If you want to rule out the X related issues, when you have the system booted off the CD, mount the disk and change the file /etc/init.d/gdm to /etc/init.d/_gdm Then at the default runlevel x won't start. In fact I'm not really sure what the default runlevel is in Debian/Ubuntu. In my /etc/inittab (which starts gdm), it appears to be "2". On SUSE I think it is 5 and on other systems I've installed it is something different leaving me confused :( Anyways the command "startx" should hang your computer just the same as in the bootup if X is your problem. As well as using SSH when your computer is locked up (potentially starting X), you could try hitting CTRL - ALT - F1 to get to the console, although that might not work. If the Live CD works, you can just copy everything from /etc/X11 in the live cd to yoru hard drive or "dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xorg" (but it's more painful). Good luck! David A. Desrosiers wrote: > On Tue, 2006-08-22 at 15:50 -0400, Bob Mariotti wrote: > >> My money is still on the on-board ATI graphics and/or LCD monitor >> combo. I've had issues with these with all distros from the get-go. >> Stange through that any and all install processes don't have an issue >> with them as the install graphics look just fine. And when I check >> the settings in the X11/xorg.conf the seem correct. Of course, then >> the only way to get any visual video is to change the driver to >> "vesa". >> > > So wait... is the problem with X? Or with booting the machine? They are > two totally separate, independent issues. Can you boot into mode 3? > (non-graphical, multi-user mode) > > Or does it fail to actually complete booting at some point? > > What does dmesg show when it fails? > > Related to your X issues, I've had nothing but great success with my ATI > adapters in Linux (and since that's all I happen to have here, laptops > and servers, I'm wed to them). > > Have you tried changing the driver to 'radeon' instead of the fglrx > driver in your xorg.conf? (i.e. use the OSS driver, not the proprietary > ATI driver). > > Is the proper kernel module loaded (agpgart, r300, etc.) > > I'd check inittab, force it into mode 3 (not mode 5) and see if you can > actually use the machine from that point. When X fails, can you ssh into > the machine and still function on it remotely? Or does it physically > lock up the hardware? > > So many avenues to check... > > >
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