Things I learned today (after spending yet another full day trying)

...As a windows user,(when I read the install instructions during my attempt at installing fedora) I assumed that when the partitioning instructions offered to "use free space on selected drive and create default layout" as an option it meant free space on the drive..."wrong" after multiple failures, I figured out that by free space, it meant "non-allocated" space. I finally resized the single partition on the drive and installed fedora (more or less) successfully in the unallocated space.

...installing and configuring the grub loader is a lot more complicated that it seems (or should be). Multiple more installs later, I finally got the grub loader (which gave me a whopping 1.5 - 2 seconds to hit any key to access the menu. Multiple re-boots later, I finally timed it so that I could actually boot to fedora.

...Just because you can actually boot to fedora, doesn't mean that it will work. After watching the progress bar move at a snail's pace (actually taking longer to boot than XP Pro, which I didn't think was physically possible!) I saw screen after screen of text commands go by, all followed by a green [OK]. Then, just when I got my hopes up that I'd finally made it, the monitor went blank, showing a "No Signal" message. The tower sat there and did nothing and I sat looking at a blank monitor for enough time to come to the conclusion that there was not going to be anything else.

...So here I am, not knowing what went wrong, with no error messages to google, and no clue what to do next.

Any and all help will be greatly appreciated!
Larry

Hi,


From what I know, when you get a 'No Signal' error is because the utility used by the user or the system to define the range of the monitor have failed detecting the proper range.

In Fedora, you can use the following to detect the range:

(As root excecute):
Then you should get something like:

monitorrange: 30-54, 50-120

Where 30-54 is the HorizSync and 50-120 is the VertRefresh (the numbers I showed are from my monitor used as examples). After you get the No Signal error, press Ctrl + Alt + F1 so you can loggin at the console and use ddcprobe.

Then, you can add those values in the /etc/X11/xorg.conf under Section "Monitor" like this:
However, I don't really remember if ddcprobe comes installed by default, if not, you could use yum to install it.

If you think that this is too much, you can go to the console (Ctrl + Alt + F1), loggin as root and try with:
Which will make a xorg.conf.new file that you can use to test the configuration using this command:
If you don't see the No Signal error, then go back to the console and, as root, do the following:

If that doesn't work either, and you know the hardware of your PC, then you can use xorgconfig at the command line to generate a new xorg.conf





Regards

Most of the time the defaults are pretty good, but modifying /boot/grub/menu.lst could help if you want to change the timeout or boot order. There are also other bootloaders out there such as GAG.
The first time Fedora (or pretty much any distro it seems) boots, it usually takes forever. It has to create a lot of files and set stuff up. It gets quicker the next time around. Also windows has the habit of loading the desktop rather quickly but then taking an eternity to actually let you do anything (you have to wait for antivirus, and usually a bunch of other start up crap to start running before you get to do much of anything, though if your like me, you have used MSCONFIG on your windows partition to clean out the start up crap.)

As for your monitor, go with the above advice. It might be a good idea to test your hardware with Fedora's Live CD before installing it on something in the future.

I tried to get into a console by Ctl+Alt+F1 after the screen went blank, no such luck.

...Tried waiting it out, but after 5 min. of a blank screen, gave up.

...Watched the details screen as closely as I could (goes by pretty fast) and noted that one of the longest pauses in the process occurs when fedora is looking for IP info for usb0. It fails. The only usb port I'm using is connected to an HP printer. Any way, the process moves on until it issues the command "starting anacron". Then the screen just goes blank and the monitor shows it's "no signal, check cables" message, and there I sit, no further along than I was before. Anyone know what anacron is or why it would be causing the boot to stop?

As far as the HSync and VRefresh rates, I assumed that since the install worked and I saw the x-server start, and interacted with the install at 1024x768 (which is the resolution I always use), fedora had properly identified and installed my monitor and video card. Didn't it?

Thanks again for all the help,
Larry

Here's the definition of anacron.

Quirky as it may seem, try unplugging the USB printer. If your monitor still loses signal during startup, try turning off the power to the monitor, wait 5 seconds, then turn it back on.

A friend of mine had a problem booting Windows ME on his new Compaq with the printer connected- it stopped booting, and the monitor lost signal. He had to disconnect the printer to get booted up. Once ME was finished, he could reconnect the printer and use it with no problem. I, on the other hand, had a slightly different problem booting XP on my new Dell until I learned how to time the monitor warm-up before starting the tower- I'd get the XP splash screen with the blue progress bar, then the monitor lost signal. By turning off the monitor, waiting 5 seconds then turning it back on, I found XP still booting normally.

Some devices are just too smart to be truly useful.

EDIT: BTW, if this doesn't help, give us a complete list of your hardware. It might help to know what you're running. Thanks.

Cheers

Best bet would be to make GRUB boot into runlevel 1 which means single user, no network, no graphical environment. Perfect for mucking around with config tools.


Runlevel 1 to 3 also give you the opportunity to persue 'dmesg|less' and system logs ('less /var/log/messages') and Xorg logs ('egrep "(WW|EE)" /var/log/Xorg.0.log|less' at ease for clues. Posting any errors (preferably in BB code tags) can help your fellow LQ members help you better.


Definately is not gonna be the showstopper.


Making sure (by reading the logs and reconfiguring) instead of assuming would be the best approach. If all fails start by detaching all peripherals and gizmoidal contraptions that aren't crucial for getting a successful boot.

Thanks Bill, I will try your suggestion. BTW....Don't know your age, but have the same history right up to linux, then I fall way behind!

unSpawn....Thanks for the reply! Here's where the "newbie" raises it's ugly head!

I saw it boot at run level 5, but I have no idea how to use run level 1-3. Since I can't get fedora to boot (or even a command line console), and I've read (I think) that windows can't read ext3 formatted partitions, how do I read the logs?

Also...The usb printer is the only gizmo attached, except the eth0 to the cable modem. Everything else is keyboard, mouse, and monitor.

I will try removing the non-essentials. If that doesn't help, I'll send my complete hardware configuration.

Don't give up on me yet, I'm still trying!
Thanks for all the help,
Larry

If you want to boot in single user mode (i.e. runlevel 1), then at the GRUB menu screen, select your installation, press 'e', add a '1' (no quotes) to the end of the line that starts with the word 'kernel' and then press 'b' to boot. You can read ext3 partitions under Windows with Explore2fs.

FWIW I prefer Ext2 IFS. Contrary to its name it handles Ext3 as well.

I tried everything I could, and still get to the command that starts "anacron" until the monitor goes blank. I grabbed explore2fs and was able to look at the message.log and have posted parts further down. But first, here's my pc hardware etc...

Generic pc (not a brand name)
(2) PIII 1G CPU's (bought it used, came that way)
1G RAM
(2) 80G hd's
#1 formatted into 2 40G partitions
1- win xp pro (ntfs)
2- storage and apps (ntfs)
#2 2 partitions
1- storage (fat32) 55G
2- Linux (ext3) 25G
1 generic (pioneer) DVD-ROM
1 generic (NEC) DVD-RW
1 legacy floppy drive
ms keyboard and mouse (tried both wireless and wired)
Hanns-G 19" LCD widescreen

In the message log, it always ends at the same place. I've also included any warnings or problems I was able to pick out, so here goes...


I assume that this is where it pauses for a very long time for usb0. (I have no idea where the smilies came from, sorry)


Here's the next warning...


And here's where it stops every time...

Could putting an AGP v2 into 4x mode be what's causing the crash?

Could you please post the actual steps, commands, you tried? "Everything" encompasses kinda a lot, from mild cursing to ultimately nuking a small country just in case ;-p


I can't see if this is related to Direct Rendering Management (DRM), AGP or something else in the background. If we don't get anywhere (and I hope somebody will chip in some good ideas) you could try booting the Fedora CD in rescue mode (or a Live CD like KNOPPIX) and manually changing Xorg.conf to use a vanilla 2D video driver while you work on fixing things. For suggestions on what to use we should get the specs of the video card from you so we can determine the chipset used.

Not if it's working properly... v2 is 4X. Read here.

As unSpawn mentioned, it would be beneficial to know the exact chipset for your video.

Thanks guys....

By "everything" I meant within my small skillset. I tried every combination of keystrokes that was mentioned and was not able to boot into single user, nor could I bring up a command console.

Even with explore2fs I did not know exactly where to look for an error log that would cover the boot process (I have since located at least a couple, the abbreviated contents follows).I downloaded a knoppix live cd and a simplymepis live cd that I can actually load and use (if I knew what to do with it!)

It looks like the radeon video card driver is the problem, but I'm not sure. Here's the info from the log file...

ATI Technologies Inc RV280 [Radeon 9200 PRO] rev 1


These are the areas where it seemed to have problems or issue warnings.
Sorry it's so long, but I wasn't sure what I needed to include.

Thanks again for the help

Wasn't there any entry with this?

(EE)

Warnings usually are common an non fatal. Try to look for any entry starting with (EE) in that log.



Regards

dear ihswanson,
no expert but you could try a different monitor and keyboard access to the shell is via 'ctl+alt+F2'. Try 'top' and stop the action that uses excessive cpu time.

Roy.