reinstall works, update blacks out the screen

[denoobifyme]

I have had this problem before, (topic 63170. I jotted down the steps, but my thinking was sloppy and incomplete and I can't make sense of them now.

Problem: Reinstalled 2009.2 from .iso. Great, beautiful. Works fine, as always. Nineteen minutes and I'm running fine again. Synaptic update. 769 files, left it loading overnight. Reboot. Now I'm back to the black screen. It isn't even backlit, so my monitor doesn't come on. Alt + s doesn't restart, I have to force off with the power button.

List of jotted steps: F2 at boot screen. Add a 3 at end of bootline.

What bootline?  How do I get to it?

While running livecd (the only way I could get anything but a black screen), I ran konsole as root and entered XFdrake --auto. I successfully set my resolution and tested. Rebooted without livecd. Blackscreen.

When given options such as F5, I chose drivers yes. I booted with Vesa, disabled 3D acceleration, things like that. I also reinstalled my video driver from livecd.

(pulling out hair) The black screen, always the black screen, it won't let you live, it won't let you breathe.

Sorry, channeled Mel Brooks for a second.

I found a post from DeBaas which has some other things I can try. Before I try them, I wanted to post this request.

Though Texstar and others have solved this problem already, I humbly request detailed steps telling me exactly what to do to get past this black screen. I'll write them down better this time, honest.

Even a link to the previous solution would help, since I couldn't find it after several varied keyword searches. Apparently, this was in the batch of my posts that were lost in a mass deletion mishap a few months ago.

As I'm booting my computer, knowing I'm gonna get the black screen, step one is...?

I'll be back later. I hope it won't be on livecd, in which case, I'll post what worked. (hardware details in sig. Resolution is 1024 X 600 @ 60Hz.)


Edit -- DeBaas's steps were ctrl alt F1 at black screen to get to a terminal screen. Still black, no backlight. Typing blind, I entered video. Still black. Ctrl alt F7 he says should get me "bacK" to the blackscreen, and ctrl alt backspace to get to the GUI logon. Still black.

I'm gonna run XFdrake --auto and reboot and keep trying.

[kjpetrie]

At the Grub (boot options) screen start as Safe Mode if you have that option. When it drops you into a single user console you can type video and set up your video driver there.

If you haven't got Safe Mode, hit F2 on your normal Boot option and type 3 and press Enter. This will start you in runlevel 3. You will have to log in as root and then can type video...

You can also get into runlevel 3 from Safe Mode by typing telinit 3. Runlevel gives you six terminals so you can open man pages in some of them (use your normal user log in for that - only be root when you need to be) to read instructions before switching into the terminal where you're working.

It might not be a video driver issue, but if you type startx while logged into a terminal as your normal user you should get error messages which will help you or us diagnose the problem.

[denoobifyme]

Thank you so much, kjpetrie. I usually only get about two seconds of grub screen before it goes black. I've reinstalled 09.2 three times. This last time, I've held off on updating, but with your help explaining texstar's "add a 3 to the bootline," and introducing me to telinit 3, I can proceed to update with more confidence.

[GOTHBITES]

I had a similar problem and i had to learn a lot of  cli commands but i didn't reinstall cuase i wanted to keep some of my apps

[denoobifyme]

GOTHBITES -- do you have a list of those commands you could post?  Also, as a timesaver, can't you back up, reinstall, then re-add your apps from your backup?


PCC>System>Backups.

[GOTHBITES]

GOTHBITES -- do you have a list of those commands you could post?  Also, as a timesaver, can't you back up, reinstall, then re-add your apps from your backup?


PCC>System>Backups.

sure here are the CLI commands i use i linked it for you

http://www.pclinuxos.com/forum/index.php/topic,68580.0.html

also here is a better list command

http://ss64.com/bash/


also I don't know how to do that back-up thing yet  cause when i tried it failed also My PCC is currently not up or running right now. 

hope this helps

oops forgot to mention that i  did the apt-get remove -D koffice first as thats what been the issue with borked updates

[denoobifyme]

thanks a bunch, GB, very helpful.