Newbie - Mandrake 9.2 boots to a screen full of 9's
 

Ok guys I have been looking at forum and support sites for this issue. I am a tech savey guy, been building systems for 10 years. This is my first imte using any type of Linux OS. Here is what has happened.


System stats

P2b mother board
p3 500mhx processor
128mb ram
32mb Stealth PCI 32mb graphics card
10gb maxtor HDD (used to have a 2.5gb)
generic CDROM


INstallation went smoothly the 3rd time then when it rebooted it postedd adn recognized my HD and CDROM went to boot to Mandrake and I all get is pairs of 9's across the screen, like this"

99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 and so on.

please help this is annoying.

Sounds like and Xserver problem to me. Is that a Diamond video card? I need more info on the card.

Perhaps the 9 key is stuck.
Sounds like you need to make sure your video card is supported.
Are you booting into x windows or a command prompt?
Any card should get you to a command prompt.
Try holding down the ctrl and alt keys and hitting backspace if you are booting to a windows like system. This should take you to a terminal window.
Most systems have a program called fx86config which is invoked from the command prompt.
This pgm helps you configure your system for x windows.
When this is done enter startx.
Anyway this works in slackware.
Hope this helps, James

Ok now i feel completely stupid due to the fact that I didn't think about that nor did I remember that I have been having and error at boot with a stuck key. I guess i didnt' think about since the 9's are in pairs and have a space between them.

But back to your reply

The system doesn't contain Windows at all it is its own box seperate from my home network right now.


I am not sure what I am supposed to be booting to I was under the assumption that I was booting to KDE.


BTW big nate it is a Daimond Multimedia Stealth 2000 3D. I didn't intstall any server services or installs. I was just trying to get my feet wet so to speak.

when I say x windows I mean xfree86 which is the graphic user interface used to run window managers such as kde.
The program I spoke of is called xf86config , sorry for the typo.
Do you get a prompt like root@suchandsuch:~# ???
can you clear the screen with the 'clear' command?
If so then you are in a terminal window.
Regards, James

No i don't get anything like that. I get "L 99 99 99 99 99 etc." I cant type and I am not getting the stuck key error at all. double check BIOS no errors in the error log. I also pulled the KB out of the KVM switch and plugged it directly in to the PS2 port, didn't change anything. tried another KB same thing.

think I should try the install again?

OK I think i figured I where I screwed up. i tried the reinstall again and instead of selecting a USB mouse (since i have one that in a KVM port) I selected a generic since the KVM switch is PS/2. Then when it came to the boot for some reason the last time i installed I tried putting the boot file on the partion instead of the MBR. I changed that to MBR and I got in fine once the install rebooted. I feel kinda retarded not thinking that way before. i thought it would be alot different than windows and I wasn't thinking basic tech skills. thanks for the help!!!!

Good deal!