no video output after multiple clean installs (hardware conflict issue?)

mentaltofu · 12-06-2005, 03:39 PM

so i had issues with the ubuntu 5.10 install. first i find out i was using a bad HD, then it hangs while configuring gstreamer and xserver. downside was i had to finish congiuring the packages and i didn't have sound or any video options, plus a few things like the trash applet and nautilus not being installed. so i moved my cards around and the installs (very plural) go off without a hitch, except the very end. X and gnome never start and i only get a blank screen. it sounds like its running in the background and i can manipulate it as a live system, get to bash, whatever, but i get no video output when i should. any suggestions? im using knoppix right now to get by, which im really impressed with. actually, knoppix is running pretty much flawlessly and a helluva lot faster than ubuntu when it was up and running.

~ mumbles

m_yates · 12-08-2005, 10:12 AM

What video card and display are you using? You may try running:

Code:

sudo dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xorg

to see if display and driver settings are correct. Selecting the "vesa" driver will usually get a working display on any video card.

mentaltofu · 12-09-2005, 12:14 AM

that worked. i had tried that before and it said that xserver-xorg wasn't installed, but i must've run aptitude and dselect (i think thats right) before trying it this time. now i bet there's a similar command to fix my sound card... thanks!

~ mumbles

m_yates · 12-09-2005, 06:57 AM

To get your sound card working, you can try installing the alsa utilities from Debian testing. Firts, edit /etc/apt/sources.list to include this line:

Code:

deb http://http.us.debian.org/debian testing main contrib non-free

Then run

Code:

apt-get update
apt-get -t testing install alsa-base alsa-utils

You should then be able to configure your sound card by running:

Code:

sudo alsaconf

After doing this, you should disable Debian testing sources by going back into /etc/apt/sources.list and commenting out the line inserted earlier, then re-run "apt-get update". If you leave Debian testing sources enabled, it will probably try to upgrade some packages and may cause Ubuntu problems later on.

P.S. You will probably see a warning about gpg keys and unverified alsa packages from Debian. You can ignore those and they will disappear after you disable Debian sources.

mentaltofu · 12-09-2005, 07:59 PM

totally works now. i ended up booting the recovery kernel to get into a root environment to edit /etc/apt/sources.list , rebooted and logged in as usual, and did the same thing again. had to add the mixer applet back to the panel but it works. thinking back i might've forgot to sudo vi which is why i couldn't write the changes to file. i see why you have to comment out that source, update manager wanted to update about 400 packages. i still need to get a few codecs/plugins installed but it is adequately functional. i also changed video cards to figure out what was going on there and it seems like a video card/monitor compatibility issue. depending on what card i use, it sometimes hangs during monitor autodetection. skipping the autodetect works and gives me a few, but not many options to work with. anyways, it all works now, and thanks a ton. you've made my month.

~ mumbles

m_yates · 12-10-2005, 12:32 PM

Glad that it works. I can tell you how to get codecs/plugins working. Edit /etc/apt/sources.list to include:

Code:

deb ftp://ftp.nerim.net/debian-marillat/ etch main

Run

Code:

apt-get update
apt-get install w32codecs libdvdcss2 mozilla-mplayer

Again, you can ignore the gpg warning about unverified packages and comment out the line added in sources.list when you are done. Don't forget to re-run "apt-get update" after commenting out the line.

The w32codecs will allow you to play windows media, quicktime, etc. multimedia files. libdvdcss2 will allow you to play encrytped DVDs. The mozilla-mplayer package will create a plugin for mozilla-firefox to run mplayer just like windows media player in your browser. It works on ccn.com video files, apple.com/trailers, etc. Before it works, you need to remove the totem plugin. Go to /usr/lib/mozilla-firefox/plugins and delete the two libtotem* files.

The above also assumes that you have mplayer installed. If you don't you can get in using apt using the "multiverse" repository for ubuntu. It is also available from Marillat, but I use the one from Ubuntu multiverse.

mentaltofu · 12-12-2005, 01:20 AM

so i thought the sound was all set. it seems like the ALSA modules aren't being loaded automatically. i tried playing around with modprobe and loading them manually, which kinda works. i followed the ALSA config directions for autoloading modules and that doesn't work. i can run alsaconf which gets sound going, but volume control doesn't pick up on it. so what i get is the volume control not detecting anything, and then i load either esd or alsa, but the volume control doesn't recognize it until i restart a gnome session. also, when i manually get the sound working xmms still can't find my card or modules. when alsa is loaded and everythings running fine, it doesn't work after suspend. it sounds like i need to update a .conf file somewhere. modprobe.d has all of the right info. do you know anywhere i should look next? thanks a ton. i had no idea just how cheap barebones systems were running on ebay so i might get a decent machine AND avoid all of this hassle for solstice.

~ mumbles