I'm assuming vi is a different file editor? Sorry, i'm a linux newb, and this is the second distro i'm installing so far (Ubuntu was my first, installed on an old laptop 2 weeks ago), and i'm really glad both are based on Debian so i keep my head on straight about the bash commands .

However, i'm sorry to say that i may not be able to use the Nvidia card....i had to move the harddrive to a different computer since knoppmyth wasn't working, and the computer i moved it to had the MX420. The computer i would like to use it in has an ATI 3d rage card in it, and whenever i turn on my computer, and Linux begans loading, the screens goes black. Not blank, the screen turns off, only it is still powered. This happens at the same time as when (with the Nvidia MX420) the error comes up about x-server.

I'll try to see what i can do and move the MX420 to the primary computer, but i don't think its possible. If using an ATI 3d rage card with knoppmyth isn't possible, i may not have a choice, but is there a way to fix this? the way knoppmyth boots with the ATI card doesn't give me any apparent way to fix it, but perhaps you guys know something about it?

Sorry if your confused, if you don't understand i'll try to explain it in a different way....So do you guys have any ideas? I'll try editing with nano if i get the chance, but i don't know if i will get a chance again or not...

If it goes to a black screen there are a couple of possible problems it's using too high of a sync rate for your monitor. If you can find the horz and vert refresh rates of your monitor you can put them in the XF86Config-4 file. Also you probably want to edit /etc/lilo.conf and change vga=971 to vga=normal then run lilo -v as root and reboot.

You can use an ati card for normal operation on a monitor, but there is no good solution for output to a tv with an ati card at this time.

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Xsecrets

VIVIVI !!! The editor of the beast!

In all seriousness, the thing about vi that kills me is the modal nature and the dumbness of common versions (":n' but no ":p", ...). I can use it fairly competently and often show vi users a trick or two (it surprises me how many vi users are just barely limping along and don't know simple comands like "cw"), and even appreciate some of the things it can do ("." for repeating commands, another one I've taught several vi users), but the paradigm is weak compared to an emacs style editor with multiple buffers and all the rest.

Frankly I have no special love for full blown GNU Emacs either, since the bloat tends to slow it down (I use jed whenever possible), but the multi buffer, "just type" editing style is much more powerful and intuitive in my experience.

So i would have to edit these files on a different computer, then switch the harddrive back to the primary one? I think I could use a computer that would give me both things, ability to use bash, AND give me wired internet....though, my sister would get REALLY mad at me.... .

I'll see what i can do...

By the way, I don't plan to use an ATI card as the output; this card doesn't even have a TV output. I'm probably going to buy an AverTV card, i heard they were pretty cheap...

no you can do ctrl+alt+F2 to get to a terminal and login as root to edit the files or if the box is connected to the network you can ssh into it to edit the files.

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Xsecrets

while its booting up, i press ctrl+alt+F2 to get a terminal? I don't want to use ssh, sounds too complicated...

No after it has booted up.

Linux support multiple virtual consoles. From inside X Ctl-Alt-F1 takes you to the first, Ctl-Alt-F2 takes you th the second, ... Once you're out of X it's just Alt-F1, Alt-F2, ...

And ssh is as easy as falling off a log.

so basically, after the screen goes black i press ctrl+alt+F2?

If you think ssh is easier, can you direct me to a guide for it?

I didn't say easier, but possibly easier on the eyes. Search around here for a recent thread by Xsecrets that mentions "putty".

the one thing to remember about ssh is if you haven't gotten to the network config yet you may not have an ip and can't use ssh.

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Xsecrets

Well, i haven't set up the network on KnoppMyth, and it doesn't matter anymore--i have nano up and running, and i just came back to my computer to write down the instructions...I'll post back in a bit to tell you how it went. Thanks for all the help!

Well, I edited the XF86 file, however in the nvidia documentation, it says to change 'driver "nv" (or "vesa")' to 'driver "nvidia"'' but i could not find either one. I did follow the other instructions, but i'm not too sure how much good it will do; if i can, i'll move the harddrive back to the nvidia video card computer and see the results.

As for editing lilo, there wasn't "vga=971" but there way "vga=791" so i edited that line, and rebooted lilo. However, it still ends up in at a black screen. Though, i do see a difference in resolution now.

Anything else i should try? Unfortunately, even though i'm connected to the internet through ethernet, i am still not getting internet on KnoppMyth, so i can't update. Will this be a problem in fixing the video card problem? Thanks.

if the drive is in a machine that does not have a nvidia card then you don't want to use nvidia or nv driver. What will probably fix your problem is finding the vert and horz refresh rates that your monitor will support and changing the ones in XF86Config-4 file to match.

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Xsecrets

how would i go about finding those refresh rates? is it related to the size of the monitor?

nope google is your friend here usually monitorname/model# specs will find the info you want. each monitor has it's own max horz and vert refresh.

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Xsecrets