Can't See Desktop screen

[cokacola650]

I just downloaded the new version of Knoppix (5.1) and am trying to get it to work (live cd) on my Dell Latitude D600 laptop. Everything booted up fine. I could see the picture with the mountains, and hit enter to book linux. It loaded everything with no problems, then I heard a voice that said it was loading linux. The screen went black and nothing came up after that; I never saw the desktop screen. I loaded it on another computer and everything worked fine. I saw the desktop screen and everything on the other computer, so I know the ISO is fine.

Does anybody have any idea why I can't see the desktop screen? I haven't seen any error and the boot never hangs.

I'm not very computer literate, so if you need more information about my computer, I'll be happy to give it to you but I might need some help figuring the info out .

thanks,
cokacola650

[devils casper]

boot up in command line mode and execute 'startx' command. post error message if any. post your machine's specs here.

[cokacola650]

I booted up knoppix again, and when I got to the screen w/ the mountains i typed in "knoppix startx". I didn't get any error message, and it booted the saem as it did before. It got past the boot process screen (w/ the penguin), the screen went black after it was loading the X-User window, and a voice said it was loading now. The CD kept reading for a little while and then stopped. No weird noises or anything. Here my specs:

Dell Latitude D600
Phoenix ROM BIOS Plus version 1.10 A05
Intel Pentium M Processor 1700MHz
256mb RAM

Any help is greatly appreciated.

thanks,
cokacola650

[devils casper]

type "knoppix vga=0" at boot: prompt.

boot: knoppix vga=0

in case it doesn't work, try this

boot: knoppix acpi=off pnpbios=off noapic noapm

[KyKo]

My man who wanted you to type startx first wanted you to boot into text mode. Type "knoppix 2" at the screen with the mountains. After that boots you to a terminal, type "startx" and then you can post any errors you incur. This of course is for if what Casper says fails you.

[cokacola650]

Ok, well my "f" key doesn't work (have to type an f by copy and pasting it into this text box), so i couldn't do the "knoppix acpi=off pnpbios=off noapic noapm" thing, but the "knoppix vga=0" didn't work. It booted up the same as before, saw a black screen again. I did the startx command and there were no errors, it booted the same way: black screen.

Hopefully that will help ya'll. If there's anything else I can try, please let me know.

thanks,
cokacola650

edit- my graphics card is a ATI Mobility Radeon 9000

[waka]

You might have an old-er lappy try:
nodma
at boot:

gl !

[cokacola650]

I tried the nodma, but I still got the same result. I have noticed that he screen resolutions that knoppix shows when it's booting are 1024x768, and two smaller ones. My computer, when booted in windows, runs on the 1400x1050 resolution by default. Could this be the culprit? Thanks for all your suggestions. If you have anymore, please let me know. I really appreciate all the help.

thanks,
cokacola650

btw- my laptop is about 4-5 years old.

[ryptyde]

I have experienced problems with booting 5.1.1 to a desktop and then used a "cheatcode" of "knoppix screen=1024x768" and it worked for me. Before doing the cheatcode it would say "no display found".

Edit: In case you haven't done this yet,put the Knoppix disc in the drive ,right click on the drive icon,browse folder,open KNOPPIX folder and there you will find the FAQ and cheatcodes. I have printed them to paper and use them for times like these.