Ok So I'm new to linux but not to computers in general, so when it came to intalling mandrake 9.1 onto my PC i was reasonably confident. And it all went perfectly well, as I was able to solve all my problems using common sense/online help. But then, i decided that my graphics performance was awful (my dell opti has onboard intel graphics) and bought a radeon 7000 pci card. As I had yet to do much on my comp I decided to simply reinstall mandrake and start from scratch. There was no problem with using the card during the graphic intall, with the card recognised and the correct driver intalled, nor is there a problem with using a text only startup. (Although I'm sure u can appreciate no point buying a new G card to use in text mode!) Now As soon as I start X, the screen goes blank. That is, it responds in the same way that it does when the machine is off, with a flashing led the only sign of life. Fixing problems is something I see as a challenge but working blind with no picture is beyond me. help please??

I am working now with Red Hat Severn Beta...they have a new graphical boot-up. A test bed computer with Radeon 7000....recognized during install...graphical install fine, but at boot-up, same thing. Monitor has NO imput, boot process stops when X server wants to go. I can boot into Text also, but have NO IDEA what changes to make to XF86.Config to make this thing work!

I will now try xf86config command to see if that helps.

I am interested in responses here!

You can try to use the generic ATI driver.
Just type: pico /etc/X11/XF86Config/ (or whatever the path on your system is).
Then press Ctrl + W to search for a word.
Type in VideoRam, and hit Enter. This will bring you to the section in which you can specify your driver/video ram, etc.
Replace the driver in the driver line with "ati".
Remove/comment out the card model line if you must.
Save it, and try to startx again.

X server doesn't work when a TV is connected to he TV-out. The solution: plug out the TV and reboot. I couldn't find a better solution, please let me know if you find one.

update the driver from www.ati.com

you can install it in text mode (you're supposed to do that anyway)

it supposedly supports TV out too now.