Gentoo boot-black screen

jelitegamer · 02-05-2005, 09:03 PM

I just finished installing gentoo 2004.3 on my compaq armada m700 laptop. The problem is, when I turn it on, LILO comes up, and I get the option to boot Gentoo, so I press enter, and then it seems like it is booting when the screen turns black. If I wait for a few more seconds, then it locks up. The only way to shut it off is to take the battery out. If I press Ctrl+alt+del immediatley after the screen turns black, it reboots. I can boot into the live CD. I have KDE and X installed, as well as the ati-drivers package. I think uninstalling the ati-drivers might help, but I don't know how. I've also installed GRUB, but it din't help. I really don't want to have to reinstall gentoo, because it has taken me more than 2 days of compiling to get it to work.

btw - I have kernel 2.6.10 installed if that makes a difference.

comprookie2000 · 02-05-2005, 11:12 PM

Sounds like a problem with frambuffer, remove vga= if you have it,are you trying to use gensplash etc.

jelitegamer · 02-06-2005, 08:09 AM

I've tried removing vga= from the config; as for gensplash, I have no Idea what that is.

Thanks,
JC

Crashed_Again · 02-06-2005, 08:36 AM

What exactly do you have as boot parameters in grub.conf? Can you post them?

jelitegamer · 02-06-2005, 01:28 PM

I'm using LILO right now, but when I was using GRUB I had the same problem.

/etc/lilo.conf:

boot=/dev/hda
prompt
timeout=50
default=gentoo

image=/boot/kernel-2.6.10-gentoo-r6
label=gentoo
read-only
root=/dev/ram0
append="init=/linuxrc ramdisk=8192 real_root=/dev/hda3"
initrd=/boot/initrd-2.6.10-gentoo-r6

grub.conf:

default 0
timeout 30
splashimage=(hd0,0)/grub/splash.xpm.gz

title=Gentoo Linux 2.6.10-r6
root (hd0,0)
kernel /kernel-2.6.10-gentoo-r6 root=/dev/ram0 init=/linuxrc ramdisk=8192 real_root=/dev/hda3
initrd /initrd-2.6.10-gentoo-r6

Thanks,
JC

comprookie2000 · 02-06-2005, 02:21 PM

try;
boot=/dev/hda
prompt
timeout=50
default=gentoo
vga=normal

image=/boot/kernel-2.6.10-gentoo-r6
label=gentoo
read-only
root=/dev/ram0
append="init=/linuxrc ramdisk=8192 real_root=/dev/hda3"
initrd=/boot/initrd-2.6.10-gentoo-r6
append="acpi=off"
vga=ask
*just add this lilo.conf and rerun lilo*
"just added the acpi=off" add that too...."

jelitegamer · 02-06-2005, 03:31 PM

I get an error saying that:
"Duplicate entry 'append' at or above line 13 in the file '/etc/lilo.conf'"

Thanks,
JC

comprookie2000 · 02-06-2005, 03:52 PM

My bad just do this,

Code:

image=/boot/kernel-2.6.10-gentoo-r6
label=gentoo
read-only
root=/dev/ram0
append="init=/linuxrc ramdisk=8192 real_root=/dev/hda3 acpi=off"
initrd=/boot/initrd-2.6.10-gentoo-r6
vga=ask

jelitegamer · 02-07-2005, 01:02 PM

nope... still not working. Thanks for your help anyway. I don't think that it is a problem with LILO because it seems to boot (I can see words on the screen after I press enter, that are not from LILO). Words scroll down the screen like usual, then it just blanks out. The words go too fast to be able to see. I used genkernel, so I'm thinking that maybe the drivers for my graphics card weren't installed in the kernel. (the card is an ATI rage mobility pro)

Thanks,
JC

syg00 · 02-07-2005, 03:10 PM

I'd agree that framebuffer sounds suspect.
Try taking it out of the kernel, and recompile. Won't take long.
This is part of the "learning experience" Gentoo offers.
BTW, you'll find it worthwhile spending some time on the Gentoo forums.

jelitegamer · 02-07-2005, 03:12 PM

Okay... I've never done that before. What exactly do you mean by "Take it out of the kernel"? How do I do that?

Thanks,
JC

comprookie2000 · 02-07-2005, 03:40 PM

Compile a custom kernel;

Code:

su
password
cd /usr/src
ls *if there is a linux there remove it*
rm linux
emerge search gentoo-dev-sources*next emerge the kernel source*
emerge gentoo-dev-sources
ls *the new simlink should be there,if you see linux*
cd linux
make menuconfig
Follow this 
--MAKE SURE TO MOUNT BOOT--
mount /boot
#make sure you add support for your filesystems and harddrives"*"directly into the kernel and not as modules"m"
#add your soundcard and ethernet card as "m" take your time and add "m" for anything you may need,use help
make
make modules_install
make install
#the new kernel will be vmlinuz
now read this 
#now lilo should look something like;

image=/boot/vmlinuz
label=New Gentoo
read-only
root=/dev/hda3
#make sure to rerun lilo and it should see the new kernel
lilo

if something doesn't work just do it again,have fun

jelitegamer · 02-07-2005, 05:07 PM

Ok.. that didn't work either. I didn't take the framebuffer out because I don't know how.

Thanks,
JC

comprookie2000 · 02-07-2005, 05:24 PM

When you did menuconfig you didn't see under graphic's support framebuffer support?
Just look around,you need to get used to it,take your time.

jelitegamer · 02-07-2005, 06:15 PM

Allright!
Thanks for your help! Just one more problem - When I type "startx" I get xterm instead of kde. I can type "startkde" in this, but how do I set KDE to the default desktop environment?

Thanks,
JC