Screen throwing out hex

[junii]

Hi,
I have tried to install debian on my laptop (Dell Inspiron 510m) multiple times but everytime I come across the same problem. I have tried installing numerous other linux distros on the same laptop without any problems including SUSE 10 and Ubuntu (Breezy Badger).

I have been having trouble getting X working correctly on it but I don't think this is the problem. Up to now I have been getting as far as the login prompt. I can login and try to launch X but the error im getting is "no screens found'. I haven't had the time to resolve this yet (because of prob listed below) but I do not think I will have any problems with it as I have resolved these kind of issues before.

When I install debian from scratch it boots into the command prompt without any problems. Then after two to three reboots or restarts it gets about as far as loading the init scripts and then it 'crashes'. Basically it justs throws out loads of what looks like hex at a rate I cannot keep up with . The only way to stop this from happening is by reinstalling but the same problem occurs over and over again. I have tried installing from various different downloaded iso's but keep getting the same problem. Hopefully someone can help me out here.

Its a 1.5Ghz celeron M with 512MB RAM and the Intell 855GM chipset with integrated graphics. (Dell Inspiron 510M)

Thanks.

[JamminJoeyB]

Well it looks like you have ruled out install media as the problem. Why not just stick with Ubuntu or SUSE if they run correctly. If they also produce the same problem as Debian then it's not the distro, it has to be hardware. Failing hard drive or a memory module going bad.

[Choozo]

The 'no screens found' may be caused by missing hostname/IP in the /etc/hosts file.

[junii]

Cheers for the help, yes Ubuntu and other debian derivatives work fine but I have tried numerous distros at this stage and I have decided that debian is the one I want.

The "no screens found" error is when I run startx or whatever so I know that my conf file is not configured correctly to start x. This is not the problem though because I can log in at the console without problems before this error starts to occur... This error appears to be associated with the way debian loads. (The error (throwing out hex) happens as soon as the init process starts). Perhaps its a corrupted module (not sure im still a rookie) but I can't pin it down to anything specific because the stuff its loading moves up the screen too quickly. Is there anyway to save a boot log somewhere...

Hmmm, I have tried searching google but Im finding it difficult to phrase searches for this problem.

[junii]

Update: I am beginning to think that this may be a kernel panic. What should I do now to find out what is causing this?

[ladoga]

Maybe you should get latest installer for debian testing if you haven't tried that yet: http://www.debian.org/devel/debian-installer/

I've had problems with some builds of it and others have worked without a hitch. Might be just some bug in version you're using.