witebuddha

ok, so after much grief, i've come for help

first, specs:
Toshiba Satellite A65-S126 (yes, its a laptop)
Processor - Celeron 2.8 GHz
Intel RAM 512 MB DDR SDRAM
Hard drive size 60 GB
CD-RW / DVD-ROM combo
Modem - Analog Modulation Protocol ITU V.92
Battery capacity 4300 mAh
Cache size 128 KB
Cache type L2 cache
Data bus speed 400 MHz
Display (Projector)
Diagonal size (inches) 15 in
Display technology TFT active matrix
Max resolution 1024 x 768
Graphics - 64mb ATI MOBILITY RADEON 7000 IGP
Max Resolution (external):Colors Max Resolution (external) 32-bit color
Max resolution (external) 2048 x 1536
no floopy drive


ok, so today, i decided to make the transition to linux.... i went over to linuxiso.org and picked up red hat 9...

i installed it fine, everything went peachy, i loaded my first time great, only problem was my resolution at 800x600... so naturally, i changed it to 1024x768... told me i had to reboot to see the changes.... i did....

when i rebooted, my screen did not turn on.... blank... nada... happens every time i boot... dont even see the nice little "toshiba" screen...

im lost

ive found help sites with similar problems: nothings even remotely worked

things ive tried:
using external monitor
hitting ctl alt f1...f12 (supposed to pull up text base login)
hitting ctl alt f1...f12 and hitting enter afterwhich
tryed booting from my install cds and entering rescue
i would try boot disk... but i dont have a floppy drive

im frustrated, no results what so ever, and i realllllyyyy dont want to reinstall

if anyone could help i would be very grateful

thank you

batty_professor

If it were me I'd have to go back through the install process, however it's not a full install process. Boot from CD, select install/upgrade then upgrade adding no packages. It still goes through much the same process but much faster because you're not adding packages.When you get to the summary, look at the video card/adapter, also the monitor selected. Make sure they match your system. you may need to experiment with something close instead. Then you get to confirm the resolution settings without rebooting while in this interface. There will be the box that shows up to ask if the setting is correct during the test. Use the best settings you can achieve there.

witebuddha

thanks for the response...

i would, but ummm, i cant get anything to load whatsoever, including the install disks

batty_professor

Hold down the delete key at boot and see if you can open the Bios. Choose "Load Default settings" save and exit. Reboot from the CD and follow the steps I indicated. And I hope this works for you.

witebuddha

still not working.... i have a windows install cd... i might try and see if i can boot to it....

Skie

Before I go any further, I just need to verify one thing. When you said you don't even see the "toshiba" screen, are you basically saying that you don't see anything at all? Even during the booting or when booting from a CD or even before it boots? I just want to make sure I'm reading this right.

If this is the case, look at your keyboard and see if you have one of those Monitor function keys. On my laptop, it's Func+F5 to switch between a laptop and external monitor for the screen. I know some laptops turn off the LCD screen when using an external monitor.

If this isn't the case, then let me know exactly when the screen goes blank.

witebuddha

the screen never turns on, at all...

but i tried the function f5 thing, i switch between mointors a lot, so it one of the first things i checked, thanks though

Skie

Then I take it you see nothing even if you attach a monitor to the laptop? Does it sound as if the laptop is booting at all? If you can see the hard drive light being active or even hear the drive (if you don't have a hard drive light), or maybe any other beeps and such that normally happen during booting.

If you hear nothing and it appears to be doing nothing, then this could be a BIOS/Motherboard issue. Otherwise, if there is activity, then it could be an issue with the graphics card. I'm not aware of any issues, nor heard of any cases, where Linux would fry a graphics card. Monitors, yes, but usually most modern monitors will turn themselves off if you try to use parameters that they don't support.

From the specs, it looks as if your laptop isn't that old, but I'll ask anyway. How old is the laptop?

witebuddha

about 3 months old.... its not too model wise either, i want to say it came out this year.... toshiba doesnt officially support linux, so they are no help, and most help sites which deal with laptops have almost nothing useful on my model...

the hard drive light is active... when i put a disk in, i can hear it spin....

i don't think the graphics card is blown, only because nothing suggests it, and interesting enough, there have been other people on forums like this with the same problem, only difference between me and them, is that they found a solution...

there are no sounds though, which seems a bit bizzare to me.... although not too bizzare because i havent had any time to install sound drivers, which might be why....

thanks for the continuing support

Skie

According to this site, there aren't too many major issues with your particular model: http://www.linux-on-laptops.com/hosted/tsa65.html. Although, this person used Gentoo.

I'll see if I can hunt down any more info for you that might help.

witebuddha

hey i was wondering, i know with PCs u can jump the harddrive to reset the bios, which MIGHT help, but i dont know if there is an equivlant on laptops.... i mean, if i could see ANYTHING, i would re-install linux (probably fedora though)...

batty_professor

My suggestions at this point are down to "clear the cmos" which would involve removing the battery and also finding the "clear cmos" jumper.

witebuddha

yep, i think im with u on this, otherwise, time to break out the warranty and hope they will exchange... or it comes down to buyin a new video card.... bah... thanks for all the help guys.... i rarely have troubles with computers at all, hell, im a low level programmer (still in college workin on my comp sci bs), but this was way over my head.... thanks again

batty_professor

i think it would be worth finding the jumper, that should be considered a "customer accessible" thing as far as the warranty is concerned.

witebuddha

umm for some reason, unbeknownce to me, i took the battery out and restarted it... and it worked.... i mean, perfectly... i dont get it... but it works... thanks again for all the help everyone

batty_professor

Glad it worked out.