I am new to linux and I installed Red Hat 9. I couldn't use the graphical installation so I used the text version. I am running windows XP as well as Red Hat and I use a boot disc to run linux.

My problem is that when i go to boot up linux it starts to load and then once it gets to the graphical part my screen goes blank. There isn't any signal going to my monitor. I have nVidia Geforce 5600 and i am very confused.

I hope to get it running soon but i an close to just giving up. I was planning on switching over to linux if i could get it running but it isn't going too well.

If I were you I'll fix it like this
1. Boot your computer using the RH9 cd. At the prompt type "linux rescue"
2. cd into your / . If I'm not mistaken it's at /mnt/sysimages during rescue mode but you have to double check this.
3. then edit the /etc/inittab. Change the default runlevel to 3 like this..Please becareful not to mess with other lines
.
.
.
# Default runlevel. (Do not set to 0 or 6)
id:3:initdefault:
.
.
This will make you login through console,
4. Reboot and login. At the command prompt type "startx". This will tried to start up your x server. If anything goes wrong , the errors will be printed to the screen then you can troubleshoot it or post the errors here...

Also...

Write down what kind of monitor you have and head over to:
www.monitorworld.com .

You will need to look up your vertical and horizontal sync rates so you can put them in when you run xf86config to configure X-Windows

Hope that helped.

Peace,
Whitehat

once you have your monitor set-up right, you could give the latest nvidia linux drivers a shot, if you want...

http://www.nvidia.com/object/linux.html

i am just about to give up... now i know why nobody uses linux

thats a rather broad statement ....


but anyways, are you saying after getting all your hardware specs, and re-running xf86config, you still have these problems, and if you did in fact do this and you also do in fact want help, then what were the errors in the logs .?

i have no clue how to do anything i was told to do... i thought i did it but nothing ever happened... if you can tell me step by step what to do, that would be great. Just don't tell me to do stuff that a new linux user (technically i havn't used it yet) wouldn't know.

after i boot up linux my monitor's signal goes away and nothing happens.

well first off take linuxlah's advice to get into the terminal
that is step by step and i can't elaborate on that anymore then it is
then take whitehats advice, which he said to go to any site, not necessarily the one he supplied, but any for that matter, and find out what the vertical and horizontal frequencies are for you monitor ... when you get that info
then do what linuxlah said and boot to console ...
then log in as root
you will type su - and then your root password
then type :
xf86config
and simply just follow the steps, you will be asked questions such as mouse, keyboard type, video card type, video card memory, and video card driver to use (you will pick NVIDIA generic at this step) ..and then the part about manually entering the horizontal and vertical frequencies for you monitor ... and then the last step is just specifying what color depth and resolution you wish to use ...
then exit and save, and when you switch back to your normal user (log off from root)
and type startx
and hopefully your desktop environment will load .... and if it doesn't it will boot you back to the console and this will be the point where you go into the logs (located at /var/log/xfree86.0.log ) and tell us what the errors are ..... hopefully this isn't the case

after i get to the prompt how do i edit the /etc/inittab ?

well you have to use a text editor, such as vim ...
i suggest reading about how vim works before diving in, because for a first time user, and can be pretty scary
but if you have something like pico then you will have much more ease ..

but the syntax will be the same for any but i will use vim in my example, and you type:
vim /etc/inittab
and then do your editing ... i'll give you a low down on what keys you will need to know, but i do suggest doing more in depth reading cause i will be only breifing ...
so after you type the above command to get into the file, you then press the error keys to navigate to the line that says
id:5:initdefault:
and then press the right arrow to have the insertion point to the left of the 5 and press
which will delete the 5, then press
to get into insert mode and then type :
to change the use to be 5 to a 3
5 = graphical login
3 = text based login
then after you type the 3 press :
to get out off insertion mode and then type either :
OR
to save and exit the file ... i am pretty sure i covered everything, but thats what i suggest reading a little about vi(m) before diving in, just to get a low down of it ..
i was just tracing steps in my head, so i may have missed something, and i didn't proofread ;-)

OK... I got to /etc/inittab and there was nothing there
i couldn't scroll down to anthing. It was completly empty. So what should i do now?

never mind... i needed to change the root then i got it.
BUT NOW... i get to the login and i have no idea what the login name is... i think i set up the password when i installed redhat. What do i do?

i found out how to log in using root and the password now i type startx at the prompt and my screen goes blank and has no signal. what do i do now? I do not know how to check the logs... i am not even sure if i can?

well that is why we changed the inittab to boot to runlevel 3 ... for the next time you boot up you will be brought directly to the command prompt .. now when you put up, and like i said above, navigate to /var/log/xfree86.0.log and check the log file ...
the lines will start with (EE) where the errors occured ...
and did you do everything correctly in the xf86config setup screens?
did you pick "nvidia generic" for your video card driver, and did you manually set the H and V frequencies for your monitor?

I did change the inittab to boot on runlevel 3.
I could not figure out how to get to xf86config.
I login using root and the password. I did not understand how to use the su - command. what does that do? So i am still confused. I do have my monitor frequencies though.