hi all,
I've just tried to install Mandrake 9.2 onto my system as part of a dual boot with Win 98.
I Didn't get very far.
The 1st screen appears with the options of ;
'press f1 for more options'
or
'press enter to continue with standard install'

If I continue I get a black screen and nothing happens.
I waited about 5 minutes, Nothing.

If i try other options the VGAlo install option gives a black screen as do the other
options except for text only install, which hands a minute in before asking for other information.

My system is as follows;
Athalon xp 2200+ processor,
512 MB pc2700 RAM,
Sparkle Geforce 4 MX 440 64MB DDR graphics card.
Motherboard based sound,
a 40 GB and a 60 GB Maxtor Hard Drives,
LG DVD drive (not one of the ones effected by the LG firmware problem)
an unbranded 48x12x48 CD-RW drive.
usb 2.0 hub on motherboard,
NET-LYNX 100/10M PCI network Adapter.


Anyone know what's going on?
The system works fine under Win98 SE.

I have the same prob but no one wants to answer. I will post answer if I get it

OK.
Perhaps we can narrow the search a bit.
Which of your hardware matches mine and which differs?

It's too early on in the installation process for it to be a software configuration problem, so it must be Hardware related.

I've now tried installation withthe AGP multiplier on my BIOS set to X1, X2 and X4. No differences under any of the settings.

Hi there.

I don't know if anyone else has come up with a solution.
Anyway - I have the same problems with mandrake 9.2.
However - if you press F2 you get other options. My black screen disappeared when I used the following boot parameters:

alt1 mem=2048M

alt1 will make the installer select the newest kernel. This kernel however is not able to autodetect the amount of RAM in your machine. (I have 2G of memory). Perhaps You can use this startup setting to get a bit further with the installation.

I succeded with the installation several times. Though when I finished and did the final reboot - I could select linux in Lilo - and boot up - but then I got a black screen again - no matter what linux option I selected(linux, linux enterprise, linux SMB,...) - even though I didn't select X11/KDE to be started up by default.

So my troubles aren't over yet. I have a feeling that it has something to do with framebuffers and how the kernel is started. I have tried to edit the start parameters(you can do that by the end of installation) - and I have selected the newest kernel (2.4) with the mem option.

I have an ATI Radeon 7200 card and uses a Dell 1701 monitor. I have an ASUS motherboard with 2 CPU's so perhaps my troubles lies with the motherboard.

I hope this can help you a bit. I will still investigate.

Regards
/J