[Herefordshire] Funny X screwup in Mandrake 10.1

[Matt Rhys-Roberts]

Greetings,

Could anyone please help me determine how to get around this problem...

(Firstly, is there another 'dmesg'-like command that displays the OK/FAILED 
lines displayed during boot-up, or are they somehow embedded in the 'dmesg' 
output?)

*** Main prob.: MY OS loads up fine, until it fails on apparent non-starting 
of the soundcard, then complains about a file being unavailable to the X 
server's startup process (which shoots past too quickly to write down), then 
I arrive at a text-only login screen -- all be it with a black & white 
Mandrake 'bootsplash' logo in the background!!

If I try executing X after text-only login, as root or user, a blue screen and 
an X-shaped mouse cursor appear, but the usual login dialog fails to show. 
Switching back to the text screen that spawned it and pressing ctrl-C reveals 
this X server message:

(error): Failed to load module 
"/usr/X11R6/lib/modules/extensions/libglx.a" (once-only module, 135962511)

(warning): SIS(0): Failed to set up write-combining range 
(0xf0000000,0x2000000)

HOWEVER: Luckily, I found I can launch X by typing 'xdm', but it only gives me 
a flimsy login/logout dialog before starting and after ending an otherwise 
totally undamaged X session (the sound works fine too - am I being lied 
to?!?)

I have yet to fight my way out of this paper bag!! Anyone had similar 
experiences, or know how I could reconfigure X to load like it used to?

Looking forward to catching up with y'all on Thursday.

Best wishes,

Matt Rhys-Roberts
Leominster