Suse 10.0 Install: Can't get graphics to work
 

Hi there,

I'm a complete novice to Linux so bear with me. I've tried installing Suse 10.0 from a DVD on Linux Format magazine. All went well until after the hardware configuration. It said the desktop would load but instead the screen went blank. A message came up on the monitor "Mode not supported H: 255.7 KHz V: 239.9 Hz".

I was able to boot it up in failsafe mode and tried the "sax2" command to try and configure the graphics card but the screen just froze. My last attempt to solve the problem was to carry out an update to the installation using the DVD. However, that didn't solve the problem and now I can't even boot up in failsafe mode. Could anyone suggest what the best thing to do next is?

Many thanks in advance for any help,

Mike.

As long as no damage was done to your graphics card or monitor, an option you could try is a repair.

Boot up off the DVD following a similar path to what you did to install.
You should get an option at some point to choose "repair".

Follow the instructions as they appear on the screen until completed.

When done run YaST or SAX2 again. Try to find your monitor and graphics card in the listings.

H: 255.7 KHz V: 239.9 Hz seems very high even for a CRT monitor and is way above what a TFT should run at so if your monitor is not listed choose one of the standard types and you wont be far off. If you have the documentation for your monitor it should specify the horizontal and vertical scan rates and it is possible to set these manually in SAX if they vary from the available models. Damage is possible if excessive scan rates are set so beware!

If the screen goes black/wonky/unreadable, kill the X-server by ctl-alt-backspace to get to a command prompt and try again.

Good luck.

Thanks for the quick reply prj,

I tried the repair option and all seemed to go well with the system shutting down and reboot started. However, the failsafe option is still not booting up. The system seems to be trying to load an installation screen (the "back", "abort" and "next" buttons appear on the bottom of the screen) but it freezes every time and the ctl-alt-backspace combo doesn't shift it. I think my attempt to carry out an update to the installation yesterday was a mistake as that is when this latest error surfaced.

Would it be best to try and delete Suse and start afresh again or do you have any other options. Not that keen to try the former option as I'm afraid I'll delete Windows by accident.

Cheers, Mike.