Just installed Mandrake and it won't work...

[Spamn]

I just installed mandrake 9.2 and after the install when the computer rebooted, it came up to a linux screen with the following options:
linux secure
linux
linux-nonfb
linux-enterpris
failsafe
windows

Whenever I choose any of the options except for windows, I just get a black screen. When I choose windows, it boots xp from my other hd.
If I choose any of the linux options, it will ask me for my password. Once I enter that it says.
"loading 'whichever option i chose'
bios data check successful"

and then I get a blank screen.

Any ideas?

Thanks
Sam

[leonpmu]

Move your hard disk with Linux on it after installation, because it sounds to me like it can't find the drive.

Do you not get a kernel panic or anything?

Also please post the specs of your box ie PM, SM, PS SS etc.

[Spamn]

Sorry, I'm a newbie, what do you mean by specs? I'm not sure what all you want listed.
Anways, I removed the hard drive with xp on it all together and just put my linux hard drive in there as a single. The jumper setting is set to single. I get the same thing. It asks for a password, says
"loading linux"
"boot status check successful"
and then a blank screen...
The only thing I can think of is during installation I changed two settings. I manually set my resolution. It was set very low at 600x800 so I upped it to 1200x1080, just like I have been using with xp. I'm not sure if maybe driver's for my video aren't set and it can't display that resolution and that is why I get a blank screen? If that is the case, how do I get to a screen where I can change my resolution? Also during installation, I manually set my ram. It told me I had 896mb or something so I manually set it to what I really have which is 1024mb. I am ALMOST there. Dammit. I was so close. Please get me past this little speedbump so I can enjoy the world of freedom and get away from my awful XP.

Thanks
Sam

[BR3ACH]

I am having the exact same problem and think its to do with the GFX drivers

I have another thread running with a solution on how to update the drivers on the way

It can be found at

http://www.justlinux.com/forum/showthread.php?threadid=120340

We seem to have a very similar problem, but maybe the fix will be different but its worth a try :)

[Spamn]

I read the post and it helped somewhat, but I am lost about one thing. How would i enter ANY of that? I have no command prompts. Just a bootloader screen that is a gui. After that I get the password screen and then nothing.

[BR3ACH]

Well I a NEWB aswell, so if you want to add to that thread with your question then maybe the same guy helping me wold be able to help you ...

What I did was run through installation again

When you get to the part that asks you to configure the GFX card theres an option that lets you select whether to boot to X at startup or not

I disabled this and now it loads to command prompt and lets me login and then displays the console only

If I then type startx, I get the same problem as you

That may help

But if not post on my thread then the people there may be able to offer more advice :)

Good Luck

[steventux]

Resetting graphics resolutions settings might be the problem - you will be better rectifying settings when everything else is installed and stable.
I am a Mandrake 9.2 user and I found that a vanilla (default) install provided a good base for customising my OS into what I wanted.
If you know the make of your graphics card and the manufacturer provides a linux driver then you will get increased flexibility and performance from installing the manufacturers drivers - I have an NVidia card and their linux drivers work really well with Mandrake 9.2. If you dont have a card with a linux driver provided by the manufacturer you will still probably find that the numerous message boards and howtos can help you get the best out of your setup. It may be that Mandrake wrongly detected your card and provided settings that could not be utilised on rebooting. I have very limited knowledge of the /etc/X11/XF86Config-4 file and what it does but there will be numerous places on the net to find out more. Your first stop should be with the hardware manufacturers.

[Spamn]

I'm not sure which driver I need. The car is by Nvidia. It is the Geforce2 MX 200. I went to Nvidia's driver page but I wasn't sure of which Linux driver to get. Since we both have a nvidia card and are running mandrake, maybe you could help me out.
I'd appreciate it.

[BR3ACH]

http://www.nvidia.com/object/linux_display_ia32_1.0-5328

Those are the drivers that are compatible with your card

The same ones as me

[steventux]

Its worth readin this through and then maybe pasting it to a text file so you can refer to it easily.

http://www.nvidia.com/object/linux_display_ia32_1.0-5328
will be the right one (IA means Intel architecture and 32 = 32 bit processor - P4 is 32 bit)

so download that (the file will be called something like NVIDIA-Linux-x86-1.0-5328-pkg1.run)

I suggest saving to your home directory (/home/<you>)

also copy and paste this readme from the nvidia site into an editor (kwrite or gedit is good for this) ans save somewhere easy to find. ftp://download.nvidia.com/XFree86/Linux-x86/1.0-5328/README

ok now you have to leave the land of X (the graphical part of linux) and delve into commandline territory - be brave - it wont hurt. :D

so open a terminal and as the root user (type su and then the root password you set on installation to become root) type
telinit 3

now you should be at a command line with no graphics - you will probably have to log in again as root (I am doing this from memory so apologies for my uncertainty here)

go to the directory where you downloaded your driver.

type
sh NVIDIA-Linux-x86-1.0-5328-pkg1.run

you should get some very basic program screens to take you through the installation instructions.
A point to note here is that an internet connection is really useful as the driver installation prgram will check for any updates as you install.

So thats the driver installed - next very simple step is to make sure your system knows how to use it. NOTE do not leave this step for later as your kernel will have changed and this may lead to graphical problems unless you configure it now.

type
vi /etc/X11/XF86Config-4

this loads up the config file in the vi editor

the vi editor has two modes that we are worried about - command mode (for searching saving etc) and insert mode (for changing the text etc) you press i to get to insert mode and escape to return to command mode - the default is command mode.

you will need to search the file for the containing
Driver "nv"

the easiest way to do this is to type
/Driver "nv"
this will get you to that line (/ is the vi search command - all commands appear at the bottom left of the screen)

use the arrow keys to get the cursor to the 'v' of Driver "nv"

then type
i (this gets us into insert mode - you will see the word INSERT in the bottom left)

and type idia to make up the word 'nvidia'.

So now the line should read
Driver "nvidia"

hit the escape key to return to the vi command mode and type
:wq this means write the file (save it) and quit the vi editor.

this should be all you need to change for your driver to run with Mandrake 9.2

you can do

startx

to restart the graphical environment -the first thing you should see is an Nvidia logo.

please note the full instructions are in the readme on the nvidia download page and you should get used to the basics of writing and saving with vi editor before installation.

[BR3ACH]

Originally posted by steventux
Its worth readin this through and then maybe pasting it to a text file so you can refer to it easily.

http://www.nvidia.com/object/linux_display_ia32_1.0-5328
will be the right one (IA means Intel architecture and 32 = 32 bit processor - P4 is 32 bit)

so download that (the file will be called something like NVIDIA-Linux-x86-1.0-5328-pkg1.run)

I suggest saving to your home directory (/home/<you>)

also copy and paste this readme from the nvidia site into an editor (kwrite or gedit is good for this) ans save somewhere easy to find. ftp://download.nvidia.com/XFree86/Linux-x86/1.0-5328/README

ok now you have to leave the land of X (the graphical part of linux) and delve into commandline territory - be brave - it wont hurt. :D

so open a terminal and as the root user (type su and then the root password you set on installation to become root) type
telinit 3

now you should be at a command line with no graphics - you will probably have to log in again as root (I am doing this from memory so apologies for my uncertainty here)

go to the directory where you downloaded your driver.

type
sh NVIDIA-Linux-x86-1.0-5328-pkg1.run

you should get some very basic program screens to take you through the installation instructions.
A point to note here is that an internet connection is really useful as the driver installation prgram will check for any updates as you install.

So thats the driver installed - next very simple step is to make sure your system knows how to use it. NOTE do not leave this step for later as your kernel will have changed and this may lead to graphical problems unless you configure it now.

type
vi /etc/X11/XF86Config-4

this loads up the config file in the vi editor

the vi editor has two modes that we are worried about - command mode (for searching saving etc) and insert mode (for changing the text etc) you press i to get to insert mode and escape to return to command mode - the default is command mode.

you will need to search the file for the containing
Driver "nv"

the easiest way to do this is to type
/Driver "nv"
this will get you to that line (/ is the vi search command - all commands appear at the bottom left of the screen)

use the arrow keys to get the cursor to the 'v' of Driver "nv"

then type
i (this gets us into insert mode - you will see the word INSERT in the bottom left)

and type idia to make up the word 'nvidia'.

So now the line should read
Driver "nvidia"

hit the escape key to return to the vi command mode and type
:wq this means write the file (save it) and quit the vi editor.

this should be all you need to change for your driver to run with Mandrake 9.2

you can do

startx

to restart the graphical environment -the first thing you should see is an Nvidia logo.

please note the full instructions are in the readme on the nvidia download page and you should get used to the basics of writing and saving with vi editor before installation.

Now thats what im talking about!

A complete newb walkthrough ... This will be veryuseful to me aswell

Thanks

[Spamn]

Yes, thank you for being so thorough. I got fed up and realized that I made some mistakes in the install so I am reinstalling now. I started from scratch. This time I hope to do it right. I won't change my resolution or anything. I have the driver on a disk and ready to go. I just need to figure out how to access it from the disk

[steventux]

maybe the VI bit is surplus - you can always copy your XF86Config-4 file in Gedit or Kwrite edit as mentioned - really have a quick read of the NVidia README) and save it somewhere other than /etc/X11/. Then just mv it to /etc/X11
mv <copy of XF86Config-4> /etc/X11/XF86Config-4
when you are in the non-graphical bit - if you find VI a bit of a hassle this might work better for you.

[BR3ACH]

What if Ihave the file downloaded and stored on a FAT32 storage partition and need to access that

My partition is called storage

What do I have to do from the console to mount and access the file on this drive?

[Spamn]

I reinstalled and it works fine!!! No drivers were even needed. It detected my vid card, just fine. I just chose a few different options during install. I left my resolution and ram alone when it asked. Thanks for all of the help and good luck to the other guy.

Thanks a million

Sam-
Newest Linux User and newest MS hater

[BR3ACH]

When it comes to summary at the end, I get a red alert by the display part which would indicate it needs me to go in there and finish setting that up...

Did you get this, and did you leave it alone to auto detect what it needed to?

[Spamn]

I didnt' get that problem. It went over all of the hardware and test ran all of the services and everything got an "ok" except something about a sound mixer. I've yet to listen to any music yet, so I don't know how my audio is. I guess I should try and run xmms and load some mp3s from my windows hd.

So far everything is fine. I am actually posting from the browser, Konqueror, right now. I've only noticed one problem.. my scroll on my mouse doesn't work.

[steventux]

BR3ACH your windows drive should be completely visible and readable and writable under /mnt/storage

try ls -la /mnt/storage
you should see the root level (C:\ ???) of your windows drive