I have a stable 32bit AMD based system (a bit old, Duron 800Mhz), and I tried to install Slack 10.2, and all went ok, until I wanted to start the KDE enviroment (startx), when the monitor went blank. With Ctrl+Alt+Bksp I could exit. What kind of problem is this? I tried an earlier version of slack, but same problem. Ubuntu 5.10 however works great...

Have you configured X ? Basically you need to manually edit the file /etc/X11/xorg.conf with the settings required for your hardware. One way to do this is to make a copy of the xorg.conf file that is generated by a distro which sets it up automatically for you, like Ubuntu 5.10, and then use those settings. Or you can run one of the xorg setup tools. xorgconfig is one. I can't remember the other one. It might be xorgsetup

no i have not, i'm a newbie in linux, this is my first day, but i will try this as wel. by the way, can i install both slackware and ubuntu on the same drive, do they need separate swap spaces?

Yes, you can dual boot Ubuntu and Slackware by adding another entry to lilo.

If this is your first experience with Slackware, I would suggest using the Slackware Essentials book as a reference. The book explains a lot of the system configuration issues that you'll encounter. http://www.slackbook.org/

Also, take a look at the "This is how I do it all" guide at the top of the forum thread list. It will probably save you a lot of time.

ok thanks, but I still don't know if the new slackware install needs a separate swap space, or slack & ubuntu can share the same swap space? sorry for buzzing you. i have just downloaded the slack book, tnx

Since you're only running one OS at a time, there's no reason why you need more than one swap partition. Just make sure both OS's recognize that partition as swap.

Yes, they can share the one swap partition.
Good luck.

No problem. Ask away... I just thought that might save you some time.

ok, now i got my hardware settings, and i want to introduce them in the xorg.conf file. what program do i have to use?

You can use xorgconfig or xorgsetup which will automatically make the changes to your xorg.conf, or use a text editor to do it manually. So you would sign in as root by typing su at the prompt, and then type xorgconfig , or xorgsetup . Alternatively, using a text editor, you would type:

emacs /etc/X11/xorg.conf

If you're new to Linux and don't know how to use Vim or Emacs, then mcedit is easier.

mcedit /etc/X11/xorg.conf

That's a capital X for X11.

Actually if you're going to suspend to disk and use your swap partition to save the image, there can be some danger in using only one swap partition, because if the other distribution is not aware, it will overwrite the saved image. You can still use the same swap partition, but there are precautions you have to take. Moreover, the saved image will reduce the amount of swap memory available, so you should either create it larger than usual or just use two.

http://www.suspend2.net/HOWTO-4.html#ss4.4

Here is my $0.02

Since you're a self proclaimed newbie, don't even bother trying to edit the configuration file manually, you're more likly to destroy something (even your monitor) than to get it right.

The comnand xorgconfig will bring you to a console (text based) configuration set up. It's a really great tool, it will ask you about your current set up and then generate the file manually.

It may take a few tries to get it working properly though, mice some times might freak out on you so don't worry if it doesn't work right the first time.

It'll ask you a lot about your monitor and what resolution you want to run, this part is really important. If you don't know the right values for your refresh rates your safest bet is to choose a lower one. (The config tool will tell you that as well)

xorgcfg will bring you to a graphics based config tool, I personally don't like that one as much but your mileage may varry.

xorgsetup will try and guess all the correct values for your setup.

If it all doesn't work out after a couple tries send us the error messages youre getting and we'll get you on your way.

Thanks on that, this is the way i have done it: i booted ubuntu 5.10 live cd and took the settings from xorg.conf, and after that, with the corect values, i used the mc to manualy edit the file with the corect values. i also noticed that the sistem has detected a false video card, other than ubuntu has detected, so i entered the exact settings for that too, and worked from the first try. i'm really new in linux, this is the first time i see one, but i have a fair amount of experience with windows, and C programing in it, so manualy editing files is not scaring me... thanks for the advice, i really did not know what the problem was, thought it was a software problem, not a setting. thanks again to all.
PS: how can i make my mouse scroll work? what is the setting?

For mouse scrolling, the input device section of xorg.conf should look something like this...