Xfree86 help on PowerBook 17

[Brendan J Simon <brendan.simon@bigpond.com>]

I did get X going on my PB17 once. I thought I had got to the bottom of it.
Now it wont work and it is the exact same XF86Config-4.

It seems every second time I run "startx" (via ssh remote login)I get a
black screen. Every other second time I get a greyish background with
vertical stripes and a pinkish big square block as a cursor which is
moveable with the trackpad.

I'm assuming that the autodetection isn't locking on to the same 
frequencies as the modeline or something like that.

I also notice when trying to use Mac-On-Linux that there are some video 
mode files.
Does XF86 use any of these files???
IF so, how do I set them up for a PowerBook 17.

Please CC me directly as well as replying to the list.

Many thanks,
Brendan Simon.