LinuxQuestions.org - x starts i think, but screen remains blacked out

as alluded to in the description, i am not at all sure xserver(?) has even started.

i started with fresh install and startx, something started and the screen filled with a some graphical screen but was contorted top to bottom. so i tried to fix it.

i started with running xorgconfig, startx and screen full of info and noted problems and locked up. i looked in xorg.0.log and it noted on the first three lines:

_XSERVTransSocketOpenCOTSServer: Unable to open socket for inet6
_XSERVTransOpen: transport open failed for inet6/KACI:0
_XSERVTransMakeAllCOTSServerListeners : fails to open listener for inet6

then continues with X Window System Version etc...

it also noted a problem with line 48 of xorg.conf, which turns out to be the horizontal description a_string_of_numbers - 52.0. (the vertical description did not have two listings. the next line was
another horizontal description. but listed as a range, but not the numbers listed in the monitor
manual, and the next line lists the vertical description in a normal fashion. i removed the odd
horizontal line and tried startx again. this time there was no complaints, but the screen flickers
once then the monitor info window pops up on the screen stating: "no video signal", then pops off and the screen remains black or possibly dark blue and locks up the machine, i am unable to ctrl-F1 to a cmd line to try to find a problem. there is some sort of video signal being generated because the blue power on light for the monitor stays blue, it turns orange when there is no signal. the log still notes the same first three lines noted above.

i tried changing window managers in my .xinitrc thinking there might be something wrong with start up scripts but even the basic twm ends with the same result. i went to the xorg site but had zero idea what to look for.

any thoughts on what is happening, and/or where to look for info to fix it will be helpful. thank you