finally, at the console!! this thing has never made less sense!:(
 

i left my errors in parenthesis for other newbies with same problem

the problem i had was after choosing my selection from Lilo Graphic, (do not mount bootloader on windows HD, yes i made that mistake) i would get a msg saying something about not enough ram. i had also passed a msg on to kernel linux mem=1024m. (be sure to use caps for the "M") only detected 896M. at the end of the installation, i had always left "enable xfree to start at bootup. leave this as "no" if you get a blanks screen after making your selection.

now im at the console after login, alt+f1 thru f6 reveal the same thing, a console waiting to log you on. hitting escape twice reveals a VERY numerous list of commands to use, over 2,000. the book said f7 would reveal my desktop, and it did not. just a blinking cursor. ive been bxtching about getting this thing installed for sometime now, and thanks for putting up with me, but ive been reading and it would seem the book leads me to a dead end.

where do i go now LQ? im starting to understand options and arguments, but not nearly enough. thanks.

btw, i had a bounty out for $$ if anyone would get it going, thanks for not responding, i really needed the self satisfaction of getting it going.

the last time i was at a console was typing "dosshell" or C:\windows. thanks again LQ.

The next step would be to configure X and get it running. After you get X running and switch to a virtual console, then alt-F7 will take you back to the x session.

You will need to get the video card driver installed, so I hope you have installed kernel-sources and the compiler.

# Configuring X
Linux Hardware Compatibility HOWTO - video cards
The Linux XFree86 HOWTO
Configuring XFree86 for a Non-Specific Linux Distribution
Common X configuring tools:
Debian - dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xfree86
Mandrake - XFdrake
Red Hat Linux 9: Red Hat Linux Reference Guide Chapter 7. The X Window System
Redhat 7.3 down - the setup utility leads to several config tools
Redhat 7.3 up - redhat-config-xfree86
You may have one or more of these tools:
XF86Setup
XFree86 -configure
Xconfigurator
xf86cfg
xf86config
xconf
ATI Linux drivers
If you need the nVidia driver, you want the Linux IA32 driver unless you just bought the new AMD 64 bit CPU

# Mandrake links
Mandrake home page
Mandrake Users website
Easy urpmi config for Mandrake
urpmi mini-HOWTO
All You Ever Wanted to Know About Urpmi But Never Dared Asking Before
Easy software management: Red Carpet
Maximum RPM
rpmfind
You didn't install the developmental packages? As root, command:
urpmi gcc
An Introduction to the Midnight Commander. You can install it by commanding:
urpmi mc
Midnight Commander home page

I thought you had it going because you never returned after my last post.

Well you are sitting and staring at a black screen with a blinking cursor and a login prompt. Sounds to me like you have come a long way since I last heard from you.

Have you tried startx? You should try it first, you might be suprised.

when i said thanks for not replying, i meant taking up my offer on the bounty. you helped me out too, but its not what got the console going.

thats kinda funny story. i used to date a foreign exchange student when she was here from holland. yes...she did smoke. but her boyfriend munching on a sandwich looked over at the screen where i was griping about linux, and he said "teb him *munch munch* to turn obb ech" turn off x.

but now mr. fancypiper says to configure x to get a console going. am i going to have to do this every time i boot up linux? piper, it looks like you really put some effort into replying to my thread, i dont know if it will help me or not, but it deserves a chunk. ive never used affero before. so ill give it a shot. thanks again.

billy bob-ye-haw

hm...yeah... ugh. im in the process of switching banks right now, so i dont have an atm card just yet. they dont take paypal, but do you take checks? how about ill get it to you after xmas. (good reading material btw)

No, you don't need X running unless you want to use GUI apps. You can survive nicely in command line.

Most distros are configured for 6 virtual consoles, accessed by alt-F1 through alt-F6.

In command line, I use wvdial to connect the modem to the internet.

I use the combo of sendmail/fetchmail/mutt for e-mail and links for web browsing.

For file management/editing/+other tools, I use Midnight Commander, for downloading I use wget and my cd burning/copying/audio encoding, I use the command line.

It sounds like you have a pretty noisy system...:p

i would get a msg saying something about not enough ram. i had also passed a msg on to kernel linux mem=1024m. (be sure to use caps for the "M") only detected 896M.

Sorry about the little m, but I got my info straight from the Bootprompt HOWTO.

You should go back to the original thread and post what you did to fix the problem in case someone is searching with the same problem.

hear ye hear ye, i have seen the screen. after xf86config, i did startx, and got a red screen. i nearly fell out of my chair only to see a prompt telling me its not a good idea to log in using root. hehe yeah, i forgot to log out of it after messing with x. even so, i was so excited about the prospect of doing the processes on my own, that i screamed so loud my wife came running.

i then logged in as a user. lol!! fun times ahead!
thanks again!.

"hell, it only took me 3 months, but its a big accomplishment towards putting an end to MS dependency for me."