Okay, after getting sick of trying to get OpenLinux to work (tried installing over 50 times, not ONCE did I ever see a GUI). I've moved my attention over to Mandrake. I was sold from the very moment I laid eyes on the installation (my mouse worked whereas it will not in any OpenLinux installation). So I installed it all great and dandy with no problems, until I try to boot. When it reboots it comes to a point after switching video modes like 3 times that it just stops and hangs on a blank screen, no error message no nothing. When I try to boot with linux-ftps (or whatever it is) or "failsafe" it stops at one particular kernal (can't recall right now but will post it if it can be helpful).

The very first time I tried to boot Mandrake it worked great! I went into the GUI and moved around a bit before having to leave. Just before I left I ran into a roadblock, I was trying to configure my TV card to work with linux but something went wrong and the whole system froze, and ever since I haven't been able to boot up Mandrake (I attempted to reinstall 1 time).

Any ideas what the hell is wrong?!? All I want is for linux to work!!!

read up on XF86Config, that is the file you will need to edit to get you vid working. At bootup, in lilo, enter linux 3, that will put you at the command line, you can run utilities to configure X or edit /etc/XF86Config manually(depending on what version of X you are using...4 uses a different file...something like XF86Config-4)

You should give more info, what kind of graphics card you have, whats the rest of your system like...CPU, MHz, RAM, HD....you get the idea....

Well I tried all the options on the list on lilo, none will work. I tried reinstalling again and when I rebooted it brought up the "Welcome" screen, I was screaming for joy when I saw it, then it started acting funny. A lot of numbers (I think they were cluster addresses or something, it was sorta like the "failsafe" loading sequence) started flashing down at the bottom and it just kept going and going and going and going (never stopped). So I rebooted the machine (just for the record ctrl-alt-del didn't work so I had to do a cold-boot) and then again I got the blank screen.

According Mandrake my card should work fine but here is my comps specs, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR RESPONSE BTW!

CPU: AMD K6-2 550 MHz
MEM: 256 MB (actually 512 but my motherboard only recognizes single memory sticks up to a 128 so it ends up only being half)
VID: ATI RAGE FURY 128 w/32 mb of memory

OH! And one other note, I haven't been able to configure my network card because it apparently isn't supported (SMC Elite 16) just in case if that has anything to do with the problem. I tell the installation to install the network client software and when it comes to the network client installation part I just "cancel" out of it...

Thanks again for your help, I'm a Linux newbie but pretty PC savvy so don't be afraid to use technical terminology.


EDIT: I can't get to a command line unless there's a way to force lilo to send me into one

Hit Tab when lilo comes up, then type linux3 or linux 3... one of those will put you into runlevel 3, which is the Command line.

Where did you install lilo???? to the MBR or to hda, and do you have a boot partition at the beginning of the drive?? Just curious.

As for the graphics card, well I was never able to get that one working... take heart though, Im no expert, so I'm sure its possible. But look at the list of supported graphics cards, I think every ATi card is supported except for this one!

Your best bet is to work on one thing at a time, so whichever is more important to you, focus on that.

Good Luck

Okay, I'll do the tab thing in lilo.

OH! As for the ATI video card, its a widely supported video card. I actually went back through the installation and did an "expert install" and did a video test which was successful so I'm positive its not the video card. Although my dad thinks that perhaps my TV card is conflicting, both my TV card and video card are ATI's, Mandrake actually misdetects it and won't let me try to select another card. Perhaps there is a driver problem...

Try this for your NIC

http://www.linuxnewbie.org/nhf/intel...icmodules.html

And take out your TV card while setting up everything else. You can add it later, that way you will know whats going on better.

Good Luck

Okay here's the current status of things:
1) I hit tab while in lilo and it does not do anything
2) I put in a 3com NIC and got it working so that's no problem (except that Windows can't recognize it)
3) I tried an installation without the TV card and it didn't make a difference
4) When I did the installation with the 3com card (which it DID successfully find and recognize) when I rebooted I got that "Welcome screen" (has 'welcome' in about 30 different lanuages) and it had the funky cluster addresses at the bottom. I took a picture with my digital camera and will post the pic as soon as I get the chance
- after that occurred when I tried to reboot again, I once again got the infamous black screen
5) I tried installing the linux using a considerably lower resolution (even though I knew it could handle the one I normally choose)

Sorry for the list, thanks man you're helping more than you think :-)

where did you install lilo??? try hitting ESC to get into text mode, if that works then you can type linux 3 to boot into runlevel 3 which is just a text logon.

One more thing that is very important.... YOu need to disable Plug and Play in the BIOS if you can. Hit Delete or F1 during boot up to get there. This could be a big cause of your problems if its on. I should have thought of it sooner. If it's there and you can turn it off, then re-install after that.... you'll be an install pro soon enough!!

Lemme know

Okay I'll try disabling Plug and play, ummmm mind me asking how that will help or is it just some freak thing that's no one can explain but some how it fixes some problems?

I'm considering buying a new network card because I can't get either of my network cards to work (they're pretty old anyway)...should I get the network card BEFORE reinstalling or try it with the 3com which Linux managed to recognize?

P.S.
Think I installed lilo on hda, not mbr...it didn't ask me where I wanted it so I'm assuming that's where Mandrake put it...

Well, plug and play in the bios lets Windows manage and arrange all your IRQ's and other system resources. Linux is NOT PnP compatible, it uses different methods of controlling the resources asigned to hardware. The only time you need PnP on, is when you are installing windows, or adding hardware....when you boot, it automatically detects the hardware and asks for dirvers. Linux won't do this. Once windows is set up, it has a configuration that works, so PnP can be off, and it won't affect windows.

In order for Linux to detect and configure all your hardware, you need to have PnP off.

Try a re-install before yo ubuy another nic.

During the re-install, pay attention to the Lilo part, there WILL be an option somwhere to install it to the MBR.

Lemme know how it goes, I have a feeling things will go much better for you with PnP disabled.

Also, check out linuxnewbie.org, its a great BBS, similar to this one, but there are NHF's Newbieized Help Files, that explain step by step, many parts of linux

Okay, well as it turns out I already had Plug and Play disabled...well just as a shot in the dark I tried installing Mandrake after enabling PnP but I get the exact same problem. I've given up on Mandrake on this particular machine, I read more about it today and in spite of the fact that I can't get it to run I love it more than ever, it's definitely my favorite distribution.

None-the-less...I've given up on Mandrake [for now] and I'm downloading the Corel Linux ISO as we speak.

Thank you so much for your help its just that I've got some pretty crappy luck with linux (I've installed Linux literally over 50 times and only seen the OS's GUI once)

Thanks again, sorry the problem was never resolved but after a dozen reinstalls of Mandrake I've decided I'm not doing watching that installation any more...I'll letcha know how Corel Linux turns out...

Sorry to hear that, you might want to give SuSE a try, its excellent at finding and donfiguring hardware. Version 7.2 is out now, but 7.1 will do fine also.

Good Luck, look me up if you have any questions

I looked instensly for another distribution to try, the only thing that kept me from trying suse is the fact that an "intel" computer you can only get 7.2 in an evaluation version unless you purchase it. Now, I don't know what the "evaluation" limitation is but I figured I'd just move on and select another distribution...

Well, I understand that one of the main ideas behind why some people try linux is that it's free, but when you look at in the long term, it will be important to support companies like SuSE. They are actively making linux as a whole better for all. Spending 30 bucks is MUCH less than 150 for windows, and it is supporting a good cause. You would be able to tell if you got it that the people working on it are getting paid....

The choice of course is yours, but I would still give it a try ...

best of luck....

MIke

The only thing that keeps me from buying a copy of any distribution of linux is that I have bad luck with it. No matter what distribution I try, there's always something wrong with my system and it never works. I tried installing Corel Linux and when I went to boot up I had a full screen of 0s and 1s zooming by the screen. I bought Caldera OpenLinux 2.2 a couple years ago for something outrageous like $60 bucks and it never worked (still doesn't)...but I assure you, once I find one that works...I'll buy it...