When i try to startx i get this error, i basically try to reconfigure x from drafconf and XFdrake and when i go to test the video config i get could not determine screen layout? please can someone help me, i have been trying this for weeks now and am completely new to linux, would love to get it working to i can fiddle!

Have you made sure your hardware (video cards, monitor etc) is supported? Check the HCL section of this site.

I would also check the video card manufacturers website to see if they have any drivers available

I get this problem ....

What I do to fix this problem is simply wip out the monitors manual and run xfconfig as root
and set up XF86 myself.. and it works ... lol

ive tried these but still nothing? ive done xf86config, nothing, changed draf conf and XFdrake and nothing?! if anyone can help please do because i would really like to get linus going!

What hardware are you using can you give us some names to we can attempt to see what is wrong?

Make sure you *do* get your monitor's specifications! (On your monitor's manufacturer's site)

As root do cat /var/log/XFree86.0.log (numeric 0) | more and check the exact errors. The most common cause is that the hsync and vsync are not correct.

how do i enter "As root do cat /var/log/XFree86.0.log (numeric 0) | more " this in? i tried typing the whole thing in as root and i got an error about not recognising '(' or something?! and i got the closest match to my monitor i could for the sync modes they are something like
horizontal: 30 - 54
vertical: 50-150

any ideas?

my hardware is

-Celeron 667
-256mb PC-133 RAM (at 100mhz bus speed)
-60gb hard drive at 30gb cos of false format (IBM excelstor)
-ATI Radeon 32mb sdr PCI
-onboard Intel i810 graphics card disables in bios
-sound = Intel i810 i think but appears in windows as AC97
-Running win xp/mandrake 9.2 download edition dual boot with grub boot loader

thats all i can think to mention??

i also found out that the monitor i have is a Proview 572M and the product number is IZ-561, i have tried searching for it and cannot find anything on it, it was bought just into the year 2000 so is about 4 years old now??

i found these specs for the 562 on a website, but this is a newer version.

Details
Dot Pitch: 0.28mm
Recommend Resolution: 800*600@85Hz
Maximum Resolution: 1024*768@75Hz
Horizontal Frequency: 30-58KHz
Vertical Frequency: 50-160Hz
Dot Rate: 100MHz(typical)

at the prompt after the error starting X, type 'su' (without quotes) and enter passwd to become root.

then type 'cd /var/log'

then type 'ls' or 'ls | more' if it scrolls off screen

you should have a file called XFree86.#.log or something similar in there. type 'cat' followed by the filename. 'cat filename | more' allows you to scroll thru it and look for errors.

right, i done this cat/var thing and it come up with the errors above, so i deleted linux mandrake, reinstalled it but this time with my monitors exact specs which i had located on google, now when i startx i get no error but the monitor appears to do soemthing but then goes into standby mode almost, is this progress?

pelase help newbie!

this is what i have extracted from the config file, i didnt know what i was looking for so i took out what ever looked out of the ordinary, here goes:

(WW) option "XkbOptions" requires an string value

(WW) Radeon (0): Config file vrefresh range 31.5-60 not within DDC vrefresh range 30-55

(WW) Radeon (0): Config file vrefresh range 40-150 not within DDC vrefresh range 50-150

(!!) Radeon (0) for information on using the multimedia cabpabilities of this adapter, please visit http://gatos.sf.net


does this mean anything to anyone? the strings that i ignores all started with (**) and (II)

thankyou

Try using hsync=30-50 and vsync=50-150

Right, i tried them refresh rates and the screen appeared to do something when i tested it, but then it flickered and went into standby mode. Usually it just says unable to determine screen layout? does this mean its a graphics card problem? or is it still the monitor??