Thanks for the info Mictlantecuhtli. I went to dload'ed the two files you linked. My question is how do I boot into the command line instead of the graphical interface. I guess I am just a bit confused right now. Let me tell you what I am getting thus far. When I boot up, it says to hit enter or it will automatically go into red hat in 10 seconds. At this point there is a command prompt. Do I need to do something here?


Thanks for the help.

aliright, so I figured out that when my "pulsating" teal screen pops up I can hit Ctrl-Alt-F2 and I get the login screen. At this point I log on as root and then I try to run startx. Here is the error I get.

Fatal Server Error
Server is already active for display 0
If the server is no longer running, remove /tmp/.X0-lock and start again.

When reporting a problem related to a server crash, please send the full server output, not just the last messages.

Xlib: connection to ":0.0" refused by server
Xlib: Invalid MIT-MAGIC-COOKIE-1 key giving up.
xinit: unable to connect to X server
xinit: No such process (errno 3): Server error.


Okay, so whats my next step?

OK, slight amendment to my instructions here, which I have corrected but forgot to put in.

When you configure X at the end, and it says "Do you wish to start X on booting" say NO. This means that you will boot to the command prompt on starting and will startx manually, as opposed to starting X automatically.

If its just to the command prompt, then you can run this command:

Xconfigurator

and reconfigure X using a text based program that will give you a chance to fix this.

Its the middle of the night right now, but when it isn't I'll post instructions on editing the /etc/inittab file if that's possible in the GUI to fix these things.

If not, you might as well reinstall again. Its good practice, and you've got no data on that partition yet, and haven't added anything important yet in terms of configuration.

The mouse is also configured with the

mouseconfig

command from the command prompt.


More later..... P66.

OK, if one has mistakenly (which you didn't, because I missed it from the original draft of my instructions) forgot to tell the x configuration not to start Xwindows on boot, and allow you to boot to the command prompt and not startx automatically, then to change this, we edit this file as root:

/etc/inittab

the top bit looks like this:

#
# inittab This file describes how the INIT process should set up
# the system in a certain run-level.
#
# Author: Miquel van Smoorenburg, <miquels@drinkel.nl.mugnet.org>
# Modified for RHS Linux by Marc Ewing and Donnie Barnes
#

# Default runlevel. The runlevels used by RHS are:
# 0 - halt (Do NOT set initdefault to this)
# 1 - Single user mode
# 2 - Multiuser, without NFS (The same as 3, if you do not have networking)
# 3 - Full multiuser mode
# 4 - unused
# 5 - X11
# 6 - reboot (Do NOT set initdefault to this)
#
id:5:initdefault:

# System initialization.
si::sysinit:/etc/rc.d/rc.sysinit




the

id:5:initdefault:

bit is the bit that tells linux to startx on booting up.

if we just want the command prompt, we edit this to read:

id:3:initdefault:

and then save and reboot.

don't change it to level 6 or it will reboot as soon as it boots, LOL!

pico is a good text editor if you are used to things like edit.exe under DOS, but here is also vi and emacs as well.

If its possible to use the keys to run this

pico /etc/inittab

in your xwindows then do this and edit the file, save and reboot.

on the reboot, you can now run

Xconfigurator

and

mouseconfig

as root from the command prompt to try and figure out how your configs are wrong.

Otherwise, you might as well reinstall again. As I said, you've no software installed or no data there yet.... and its good practice... You will probably make better choices next time because of more familiarity.....

Its up to you.

no prob...I'll get the reinstall started. It should be pretty straight forward.

Ooops, there is a rescue....

When presented with the lilo screen, press control + x , and then type

linux 3

and then enter

I believe, to boot to command prompt only. Then edit the /etc/inittab file, and then try Xconfigurator and mouseconfig.

You could also do "linux single" if you have forgotten the root password, as this boots you in with root rights without asking for a password.

But you might as well reinstall just for the practice and the familiarity. There are probably other options you chose you might want to revise.

I can log on as root and at the prompt I type /etc/inittab and it says permission denied.

Im going to bed and getting some rest. Maybe tomorrow I'll get this finished. Once I edit the /etc/inittab I can install the newer Nvidia drivers, thanks to Mictlantecuhtli, and hopefully have my video working correctly.

I decided not to reinstall just yet because everything seems to be installed and my existing data is still intact. If I was to do a reinstall, whats the best way to do it? I figured I would boot up via the CD like I am doing an install and when I get to the partitioning section I would delete everything except for my WinXP partition. I did notice that there is a free space partition now that cannot be deleted, but I figured that was there becuase of the format and file system being loaded now.

If you really think a reinstall is best just confirm the above paragraph. I really dont want to screw up my XP partition because I really have no way of reloading it. I would rather fix what I have if possible.

Thanks again phantasm..

You need to edit it as root.

su
ENTER ROOT PASSWORD, then
pico /etc/inittab

That's probably wise. After a while your head will start to spin.

first log on as root and run

Xconfigurator

and see if you can find a better configurator that will give you a running X server. Try installing the latest nVidia drivers later when you have a better hang of things. The stock drivers should work, you just didn't find the right combination of settings yet.

All you need to do to reinstall is boot from the CD again and then do everything the same, except you don't need to recreate or delete any partitions this time. Just choose assign the mount points again and / will be formatted by default.

A reinstall is not necessary, but probably best for now whilst you are still getting the hang of all this. Remember I said familiarity breeds confidence? You'll race through the install more quickly this time, and probably notice things that you missed the first time.

But you will also learn some by trying to fix problems with the installation that you already have. Bare that in mind too.

Don't worry, you're not experiencing anything that I didn't experience the first time I installed linux about 4 years ago. I had all of these problems and more. When you are more familiar with the operating system, these things will seem trivial. But this is the only way to learn.

Don't worry, me and the other Linux heads here (like Mictlantecuhtli) will get you all there!

Good luck!!

Alright, after a goods night sleep Im ready to get this done. Okay, a few things. Last night I played around in pico. I figured out that you just use the arrow keys and go down to the line that I need to edit, change the 5 to a 3 and then save. Well, how do I save? I didnt see anything allow me to save.

The other thing is that when Red Hat boots up, the monitor is unprobed. I think the monitor is the issuse not the video card. I could be wrong but Im gonna try some different monitor setups to see what I get.


Thanks Again...

You save in pico by htting CTRL + X.

A message shall appear asking if you want to save changes, Y/N ???

There is some info on keys at the bottom of the screen, where ^ means CTRL.

More than likely the monitor is your problem.

Try Xconfigurator

It will let you experiment with different monitor and video adapter choices, resolutions and number of colours. Eventually you will hit on something that works and pleases you...

You are progressing well, my dark apprentice...

Alright Ctrl-X is it...

Okay, that worked good. Now when it boots up it doesnt run startx auto.

My issue is the video. I have tried every combo available and there is no correct one. None of them test correctly. Everyscreen looks pretty much the same. It is this greenish color that is a bunch of bars and they are pulsating. I still think its the monitor but I dont know for sure.

Well, let me know what you think..I have tried every conceivable display configuration and have gotten no where. Is it possible that my monitor is uncompatible?

phantasm, check this link out:

http://silkspeed.com/gateway9550.html

This guy has basically the same notebook. His screen is a bit bigger but its all made by the same manufacturer.

He says to install the two nvidia files with instructions by nvidia. Well, I checked out the nvidia site and download the two files but I dont know how to install them. Mictlantecuhtli, stated that I need to:

Go to the directory where the files are, and then:
rpm -iv NVIDIA_kernel-1.0-2313.rh72up.i686.rpm
rpm -iv NVIDIA_GLX-1.0-2313.rh72up.i686.rpm
Go to /etc/X11. Edit XF86Config-4:

In section "Module", comment out (with "#")
Load "GLcore"
Load "dri"
In section "Device", comment out
Driver "nv" (in case your card was detected as such)
Add
Driver "nvidia"
there.
Now you could try if X works. If not, you can kill it (usually) with CTRL-ALT-BACKSPACE.
Check /var/log/XFree86.0.log for errors (lines that begin with (EE)).

I dont even know how to go into a directory. Is it something that I need to run through pico?

In command line, cd changes the directory. Remember that Unixes use / instead of \ in directories. ls lists the directory (but dir works, too). Tab-key is always handy!

alright..I'll try that.

Btw, if you have problems like "package requires kernel version blah blah", you may need to download driver source files instead and compile them.
If you still have mouse cursor problems, try adding
Option "swcursor" "on"
Option "hwcursor" "off"
into XF86Config-4 file, under that Driver "nvidia" line.

One thing though..Should I use the 386 files or the 686 files? Your original links for the i386 files but in your instructions you reference the i686 files.

Thanks Mic..

Typo.. 686 drivers should work with your CPU, if they don't, you have to use 386.

Mictlantecuhtli, I am wondering if you could tell me a little bit more in depth what I need to do to get the vid drivers installed. I am totally lost at this point. I log into root and then what. When I type CD\ I get nowwhere. My vid drivers I dload'ed to my C:\drivers. So I guess I need to get into that folder but Im not having any luck doing so.

You've downloaded the drivers to windows partition? Then you'll need access to that partition first. Assuming the XP partition is the first on your hdd, try this:
mkdir /dos
// create "dos" directory to /
mount /dev/hda1 /dos
// mount XP partition to /dos
cd /dos
// go to XP partition
ls
// just to find out how the "Drivers" directory is named, case matters in Unix
cd Drivers
// go to drivers directory
from there, rpm -iv and so on.

thanks...I'll give that a try