Can't install RH Enterprise 3 desktop; white screen lockup

[Rick Stevens]

Phil O wrote:
> ARRRGGGHHH!!!  This is driving me nuts!!!  Ok, here's
> what has happened.  What I decided to do was to
> restore my Acronis True Image backup of my drive to
> only 20GB of the (actual) 27.5GB drive, and leave the
> rest for Red Hat.  I performed the "linux text"
> install, to get ALMOST  finished, and I still have
> this *#&$@)#$@ lockup issue at startup.  Here's what
> happens:
> 
> 1.  From Grub, I pick the Red Hat selection.
> 2.  Program appeared to go into graphical mode, but
> locked up as I moved the mouse.
> 3.  Subsequent attempts at startup give me this "Your
> system appears to shut down uncleanly", then goes
> through what appears to be its boot process, and the
> screen does nothing after the following appears:
> 
> Enabling Swap Space   (OK)
> 
> All items at bootup show up as OK.  The memory has
> been tested, and shows no errors.  I'm at my wits' end
> here; this close, and so far...
> 
> This IS an ATI Radeon 9600 AIW; I'm wondering if it's
> having problems talking to the vid card.  What next,
> folks?  I'm so POd at this point that I'm about to
> wipe her and go back to XP by itself again.  This work
> today has given me a pounding headache...

This is very, very strange, Phil.  Try booting in single user mode on
Linux to see what's going on.  At the grub screen, use the arrow keys
to highlight your selection, then hit "C" and you'll be taken to an
editor screen.  Again, use the arrow keys to highlight the "kernel"
line, then use the right arrow key to get to the end of the line. Add
" single" (a space and the word "single") to the end of the line and
hit ENTER.  Finally, hit "B" to boot this modified line.  The system
should boot up into single user mode and you should be presented with
a "#" prompt.

At that point, you can edit the /etc/inittab file and change the line
that reads

	id:5:initdefault:

to read

	id:3:initdefault:

Save the file and enter "exit" to reboot the system.  When it reboots,
it will come up in text mode.  You should log in as root, then type in
"startx" to start the GUI.

If the GUI still hangs up, then we have some other stuff to check.  If
it works OK, then change the /etc/inittab line back to its original
form and reboot again.  See if it behaves itself then.

Red Hat Tech should be able to help if you bought the software.
Remember, I'm not a Red Hat employee.
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- Rick Stevens, Senior Systems Engineer     rstevens at vitalstream.com -
- VitalStream, Inc.                       http://www.vitalstream.com -
-                                                                    -
-    I don't suffer from insanity...I enjoy every minute of it!      -
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