Hi

I am trying to talk someone through the steps of installing MEPIS Linux. I
myself use Debian and have never used MEPIS.

However, when she boots with MEPIS (she is a windows user, sick of it, but
still a windows user, so please do not assume any Linux knowledge there),
she gets a message that she is using an undefined mode number (I assume
this refers to vga mode that one passes in the lilo or GRUB).

Pressing space bar simply takes her through the bootup and ends up with a
monitor with LEDs that keep flashing endlessly. A symptom of a setup where
the refresh rates/ modes of the monitor have not been detected and X has
crashed. The monitor in question is an old Dell E550
(http://support.dell.com/support/edoc...cs.htm#Preset).

Pressing enter brings up a list of modes. She read them off to me :

80x43
80xsomething else ....

( a list of 6-7 modes).

Now these do not sound like video modes (those would be 800x600 or 1024x768
etc.). Choosing 80x43 (for instance) led to the same black screen with
flashing LEDs.

How do I get her through this ?

Thanks.

Madhusudan Singh wrote:

> *Now*these*do*not*sound*like*video*modes*(those*wo uld*be*800x600*or*1024x768
> etc.). Choosing 80x43 (for instance) led to the same black screen with
> flashing LEDs.
>
> *How*do*I*get*her*through*this*?

.... more specs please - video card, all the
other machine specs ... just the monitor
is not enough
--
<< http://michaeljtobler.homelinux.com/ >>
In those days he was wiser than he is now -- he used to frequently take
my advice. - Winston Churchill

mjt wrote:

> Madhusudan Singh wrote:
>
>> Now*these*do*not*sound*like*video*modes*(those*wou ld*be*800x600*or
>> 1024x768 etc.). Choosing 80x43 (for instance) led to the same black
>> screen with flashing LEDs.
>>
>> How*do*I*get*her*through*this*?
>
> ... more specs please - video card, all the
> other machine specs ... just the monitor
> is not enough

The video card is an Intel 810E.
http://www.intel.com/design/chipsets/810/810e.htm

I found a used system online which is the same as the machine in question :
http://www.digitalwest.com/itemdesc.asp?ic=SYSDT123

On Mon, 22 Nov 2004 19:06:33 -0500, Madhusudan Singh wrote:

> Hi
>
> I am trying to talk someone through the steps of installing MEPIS Linux. I
> myself use Debian and have never used MEPIS.
>
> However, when she boots with MEPIS (she is a windows user, sick of it, but
> still a windows user, so please do not assume any Linux knowledge there),
> she gets a message that she is using an undefined mode number (I assume
> this refers to vga mode that one passes in the lilo or GRUB).
>
> Pressing space bar simply takes her through the bootup and ends up with a
> monitor with LEDs that keep flashing endlessly. A symptom of a setup where
> the refresh rates/ modes of the monitor have not been detected and X has
> crashed. The monitor in question is an old Dell E550
> (http://support.dell.com/support/edoc...cs.htm#Preset).
>
> Pressing enter brings up a list of modes. She read them off to me :
>
> 80x43
> 80xsomething else ....
>
> ( a list of 6-7 modes).
>
> Now these do not sound like video modes (those would be 800x600 or 1024x768
> etc.). Choosing 80x43 (for instance) led to the same black screen with
> flashing LEDs.
>
> How do I get her through this ?
>
> Thanks.


Mepis is apparently using lilo as the boot loader. 80x43 refers to 80
characters per line with 43 lines on the screen. Have her press the (I
believe but can't remember for sure) F1 key as soon as she gets the
"boot:" prompt this will bring up a help screen which will give her
numerous options for special hardware.

Hope this helps. If your still having problems let me know and I'll run
thru the process on my machine and give you exact instructions.