wini_g gave me the following advice in his reply to my initial problem "I always try switchin between the df consoles or whateva theyre called with Ctrl+Alt+F1 through to F12 .. this sometimes brings the monitor back". So i tried this and the moment i pressed CTRL+ALT+F1 the screen popped into life and i had visual.

Unfortunately what i see is what i would describe as "DOS mode" in Windows. Now bearing in mind i am a complete Linux newbie and have never dealt with any code before, i really need to be able to learn Linux via a "proper desktop screen" initially at least. Im sure SuSE 9.1 came with a couple of desktop programs but i have no idea how to get to this stage. So if possible i need to know how to do this.

Thank you for all the help so far, any advice is much appreciated.

You step into a text mode screen and wanna start the graphical server? Do:
startx
after your login.

Hi,
Welcome to Linux.
ok, by default Xwindows runs on VT7 (VT = Virtual Termanal).
You aready know how to move between VTs with ALT+(F1-F12).
While in Xwindows you need to use the CTRL key as well.
Now press CTRL+ALT+F2. That should get you to a login screen.
Login as root. then type 'ps ax'. This will give you a list of processes
running. look for something like "/usr/X11R6/bin/X". Do you see it at
all? If not try this command 'ps ax | grep X'. That should narrow down
the list of stuff for you to look though. If in either command the
output is so long that it scrolls off the screen hold down your
Shift key and hit 'Page up' and 'Page Down' to scroll up and down
respectively. Let me know the results.

Michael

Post your graphics card and basic hardware(CPU, RAM). Your probably not booting into a gui desktop because your graphics card is not properly configured. State exactly what happens when you boot; I assume th screen just eventually goes black.

I can explain what happens when you do Ctrl-Alt-F1. Linux has a number a "virtual terminals", usually six, that are accessed by hitting Ctrl-Alt-Fx where x is 1 through 6. You can get back to your original screen where your gui is trying to load by hitting Alt-F7. These terminals are command line DOS-like environments and can be run separately at the same time.

You can try starting a second gui or "X session" after you go to Ctrl-Alt-F1 by logging in with your username and password at the command line login which will take you to a command prompt. Then run this:

$ startx -- :1

Note any error messages.

If it hangs up again and you don't get back to a command prompt, do Ctrl-Alt-F2, login and run:

$ reboot

Thank you for your interest both of you. I tried both pieces of advice, but unfortunately i am no closer to seeing a windows style desktop like i had when i installed Lycoris Desktop a while back.

I tried logging in and typing "startx" but it just said fatal server error or some rubbish.

I also tried logging in as root and typing in 'ps ax' and it did indeed produce a long list of processes, and i did indeed find the part i think you were talking about. It read as follows:

4068? S 0:01 /usr/X11R6/bin/X -nolisten tcp -br vt7 -auth /var/lib/xdm/authdir/authfiles/A:0-QUD6W0

So i guess i found the one you were talking about, but im not sure what im supposed to do with it or how it can get me to the user friendly style desktop screen i need.

As usual all views and opinions are much appreciated.

my basic hardware is as follows:

Shuttle SN45G
Shuttle FN45 motherboard with nForce2 Ultra 400 chipset
AMD Athlon XP 3200+ CPU
1024Mb Crucial DDR400 Memory
256Mb DDR ATI Radeon 9600XT Graphics Card
160Gb Seagate Barracuda ATA100 Hard Drive (actual 150Gb capacity)
Sony Dual Format DVD R/RW 4x Optical Drive
Samsung Syncmaster 171N Monitor

and what happens exactly when i boot:

1. I turn on the computer.
2. POST
3. GRUB, i select Linux
4. It says "Linux is booting, press F2 for details" and a progress bar moves from 0-100%
5. When the bar reaches 100%, it moves onto the black screen.
6. I press CTRL+ALT+F1 and i see a nice green "DOS" style screen. Or i can press CTRL+ALT+F2 for a black and white version of it. But what i really want is to just boot straight into a desktop like windows does, or Lycoris Deluxe Linux distro does.

nForce2 Ultra 400 chipse-
You will need special drivers from nvidia to get the network card working unless they are included by suse(doubtfull with 8.2). Most linux distros refuse to do so because they are proprietary, non-GPL.

Radeon 9600XT - You should be able to get a graphical desktop with this but you'll need to download and install ati's proprietary drivers if you want 3d accelleration.

I'm not that familiar with suse, but I know they have a great configuration utility called yast which I believe you can run from the command line and reconfigure your graphics card. You may want to post on the suse board re using yast. Your card came out after suse 8.2 which is probably why the system is having trouble picking the right driver.

I actually have SuSE 9.1 not 8.2 now but i forgot to update my profile. Everything i have described is problems with SuSE 9.1 after my installation.

How does this affect your advice on the nForce2 Ultra 400 chipset and ATI Radeon 9600XT drivers? Im aware that nVidia and ATI both provide support for Linux but i havent a clue how i could download and implement this. I presume i would have to do it in Windows IE and then burn it onto CD-R for putting onto linux.

I havent a clue but im desperate to just boot into a normal desktop screen like windows does. Otherwise i shall lose interest in linux very rapidly.

Also, is there any way of making GRUB boot Windows by default instead of Linux, cos its annoying as i use Windows mainly.

Cheers.

Mandrake won't have the driver for the nic because they are 100% GPL software. The ati radeon drivers are generally problematic. Nvidia has much better linux support for its graphics cards. I think the GPL driver for your card should work. Your problem may be just a configuration problem, but again I don't use ati or suse so I can't tell you for sure. Again, post this on the suse forum. Someone there might have a quick fix for you or be able to give you a more definitive answer.

One good test I think you should try is knoppix. Knoppix is a linux distro that runs entirely off a bootable cd with nothing being written to your hard drive. It is known for it's excellent hardware detection and problems with knoppix will generally indicate a general hardware problem with linux. I don't mean to discourage you; your problems may be solvable. However, for someone new to linux, it could be a real learning experience. Just go into it with your eyes open.

I love your Knoppix idea and im definately going to look into that firstly. Secondly, i shall follow your advice and go to the SuSE forum to see if they can help.

Cheers.

You can install ati drivers using YOU, the suse online update. The problem is that it won't load without X. So, you have to download the drivers for your card and install it kinda manually, got it?

I did a search over the ATI website, and there you have:

a script to check what version of X you are using:
http://www2.ati.com/drivers/linux/check.sh

The address of the graphics stuff for linux:
http://www.ati.com/support/drivers/l...1&submit=GO%21

Hope it helps!

can you not use vesa drivers just to get into X? If you edit /etc/X11/XF86Config (or XF86Config-4 perhaps) and change the :
Section Device
driver "nvidia" (or whatever)
End Section

bit to use the vesa or vga drivers?

How do I know if I am using X.org or Xfree86?

Also, how do ican I find out the version of the X ?

Try this:
Ctrl+Alt+F1 then log in as root and then run sax. This should boot you into the X11 configuration program. It's either sax or sax2... can't remember which runs in which environment and for what... heh :-/

Sounds good, i will try sax when I get home. Currently I am at work running a ssh server, I was wondering if I could find out what version of X & if its xfree86 or x.org using the shell....???

Corona is good beer
Where you from?