Startup Problems with Mandrakelinux 10
 

:confused:

I have managed to successfully install Mandrake alongside Windows XP Home. Everything works fine until I try to boot up Linux.

Sometimes, it boots up to a command text prompt asking me to login.

Other times, a black screen appears with streaky blue lines at the bottom of the screen.

All I want is to use Mandrake in the normal way, using the graphical interface. All my hardware is supposedly compatible.

Please adivse as to what to do.

do you get an errors or failures during the boot process? from you basic description, it sounds to me video driver related. what vid card are you using? what you can try is, choose the "failsafe" option from the boot menu. that will dump you at a text login prompt. enter your user name (hit enter) & then password (hit enter) to log in. then type su (enter) your password (enter) to get you in root mode. then type XFdrake (enter). that will open the Mandrake video configuration module. check & test your vide settings there. make sure the driver matches you card. make sure you have the proper screen resolution & refresh rates set. before accepting the config, use the "test" buttong to test the configuration. that will bring up a test pattern on the screen & ask you if you can see the pattern. if you can, you'll be good to go, accept the configuration, & reboot using the normal "linux" choice from the boot menu.

otis

Thank you for your reply,

When I load up, I get a sound card error and an 'interface eth0' failure. I think your theory on a video card error is correct. When I change the settyings, and test the changes, I either get the blue-streaky screen, or a bunch of letters.

My video card is an nVidia GeForce 4 MX 440. Could it be something to do with dirver incompatibility, because I know a lot of people have problems with nVidia video cards. I would update the drivers, but because I cannot use the graphical interface, I cannot connect to the internet to download them. Is their a way of installing the updated drivers from a CD-R(W)?

you need to download nvidia drivers to install them. they are not available on the CD's. if you can get internet access via a Windows partition, another computer, from a friend, you can download the drivers, burn them to CD, then look at my sig below for a link on how to install them. to install from CD the first part of the instructions will differ a bit from what i have there. if you need help for a CD install, let me know, & i'll walk you through it.

Mandrake should have compatable drivers for that card, though. in the XFdrake module, choose the geforce (generic) drivers. they should work. if not, could you post the contents of your XF86Config-4 file, please? to do so, get to the login screen, login as root, type.........

(hit enter)

that will output the file to your screen. post it here.

otis

My XF86Config-4 is:

Section "Monitor"
Identifier "monitor1"

# Sony Vaio C1(X,XS,VE,VN)?
# 1024x480 @ 85.6 Hz, 48KHz hsync
Modeline "1024x480" 65.00 1024 1032 1176 1344 480 488 494 563 -hsync
-vsync

# TV fullscreen mode or DVD fullscreen output
# 768x576 @ 79 Hz, 50 KHz hsync
Modeline "768x576" 50.00 768 832 846 1000 576 590 595 630

# 768x576 @ 100 Hz, 61.6 KHz hsync
Modeline "768x576" 63.07 768 800 960 1024 576 578 590 616

End Section

I have tried using the built-in drivers, but they do not work, so I will download the updated drivers off of the Internet, burn them to a CD, and install them that way.

Could you please give me some advice on how to install the nVidia drivers from a CD-RW?

2 things............

that can't be all of your XF86Config-4 file. there should be alot more. could you please post the rest?

also, i will gladly help you with the CD install, but i don't think i'll be able to do that until tomorrow morning. it's Saturday afternoon here right now & i have company over, so i'm sort of busy. if you can hang until tomorrow, i'll post the info.

here's a quick how to that maybe you can figure out..........

boot into failsafe, login as root, insert CD type mount /mnt/cdrom to mount the CD (it might be cdrom0 or cdrom1 or cdroms........try each), then type....... cp /mnt/cdrom(number if needed)/fullnameofnividiadlownload /home/(yourusername)/

that will copy the file to your /home/user/ directory. type umount /mnt/cdrom(number if needed) to unmount the CD, then proceed with my install instructions.

if you're confused about any of that, then please wait 'til tomorrow or 'til somebody else jumps in. i can spell out the CD info more clearly then, but the above might get you through it for now.

otis

Thank you. I'll try the method you recommended, and I'll find out the rest of my XF86Config-4 file.

Thanks again,

Lance

I checked and there is no more of the XF86Config-4 file.

before we work on installing Nvidia drivers, we should worry a bit about your XF86Config-4 file. that is not nearly enough info for that file to get you to a GUI, with or without Nvidia drivers. here's what mine looks like.

if yours don't contain similar entries, then you need to go back to XFdrake & set your video & monitor up correctly. are you sure you're not just looking at one section of that file & not realizing there's more? when you do cat /etc/X11/XF86Config-4, depending on your screen size settings it might only be showing part of the file on screen. try using the "page down" &/or "page up" keys on your keyboard to see if there's more. if there is, then post the whole thing. if not, then like i said, you need to use XFdrake to get things set up properly before we can continue.

otis

I have opened the XF86Config-4 in VI, and I am sure that what I have said is all there is. Line 1 is the line

Section "Monitor"

I have adjusted my XFdrake settings, but with no success, so I think I'll give it another try.

I now have a slight problem. When I opt to run Linux, I recieve a message saying that "No inittabs" were found. I am then prompted to enter a runlevel, and when I do, I am told that "No processes are running at this level". I receive the same results in 'failsafe' mode.

I was considering re-installing Mandrakelinux - please advise me as to what to do.

when you use VI to edit/view files, it will only show portions of the file if it is large with a lot of lines. when you open the XF86Config-4 file with VI, you are only seeing a portion of that file. instead of using VI, use the method i said (cat /etc/X11/XF86Config-4) & the page up/down keys to view the whole thing. VI is an editor, cat will only allow you to view the file but not edit it. it is possible, when using VI, that you edited something in the file accidentally, saved it, & now it is corrupted.

in my opinion, that might be the best choice right now, not having known exactly what you did or what occurred. if you're absolutely sure there's nothing more to your XF86 file than what you previously posted, then starting over would probably be the best option. but, instead of reinstalling, choose the "upgrade" option when you get to that point during the install. you won't have to reformat anything that way & it will go much faster because it will only upgrade/fix missing/broken packages. if you want to reformat your MDK partitions for any reason, then do a complete reinstall.

no matter which method you choose, pay close attention to the final configuration settings screen after all the apps are installed. specifically, check the video/monitor settings & make sure they are correct & working. even if the caption underneath something doesn't show a red "not configured" error, check it any way, because sometimes what MDK thinks is a proper configuration will not neccessarily be the correct one. use the test feature with the video settings & make sure you can see the test pattern before accepting the configs as final.

please post back with how you made out.

otis

I tried using the upgrade method twice, but to no avail. Instead I managed to re-install Mandkrakelinux. The XF86Config-4 file is now empty, but there is a file called XF86Config-4.old, which looks similar to your's. Is there a way I can rename it, so that it replaces the blank file?

I've managed to recover the full 105 line XF86Config-4 file. I followed the "nvidia driver install how-to", but it still isn't working.