[Solved, with work around] Garbled desktop

[Snowhog]

Re: Garbled desktop

Isn't trouble shooting fun?

Okay, let's now see if for some reason, you (your user) is still the culprit. Perform your work-around for getting to a usable desktop. Then, create a new user. Logout/reboot and use the new user to login. Any difference?

[SteveTaylor]

Re: Garbled desktop

No change with a new user. I wouldn't really expect any difference since the problem shows up before I get the the login screen. At that point it doesn't know who the user is.

I did find out the computer has an ATI graphics system but I could not find the actual chip number.

With either user, trying to go to a console with Ctl-Alt-F1 gives me a garbage screen, but using Konsole from within KDE comes up to a command line just fine. I don't know if that helps.

I am expecting company this afternoon so I may not be able to work on this any more today.

[doctordruidphd]

Re: Garbled desktop

I had this problem for a while during the Lucid development cycle; eventually, a kernel update fixed it.

I don't remember grub legacy all that well, but try editing your boot menu as above, removing the splash option and the vga= option. It won't be pretty, but it may bypass the graphics mess.

Another thing to do is to go ahead and upgrade to grub-pc. Its video module may (or may not...) work better on your system. Only way to tell is to try (and have backups).

[SteveTaylor]

Re: Garbled desktop

Yes, I removed the "splash" option from the boot line in menu.lst and the garbled colored screen mess is gone.
Maybe some day I'll upgrade to the new grub, but for now I'll probably leave good enough alone.
Thanks.

[Snowhog]

Re: [Solved, with work around] Garbled desktop

What's likely happening then, is that the resolution that is being used for the boot splash is not compatible with your setup. I know I've seen posts on that problem, and they are here in KFN. If in fact that is the underlying problem, it is fixable.

[doctordruidphd]

Re: [Solved, with work around] Garbled desktop

Maybe some day I'll upgrade to the new grub, but for now I'll probably leave good enough alone.

Glad you got it working. Grub2 (also known as grub-pc) has many more options for setting up the video display, so you would have a better chance of finding a compatible setting. Be forewarned, though, that dealing with grub2 can be a real challenge. Search for the howto's on these forums and read them, BEFORE you do the upgrade.

[SteveTaylor]

Re: [Solved, with work around] Garbled desktop

I have another computer where I loaded 9.10 as a fresh install. I learned a little about Grub2 because I was trying to set the default operating system for boot up. I still haven't figured that out. I finally gave up and set it to boot from whatever was booted the last time. On this computer, since it was an upgrade from 9.10, which in turn was an upgrade from 9.04, I guess I am still running the legacy Grub. Of course it showed the 9.10 splash screen just fine, so there was some change in 10.04 that caused this problem. But, as I said, it is working satisfactorily now, so I will most likely not mess with it, at least until I have more time.
Thanks again for all the help.