user password when called for.

This will take you to a user prompt ($). Type;

Code:

startx

This should take you to the desktop.

The desktop may not be usable because of the same problem that you are having with the log in screen. This sounds like a graphics driver problem. The command "startx" will tell us a lot about that however.

Take note of any error messages that show up an the screen when you run that.

What video card/controller are you using?

Zssfssz · 11-25-2011, 01:34 PM

Um...
32MB ATI Rage 128 Ultra
In windows it is listed under display adapters and there isn't a screen port on the motherboard itself.
No error messages came up With startx (could barely read it).
It looked exactly the same...
If there compatible I have no problem using the non-free (as in speech) driver that's on my copy of windows.

Zssfssz · 11-25-2011, 05:20 PM

Looks like my love of ancient computers has finally paid off.
This solution will work on almost any computer.
I noticed that xorg.conf didn't even exist on my computer.
So maualy edited to say:

Code:

Section "Device"
    Identifier "VGA"
    Driver     "vesa"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
    Identifier "Default Screen"
    DefaultDepth 24
EndSection

And it worked perfectly!
(vesa drivers are rather old but can run almost any screen/fraphics card, old in concept)

widget · 11-25-2011, 06:43 PM

That is just great. Good job.

That was where we were headed.

Older boxes have trouble with new OS's, this is understandable. The ATI driver would probably not work on your controller anyway.

You should be able to find your card in Linux by running;

Code:

lspci

in spite of the fact that it is an integrated device.

This is a handy command to remember. I have a file of handy commands. Simply making such a file and editing it to keep up with your increasing knowledge seems to stick them in the brain better.