X-Server won't start
 

Having come into possession of the Red Hat 9 distribution on CD, I have decided to experiment with Linux and learn some things about it. I installed a 2nd 40GB hard drive in my tower and have installed Red Hat linux on it. I am duel booting between that and my original 40GB HD which has Windows 2000.

I had to install with the text interface because the installer was unable to initialize the GUI for visual install. Now that Linux is installed, I am unable to use it because it crashes when trying to start the X-Server during boot up. The X-Server fails to start everytime and the machine hangs.

I am reasonably confident that it is because Red Hat 9 does not like my video card, which is a GeForce FX 5600 by Leadtek.

(board will not allow me to post a direct link to product page because it says I do not have enough posts.)

Given my abject inexperience with Linux, I am not sure how to proceed. Would perhaps a newer distribution have drivers for my video card? Maybe the new Fedora or something? At this point, I cannot log into my Linux OS and do anything. It simply hangs during bootup.

In a windows environment, I would describe myself as an advanced user with a strong understanding of software and software programming, and an intermediate understanding of hardware.

In a Linux environment, I would describe myself as a 2000 year old blind man with no arms and an eggplant for a brain.

I feel a little lost. Any advice would be helpful. I apologize if this topic is repetitve or in the wrong place.

One of the problems you may run into, is that RH9 has not been in production for quite some time. Therefore, it will not have good hardware detection for newer components. You may want to look into a more up to date distribution to start with.

If I had to suggest which OS for someone with your knowledge of computers and linux, I would go with SuSE or Ubuntu. Both of those are great for beginners and will last you far into your learning cycle. Once you get more comfortable you will most likely want to move to something along the lines of Debian as you will be able to customize your installation and have a more hands on relationship with the inner workings of your OS.

If you have any other questions, feel free to update this thread as I will watch it this week. Good luck and welcome to the Linux Community.

Have you tried Knoppix yet? It's a safe way to look at Linux and supports modern hardware. Not sure about Red Hat, but it could be missing some detection capabilities (I'm all Debian...).

With Knoppix you can also look at the config files to get to know how they work and what you should use when really installing a Linux system.

Thanks for the quick responses and advice. I am reading about Ubuntu and SuSE and will most likely install one of those this weekend. I appreciate the help.