Solved: Xwindow issue with FC5 on Acer Aspire 5500:

cmoraes · #1 27th March 2006, 08:09 AM

Hi,

I installed FC5 on my Acer Aspire 5500 laptop over the weekend. I found the fix to an Xwindows problem (blank screen) and am posting it here for everyone's benefit.

Configuration:
Acer Aspire 5502 laptop, with ATI Radeon x700 graphics card with 64Mb video ram.

Problem:
For some reason, FC5 (and FC4) does not recognize my laptop LCD screen. Xwindows (Gnome & Kde) start, but do not show anything on the screen. In fact, during the installation, anaconda cannot display the graphical installer, and I have to do the installation in text mode. When I try to run "startx" from the command line after installation, the screen remains blank. I had to do a CTRL+ALT+BkpSpace to kill the Xwindows session.

Solution:
Edit the /etc/X11/xorg.conf file. Add the following line to the "Videocard0" section.

Option "MonitorLayout" "LVDS"

See "man radeon" for more info.

Hope this helps.

Regards,
cmoraes

Karmas · #2 27th March 2006, 08:32 AM

Hi,

Thanks for your possible solution. I'll try it this afternoon. I only have one other little problem, FC hangs on udev. Did you have the same problem?

regards,
karmas

cmoraes · #3 27th March 2006, 08:43 AM

Hi Kramas,

Nope. I didn't have any problem with udev.

regards,
cmoraes

EngineerJoe · #4 26th April 2006, 06:06 AM

Thank you for this thread. I didn't have a problem with udev either, but my GUI does lock up when trying to log out. Any suggestions? If it helps, I'm using the Acer Ferrari 4005

PSY0NIC · #5 26th April 2006, 01:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Karmas

Hi,

Thanks for your possible solution. I'll try it this afternoon. I only have one other little problem, FC hangs on udev. Did you have the same problem?

regards,
karmas

Do a search on UDEV in the forums. Lots of people are having problems with it. I had a problem with it on my Acer 5672 and what I did was boot of the DVD in rescue mode and update the whole system. After it installs the 2080-smp or 2096-smp kernel, I would get past the udev problem.

SpookySystems · #6 6th June 2006, 06:26 PM

is there a way to correct the problem at instalation point or do i have to use text mode and them correct it?

Conz · #7 22nd November 2006, 09:20 AM

I know this is an old thread but it is being referenced on a few other sites for people with screens going blank.
I had the same problem that X made the screen go blank, it turns out that X is trying to use the external monitor port instead of the LCD screen.
So if you get this, try hooking up an external monitor and see what it does.

joefireline · #8 15th April 2007, 03:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Conz

I know this is an old thread but it is being referenced on a few other sites for people with screens going blank.
I had the same problem that X made the screen go blank, it turns out that X is trying to use the external monitor port instead of the LCD screen.
So if you get this, try hooking up an external monitor and see what it does.

I tried that today, and an external monitor work, the laptop one doesn't.
Which X is it? If I get rid of it, will it work?

I tried what cmoraes said, but it didn't seem to work.
Though which "Videocard0" is it? There is two, so I put it at both.

Conz · #9 15th April 2007, 03:29 PM

I think it'll start working normally once you're done installing and have everything updated.
I forgot if I installed any special ati drivers, you might want to look into getting those.

joefireline · #10 15th April 2007, 08:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Conz

I think it'll start working normally once you're done installing and have everything updated.
I forgot if I installed any special ati drivers, you might want to look into getting those.

Thanks,
I actully managed to get it sorted. After the 2nd reboot, it sorted itself, not sure what it was with being the second reboot.
Now, just for that wireless card...