A novice having trouble with X window on install

["Charles Forelle" <cforelle@comcast.net>]

Hello all,

I'm in the midst of my first ever installation of Debian and I'm having
trouble with the graphical interface. I've completed the process (installing
the bf2.4 flavor with only desktop environment picked in tasksel -- I chose
not to run dselect yet). The install complete with a text log-in prompt. I
can login OK, both as the normal user I created and as root. But when I
reboot, I get a message right after the login prompt appears that says:

I cannot start the X server (your graphical interface). It is likely that it
is not set up correctly. Would you like to view the X server output to
diagnose the problem?

My choices: Yes or No.

I pick Yes and get a blank gray box. My only choice is EXIT, which I pick.
Then it says:

Would you like me to try to run the X configuration program? Note that you
will need the root password for this.

I pick Yes and give the root password. Then I get:

I will now try to restart the X server again.

I pick OK, and after a second or two pause, I'm back to the original I
cannot start the X server... message, whence I end up in an endless loop.

Help! I'm totally flummoxed. Does anyone have a sense of what's gone wrong?

With thanks,

Charles.