X installation trouble report
Hello Debian folks,
again I'm not sure if this is the right forum, but let me ask anyway.
Recently I installed a Debian sarge system on a brand-new system. In the
end the X server wouldn't start up because the installer couldn't identify
the video hardware.
So I did what I've done for years in such cases: boot Knoppix and see what
it thinks about the hardware and transfer the settings to Debian ("vesa"
turned out to be the right driver). Everything went fine afterwards.
My question is thus: If a Knoppix system (at least 1 year old) can
properly identify the video hardware, shouldn't a Debian system be able to
do it as well? I have no clue as to what it takes to fully automatically
identify all the hardware in a computer, but somehow it's always Knoppix
that seems to work miracles.
Personally, I don't mind much: I've been with Linux since kernel 0.99 and
with Debian since slink. When I run into problems I always know where to
look and whom to ask. But whenever I install new Debian systems, I try to
simultaneously put myself in the role of a non-expert with a low
frustration threshold. Sadly, frequently I have to come to the conclusion:
No f***ing way is a non-nerd going to figure this out. And X is the most
frequent stumbling block on the road to a working system.
Don't take this as criticism. I think Debian is great; I know many people
are constantly working on making it better; and this is just an attempt to
contribute to that effort.
Thanks,
--Daniel
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