I have tried Redhat, Mandrake and Suse, all of which have basically an automatic installation, something along the lines of that OTHER O/S.

Each of these have a GUI at startup and a pop-up box for entering User Name and Password.

I have now installed Slackware, which is slightly different, and I suspect I have made an error somewhere which I certainly would appreciate assistance with.

When I Boot I get a message - "You passed an undefined mode number", at which time I can select a screen resolution if I wish, although if I do nothing the system does eventually continue.

For the experts, can anyone tell me what I did wrong to cause this and how I can correct it?

Also, I am unsure as to whether this is correct or not, but I then do not get a GUI with a pop-up box, I get only text with a "(Username)@ Darkstar:~$" prompt, at which I, rightly or wrongly, enter "startx", to get the Desktop.

Is this correct, or have I, once again screwed up the installation somehow?

When I then come to Shutdown, I go to "Start (?) -> Logout (User)" and then select "Logout" from the "End session for ... " pop-up box.

I then end up with a whole lot of text messages, the final one being - "Waiting for X server to shut down", followed by the "(Username)@ Darkstar:~$" prompt again.

Nothing happens after this and I suspect that powering down the machine is not the correct way of then finally ending the session.

As I said before, I certainly would appreciate if someone could put me on the right track.

Many Thanks.

It sounds as if you skipped the section on configuring your slack install, which is supposed to follow the installation of the various packages.

Let me ask some questions:

How do you boot your machine; with a bootdisk, with LILO, something else?

Are you not asked to login?

Is that exactly what your prompt looks like: (username)@darkstar? Or does it give an actual username, like 'root' or 'BreezyCricket'?

Finally, is there a line in your /etc/lilo.conf that reads 'vga=XXX' (some three-digit number)? And which kernel did you install?

If you can post back with this info, then it may help solve your problem(s).

Enjoy!
--- Cerbere

Thank you for the reply, and before we go any further, I should add that I do not have much of an idea as to what I am doing, but I think I have answers to all your questions.

I Boot with LILO (From the Hard Disk, just in case there are other methods available)

I am asked to login, with a "Darkstar Login:" prompt, and am then also asked for my password.

I then get a prompt with my actual username@" Darkstar:~$" eg "breezycricket@ Darkstar:~$"

In my /etc/lilo.conf, the only line such as this without a # sign before it is 'vga=771' (During the installation the only three-digit number I can remember entering, in relation to the monitor, was 321)

I installed the bare.i Kernel, which was the default.

As I may have mentioned before, my stack of Linux knowledge is vertically challenged, so your questions have led to another.

I used emacs to view the /etc/lilo.conf, and this almost certainly is not the way to do it, but this has created another problem. "How do I get out of the emacs program?"

It has the File, Edit, Options etc menu along the top and I have tried all the "Original" methods of accessing the commands ie Entering the First Letter, {Alt} First Letter etc, but have been unable to get any to work so it has been back to the "Pull the Plug" option, which, once again, I suspect is not the correct way of finally ending the session.

Many Thanks.

Ok, OK...
First the LILO problem, which is not really a problem. You specified a video resolution that your monitor doesn't support, or you dont have framebuffer support in your kernel. A quick fix would be (after logging in): (i'll use pico since its the easiest editor to use) pico /etc/lilo.conf then ucomment or add a line "vga = normal" (no " " marks of course), and add a # at the beggining of the line that sais "vga=771" then exit pico (ctrl-x), and run lilo (type lilo at the prompt followed by <enter>)

Ok, lilo video modes should be fixed now. If you really want the penguin logo at bootup, compile framebuffer support into the kernel, as well as the drivers for your vid. card and then play with different video modes in /etc/lilo.conf.

Next, it is normal in slackware to get into text mode login, the one you have now, login as a user and then startx to get into the gui. If you don't like this, take a look at /etc/inittab and change the appropriate section (runlevel). The file is well commented and if you dont know what to do, just search the forums.

Mouse wheel problem: Again a easy fix. Add "Option" "ZaxisMapping" "4 5" (with quotes) line to the "input device" section of /etc/X11/XF86Config file. Search the forums since this has been answered many times as well.

Finally, after you logout from a X-session (GUI) and get back to the text console, DO NOT TURN OFF THE POWER! You're lucky you didnt hose your filesystem up to now. To turn off the proper way: su to root (just type "su" at the prompt) enter the root passwd. You'll have the root prompt now. Type halt or shutdown -h now, and watch the system shutdown. If it doesnt turn off automatically, the last line it shows will be "Power Down" and now is save to turn it off.

By the way, to get out of Emacs saving changes: c-x c-c, Out of Vim: :wq...
May i suggest you buy "Running Linux" from O'reilly since it is a great book that will teach you a lot, get the fourth edition! Also go to the slackware site and read their online book, also helpful.
HTH
-NSKL

Hi LQ:

Thank you for the assistance.

I have now managed to get everything working.

I was not too concerned with a GUI Boot, I was more interested in knowing whether I had installed everything correctly and a text mode login is fine.

I should add that the Mouse problem was not mine, but I will file it with my other Help information.

Thanks again.

Hi (again) LQ:

Just one more question.

After the "Power Down" prompt, when I hit the power button on my PC it does not turn off, it re-boots.

Is there some other setting I need to adjust?

Many Thanks.

keep it pressed for over 5 seconds. Or if that doesnt work, check your BIOS settings. If the computer used to power off by itself in other distros, then you shouls configure it to do so in slack as well. As root: modprobe apm the try halt and see if it will power off automatically. If it works, add modprobe apm line to the end of /etc/rc.d/rc.modules .
If it didnt work, recompile the kernel playing with power management options until you get it right.
Good luck
-NSKL

I'm Baaack:

I changed monitor's and immediately got the message -"You passed an undefined mode number", again.

I tried the - "A quick fix would be pico /etc/lilo.conf then uncomment or add a line "vga = normal", and add a # at the beggining of the line that says "vga=771"", and this did not help.

In fact I have spent the last 12 hours or so trying to find solutions to this and any other suggestions would be appreciated, but I am fast coming to the conclusion that Linux is light years behind Windows so most probably will just give up on it.

I read this thread and am not surprised by your last statement.

You are used to windows so you want a windows solution.

There are many linux distros and maybe you should have started with an easier to install one.

That is also one that by default makes every decison for you with regards to configuration. It'll still be linux. It wont crash though a piece of software might freeze. You will never get the blue screen of death once you have it set up. You'll never have to fear what's coming in on the next email download.

Most linii will give you that but slackware is one that don't give you much in the way of defaults setup. But if your not afraid of learning a little bit and getting under the hood a distro like slackware is about as slick as they get. If your ready to learn a little bit then you'll end up with something that will have you wondering why your box never performed that well before.

Otherwise if your not a Redmond fan and all you want is a basic workstation, then try Mandrake one step further is Lindows, ELX and such. But the cost of default installs is control of your own box, sub-optimal performance (by default settings) and letting someone else decide how you should use your box to one degree or another.

Actually I don't want a Windows solution.

I tried Linux a few years back and concluded then that, when compared with Windows, it would always be nothing more than an "also ran".

Since then Windows XP has come out, and now Linux is even further behind.

As to the "Blue screen of Death", that is a thing of the past, the waaay past. Windows XP is as stable as any O/S, and what comes in with E-Mail is easily controlled.

Of course even a blind person can see what the main trouble with linux is, and that is that everyone who contributes to this project is concentrating on developing software, instead of making the Program more user friendly.

I am fortunate in that I have a second PC which I can devote to "fiddling" with it, and I will, no doubt continue doing just that, but I attached an old printer to this system and have now spent about 10 hours trying to set it up, but have still not succeeded. In Windows this would have taken about ½ a minute.

There are, of course, some aspects of Linux which far exceed Windows, and one of them is this Forum, where solutions can be found for most problems. I even found a solution for my Printer "inactivity", but the instructions were about 50% longer than the King James version of the Bible, which would have been great if I had been able to PRINT them.