Black screen after startup

[OldCanoeist]

Boot messages show OK including the Linux icon at the start.
Last boot message is "starting X windows system".
Screen goes dark but then flashes the boot screen for a moment before going dark again.
A lot of DVD drive activity continues for a while.
When drive activity stops, the screen alternately shows the Samsung Display "Analog/Digital" messages (as when the system is initially powered up).
I have to power off to regain control.

The DVD file KNOPPIX_V5.1.1DVD-2007-01-04-EN.iso was downloaded & the md5 value checked OK. It displays Release 2007-01-04 on startup
The disk I created works correctly on an older computer with a CRT display.
A Knoppix Vers 4.0.2 CD I had made previously boots up correctly in both computers.

The problem system contains:
ASUS A8N-SLI-DX Mother Board
AMD Athlon 64 Processor
2GB Ram
Samsung Syncmaster 930B
NVIDIA GeForce 7300 GS

The forum question on black screen at www.knoppix.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=28020 seems to be the same problem I am having.

On several boots I selected "Boot Options -F3" when the initial screen appeared and entered "knoppix screen=1024x768 depth=32", "knoppix screen=800x600 depth=16", "knoppix screen=1280x1024 depth=32" (since these depths are listed in Windows XP screen settings but depth 24 was not listed - 1280x1024 is the LCD native resolution). I also tried "knoppix screen=1280x1024 depth=32". Same problem for each.

In www.knoppix.net/wiki/Cheat_Codes I found a suggestion to enter "knoppix vga=0" at boot and then it worked correctly. The display came up set to 1280x1024 75Hz. However the display did not occupy the whole screen. Only 90% was used horizontally with the right side blank. With XP the 1280x1024 setting occupies the whole screen. With the Knoppix vers 4.0 CD, 97% was used horizontally but the K of the KNOPPER.NET icon was cut off on the left side.

Any suggestions?

Is there some way to make the startup automatic if I have to continue to use the vga=0 boot command?

[Brainflour]

Hi,
I came here with the same problem - using Knoppix 5.2 DVD, my monitor displays an out-of-timing-range message at the same point of the bootup process. I booted the DVD once successfully on another computer. My system is also nVidia-pested (A7N8X mobo + nVidia 7600GS GPU, LG Studioworks E700B monitor) and oddly enough, the 5.1 DVD works on that machine. I also get the error message "/etc/rcS.d/S00knoppix-autoconfig: line 705: echo: write error: Invalid argument" like another user with a "black screen" problem reported. I'm kinda shocked because I never saw a Knoppix CD/DVD *not* working without help/tweaking...

@Old Canoeist:

Sounds like your monitor doesn't get the proper vsync frequency for that display mode/resolution. Although I use a CRT, I guess it's similar with plasma screens: The display memorizes screen size adjustments for each resolution at a certain vsync setting. If the vsync frequency changes for a given resolution, it needs re-adjustment. You could try to set the vsync "cheatcode" according to the setting you use with your normal OS.

[Garage_Studios]

I've put together a new desktop with a GeForce 7300 GT video card. I can verify that I get the same blank screen (exactly as described) when I try to use version 5.1.1. This was a real head scratcher for me, because when Knoppix didn't work it really freaked me out. I tried it in my laptop with an ATI Mobility Radeon X1400 video card and the live CD worked fine. Hooking speakers up to the desktop I found that sounds are still played even though the screen is black. Using the advice here I burned a copy of version 4.0.2 I found that it worked fine with the desktop. Knoppix 5.1.1 bug?

[djalan]

same here

amd64x2 , geforce 8600gts

gentoo works fine, knoppix does not boot up x , black screen

tried :

vga=0
vga=normal
screen=800x600
vsync=85 hsync=75

finally this helped me...
vsync=60 hsync=60