knoppix wont boot past command prompt on dell inspiron 2650

**toasterstrudle22** · 07-07-2009, 02:55 AM

i know the disc works, got it to boot into the gui/desktop on another pc. but it gives me a blank screen after the initial boot prompt. if i use screen=800x600 the display works but only shows a blinking cursor on a black screen. help please, i am new to knoppix and fairly new to linux.

**Harry Kuhman** · 07-07-2009, 03:12 AM

Originally Posted by toasterstrudle22

i know the disc works, got it to boot into the gui/desktop on another pc......

This means absolutely nothing, I can show you plenty of bad discs that work on one computer but not on another. What speed was the disc burnt at? It very well might be a good disc, but if it was not burnt at low speed then the odds greatly favor the disc being marginal and you could spend a lot of time trying to resolve a problem that will only be resolved with a properly made disc.

**toasterstrudle22** · 07-07-2009, 03:30 AM

the disc was burned at 10x. i dont think that is very fast.

**Harry Kuhman** · 07-07-2009, 03:43 AM

Originally Posted by toasterstrudle22

the disc was burned at 10x. i dont think that is very fast.

I generally try to make a knoppix CD at 4x and never over 8x. For a DVD I insist on 4x, nothing faster. But, if you are talking about a CD rather than a DVD then I agree that 10 might be OK. I suggest that you try booting Knoppix with the failsafe option at the boot prompt and see if it boots into the GUI. I can assure you that you will not like Knoppix when run in failsafe, as many things will not work, likely including the network connection and the mouse. But if you can get into the GUI with failsafe then you will at least know that you can run the GUI, and it is then just a matter of finding the right "cheat codes" that will get your system going. For that you can go to the cheat code list and try trial and error, or you can boot in expert mode and take notes about where the booting fails, and change your response to the question that seems to be causeing problems and try booting in expert again. Eventually this should give insight on what cheat codes or boot options you need.

**toasterstrudle22** · 07-07-2009, 03:51 AM

i re-burned the cd to be sure at 2x, and i get the same problem. oh and a correction, i use vga=normal to make the screen work, not screen=800x600. the failsafe boot parameter made no difference, i still get a black screen with blinking cursor. i was unable to find any other problems similar to this, so im hoping you can help me. thanks for the effort.

**Harry Kuhman** · 07-07-2009, 04:15 AM

It certainly sounds like X isn't starting, but I'm at a loss as to why, or why vga=normal would have any effect at all if X isn't starting. You did type just failsafe at the boot prompt, didn't you. and not knoppix failsafe? It still sounds like a cheat code issue and I would again suggest trying to boot in expert mode and take good notes on how you answer the questions and see if you can't get into the GUI.

**toasterstrudle22** · 07-07-2009, 04:26 AM

:P sorry newb mistake. ran failsafe not knoppix failsafe and it booted to gui. what parameters (cheat codes) should i try to boot with? thanks for helping me, i know it can be a pain to deal with people like me

**Harry Kuhman** · 07-07-2009, 04:55 AM

Well, now you know you can run the GUI. I don't know what parameters to use, it's something you will have to find. Likely but not 100% certain that it has something to do with video. If you downloaded by a torrent then you should have the cheat codes file, if you used a mirror them you may be able to find the file on the mirror, or go to the wiki (documentation link near the top of this page) and read the cheat code section. If you just want to try codes hit and miss then one that I would start with is xmodule=vesa , but I only suggest that because it tends to work for a lot of people, I have no particular knowledge of your Dell system. I would still suggest the expert mode approach (again, just expert and not knoppix expert) but you may find what you need experimenting with the cheat codes trial and error (by the way, they do need the knoppix before them).