Suse Installation Issue

[whittler]

Hi there,

I have just tried to install Suse on an old Compaq without getting very far. All I did was select installation at the very start, and after the usual boot-up stuff the screen went all weird: looks like this

Obviously this makes installation pretty difficult. How do I solve this? Any help would be appreciated.

OS: Suse 9.3
CPU: P3 1000Hz
RAM: 384mb
Monitor: Dell[/url]

Thanks

[AlexK]

try a failsafe or text based install. For text, you have to press F2 or something.

[CodeRoot]

The weirdness is very likely caused by a frequency mismatch between video card and monitor. The only thing I have to offer at this point is - start over at beginning of install - very early in the install procedure you should have the opportunity/option to manually set video card and monitor parameters. Do not go past this point until you have tested some set of parameters with success. If you cannot find a match to your hardware in the lists provided, use the closest 'generic' or 'default' setting you can find in the list.

My current OS is SuSE 9.1 "Professional", and I have not done anything with '9.3' - so, this is about all I can offer. There are plenty of '9.3' users out there - hopefully they can offer more - there may be an option available in '9.3' that is not in '9.1'.

But, just in case this is useful "right now" - which is when you need an answer - I thought I would throw in my two cents.

[radkitten]

My monitor did something similiar when I tried to install SuSE 9.3. Try installing it in text mode and you should be okay.

[AlexK]

The only thing I have to offer at this point is - start over at beginning of install - very early in the install procedure you should have the opportunity/option to manually set video card and monitor parameters.

Actually, in 9.2, 9.3..., the graphics and stuff are setup after all the packages and the like are done, i.e. at the end of the install. During install, it uses the generic vesa driver which all graphics cards are supposed to support. But, you are right in saying that the "wierdness" is due to a mismatch between the monitor's requirements and what the graphics card is feeding to it.

[whittler]

Thanks very much for the quick responses.

radkitten's advice was right on the money. That's the first time I have done a text installation, and despite the fact that a couple of rpms failed to install (I have since downloaded them and installed them), it all went swimmingly.

Thanks again.

[CodeRoot]

The only thing I have to offer at this point is - start over at beginning of install - very early in the install procedure you should have the opportunity/option to manually set video card and monitor parameters.

Actually, in 9.2, 9.3..., the graphics and stuff are setup after all the packages and the like are done, i.e. at the end of the install. During install, it uses the generic vesa driver which all graphics cards are supposed to support. But, you are right in saying that the "wierdness" is due to a mismatch between the monitor's requirements and what the graphics card is feeding to it.

Thank you!