No video after kernel compilation

[Anthony]

Every time I try to compile the linux kernel, I get a blank screen on
reboot.

I've always followed these directions:
[url]http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/Kernel-HOWTO/quick_steps.html[/url]

So after doing the compilation and rebooting, it gives me the lilo
prompt, and I choose my new kernel there. Lilo does the
print-lots-of-dots thing as usual, but right after that, the screen
goes blank. The hard disk is still cranking away, though, for 30
seconds or a minute, as if it's working properly, just with no video.

This has happened to me every time I've tried to compile a kernel, on
2 completely different systems, trying kernels 2.4.18 and 2.4.22 on
both. One system has onboard video (Via/CastleRock?), and the other
has an nVidia geForce4 64MB PCI card.

So with the exact same result on 2 completely different systems, I
figure it must be something that I'm doing wrong. Can anyone shed any
light on this?

Thanks,
Anthony
[url]http://nodivisions.com/[/url]

[mjt]

Anthony wrote:

> So with the exact same result on 2 completely different systems, I
> figure it must be something that I'm doing wrong. Can anyone shed any
> light on this?

.... are you booting to a GUI runlevel (most likely '5')?
if so, do a CTRL-ALT-BACKSPACE to kill the server and
get to a prompt. alternatively, you could CTRL-ALT-F1
to get to the terminal. check your log files in
/var/log, such as XFree86.0.log and messages for clues
..
--
/// Michael J. Tobler: motorcyclist, surfer, skydiver, \\\
\\\ and author: "Inside Linux", "C++ HowTo", "C++ Unleashed" ///
Andrea: Unhappy the land that has no heroes.
Galileo: No, unhappy the land that _____ needs heroes.

[Andreas Janssen]

Hello

Anthony (<orders@nodivisions.com>) wrote:

> Every time I try to compile the linux kernel, I get a blank screen on
> reboot.
>
> I've always followed these directions:
> [url]http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/Kernel-HOWTO/quick_steps.html[/url]
>
> So after doing the compilation and rebooting, it gives me the lilo
> prompt, and I choose my new kernel there. Lilo does the
> print-lots-of-dots thing as usual, but right after that, the screen
> goes blank. The hard disk is still cranking away, though, for 30
> seconds or a minute, as if it's working properly, just with no video.

Maybe your lilo.conf is set to use some framebuffer graphics mode but
your Kernel is compiled without the necessary drivers. Check your
/etc/lilo.conf for the vga parameter. Try booting with "vga=normal".

best regards
Andreas Janssen

--
Andreas Janssen
[email]andreas.janssen@bigfoot.com[/email]
PGP-Key-ID: 0xDC801674
Registered Linux User #267976

[Anthony]

mjt <mjtobler@removethis_consultant.com> wrote in message news:<PAC7b.926$Od6.106@newssvr22.news.prodigy.com >...

> ... are you booting to a GUI runlevel (most likely '5')?
> if so, do a CTRL-ALT-BACKSPACE to kill the server and
> get to a prompt. alternatively, you could CTRL-ALT-F1
> to get to the terminal. check your log files in
> /var/log, such as XFree86.0.log and messages for clues.

No, I'm not, I'm booting to a shell prompt (X isn't even installed on this system).

[Anthony]

Andreas Janssen <andreas.janssen@bigfoot.com> wrote in message news:<bjn14l$c5f$06$1@news.t-online.com>...

> Maybe your lilo.conf is set to use some framebuffer graphics mode but
> your Kernel is compiled without the necessary drivers. Check your
> /etc/lilo.conf for the vga parameter. Try booting with "vga=normal".

Well, it never fails; after googling and googling and finding no
solution, I posted a message here. About 3 seconds after hitting the
"Post" button, I came upon the solution, and it's the one you
mentioned. I had vga=773; changing that to vga=normal allowed me to
get some (super low-res) video.

So, after reading these two pages:
[url]http://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/archive/1/2003/01/2/40632[/url]
[url]http://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/archive/1/2003/01/3/42125[/url]

....I looked for those settings, but on the 2.4.22 kernel that I just
downloaded, they don't all exist. I do have CONFIG_VGA_CONSOLE and
CONFIG_VIDEO_SELECT, but not CONFIG_FB_VESA. When I run make
menuconfig, I don't have "Frame-buffer support" under "Console
drivers," I only have "VGA text console" and "Video mode selection
support" there, and both of those are enabled (built-in, not modules).

I manually edited my .config file, and found that there are a whole
bunch of CONFIG_FB_x, CONFIG_FBCON_x, and CONFIG_FONT_x that are
present in config-ide-2.4.18, but not in the default config file that
I got after running make menuconfig for the 2.4.22 kernel. I tried
manually pasting the ones that looked relevant after running make
menuconfig, but then make bzImage failed with errors related to the
stuff I pasted in.

From what I can tell, without those options, I can't get a 1024x768
resolution at boot-time. When I set vga=ask and choose "scan", it
comes back with 0-9 and a-b options, all of which are rather ugly, and
all of which set the monitor to 600-something or 700-something for the
horizontal resolution (according to the monitor's OSD, which displays
the res).

So... how can I enable a nice 1024x768 video mode at boot time with
this kernel? I had it under 2.4.18. I am using an LCD display (and
was under 2.4.18 too); does that make any difference? It's this one:

[url]http://shop.store.yahoo.com/iecomputers/hyimq17b17si.html[/url]

....but I didn't/don't think you need to use any special
settings/drivers for an LCD as opposed to a CRT.

Thanks,
Anthony
[url]http://nodivisions.com/[/url]

[Andreas Janssen]

Hello

Anthony (<orders@nodivisions.com>) wrote:

> Andreas Janssen <andreas.janssen@bigfoot.com> wrote in message
> news:<bjn14l$c5f$06$1@news.t-online.com>...

>> Maybe your lilo.conf is set to use some framebuffer graphics mode but
>> your Kernel is compiled without the necessary drivers. Check your
>> /etc/lilo.conf for the vga parameter. Try booting with "vga=normal".

> [works with vga=normal]

> So, after reading these two pages:
> [url]http://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/archive/1/2003/01/2/40632[/url]
> [url]http://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/archive/1/2003/01/3/42125[/url]
>
> ...I looked for those settings, but on the 2.4.22 kernel that I just
> downloaded, they don't all exist. I do have CONFIG_VGA_CONSOLE and
> CONFIG_VIDEO_SELECT, but not CONFIG_FB_VESA. When I run make
> menuconfig, I don't have "Frame-buffer support" under "Console
> drivers," I only have "VGA text console" and "Video mode selection
> support" there, and both of those are enabled (built-in, not modules).

I think you must go to

"Code maturity level options"

and activate

"Prompt for development and/or incomplete code/drivers"

to have these options available, as they are marked "experimental".

best regards
Andreas Janssen

--
Andreas Janssen
[email]andreas.janssen@bigfoot.com[/email]
PGP-Key-ID: 0xDC801674
Registered Linux User #267976

[Anthony]

Andreas Janssen <andreas.janssen@bigfoot.com> wrote in message news:<bjo5dp$lno$07$1@news.t-online.com>...

> > ...I looked for those settings, but on the 2.4.22 kernel that I just
> > downloaded, they don't all exist. I do have CONFIG_VGA_CONSOLE and
> > CONFIG_VIDEO_SELECT, but not CONFIG_FB_VESA. When I run make
> > menuconfig, I don't have "Frame-buffer support" under "Console
> > drivers," I only have "VGA text console" and "Video mode selection
> > support" there, and both of those are enabled (built-in, not modules).

>
> I think you must go to
>
> "Code maturity level options"
>
> and activate
>
> "Prompt for development and/or incomplete code/drivers"
>
> to have these options available, as they are marked "experimental".

Aha! There they are. Thank you!

-Anthony

[mjt]

Anthony wrote:

> mjt <mjtobler@removethis_consultant.com> wrote in message

>> ... are you booting to a GUI runlevel (most likely '5')?
>> if so, do a CTRL-ALT-BACKSPACE to kill the server and
>> get to a prompt. alternatively, you could CTRL-ALT-F1
>> to get to the terminal. check your log files in
>> /var/log, such as XFree86.0.log and messages for clues.

>
> No, I'm not, I'm booting to a shell prompt (X isn't even installed on this
> system).

..... sounds as if you have something wacked out in the
kernel configuration - have you checked the settings?
can you switch to another virtual terminal and get
any sort of output?
..
--
/// Michael J. Tobler: motorcyclist, surfer, skydiver, \\\
\\\ and author: "Inside Linux", "C++ HowTo", "C++ Unleashed" ///
\\\ [url]http://pages.sbcglobal.net/mtobler/mjt_linux_page.html[/url] ///
I think pop music has done more for oral intercourse than anything
else that has ever happened, and vice versa. -- Frank Zappa