Any way I can get Mandrake 8.2 working on my Dell Inspiron 8100 using the XF86Config-4 file from SUSE 8.0 or Redhat 7.3? Mandrake freezes during the monitor probing phase of install and subsequent retrys have produced the same result. Any way to get X up in Mandrake would be appreciated. Laptops specs are PIII-M 1ghz, 40 gig hard drive, ATI Radeon 7500 64MB DDR video, 8x burner/DVD combo, and 512 RAM

Hi
I don't have a real solution, only a few suggestions (as i
don't have a laptop, or radeon 7500)
Most people that got an working X on the 8100 did
have redhat 7.3 installed (worked right away) or had
the nvidia chipset aboard instead of the radeon 7500.
There seems to be a difference between the XFree86
package RH uses and the one provided by MDK
So during install, skipping the X setup and afterwards
upgrading the XFree86-4.2.0-10mdk, might help
rpmfind.net says there is a ....4.2.0-16mdk.rpm
read also; http://sdb.suselinux.hu/en/sdb/html/..._chipsets.html
and maybe the noapic solution on that page is related to
your problem
good luck

Also, you may want to try expert mode, and not let it "auto probe" your video card/monitor. Select them yourself, assuming you know what they are. For you monitor, I would aim low, and fix it later. And then, pretty much what MrGee said, upgrade to the latest package. Don't do any tests and, DO NOT let it start in X. Go to command line, and either do a startx or use lynx to browse around and get the latest file. Or, d/l it before you reinstall, and save it to a disc. If you would like to get it working without upgrading the package, then still don't let it auto detect, get through the install, and get into a bash prompt after boot up. Then do a xf86setup and get it setup that way. These are just suggestions, I haven't got a laptop either, so hope these are helpful.