I'm on a Presario 1800T with a 15" TFT "base model" monitor. I called
Compaq and they can't tell me if there's a specific model name or number for
this monitor. When Linux-Mandrake detects the monitor, it chooses the "High
Frequency Super VGA, 1024x768 at 70 mHz", so I just take that since I don't
have anything else to go on. It uses an ATI Rage Mobility video card, and
according to the ATI specs, is capable of a maximum resolution of 1024 x 768
(which is what I prefer using) and 16-bit colour depth. I've tried using
both the 15-bit (32,000 colours) and the 16-bit (64,000 colours) settings
and regardless of which I choose, I have sporadic problems with the system
freezing when I shut down.
A bit over half of the time, it shuts down with no problem, provided that I
check the "Save this session" option when logging out of KDE. The rest of
the time (or if I forget to save the session), it with freeze either
immediately after I press the button comfirming I want to log out and the
desktop has closed, but before it gets to either the Penguin screen or the
screen where you choose to log on as a different user, reboot, or shutdown,
etc.; or it will freeze immediately after I've clicked to confirm that I'm
wanting to shutdown, right before it goes to the screen where it shows you
all the processes its killing and so forth. (I hope those descriptions are
clear enough).
Any time it freezes, I have to power all the way down and then turn the
computer back on. Most of the time, I have no problem loading Linux the
next time I start the computer, but I've had a few occasions where it's
damaged everything so badly that it won't boot, or it'll get to the Penguin
login screen and stop there (I can log into the terminal mode from there,
but I can't find how to start "X" from that point). When either of those
happen, I end up having to format the partitions and reinstall the whole
thing from scratch.
Any suggestions on how to prevent the screen from freezing? Also, where can
I find out how to start "X" from the command line? And is there a better
way to "rescue" the system than formatting and starting over?
Thanks a lot for all the help you've offered!!
Kriselda
