Post-installation problems

J_K9 · 02-15-2006, 03:58 PM

Hi,

I've just finished installing Slackware 10.2, and the installation went brilliantly. But, I've got a problem.

Once I've logged in (as a normal user, using the standard CLI login), I type 'startx'. The first couple of lines notifying me that XFree86's conf files are being loaded appear, but then I am led to a black screen with the following white text (I have left out the first line, but it basically says that the monitor settings are incorrect):

Quote:

V: 15 Hz
H: 11.9 kHz

I thought these values looked a bit odd, so I rebooted the computer and put in my Kubuntu Live CD. Once it was up, I ran 'xvidtune' to check out some stats. Here's what it returned:

Quote:

ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ xvidtune
Vendor: , Model:
Num hsync: 1, Num vsync: 1
hsync range 0: 22.00 - 62.00
vsync range 0: 50.00 - 75.00

Having got these values (and become even more confused in the process), I set off to edit my xorg.conf. I mounted my filesystem, and here's the original monitor section of /etc/X11/xorg.conf:

Quote:

Section "Monitor"

Identifier "My Monitor"

# HorizSync is in kHz unless units are specified.
# HorizSync may be a comma separated list of discrete values, or a
# comma separated list of ranges of values.
# NOTE: THE VALUES HERE ARE EXAMPLES ONLY. REFER TO YOUR MONITOR'S
# USER MANUAL FOR THE CORRECT NUMBERS.

HorizSync 31.5 - 50.0

# HorizSync 30-64 # multisync
# HorizSync 31.5, 35.2 # multiple fixed sync frequencies
# HorizSync 15-25, 30-50 # multiple ranges of sync frequencies

# VertRefresh is in Hz unless units are specified.
# VertRefresh may be a comma separated list of discrete values, or a
# comma separated list of ranges of values.
# NOTE: THE VALUES HERE ARE EXAMPLES ONLY. REFER TO YOUR MONITOR'S
# USER MANUAL FOR THE CORRECT NUMBERS.

VertRefresh 40-90

EndSection

And this is what I altered it to (excluded comments for brevity):

Quote:

Section "Monitor"

Identifier "My Monitor"
#
HorizSync 11.00 - 50.00
#
VertRefresh 15 - 90

EndSection

I then saved the file and rebooted. Fingers crossed, I typed 'startx' again, and I got the same centered white text again. What should I do to fix this?

As I couldn't start my X server, I decided to give my network card a shot. I ran 'netconfig' and entered all the values requested (although I don't understand the purpose of the 'domain name' question), including a static IP on my network, the gateway, and one of the two DNS addresses (I manually added to second one later to /etc/resolv.conf, and removed the 'search domain.com' line). I thought I'd finished configuring it, but I then ran 'ifconfig' and the only device there was lo. My NIC's module probably wasn't loaded, so I ran 'dmesg | grep net' to find out a bit more. Here's what I got:

Quote:

forcedeth.c: Reverse Engineered nForce ethernet driver. Version 0.30.

So, at least I've made a bit of progress - the NIC is part of my nForce motherboard. So, I located forcedeth.c (/usr/src/linux-2.4.31/drivers/net/forcedeth.c). Then, I got stuck, so I decided to click on the "tips thread" link in one of the Slack stickies. Now, I'm not sure whether I should try running the following, so I wanted your advice:

Code:

echo "/usr/src/linux-2.4.31/drivers/net/forcedeth.c" > /etc/rc.d/rc.netdevice

Thanks in advance!

-jk

vbisis · 02-16-2006, 08:52 AM

You could try nvidias Nforce driver for your nic and load it on boot with rc.modules - script (nvnet is the name).

Works well for me.

About x11, it might help to xcfg or xorgconfig - script to set up xorg.conf.

I think it should also be possible to use the xorg file from your ubuntu cd.

Franklin · 02-16-2006, 10:30 PM

Quote:

V: 15 Hz
H: 11.9 kHz

Those are not the correct values for the monitor.

Use the range from the ubuntu disk and see if it works.

hsync range 0: 22.00 - 62.00
vsync range 0: 50.00 - 75.00

but enter it like this:

Code:

HorizSync 22 - 62

# HorizSync 30-64 # multisync
# HorizSync 31.5, 35.2 # multiple fixed sync frequencies
# HorizSync 15-25, 30-50 # multiple ranges of sync frequencies

# VertRefresh is in Hz unless units are specified.
# VertRefresh may be a comma separated list of discrete values, or a
# comma separated list of ranges of values.
# NOTE: THE VALUES HERE ARE EXAMPLES ONLY. REFER TO YOUR MONITOR'S
# USER MANUAL FOR THE CORRECT NUMBERS.

VertRefresh 50-75

You might want to post the monitor brand and model. Someone may have the same one and post the correct range for you. Do you have the manual for the monitor. The correct ranges would be in there or even on the manufacturers website.

J_K9 · 02-18-2006, 04:42 PM

Sorry it has taken me so long to reply - I have been away.

vbisis - I tried what you suggested, but even after running 'xorgconfig' I got the same error. I also decided to read the xorg.conf file to check it, and AFAIK no values have been changed (since I altered them as described in my last post)...

Franklin - I changed my xorg.conf according to that, but after typing 'startx' I got a quick flash of XFCE and then the error popped up again. At least it's a start!

My monitor is a SHARP LL-T15G3-B. I'm just about to pop over to their site (and Google Linux) to see if I can gather any useful information.

Thanks so far! I'll let you know if I make any progress...

-jk

J_K9 · 02-18-2006, 04:48 PM

Sorry to double post, but I've found some more information. According to the specifications on ciao, my monitor has a VRefresh of 75 Hz and an HSync of 60.2 kHz - which my settings comply with.... what could be wrong?

Thanks,

-jk

Franklin · 02-18-2006, 05:19 PM

According to this;

http://www.sharpsystems.com/DataSheets/LL_T15G3.pdf

This is the range for running vesa at 1024x768:

HorizSync 48.0 - 60.0
VertRefresh 60 - 75

HTH

J_K9 · 02-28-2006, 10:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Franklin

According to this;

http://www.sharpsystems.com/DataSheets/LL_T15G3.pdf

This is the range for running vesa at 1024x768:

HorizSync 48.0 - 60.0
VertRefresh 60 - 75

HTH

Thanks! I'll give it a shot as soon as I get access to the PC again..

Cheers,

-jk