white screen with suse on compaq

adribob · 01-26-2005, 05:23 PM

I have a compaq evo n400c and want to try Linux for the first time. I'm installing suse personal 9.1. (Win 98 already installed) My problem i think is that its not recognising or offering video drivers (ATI Tech Inc 3D Rage P/M Mobility AGP2x) so when the installation starts up you get a screen in green with suse logo on it, see a loading line move across the screen then the screen goes an opaqueish white.

Can anyone suggest what the problem might be and how to resolve it?

mjrich · 01-26-2005, 06:07 PM

Your /etc/X11/XF86Config-4 file probably needs some TLC. I'd back up the existing one, and give this one a go. (Incidentally, www.linux-laptops.net is usually the best place to go when you have troubles with laptops running linux). So, when you reach that white screen, press CTRL-ALT-F3 to switch to another console, login as root, and:

Code:

cd /etc/X11/
mv XF86Config-4 XF86Config-4.bak
mount /floppy
cp /floppy/XF86Config-4 .
umount -l /floppy
exit
startx

This assumes that you've downloaded the config file onto a floppy, and renamed it to XF86Config-4. It also assumes that your floppy is mounted at /floppy, which may not be the case (I'm on my Debian system at the moment) - it might be /media/floppy or /mnt/floppy. Or you could put it onto a re-writable cd, and mount it via mount /cdrom, mount /media/cdrom etc.

Cheers,

mj