SuSE 9.0 can't start X after XP Pro scanned HD
 

I just installed SuSE 9.0 on my friend's new comp, alongside Win XP Pro on the same HD. Both were working fine, and we switched back and forth several times. Then, when we booted XP, it did some sort of disk scan. When we went into Linux after that, it couldn't start X. It showed the normal booting output, but when it tried to start X, the screen flashed between the text and a black screen. After that, a login prompt appeared in the console.

I'm fairly new to Linux (I first installed it a few months ago), and I don't know anything about X, so I'm not sure how to fix this. Any ideas? Thanks!

Hi there bwalsh!!

Welcome to LQ.org. I doubt that you problem is related with dual booting system: They both use it's own boot loader and runs from different partitions, so don't you worry about that ;).

Well, try the follow:

- boot up SuSE and let it do all the booting process. X will try to start and will fail as you've described above. Login as root when you reach the prompt (type "root", without the quotes. The password is the same you've chosen during the installation). When done, type at the prompt:

sax2

That'll call up SuSE's X configuration. You will need to re-enter monitor, graphics card and input devices again (just as you did when you've installed it). That should work.

I would also assume that this problem you have is due to a wrong shutdown of SuSE. To shutdown a .nix system, fire up a console/terminal and

- Login as root:
su

- Shutdown or reboot:
shutdown -h now

That will halt (h) the system. If you want to reboot, replace "h" for "r". That shall do it.

Good luck!

Thank you very much, Megaman! The problem has been solved.

Cool
 

Congratz mate ;).

An extra info though: if for some reason sax2 fails sometime in the future (or you decide to try another distro, since sax2 is a SuSE "only"(?) tool), you can manually edit the file "XF86Config-4" located at /etc/X11/. That file holds all info about your X server, including the mouse ;).

Cheers!