i am so confused!!
i installed linux mandrake 9.1 but my computer didn't have enough resources, so i did a text install. but when it starts up it has no graphical interface what so ever. it's all just white text on a black background. login is text, password text, and when i'm logged in it just stays the same. it's like being permently stuck in dos. please, is this supposed to happen? if it is how do i bring up something i can interact with?
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Apparently you aren't familiar with what Linux is. I'd have to suggest lots of reading before diving into using Linux.
If you post some of your hardware and video specs though, we'd probably be able to tell you how or if your video card is supported or not to get X working. |
um..
pentium pro-s 110mghz 32mb ram 2 gig drive not sure what my vid card is, pretty good though. um, if i need to read, then where do i get the stuff to read? |
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And not providing your type of video card, well, doesn't help much either really. I can't guess or assume since there are thousands of video cards out there. A good place for the howto's is at www.tldp.org Your machine though would be excellet to learn and use the console or command line, its much more powerful than DOS, as you can pretty much do anything that isn't graphical. |
startx
is the command to get to the GUI. However GNOME or KDE is going to take a long time to load if at all. I would suggest installing a lightweight window manager such as fluxbox http://www.fluxbox.org Here is a site that discusses different ones http://www.plig.org/xwinman |
Look here for distros that do not need a lot of RAM. You might want to try slackware.
http://old.lwn.net/Distributions/ |
i did the startx thing and it failed. it said it was unable to connect to x server and also something about a file and directory not existing.
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What file and directory? If you didn't install a window manager that is more lightweight its certainly not going to work. If you have broadband internet I would download an older version of Red Hat from
http://www.linuxiso.org or an older version of Slackware like michaelk suggested. |
this is exactly what it said:
execve failed for /etc/x11/x (errno30 giving up. xinit: no such file or directory (errno2): unable to connect to x server xinit: no such process (errno3):server error how would i go about installing a different window manager? |
Derek-kun,
Apparently you don't either read or take advice. My first response clearly states that either your video card isn't supported or configured properly. If you provided us with video card type, we may be of help to tell you if its actually supported or not. Second, I clearly believe that trying to install X from Mandrake 9.1, you are wasting your time as its so intense and will be slow, it will be just a waste of time and effort. But if you can find more information about your card, that would be greatly appreciated if you want to attempt to configure X. Darthtux, If your going to give advice, give good advice. Don't tell a member who hasn't even provided us with a video card type and having problems configuring X to just simply type startx and go download other Window Managers. How is that beneficial to him if X isn't even working yet for him. Let's worry about what the actual problem first, before we discuss telling them to go download a new manager, etc. Regards. |
i found out what my vid card is. it's a mach 64 vt.
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trickykid,
Please look back over the thread before posting a wrong rebuke. He said in the first post he installed and was at the command line and didn't know what to do to get to a GUI. So I correctly suggested to type startx. Then in Derek-kun second post he gave his system info. So, I suggested a lower memorty window manager. It was only after that that he said there was an error starting X. |
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I am just an anal person when it comes to helping others, I fix one thing then go on to the next step. This guy seems to be installing for the first time ever, if we jump the gun and tell him other things, its only going to make matters worse in confusing him. Telling him to install something or do something that clearly needs the first problem resolved first is only going to get him up and going faster, and it will educate him in the process. It would be like.. "I can't get connected to my network or internet, but can anyone help me install and configure apache for my webserver.. ?? " You got to go step by step, installing a new Window Manager should have been the last of the concerns, until we even get X working for the guy.... Regards.... |
Just a thought - does mdk even install a x server by default on hardware like this?
Besides this is really not going to work - don't care if you thow flux- black- or whatever other box on it. |
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I run Red Hat w/ 200mz CPU and 32MB of RAM. Boots into a GUI too. Is anybody going to tell my I'm imagining it? |
trickykid,
If he went ahead through a text installation and installed X, a window manger WOULD work on his setup and wouldn't be slow.. |
trickykid,
Just wanted to add, I can see why you wanted to take the troubleshooting route you did. :D |
I agree that you won't be able to work on KDE or Gnome (which are the most popular window manegers) even if you were able to install X and KDE for instance, you won't be able to grap your cursur to K button. Because it will be too slow. How do I know? I tried to install Mandrake7.1 to my P133, 80MB Ram, 2 MB S3 Trio video card system. And I couldn't stand its speed, it was very bad. Either as it is said before you should go and get an old window manager which doesn't require much sources, or you should do what I did. Go and get a new computer, if you have nough money !
Good luck |
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I installed RedHat (I think 6.2 ?) WITH the supplied kde and gnome versions once on a Pentium 75 (that's 75Mhz). It worked fine, I could even play the stupid arcade-gnome games. This was my first linux install ever and I didn't know what I was doing(not that I do now), but it worked fine with the graphical installation.
So the machine, 100Mhz, is a very good choice to "get an idea of what linux is". If I where you I would go immediately back to RedHat 6.2 or equivalent (slackware) OS's. good luck! |
I suggest going to your local bookstore and try getting a book that says something along the lines of "Learning Red Hat" or maybe Slackware. That's what I did and it even came with the disc. It takes you step by step through it. Linux isn't something you just want to dive into. Plus, if you don't like the whole command line thing, I wouldn't suggest Linux.
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