See sticky above
This is not the first time this has happened with my boxes...
... nor am I the only one to whom this has happened...
IS there any other way?
There is only one correct way, and that is as shown. If one has a video card that doesn't like the driver selected, you will get the command line log in, and the solution is to log in as root and set up the video card manually, also as shown. This has nothing to do with PCLinuxOS specifically, it has to do with the drivers involved. We can only package those things that are made available, including video card drivers. We don't make them, we just package them.
If you have repeated problems with your choice of video card, maybe you should consider getting one that offers better support from its manufacturer.
