So I had my settings set to 800x600 (redhat 7 professsional workstation) then i changed them, then i changed them agian. now when i restarted i got this message "cannot display This video mode" and now i can't even log in to change it back!?! how do i fix it? any help would be appreciated, thanks!

Get a live CD (such as Knoppix or Mepis or maybe even Mandrake Move) and use it to edit your /etc/X11/XF86Config).

i'm sorry i'ma total newb and i was lookin for more like step by step instructions. i mean i have the install disk. could i use those any way?

I'm really not up to giving you step-by-steps, if only because I don't have a RH7 installation to consult.
At this point I can make only two suggestions:

1. google XF86Config or XF86Config-4 & learn how to correct its contents, or
2. re-install.

The latter is surely the faster alternative & may be the more satisfactory though it will teach you little.
But once you have a working installation you have access to its docs & little sense of urgency. You
might also consult your friendly neighborhood public library.

Best wishes.


P.S.: If you can boot a live CD such as Knoppix or Mepis, use it to copy your /etc/X11/XF86Config (or
Config-4, whichever you have) to your XP partition and then post it here an RH user may be able to
help you.

thanks for the help. Luckly i didn't have anything on the rh partition. so i just reformatted it. Thanks for the help though.

Hi,

My problem is that I run into problems during installation - even in linux text mode!

I am trying into install Redhat 8.0 on an ex-windows machine with a Dell Flat screen monitor. During the initial boot procedure my screen goes blue and hangs. So I don't get far enough to start editing various config files.

I've tried various different monitor settings, but to no avail. Bizzarly, if I try with Mandrake the installation proceeds ok. However I do prefer Redhat and this is what I want to get working.

This set me thinking. How does the PC/monitor configuration get established during the boot process. Is it the computer BIOS or the OS software, that you're trying to install, which dictates? The only BIOS options on my machine are API or PCI and a choice of 1 or 8 Mb or RAM - none of which solve the problem.

Due to the fact that I've been installing Mandrake, then back to Windows, etc. etc. (a painful merry-go-round) I have sometimes been able to get past the blue screen but then I get the "Cannot display this video mode" message when testing the video settings.

If I revert back to the original Windows Home Edition OS then I'm back to square one.

Please help!!!

Regards.

The message "Cannot display this video mode" originates in the monitor & means that
the video controller is trying to drive the monitor at frequencies that it can't handle.
This in turn means that the RedHat installation hardware detection did not correctly
identify the video controller/monitor combination.

The best advice I can offer is in the earlier posts in this thread. Good luck!

I agree with the above answers for your problem of not displaying the video mode.
I hadn't tried on a professional edition, but on RH EL3, the command -

# redhat-config-xfree86

will make the system boot with the default video mode display option.
So, just try on your luck.

The key here is to run the command with the reconfig flag:

this must be done before you start X and it must be done on the console... each time you boot up however, by default, your X is configured to start automatically... Not sure how common this is, but on my system, it is configured in /etc/inittab on the last line:

# Run xdm in runlevel 5
x:5:respawn:/etc/X11/prefdm -nodaemon

So, just comment out this line with a # at the beginning, then reboot... You will be in non-graphical console login, then run the

command. This will probe your monitor and generate a new /etc/X11/XF86Config file (it will back up your existing one).

Now remove the comment of your prefdm that you did above and reboot... (or just start it manually).

This solved my problem.

I faced the "Can not display this video mode" problem after installing Fedora core 4. The problem went away by fixing the file /etc/X11/xorg.conf

In the "Screen" section, modify the "Display" subsection matching the "DefaultDepth" value by removing the higher resolution modes.

reboot the system.

-Mk

Thanks mkalbande this helped me solve the problem today!