Failed to Start X Server Crash, keyboardless + mouseless

[linux_nool3]

help help help as the name implies, i am a relative linux n00b. i am trying to install pclinux phoenix xfce on an acer aspire one 521 and failing. it gets partway there, then says "Failed to start the X server (your graphical interface). Itis likely that it is not set up correctly. Would you like to view the X server output to diagnose the problem?" only i can't select yes or no because my keyboard and mouse do not work - hence i also can't escape to the terminal. i have tried installing ubuntu 10.10 netbook as well, and it reaches the desktop, but then - again - i have no keyboard and mouse function. fedora crashes as soon as the graphical interface begins to boot. i suspect all failures are related to X. that or the ao521 mb just hates linux. any ideas? thanks

[Dapper Dan]

Welcome to the forum linux_nool3! I hate to hear you are having these problems as they sound very uncommon. What happens when you boot Ubuntu into Live CD? Do mouse, keyboard and monitor work then?

[linux_nool3]

thanks dapper! so when i boot ubuntu in liveCD mode (actually live USB would be more accurate), the monitor works, the mouse and keyboard do not except for the system keys (i can adjust screen brightness, display output, etc). the power button works, and it does the shutdown countdown, so the system isn't crashed. i've had the lucid netbook remix installed on it before, which seemed to work (although after installing the fglrx driver, the splash screen got stretched out and weird-looking). all other versions of lucid (desktop, xubuntu, kubuntu) failed in the same way. incase it helps any, the system specs are:

AMD Athlon II Neo K125 - AMD M880G Chipset - ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4225 - 1GB DDR3 RAM

[linux_nool3]

so apparently, my specific case may be a BIOS issue. i cant post links until i've made 15 posts in these forums, so here's a longhand version of the reference:

ubuntuforums[dot]org[backslash]archive[backslash]index[dot]php[backslash]t-1364299[dot]html

tech support at acer was able to provide me with a link to download a factory bios flash. will try and report back.