I have a Gateway Solo 1450 that powers up but I get no visual nor sounds. The fan is running on it and the battery is fine. I tried to go into the bios settings when I first powered it up but I couldn't get a visual on the monitor. What should I do? Someone please help me, I am but a student and cant afford the cost of repair. And since I'm a newbie, I can't post a link but I have it if you need it.

Thanks to whomever comes to my rescue!!!

I do not understand your question, but as a guess, did you just install (or try to install) Linux and then lost your video? Did something else happen? (A little more history is necessary, including the version of Linux, the amount of RAM, hard drive space, etc. in your laptop.)

WE need more info. Was or did the laptop work with windoze? Was it working with Linux and then monitor quit? When you tried to access the bios what happened? Give as much info as you can, it will be helpful.

does your laptop post?

It worked with Linux, and then the visual was lost. Gateway sent the OS boot disk and the drivers disk with it but I can't see the screen to do anything on it. Its like it doesn't fire up. I can cut it on and I can't see if windows is booting up or anything.

Specifications for the Gateway Solo 1450 Notebook

Processor and core logic
Processor options
One Intel ® Celeron-T™ CPU 1.3 GHZ

Processor packaging
Intel micro-FCPGA

Level 2 cache
384 K integrated SRAM L2 cache (Celeron)

Processor side bus
133 MHz processor side bus

BIOS
Phoenix BIOS
512 KB Flash ROM
SMBIOS (DMI) 2.3 support
ACPI 1.0b support

System memory
Memory type
Synchronous DRAM system memory

Memory expansion options
Two 144-pin industrial standard
SO-DIMM sockets
Accepts two PC-133 memory modules
No on-board memory
1024 MB maximum system memory

Video
Graphics controller
Intel 4x AGP graphics core (chipset integrated)
2D hardware acceleration

Video memory
Uses Dynamic Video Memory Technology (DVMT)

8 MB frame buffer allocated by BIOS at POST
If the system has at least 128 MB memory, DVMT allows 32 MB in the OS.
If the system has at least 256 MB memory, DVMT allows 48 MB in the OS.

LCD display panel
14.1-inch active matrix (TFT) XGA (LVDS)

Variable backlight brightness
(three level)
Maximum panel resolution: 1024 × 768
Maximum color depth: 24-bit
(16.7 million colors)
Maximum refresh rate: 60 Hz
Panning is supported at higher resolutions

External video
Supports exclusive or simultaneous LCD/external monitor modes.

External CRT resolutions and
color depth
640 × 480 × 8/16/32-bit colors
800 × 600 × 8/16/32-bit colors
1024 × 768 × 8/16/32-bit colors
1280 × 1024 × 8/16/32-bit colors
1600 × 1200 × 8/16/32-bit colors
1920 × 1440 × 8/16-bit colors

External CRT maximum
refresh rate
85 Hz

Audio
Audio chipset
ESS 1988 Allegro PCI audio

Sound support
Multi-stream DirectSound and DirectSound 3D Acceleration
Sensaura CRL Positional 3D
NOTE: This notebook does not have an internal microphone.

Volume controls
Volume and mute functions are keyboard controlled
Software control provided through Windows

Internal speakers
Stereo speakers built into front of chassis.
1.0 watt maximum output.

Audio jacks
Stereo headphone output
Monophonic microphone input

Communications
Modem
Silicon Labs Si3038 chipset (BCM4124 codec; Si3014-KS global line side device)

Modem features
V.92/K56 data; V.17 fax soft modem
Wake On Ring/Caller ID support
AC'97 2.1 compliant internal design
Broadcom/Askey Mobile Daughter Card (MDC) design
Uses the RJ-11 jack on the left side of the notebook

10/100Mbps Ethernet interface
Integrated IEEE 802.3u (10/100 BASE-TX) Ethernet interface
Incorporates Intel ICH3-M integrated LAN controller and i82562ET Platform LAN Connect (PLC) device
Uses the RJ-45 jack on the left side of the notebook

Wireless Ethernet interface
(Factory installed option)
Actiontec IEEE 802.11b network module

Wireless Ethernet features
Uses factory installed internal diversity antenna assembly (two antennas with omni-directional radiation pattern)
2400 MHz - 2483.5 MHz Direct Sequence Spread Spectrum
40 bit (minimum) WEP and 128 bit RC4 security

Input/Output (I/O)
Keyboard controller
National PC87570 Keyboard and Power Management controller

Keyboard
U.S. English keyboard
19 mm × 19 mm key pitch
3.0 mm keystroke
Liquid-resistant design

Pointing device
Gateway EZ-Pad™ touchpad; 1000 points/inch minimum resolution
Alps Electric 4-button design (left/right mouse; up/down scroll)

Programmable keys
Four programmable "hot keys" (default functions: launch e-mail, launch Web browser, launch help application, user definable)

Status indicators
Caps lock
PAD lock
Scroll lock
Hard Drive access
Diskette drive access
CD/DVD drive access
Power/Suspend
Battery status

Input/Output (I/O) ports
2 USB 1.1 (4-pin)
IEEE 1284 parallel port (D-25)
V.92 56K Modem (RJ-11)
10/100 Ethernet (RJ-45)
External monitor (high density D-15)
Stereo headphone output (stereo pin-jack)
Monophonic microphone input
(monaural pin-jack)
PC Card sockets (one Type II or Type III)
DC input

PCMCIA
Accepts one Type II or Type III card

16-bit PC Card support
32-bit CardBus support
O 2 Micro OZ6912 ACPI Card Bus controller
NOTE: This notebook does not support Zoom Video.

Mini PCI
One Type 3A socket accessible through bottom of the chassis

Storage
Hard drive controller
Integrated in Intel 82801CAM I/O controller Hub 3 (ICH3-M)
Bus Master capability and synchronous DMA mode
100 MB/s maximum data transfer rate
PIO mode IDE transfer rates up to 16 MB/s

Hard drive 30GB
User removable
2.5-inch diameter
9.5 mm height

Optical drive
CD-RW

Super I/O controller
National PC87393 Super I/O device
LPC bus interface
X-Bus extension

Diskette drive
Supports 3.5-inch, 1.44 MB capacity diskettes
Data transfer rates up to 500 Kbps
Non-removable design

Power
Intelligent charger
Maintains dynamically adjusted current flow for optimum charge

AC adapter
19 VDC, 3.16 A, 60 W output
Automatically adjusts for 100 to 230 VAC, 47 to 63 Hz power source
3-wire design; includes power LED

Battery type
Removable eight-cell NiMH with embedded smart battery controller

Battery capacity
8-cell NiMH:
3800 mAH @ 9.6 volts (36.5 W)

Battery life varies depending on configuration, programs, power management settings, and features used. Recharge time varies, depending on usage.

Power management
ACPI v1.0b support
Pentium III CPU supports Intel® Speedstep™ technology

Controls
Keyboard-activated pop-up display gives battery charge as a percentage remaining
Icon on taskbar shows battery charge as a percentage remaining.

Power switch
Power On/Off or Suspend/Resume
(selectable in setup)

Reset hole
Resets whole system if notebook can not recover by power switch. Hole is located on the bottom of the chassis.

Lid switch
LCD On/Off or Suspend/Resume

Security
Passwords
Power-on password
(2-level password support)
Hard drive access password

Physical
Main system memory compartment screw
Hard drive bay screws
Kensington® security slot

System software
Operating system
Microsoft® Windows® XP Home Edition

System management
SMBIOS 2.3 BIOS support

Quick boot
Supported

Physical specifications
Dimensions
~12.6 × 10.4 × 1.6 inches (W×D×H)
~320 × 264 × 41 mm (W×D×H)

System weight
~6.16 lbs (2.79 kg) with 128 MB RAM and
8-cell battery

AC adapter weight
13 ounces (370 g)

Here are a few ideas, in the order in which you should consider them.

1. You were asked if the laptop posts. That is, do you get some kind of a splash screen with perhaps one or two text notices to hit <Esc> or <F2> to enter the BIOS? If it does not, the problem has to do with the computer itself, not Linux. If you are new, I do not think there is enough space in a forum to go through all the possibilities that may be going wrong. If you can get into the BIOS, you might look around and tell us if you see anything that looks unusual. You may not be familiar with everything, but some BIOSes will put errors in a different color to make them more visible.
2. I noticed the laptop supports external video. Do you have a computer monitor you can hook up to your laptop and see if you get an image?
3. Try a repair install. Insert the installation disk in the CD drive and restart the computer. You still have not mentioned the Linux distribution you are using, but I am reasonably sure all of them have a "repair" option.

did your computer come with linux already on it?
when you push your pwer button do you hear the fan start up and the hdd light turn on? do you hear any beeps if so is it just one beep or several beeps?

Thanks guys for all of your help but I actually figured it out. I needed a new motherboard. Mine was fried.

I am sorry to learn the news. At least you have "closure." Good luck getting things fixed.

Thanks hopefully it won't be so bad.