[Sussex] Fedora system which will not start

[Jon Fautley]

Malcolm Moore - Global Databases Ltd. wrote:
> Hello,
>  
> My co-worker is stuck on site with a Fedora system which will not start.
>  
> He has just upgraded from Fedora Core 3 to Core 4 (something he has done 
> a number of times on different Dell systems).
>  
> The upgrade went through as expected but on booting, the new version, 
> the graphic display will not synchronise. Everything appears jumbled in 
> the top part of the screen.
>  
> Using the rescue disk he has reduced the screen resolution in 
> /etc/X11/xorg.conf to 600x480 with just 8 bits. He has tried both flat 
> and a modern conventional CRT but the problem persists. The system is a 
> Dell with graphics chip E173FP. Once the system is successfully booted, 
> he has a number of patches to apply which may cure the problem.

The quickest and easiest way to get graphics working is to run 
'system-config-display' as root, from the command line. This will 
reconfigure your X display and should get you into a reasonably working 
configuration.

You'll need to ensure that X isn't started at this point, so when you 
get a login screen (or not... ;) ) hit Ctrl-Alt-F1 and it'll put you at 
a text mode login prompt. Login and type 'init 3' at the commandline - 
this will put the system in Runlevel 3 (has the effect of stopping X).
Once you've done the system-config-display jobbie, type 'init 5' to get 
back to graphical login.

Hope this helps!

Jon
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