Booting Knoppix for first time... Monitor Blank screen???

[cj_b]

Im trying to boot knoppix for the first time to recovery some data.... and it gets to the screen where its got the command lines with teh linux penguin...

then about half way through.. after it detects the hardware... the monitor just turns black .... ive waited for 30 min or so.. still nothing???

any ideas??

[Cuddles]

Considering the vague "what was Knoppix doing just before you get the black screen" issue,

If Knoppix is still booted, and with a blank screen, try pressing CTRL + ALT + F1 - do you get the screen display that has all the hardware detection and the Linux Penguin? If so, write down the LAST THING Knoppix was doing - and post it back here.

If Knoppix has been shut down, considering the length of time, reboot Knoppix again, when the blank screen comes up again - take note if the CDROM drive light is still flashing, if it is, wait until a few minutes AFTER the CDROM light stops flashing, and try the CTRL + ALT + F1 and repost as described above.

I think your problem is in XServer, and may need a command "cheat code" supplied on the BOOT: prompt that Knoppix gives you when you are booting it, but, I'd like to be sure. Since you didn't mention getting messages from your monitor, like: Out of Sync, or Sync out of range - I think it may be that XServer is trying to use a resolution that your monitor can't handle - I've had this a few times with my video and monitor combination.

If you just want to try a cheat code, when Knoppix gives you the boot: prompt, enter the following:

knoppix screen=1024x768 vrefresh=60

You can also press F2 at the boot: prompt and see some of the other possible cheat codes as well.

Hope this gets you running,
Cuddles

[Stephen]

Im trying to boot knoppix for the first time to recovery some data.... and it gets to the screen where its got the command lines with teh linux penguin...

then about half way through.. after it detects the hardware... the monitor just turns black .... ive waited for 30 min or so.. still nothing???

any ideas??

In addition to the suggestion above try the noddc cheat code as well.

[cj_b]

ok ive tried some things..

firstly the last message that come up on the command screen with the penguin says:

Starting X11...

Then the monitor goes into a sort of power save mode.. like in the power options of windows how you can tell the monitor to turn off after Xmin of being idle... its exactly like that...

I tried pressing CTRL + ALT + F1 ... nothing happens...

I tried typing in the code: knoppix screen=1024x768 vrefresh=60

the same thing happens after the Starting X11... message.. monitor turns off..


Stephen: can you please explain your noddc cheat code more? im confused with what to do?

[Stephen]

ok ive tried some things..

firstly the last message that come up on the command screen with the penguin says:

Starting X11...

Then the monitor goes into a sort of power save mode.. like in the power options of windows how you can tell the monitor to turn off after Xmin of being idle... its exactly like that...

I tried pressing CTRL + ALT + F1 ... nothing happens...

I tried typing in the code: knoppix screen=1024x768 vrefresh=60

the same thing happens after the Starting X11... message.. monitor turns off..


Stephen: can you please explain your noddc cheat code more? im confused with what to do?

You use that at the boot prompt with the other codes it stops the auto detection of the monitor which may cause the problems you are seeing you should also try the noapm (disables power management) and maybe the noacpi so you would use something like this knoppix noddc noapm .... other cheat codes (http://www.knoppix.net/docs/index.php/CheatCodes) you want to look at.

[Cuddles]

Cj_B,

First, the cheat codes, any of them, are placed on the BOOT: prompt, right after the "knoppix" that you type in - so - Stephen's suggestion of using a cheat code of noddc would be entered as follows:

boot: knoppix noddc

plus any other cheat codes you are entering...

Considering you are thinking the X11, or XServer, is having problems in a power management way - I would suggest you add the noapm cheat code as well....

noapm - is short cheat code to have knoppix DISABLE [A]dvanced [P]ower [M]anagement within the knoppix boot. Not sure what the "noddc" cheat code is for, but, Stephen knows what he's talking about :D

Try any of the other cheat codes you find when you are in the "boot:" prompt, and press F2

Cuddles

[cj_b]

ok ive tried a few cheat codes with no luck, they are as follows:

knoppix noapm noddc screen=1024x768 vrefresh=60

i tried that all in one line.. same problem ... i also tried them separately and same problem also occured...

also.. in the command lines when it detected by video card it said

video card: venderunknown unknowndevice

or along those lines...

would this contribute to it???

[Stephen]

ok ive tried a few cheat codes with no luck, they are as follows:

knoppix noapm noddc screen=1024x768 vrefresh=60

i tried that all in one line.. same problem ... i also tried them separately and same problem also occured...

also.. in the command lines when it detected by video card it said

video card: venderunknown unknowndevice

or along those lines...

would this contribute to it???

What kind of video card is it and type of machine do you have? You may want to try the framebuffer with fb1024x768 at the start of the line (then other cheat codes no need for a knoppix in the line) with maybe an xmodule=vesa as well. You should also try just failsafe at the boot: prompt to boot with minimal hardware detection. If it boots to the command line then you can recover the data from there if necessary there is no need for graphics to do that. Just how exactly are you planning on recovering the data eg. by copying to spare HD, etc...?

[cj_b]

ive got a gexcube raedon 9600 pro in a P4 2.8 system... with an ASUS P4C800-E Delux mobu

i was planning on transfering data over a windows network to another PC.

[Flare]

I have this problem too, I've tried all the noddc, noapm, refresh and resolution cheat stuff, and also the failsafe.

Specs:

CPU: AMD Athlon 2500+ Barton
MOTHERBOARD: Biostar nForce2 M7NCD
HARD DRIVE: Western Digital 80GB 7200RPM IDE WD800JB
MEMORY: Kingston HyperX 2x256MB DDR 3200
MONITOR: Eureka E17FPS LCD
VIDEO: Albatron GiGi GeForce FX 5200EP

[pv]

I've had the same problem when trying to run the CD on a shuttle SK41G system - this is a small formfactor system with a ton of on-motherboard stuff. Many distros refuse to even boot on the thing. Knoppix does though, but not as well as I would like in the graphical login department.

The first thing to do is to switch from the blank screen to an alternate window. If the last line in the CTRL-ALT-F1 window is 'Starting X11...', and going to one of the others (CTRL-ALT-F2 for example) gives you a root prompt, then the problem is simply with X11. I've found two ways to force something to come up when booting from the CD.

use the 'knoppix screen=640x480' cheatcode.
On the blank graphical window (CTRL-ALT-F5 if you switched!), press CTRL-ALT-KEYPAD+. Depending on the modes enabled at bootup (you can see this in CTRL-ALT-F1), you might need to do this more than once, until you land on the 640x480 setting. I have never been able to get any other resolution to work. NOTE: When you use this method, you end up with a small physical window on a larger virtual one. It gives me a headache.

Since my intent all along was to do a hard-disk install anyway, I went through that, and my hard-disk image doesn't show the X window either. So, I took a peek at /etc/XF86Config-4, and after removing the DDC-detected HorizSync and VertRefresh settings and killing the X11 server, BANG! up comes graphical login in 640x480. I say this is a smoking gun on detected video problems. The odd thing is, knoppix *is* properly detecting the onboard video (Savage8 KM266). It just doesn't seem to want to work with anything other than lifeboat default sync rates.

Anyone have other ideas? I really don't want to abandon my attempt to get Knoppix working on this hardware - Knoppix in a toaster box is such a cool thing! PV

[pv]

Update: fb1280x1024 works too. The screen is slightly flickery, but this is a big improvement over the 640x480 mode. PV