i have just installed topologilinux. The only problem is that i cant get any graphical windows manager to work. i am supposed to alter /etc/inittab to run on level 4 and i believe i have done that. When i do my monitor says it doesnt support current windows mode(or something similar).

can someone show me how to edit the /etc/inittab file correctly and how to get my monitor working.

It's not your inittab, it's your XF86Config that is wrong.. you should try running: xf86config
again and seeing if you can get a different configuration working for you.

but dont i need to set the inittab to run on level 4 (graphical mode) so that it will try and load kde or gnome. also if i do edit the xf86config and it doesnt work i have to reinstall topologilinux because i cant see what i am doing, since my monitor isnt showing anything

What you would do is run 'xf86config' on terminal 1(tty1) then switch to virtual terminal 2(tty2) 'ALT-F2', run 'startx', see if it work's, if not, switch back to the first terminal 'CTRL-ALT-F1', kill the process, run a 'ps -a' and see what the process id of the X you are running(PID), then kill the process with 'kill <PID>, run 'xf86config' again...etc.

I hear if you you your monitor configured wrong in this way, it could ruin your monitor, I didn't have to do anything, it worked for me straight off the CD, do so at your own risk.

Set your default runlevel to '3' until you get X going. Not sure about Topilogi, but in Slack9 the only tty available in runlevel 4 by default is tty6 (terminal 6). So switching to tty1 or tty2 may just yield a blinking cursor. In case none of the tty's work, add the 'single' option before you boot in the kernel parameters. This will let you boot in runlevel 1, so you can change the default runlevel to 3. In runlevel 3, run the 'xf86config', 'xf86cfg', or 'xfree86setup' tool to configure X. You can also configure it manually by editing the /etc/X11/XF86Config file. You test X by running 'startx'. If it works fine, then you can change the default runlevel to 4. If it doesn't, press 'ctrl'-'alt'-'backspace' to close X, and try to configure it differently.

ok im finally getting somewhere. but now when i try startx it says no found windows. sugesstions? i would copy the log file but i can print it or save it on my windows partition

It's your XF86Config.. somethings not correct.. driver, resolution, etc.. you need to find out what kind of video card or chip you have and then run xf86config and configure it accordingly.

-Draino