URGENT: No picture... Just a screen .. makes no sense. HELP!

Hey everyone. I just go really frustrated because my SUSE looks like crap. Since nobody responded to my threat about Compiz Fusion, I decided to follow tutorials and info sites and give it a shot myself. The steps I took were:

  1. Went to Compiz Fusion - openSUSE and started following the directions. The 1st step was to check if my drivers are correctly installed, which is probably the reason I cannot use desktop effects since it says something like “Your hardware/configuration are not supported”. So I clicked onto ATI and I got to

ATI - openSUSE

I have ATI Radeon 3200D. I used the 1-click install for the newest drivers. Then I followed the next step which told me to type in

su -c 'SaX2 -r -m 0=fglrx'

And so I did. I checked that SaX is using ATI Radeon, then I had to click on OK to obviously finish up. The moment I clicked on OK, A black screen, filled with some crazy ugly lines, appeared and scared the crap out of me. I already knew the next thing to do is Restart X window manager by pressing CTRL+ALT+BACKSPACE (Twice for 11.0 and later). I did it, but it didn’t help. I wanted about 3 minutes but nothing changed. I rebooted ( had to force shut off from the BIOS). I booted SUSE again, but the same thing appeared after everything was loaded. I just pretty much screwed my video configuration, because I can hear the welcoming sound after a bit so everything runs well, besides my graphics. What I managed to do next is try to fix the problem somehow. I tried to repair the system, but it could not find any errors besides the fact that GRUB was configured differently(my personal choice).

When I start my laptop, GRUB gives me 5 options to choose from. Two of them are Windows. The other 3 are Debug SUSE, FailFree SUSE , and simply SUSE. I tried to load in any other way, Debug SUSE works fine, but I cannot connect to the internet. Failfree SUSE works fine too, I can even connect to the internet, but it obviously runs slowly + it’s using 100% of my cpu which i personally think is bad. Also even though I don’t know much about SUSE I’m pretty sure thats not the way I should be running it. They have their own special meaning, which I’m not aware of.

Please help. Like I said I can get into SUSE through the Failsafe(failfree). Any suggestions will be appreciated. I’m trying to get my screen back.

Thank you all.

> I checked that SaX is using ATI Radeon, then I had to
> click on OK to obviously finish up. The moment I clicked on OK, A black
> screen, filled with some crazy ugly lines, appeared and scared the crap
> out of me. I already knew the next thing to do is Restart X window
> manager by pressing CTRL+ALT+BACKSPACE (Twice for 11.0 and later). I did
> it, but it didn’t help.

NO. when you click on ‘OK’ (at the point where you did) the system
launches a NEW Xwindow using the just changed video
configuration…if the new config works then you will see a picture
(not of scary ugly lines) and be given a button to press saying all is
ok…

if you DO NOT see a friendly screen, the thing to do is keep your
hands to yourself and the system will know that you can’t find the
“all is okay button” and in 30 seconds (i think is the default) it
will revert BACK to the working configuration you had before you ran
that code [su -c ‘SaX2 -r -m 0=fglrx’]…

you interrupted that process…and, i guess in doing so corrupted your
conf file…

do you have a working backup of /etc/X11/xorg.conf??
if you do that MIGHT simplify the next steps…

BUT, someone else will have to tell you how to recover…i’d say that
the less you do until you get some REAL help the more likely you are
to recover as painlessly as possible…

i would NOT fiddle with it a lot until you have some help with a valid
recovery plan…


primary

Try running

sax2 -r -m 0=vesa

at the prompt,you need to su to root first.this will get you a basic display,so you can then try again to install the drivers.

Andy

Thanks for the response guys. I’m at school on a MAC right now, but I will try as soon as I get home.

Nothing of the suggested above worked. I recorded a video with my phone. Please watch and try to help again.

Thank you.

ok,at the prompt, su to root & type sax & press enter.Then you can set it up as you want,but without 3d until your drivers are installed. If that doesn’t work, there are severalmore commands to try, “man sax” will give the list

Andy

I feel really stupid right now, since I can’t see the link that I posted to the video. I’m under school proxy which does not allow me to watch online videos, but I can’t even see the link. (therefore I never posted it.) I created a video with my phone and posted it up on YouTube. I’ll post back the link as soon as I get home.(I will try that stuff as well. Thanks Andy)

Although, I did find a temporary solution. Since Failsafe and the regular Suse are ran under the same module… I can just erase all the other things added when booting, and it really turns into a regular SUSE boot. I just want to get see if I can solve the initial problem.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K3k0jbmv5vc)

This is the YouTube Video I was talking about. Please watch and comment back with your thoughts.

After screwing up a lot of stuff on this SUSE I officially give up on getting 3D to work. Screw Compiz… Can any1 help me get a laptop resolution (1280/864) or something like that. Right now I’m under 1024/768 which is really a desktop monitor resolution. I tried Sax2 but … the same exact problem. As soon as I change it, I can either test it, or click ok. If test… it screws it up. If ok … the next reboot with screw it up. Any other than using SaX2 ideas ? Thanks.