Re: black screen -- cannot boot

[mcamacho habitat co cr (Manuel Camacho)]

Hi!

I looked in my RH installation, and I was not able to find docs about netcfg,
but I found docs in my SuSE disk about a program called inetcfg. Maybe you
would like to look up for that in www.suse.com or www.suse.de
 
> 1. I checked the cables and connectors. Everything appears to be
> attached.

Ok.

> 2. After making the alterations with netcfg and vi, I gave the "init
> 6" command -- an old superstition to appease the filesystem gods by
> forcing a coupld of sync's. The screen echoed each service as it shut
> down, after which the only output has the dreaded black screen and
> audible beeps despite numerous attempts to boot from disk, CD, and DOS
> system diskette. 

But you have not been able to boot from any of those devices, not using RH or
DOS or Winblows starting disks, right?

> 3a. Q: Can I load BIOS-ware on screen? A: Prior to receiving the PC
> with Linux pre-installed by a friend, we've used only Sparcstations
> with Solaris, which is what I'm using now for these email
> communications. As far as I know, we've never bought BIOS-ware,
> although my children might have something like that on the Wintel PC
> they use at home. Can I download it from the web?

Nop. What I mean with BIOS-ware is the software used to setup your BIOS. It is
already in your BIOS chip itself. Usually, when you boot up your PC, you get a
message that reads something like "For setup pres DEL" or "For Setup press F1"
or something similar. If you press the mentioned key, the BIOS-ware is
activated.

> 3b. Q. Have I enabled booting from floppies and CDs in our BIOS? A:
> No, I didn't do anything like that because I've never configured PCs.
> I don't know if my friend enabled it before he gave us the PC/Linux
> box but I'll guess that he didn't. (Previously, if we needed to boot
> from different devices in Solaris/Sparc, we could set the default boot
> device from the monitor prompt that results from the "init 0" command
> or by pressing the "L1 a" or "Stop a" key sequence.)

Ok. On PCs, you enable or disable or set the boot sequence. For intance, you
can set your system to boot up from the CD first, the floppy as second, and the
HD as third. If it does not find a bootable CD, then it looks for a bootable
diskette in the drive, and if it does not find one, then it automatically boots
 your HD. On the other hand, you can tell the BIOS only to boot from diskette
or only from CD, or only from HD. If you have not enabled booting from the
floppy, it will not boot from that drive no matter if you put a bootable disk
(DOS, Win, or Linux) on it.

> My question: How can we override the logjam? Is there some software
> that I can download from the Solaris/Sparc onto a DOS diskette, then
> insert the diskette into the PC, and power up or hit the reset button?
> Essentially, I'm asking for a magic pill that will solve my black
> screen disease. :-)

Ok, here's my theory. If you turn off your PC, and then you boot it back, then
you MUST get something in the screen. Something as the memory test, some
legend, whatever. Even an error message after a couple of minutes. All PCs
perform a self test before the OS takes control. If you do not get this, then I
would presume you have a hardware problem. What could have gone wrong? Few
things, really. There is not much you can do to damage your hardware with
software. You can, for instance, burn out your monitor if you select a
different frequency from the one it is designed for, but hardly anything else.
It even could be a warranty issue on your equipment, more than an OS problem.
And that it happened when you were fooling around with netcfg and some files
could be only a casualty.

Now, let's suppose you get the self test done and no error message after that.
Only a blank screen comes out in your display, and nothing else happens. I
would think about two things then: HD or OS problem.

What can be done, then? If you get the self test performed, then you can put a
bootable floppy in your drive, and then, *if it it enabled in your BIOS*, it
should boot. Else, you will get same blank screen. Once you can boot from
floppy, reinstalling Linux should be easy, and I would suggest doing it
yourself as a learning experience.

Good luck,

-Manuel.

> 4-6. I don't know about the video card. I'll check. Ditto for MB and
> BIOS.
> 
> Thanks again for the suggestions.
> 
> --Rgdz, TT
> ------------------------------------------------
> Tom Nelson Scott         tom scott veda-home com
> The Veda Home Company    Bowling Green, Ohio USA
> "In IP We Trust"         "E Pluribus Unix"
> ------------------------------------------------
> 
> 
> 
> -------- Original Message --------
> Subject: Re: black screen -- cannot boot
> Resent-Date: 25 Dec 1999 16:34:41 -0000
> Resent-From: redhat-install-list redhat com
> Resent-CC: recipient list not shown: ;
> Date: Sun, 26 Dec 1999 10:31:41 -0600
> From: mcamacho habitat co cr (Manuel Camacho)
> Reply-To: redhat-install-list redhat com
> To: redhat-install-list redhat com, Telecom Tom
> <tom scott veda-home com>,redhat-install-list redhat com
> References: <3864AE14 14196F58 veda-home com>
> 
> 
> > We tried the installation CDs but still the black screen. Even with a
> > DOS diskette with the system files on it, we still get the black
> > screen. Is there software we could download from the web that enables
> 
> Sorry if this seems too obvious, but sometimes we forget obvious
> things:
> 
> 1. Checked all the conectors and cables? Maybe one is loose.
> 2. Do you get ANY kind of signal on screen during the booting process?
> 3. Can you load you BIOS-ware on screen?
> 3. You are trying to boot up with a DOS disk with same results. Have
> you
> enabled booting from floppies and from CDs in your BIOS? 
> 4. Do you have any other video card on hand? Maybe your video adapter
> harmed
> itself at the same time (and not necessarily as result) of your
> changes.
> 5. What MB and BIOS do you have? There are software from Phoenix, for
> instance,
> to *UPGRADE* your BIOS, but I don't know how can you use the software
> if you
> can't boot.
> 6. What about your MB information? You can take out your HDDs, and
> some MBs
> have jumpers that clear out your BIOS programming, and set up the
> factory
> defaults.
> 
> Hope this helps.
> 
> Merry X-Mas!
> 
> -Manuel.
> 
> 
> -- 
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