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Old 01-31-2005, 05:11 PM   #1
ppcthug
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debian won't start from hd, and x server fatal errors


I'm somwhat new to linux, a while back I downloaded the first two cd's for the i386 version of debian, so I could try out linux and see what its like.
my first attempt at getting linux running was on my main computer but for some reason it didn't like my video card and I never worked out how to fix that, more recently I find I need the space back on my main computer for game installs. at some point I had an idea, since my dad had brought home some old computers that his company threw away and since we had some old computer junk out there already why not make a second computer to try linux out on.
it seems I've gotten as far with linux on the new machine as I had on my main computer.
first off linux won't boot from the harddrive it seems, it needs either the floppy or the cd to boot off of. not a big problem for me really but it takes a while to load stuff off the floppy.
then theres xfree86 which says it can't start up, in the error log it says somthing about xf86openserial: cannot open device /dev/input/mice no such device.
no core pointer
and failed to initialize core devices
its an old ps2 mouse, I don't know if I configured it right in the setup or not. I'll swap it with another mouse later to see if its the mouse causing the problem.
 
Old 01-31-2005, 05:43 PM   #2
jsutton
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As for the X problem, what kernel version are you running. I know that the /dev/input/mice is a 2.6 thing, and if you're running a 2.4 kernel with that configuration, you may experience problems. If you are running a 2.4 series kernel, you may want to change that line in your /etc/X11/XF86Config file to read '/dev/psaux' instead of '/dev/input/mice.'
 
Old 01-31-2005, 07:59 PM   #3
ppcthug
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this may be a dumb question but how do I figure out what kernel version I have?
 
Old 01-31-2005, 10:18 PM   #4
ppcthug
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never mind, I found it on the screen from the install disc, kernel version 2.2.20
 
Old 02-01-2005, 04:01 PM   #5
ppcthug
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there doesn't seem to be an x11 folder in etc, and is there a way to get the ls command to page down when theres more than one screen of info?
 
Old 02-01-2005, 11:26 PM   #6
jsutton
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Quote:
Originally posted by ppcthug
never mind, I found it on the screen from the install disc, kernel version 2.2.20
That's quite an old kernel verison. In fact, I have no experience with the 2.2 series kernel. When my Linux days started, I was using kernel 2.4.7-10 (Redhat 7.2).

I wouldn't have anything lower than a 2.4 series kernel, preferably 2.6 (but it would depend on the hardware I was using). Go for the upgrade (apt).
 
Old 02-01-2005, 11:28 PM   #7
jsutton
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Quote:
Originally posted by ppcthug
there doesn't seem to be an x11 folder in etc, and is there a way to get the ls command to page down when theres more than one screen of info?
for the folder, you need to make sure that you're typing 'X11' (noting that the 'X' is capitalized).

for the ls command, you can pipe it through less (if less is installed that is). For example:

Code:
ls | less
Hope that helps.
 
Old 02-02-2005, 12:49 AM   #8
ppcthug
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first off I've decided to update my linux cd's, since they are almost 11 months old.
second I could swear that I typed in "cd /etc/X11 " with the X capitalized, I must have done somthing wrong becuase it works now, though I won't alter that file untill after I see if the newer version fixes the problem or whatever.
thanks for the advice
 
Old 02-04-2005, 01:29 AM   #9
ppcthug
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yay the debian desktop is running! now if only the screen whern't quite so small, how do I get back to the command prompt? I think this thing needs a bit of tweeking. and does anybody know how to find the specs on a packard bell moniter model number 1402s? I searched google several times and found nothing.
 
Old 02-04-2005, 03:07 AM   #10
kaens
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Did you mean 1024s? If so it's 30-50H 50-90V, and has DPMS support according to
cat /usr/share/hwdata/MonitorsDB | less
 
Old 02-04-2005, 04:11 AM   #11
TigerOC
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Quote:
Originally posted by ppcthug
yay the debian desktop is running! now if only the screen whern't quite so small, how do I get back to the command prompt? I think this thing needs a bit of tweeking. and does anybody know how to find the specs on a packard bell moniter model number 1402s? I searched google several times and found nothing.
To avoid further problems linked with hardware I would install a 2.4 kernel by doing a re-install. When you boot the install cd and get the boot: prompt enter bf24 and it will install the 2.4 kernel. If you wish to carry on with your current system then you can install a new kernel by doing apt-cache search kernel-image-2.4 and select the latest kernel and do apt-get install kernel-image-version_#_you_want. The reason it is not booting from your hard drive is that you probably have not written lilo to the mbr. Check lilo (/etc/lilo.conf ?) and then as root do lilo.
Personally I would suggest using the new sarge installer as sarge is now almost stable and the installer is excellent.;
http://www.debian.org/devel/debian-installer/ select the i386 version and burn the iso to cd and use that.
To reconfigure X with the hsync and vsync values provided by kaens do dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xfree86 as root and when you get to the monitor section use the advanced option.

Last edited by TigerOC; 02-04-2005 at 04:16 AM.
 
Old 02-04-2005, 03:30 PM   #12
ppcthug
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moniter picture

looks like 1402s to me.
thanks for telling me how to install kernel version 2.4 . unfortunatly the desktop still seems huge with all the windows extending off the screen and such. and I did install lilo on both the root drive partition and the master boot record hda or whatever, still says no active partitions found, and I'd swear when I partitioned the harddrive that I made the first logical drive bootable.

Last edited by ppcthug; 02-04-2005 at 03:38 PM.
 
Old 02-05-2005, 01:40 AM   #13
TigerOC
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Check the back of your monitor for the type and model as 1402S appears to be the system model number. You'll find details of the monitors they use at http://www.monitorworld.com/Monitors/packardbell/
 
Old 02-05-2005, 07:46 PM   #14
ppcthug
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I looked all over and didn't see anything else, added three pictures to the web page.

moniter

thats all there is to this thing
 
Old 02-06-2005, 05:52 AM   #15
TigerOC
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Since they don't give any tech specs e-mail their support desk and ask them specifically what the horizontal and vertical sync rates are. This is why I never buy commercial hardware packages.
 
  


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