Re: Flashing display [was: Why Linux on a Laptop? Reality Check.]
> Sure appreciate the help!
>
> Remembering that I am in "Single" mode, does that kill off some
> stuff like "Safe Mode" in M$ Windows?
Yes. Only rcS gets run, and you are in runlevel "1" instead of 2
or 5 where the exciting things happen.
> > - What output is produced if you run "X -probeonly" ?
>
> "bash: X: command not found"
1) /usr/X11R6/bin is not on your path. Not surprising in single user mode.
2) does it run when you give it an explicit path to X ?
X without probeonly would be the next thing to try; if it comes up to
a gritty grey screen with a working mouse pointer (looks like an X,
floats when you move the mouse) then do NOT mess with xf86config or the
XF86Config(-4) files ... those are fine ... and you'd need to see if you
have a broken window manager or just need to toss out [kgxw]dm.
If X is actually gone but for some reason xdm remains, that would
*definitely* explain it dying. In which case, connect to the net,
apt-get update
apt-get dist-upgrade
...possibly multiple times, until it's used all the permission necessary
to rebreak its busted leg and get things set right again.
> > - Which X server you are using (or : trying to use)
>
> The default, left over from Progeny, is GRUB loading Gnome.
GRUB's an MBR, *not* a video server.
Gnome is an environment, almost always containing a window manager
(but that doesn't narrow down which one) ... which isn't a video
server either.
Essentially we asked "what's your video driver" and you answered something
like "I use System Commander to boot" or "Explorer with the Plus Pack."
We mean like:
X 3.3.6 using SVGA
X 4.0.1 using ATI
etc.
> > - Video chipset
>
> 128bit NeoMagic MagicGraph graphics accelerator with video ram
This *is* useful, thx
> Zoomed Video support for both PC Card slots
that's not directly related to video, just means you can use MPEG
tuner pcmcia cards safely.
> > - XF86Config configuration (videocard and monitor bits)
>
> Just ran "find -name XF86Config" and it returned nothing but the
> command prompt.
what directory were you in?
look in /etc/X11
> - Any relevant log messages from /var/log/*
>
> There are 13 .log files in that directory, plus a bunch of other stuff.
> Could you help me to narrow the likely source of relevant data?
>
> Thanks! doc
Start with messages and dmesg, we'll work on it from there, unless something
has X (the capital letter) in its name.
* Heather Stern * star@ many places...
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