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linuxcare247 n00b
Joined: 11 Dec 2003 Posts: 24 Location: Anchorage, Alaska
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Posted: Mon Jan 26, 2004 2:40 am Post subject: Cannot read display - Gentoo not booting |
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When the kernel is loading I can't read the text on the screen. It's as if I have no VGA driver. How can I fix this? All of a sudden my Gentoo kernel will not boot and I need to read the screen to see where it's erroring.
Thanks,
TJ |
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meowsqueak Veteran
Joined: 26 Aug 2003 Posts: 1549 Location: New Zealand
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Posted: Mon Jan 26, 2004 2:44 am Post subject: |
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Does the LiveCD work? I think there are boot options on the LiveCD that let you fiddle with the video access too, so maybe try those? |
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linuxcare247 n00b
Joined: 11 Dec 2003 Posts: 24 Location: Anchorage, Alaska
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Posted: Mon Jan 26, 2004 4:08 am Post subject: |
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The Live CD does work. I tried to copy over the default XF86Config but that did not work. Once the kernel starts to boot I can't read the text on the screen..... |
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meowsqueak Veteran
Joined: 26 Aug 2003 Posts: 1549 Location: New Zealand
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Posted: Mon Jan 26, 2004 4:20 am Post subject: |
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That won't be due to X - more likely to be due to a console driver. Are you using a framebuffer? Try disabling the framebuffer if you are. |
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linuxcare247 n00b
Joined: 11 Dec 2003 Posts: 24 Location: Anchorage, Alaska
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Posted: Mon Jan 26, 2004 4:28 am Post subject: |
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I don't understand framebuffer. Is this part of the boot process? Is this part of the BIOS? How does one check the framebuffer setting? |
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linuxcare247 n00b
Joined: 11 Dec 2003 Posts: 24 Location: Anchorage, Alaska
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Posted: Mon Jan 26, 2004 4:30 am Post subject: |
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I should mention that when the box boots I can read the Dell Splash screen, etc.... |
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meowsqueak Veteran
Joined: 26 Aug 2003 Posts: 1549 Location: New Zealand
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Posted: Mon Jan 26, 2004 4:37 am Post subject: |
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The framebuffer is part of the kernel. It's a 'display surface' that the kernel provides and can be used (amongst other things) for displaying a boot splash screen, or a fancy hi-res console. You can usually disable it at the boot prompt but someone else might have to guide you through this because I don't use a framebuffer at all. |
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linuxcare247 n00b
Joined: 11 Dec 2003 Posts: 24 Location: Anchorage, Alaska
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Posted: Mon Jan 26, 2004 4:43 pm Post subject: |
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I have reboot into Knoppix and mounted / of my Gentoo system. I found under google mention of default display driver under the /etc/rc.conf. Problem is I dont' find a /etc/rc.conf...
I see a /etc/rc.boot but it seems just to point to /etc/rc.conf. Can I somehow copy over this file from the LiveCD? |
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linuxcare247 n00b
Joined: 11 Dec 2003 Posts: 24 Location: Anchorage, Alaska
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Posted: Mon Jan 26, 2004 7:40 pm Post subject: |
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One of my co-workers says the fuzzy text reads:
cannot execute /sbin/rc
This is where the boot hangs.
Can anyone lend insight on this? I'm booted into Knoppix now and I don't see anything under /sbin/rc.....Please help...TJ |
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linuxcare247 n00b
Joined: 11 Dec 2003 Posts: 24 Location: Anchorage, Alaska
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Posted: Tue Jan 27, 2004 8:15 pm Post subject: |
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This issue is dead and so is my Gentoo! I'm rebuilding from scratch....
TJ |
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trikky n00b
Joined: 29 Jan 2004 Posts: 3
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Posted: Thu Jan 29, 2004 6:51 am Post subject: |
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Im encountering this problem as well, I see the BIOS/manufacturer splash screen, then the picture becomes distorted when I reach my GRUB boot selection screen. (I have GRUB on the MBR) I can arrow up/down and select an OS to boot, but I cannot see anything. I added a video= and vga= value to my grub.conf (that I found scrubbing this board for help) and now I cant see the grub boot screen at all, though I can stull use the keyboard to boot to an OS.
What do I need to do to fix the display for my boot screens? In other distro's I have added a vga= value to my lilo.conf and fixed the issue, but I dont see anything on the board to resolve it for gentoo. Im not using a DE just terminal mode, dont have X installed or anything.
I dont see that this issue was ever answered, if it has been just post a thread link please. |
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trikky n00b
Joined: 29 Jan 2004 Posts: 3
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Posted: Thu Jan 29, 2004 7:13 am Post subject: |
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Lil extra info, by playing with the vga= and vesa= values in grub.conf (picked from the many posts related to display settings on this mssg board, but without any understanding of the vvalues) I am able to kind of read the stuff on the screen at boot, it tells me that I "passed an undefined mode number" and will give me a list of mode numbers to pick from if I hit the right key.
Usually after I choose a menu option the display corrects itself, and looks like a normal linux boot message screen. But when it first comes up I cannot read anything. |
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trikky n00b
Joined: 29 Jan 2004 Posts: 3
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Posted: Thu Feb 05, 2004 12:18 pm Post subject: |
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I found that the font server was being loaded during hte boot sequence, and after that the display was corrected.
After I finished playing around with gentoo for a couple weeks, I recompiled everything from the gss source to provide network services from the machine.
I did not have the problem second time around as I bootstrapped and installed from "stage-1".
The first time I installed (and did encounter the problem) I used the 2 cd set and built everything off the CD, like stage 2 or 3 (cant remember)
I have see nthis question all over the boards and no one has ever answered it. I see lots of un answered x questions. I dont need/use X, so its not a big deal, but it seems like there isnt much help for X users with gentoo. |
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