# Cannot read display - Gentoo not booting

## linuxcare247

When the kernel is loading I can't read the text on the screen.  It's as if I have no VGA driver.  How can I fix this?  All of a sudden my Gentoo kernel will not boot and I need to read the screen to see where it's erroring.

Thanks,

TJ

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## meowsqueak

Does the LiveCD work? I think there are boot options on the LiveCD that let you fiddle with the video access too, so maybe try those?

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## linuxcare247

The Live CD does work.  I tried to copy over the default XF86Config but that did not work.  Once the kernel starts to boot I can't read the text on the screen.....

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## meowsqueak

That won't be due to X - more likely to be due to a console driver. Are you using a framebuffer? Try disabling the framebuffer if you are.

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## linuxcare247

I don't understand framebuffer.  Is this part of the boot process?  Is this part of the BIOS?  How does one check the framebuffer setting?

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## linuxcare247

I should mention that when the box boots I can read the Dell Splash screen, etc....

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## meowsqueak

The framebuffer is part of the kernel. It's a 'display surface' that the kernel provides and can be used (amongst other things) for displaying a boot splash screen, or a fancy hi-res console. You can usually disable it at the boot prompt but someone else might have to guide you through this because I don't use a framebuffer at all.

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## linuxcare247

I have reboot into Knoppix and mounted /  of my Gentoo system.  I found under google mention of default display driver under the /etc/rc.conf.   Problem is I dont' find a /etc/rc.conf...  :Confused: 

I see a /etc/rc.boot but it seems just to point to /etc/rc.conf.  Can I somehow copy over this file from the LiveCD?

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## linuxcare247

One of my co-workers says the fuzzy text reads:

cannot execute /sbin/rc

This is where the boot hangs.

Can anyone lend insight on this? I'm booted into Knoppix now and I don't see anything under /sbin/rc.....Please help...TJ

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## linuxcare247

This issue is dead and so is my Gentoo!  I'm rebuilding from scratch....

TJ

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## trikky

Im encountering this problem as well, I see the BIOS/manufacturer splash screen, then the picture becomes distorted when I reach my GRUB boot selection screen. (I have GRUB on the MBR) I can arrow up/down and select an OS to boot, but I cannot see anything. I added a video= and vga= value to my grub.conf (that I found scrubbing this board for help) and now I cant see the grub boot screen at all, though I can stull use the keyboard to boot to an OS. 

What do I need to do to fix the display for my boot screens? In other distro's I have added a vga= value to my lilo.conf and fixed the issue, but I dont see anything on the board to resolve it for gentoo. Im not using a DE just terminal mode, dont have X installed or anything.

I dont see that this issue was ever answered, if it has been just post a thread link please.

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## trikky

Lil extra info, by playing with the vga= and vesa= values in grub.conf (picked from the many posts related to display settings on this mssg board, but without any understanding of the vvalues) I am able to kind of read the stuff on the screen at boot, it tells me that I "passed an undefined mode number" and will give me a list of mode numbers to pick from if I hit the right key. 

Usually after I choose a menu option the display corrects itself, and looks like a normal linux boot message screen. But when it first comes up I cannot read anything.

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## trikky

I found that the font server was being loaded during hte boot sequence, and after that the display was corrected.

After I finished playing around with gentoo for a couple weeks, I recompiled everything from the gss source to provide network services from the machine.

I did not have the problem second time around as I bootstrapped and installed from "stage-1".

The first time I installed (and did encounter the problem) I used the 2 cd set and built everything off the CD, like stage 2 or 3 (cant remember)

I have see nthis question all over the boards and no one has ever answered it. I see lots of un answered x questions. I dont need/use X, so its not a big deal, but it seems like there isnt much help for X users with gentoo.

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