Hi,
loading from 3 cd image download of Mandrake community 10, and the install goes OK.
I have 2 problems -
1) after install cant successfully get to Xwindows
2) cant setup my internet connection.

This post for former (1), will post separately for latter (2).

I got past the first problem by manipulating the flag in a file called firstboot under /etc/systemconfig and thought I had a handle on what caused it, so after making a bit of a mess with various attempts to install the bpalogin package to get net connection, I thought it might be worth reinstalling to get a clean setup.

Failed to get around it quickly with my intended approach of reinstall, do firstboot, repeat the problem as expected, then switch the firstboot flag to no and resume. I thought doing the firstboot thing got past the section of code that did the other setup stuff needed, but perhaps not. Somewhere under /etc/X11 the scripts getting run dont behave, so I am hoping someone has a cheat sheet of the steps to get around the problem, and this post might help anyone else in future who gets similar symptoms.

Son is using the PC in question using windoze and doing homework so I am posting this on the 2nd pc chained to it. Will post logs of X and syslog when I can get to the machine. I looked and couldnt see any (EE) errors on the X log, and the nv driver seems ok, and showed the test screen with vertical colour bands ok on the XFconfig whichever monitor when i did the original install, and have used the same monitor config on the re-install.

Would appreciate any help
Dave.

Got X working -
it was a convoluted process, but still seemed to relate to the failure to run xsetup_0 or similar, that should have been triggered by the startup of X, but was held up by the dodgy optional survey that couldnt display itself because the x setup wasnt done.

Could relate to my having declined the option to have autologin activated from scratch, thinking that I could log on (the assumption was that it would reach that far).

Perhaps also i attempted to log in as root and go to the Xwindows interface by executing X from command line.

No time to experiment, but if thats what causes the failures, the message needs to be: "start out with autologon or you wont be easily able to start the X windows system and log on". (is this to get people that also cant get their net connection operational to call in for some chargable support service ? is that too cynical, or just cynical enough ?)

If I get to a point where the setup I do gets the system messed up to a point where I decide to reinstall as part of my ongoing semi-self-learning of linux then I am guessing I can work around the failure of X to start without a bit of fiddling once the disc supplied install process is completed.

Back out of windoze and into Mandrake 10 to try configuring my net connection on that usb adsl single port modem with the glamorous bpalogin source rpm.
Will make a separate post for that with some log files after I give it a burl myself....