I have free copy of COREL linux that installed fine on PC with PCI Video card. But upgraded the system (disks and everything) and COREL does not like the AGP NVIDIA card at all.. goes into a totally unreadable screen during the install. is there a way to install this distribution in a 'text' only mode? (ie: some command line options etc..??)

thanks..

its been awhile since i even tried to install Corel, but at the boot when it first detects the install cd, if should give you a boot:
from there i believe you can type text or linux text to install with a text mode option. At least i know you can do this with redhat, mandrake ...etc...

I checked out corel linux website, their knowledge base is in the form of newsgroups, so i was unable to search for anything there, behind a firewall at work that prohibits my connection there. but you might want to search their site or newsgroups for more info. I would doubt they make their install without the option of doing it in a text mode.

http://linux.corel.com/support/online.htm is the site with links to their newsgroups.

good thought... i'm at work but will give it one more try when i get home... i don't recall if it gives me the boot: prompt or not... seems when i had another problem there was a '3 finger sequence' of some kind you had to enter to see alternate boot options.. (like failsafe etc..) not really sure there was even a 'text' mode option available in that menu... but... you are right... my mandrake and freebsd.. etc... give the user a brief time to reply to the boot: prompt and typically 'text' will enter text install mode..

thanks for the reminder...

ok... No boot: option, just splash screen.. option to override the splach is to hold shift key down for aprox 1 second when splash screen FIRST appears... but even then there are no 'install' OPTIONS from the resulting menu.. things like repair, alternative boot source.. (i'm guessing here) etc.. so looks like i'll have to try the web site..

thanks for your suggetion..

Corel does not have a text based install. Do yourself a favor and try another distro. Corel sucks anyway. I don't think it likes hardware very much. They used to have a hardware compatibility page but it was useless because some of the hardware on their page would not work with Corel. If you are looking for an easy gui install try Caldera or Mandrake.

Good luck!!!

P.S. If you are looking for cheap distros try linuxmall or linuxcentral. They have download versions of every flavor (except SuSE) for 2 or three bucks. Heck if you're really looking to go cheap I'll burn you a couple of distros for the price of a blank CD and postage.

someone here has a tag line -
software is like sex, it's better when its free.
well, you know what.. they are absolutely right.. :-) I'll look into those sites you mentioned and see if i can latch onto a caldera.... after all, from what i read COREL=CALDERA anyway... and your right, I'm not now and never was too impressed with the corel dist. but my gf liked it and it was going to go on that machine anyway... guess i'll put the mandrake on it and blow off the junk stuff..

your offer to burn and mail was really nice, thanks... but seems i can always find funds for those tech. items i find myself lusting over... maybe not always right away, but sooner or later.. :-)

thanx for the mail..

mike..

Hi,

I am trying to install Corel Linux 1.2 on a HP Vectra with Matrox Display adapter. When the HW detection is over and when it switches to GUI mode, nothing appears on the screen. I could feel some background activity on the system, though no display. Can somebody help me out on this? Also cd u let me know, if there is someway to perform a text-based installation of Corel 1.2?

Thanx in advance,


Muralee

The problem is probably your video card. Corel is notorious for not being compatable with many cards. Your problem is typical of many newsgroup threads and my own experimentation with Corel. There used to be a hardware compatability list on Corel's website. I am not sure if it is still there since they are not going forward with their distro. I have found that even if your card is listed as compatible it may not work. Certain Trident and SIS chips simply would not work. As far as I know and I have posted earlier, there is no way to do a text based install. I gave up on Corel long ago so by now some one may have found a workaround.

Good Luck!!