Originally posted by: drag
I don't knwo what the problem is...
So when you installed Fedora core it corrupted the display during the install???
At that point I don't think that Nvidia's drivers or Nv has anything to do with it all.
If it was to do with the nvidia drivers then you'd only get the problem after you finished the install and after you isntalled the nvidia drivers. Fedora does not provide the nvidia drivers by default in anyway.
For fedora to have it boot up with no X you can go ahead and install all the X stuff. Install Gnome or KDE or whatever you want.
The trick is to get Fedora to boot up in to 'Runlevel 3'. In Linux a 'runlevel' is a mode of operation. You have different modes for bootup, normal operation, and shutdown.
The default runlevel for most RPM-using distros is Runlevel 5. Runlevel 5 is basicly called something like 'multiuser with network and X'. Runlevel 3 is usually 'multiuser with network and without X'. So that way you can easily configure the system to disable the graphical login screen without having to be paticular about how you install the software.
There are two ways to acheive this. One is to issue a command to change runlevels while the system is running. The init program is the initial program, the grandfather off all other systems in Linux. So you have to tell init to change the runlevel.
telinit 3
is effective. This is usefull for when you need to manually install nvidia drivers, but it won't help you here.
the second method is to edit the /etc/inittab file to instruct init at bootup time that the default runlevel is 3. You'll see a line similar to id:5:initdefault: and you'll want to change that 5 into a 3.
To try to figure out what is going on you have to understand the borked-up nature of the Linux display drivers. Ever wonder why people complain about it? This is why.
Currently we have to impliment several drivers to acheive any one thing with the video card.
There is the VGA console driver, the framebuffer driver, the X windows driver, and the kernel-level X driver for hardware access. All these things need to work together to provide the functionality we are accustomed to in the Linux system.
It seems likely to me that:
1. Fedora has some funky framebuffer driver enabled at bootup time that screws your card up when you try to display X.
2. the Video card itself is damaged. Maybe you shocked it or maybe accidently broke off a capacitor or something.. it's broke enough that it works in compatability mode with the VGA console, but it's broke enough to gimp out when you try something more complex.
There are also some settings you can check out in your BIOS. Stuff like disabling AGP access or other AGP advanced AGP features can help with stability.
However I found this bug report while looking up stuff. Your card and similar ones are very common and many people must use it for Fedora Core 4. So if your having problems and it's due to software your probably not alone.
http://www.linuxsecurity.com/content/view/120272
- Fix for the infamous "libvgahw" bug, which was caused
by a gcc compiler bug. Many users were affected by this
issue, exhibiting symptoms such as X server crash or
corrupted display during OS installation or during X
server startup after performing a text mode install.
Green or blue border/banding on screen for mga and
some other hardware. A variety of video hardware that
was affected by this issue should now work. Some users
may still experience problems with similar sounding
symptoms after this update, and should query bugzilla
to find out if the particular issue is already
reported in a separate bug, or file a new report
if they still experience problems.
This sounds very similar to what your issues are. Especially the corrupt display at install time. That's unusual.
So maybe try to get FC 4 all the way up to date and see if you can get it working with the default "nv" drivers.
If you can't get it working try Knoppix. If it corrupts in Knoppix then you know it's not a Fedora-specific bug, but a driver or video card specific bug.
Try the card in Windows or on another machine, see if that works.
I recently had a problem with a onboard nvidia chipset with a friend's computer. The onboard video would work, but corrupt X immediately in Linux. In Windows it would work mostly, but crap out after a while with random reboots and driver warning displays. The only solution was to install a different nvidia card I took out earlier (because the goal was a quiet machine, but the agp card had a whiny fan.)
