video driver issue on first install/boot

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chucklepie

video driver issue on first install/boot

Post by chucklepie »

Hello,
I've just downloaded mint 11 'katya' and it doesn't run properly. All I wanted was to run the installer and install the system, but instead the disk decided to run Mint on my desktop and provide me with an install icon - I guess that's just the way it works...

Anyway, I have a fairly standard hp machine running XP and I've also previously had linux mint 9 and oracle oel installed fine (partitions now wiped with just xp on).

The problem is that I can see the task bar and the three icons (computer, mint home, install linux) and the shiny new linux mint background but every gui item that is invoked (e.g. click on 'computer', click on the menu, anything at all in fact) is visible for a second then turns black and leaves a blank imprint on the screen.

The cause is obviously the video driver and I think the cause is due to the daft resolution it's tried to give me (it looks like 1600x1200) - this is a live CD so why they couldn't give a basic resolution in Mint on first install (even Windows does this for you) I don't know :shock:

Sorry for the rambling, but if anyone can help:
1. Can I boot straight to install without starting up linux and tell it what resolution I want, or
2. Can I boot and change the resolution

thanks.

[edit]Working blind I managed to open a terminal and I can now see what I'm typing but not much use as this is just a dvd boot. Still, if someone can tell me maybe how to change resolution or run the installer from a terminal window I might be able to get it to do something.... (I tried runlevel 1 but it didn't like that one bit :) )
Last edited by LockBot on Wed Dec 28, 2022 7:16 am, edited 1 time in total.
Reason: Topic automatically closed 6 months after creation. New replies are no longer allowed.
oobetimer

Re: video driver issue on first install/boot

Post by oobetimer »

Try Ctrl Alt -
<Ctrl><Alt><+>
(in X-windows) Change to the next X-server resolution (if you set up the X-server to more than one resolution). For multiple resolutions on my standard SVGA card/monitor, I have the following line in the file /etc/X11/XF86Config (the first resolution starts on default, the largest resolution determines the size of the "virtual screen"):
Modes "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480" "512x384" "480x300" "400x300" "1152x864"Z
Of course, first I had to configure the X server, either by using Xconfigurator, xf86config, or manually by edition the file /etc/X11/XF86Config, so that it supports the above resolutions (mostly the matter of uncommenting the line that defines my video chipset, and specifying the synchronization frequencies my monitor supports). XFdrake (Mandrake configuration utility) can do it from GUI. See also the commands xvidtune and xvidgen.

<Ctrl><Alt><->
(in X-windows) Change to the previous X-server resolution.
http://linux.about.com/od/linux101/l/blnewbie5_1.htm
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