[hammerhead69]

hi, i've been at this most of today
i finally got a correct iso and installed xbmc live on my new asrock vision 3d
i thought it had installed correctly, but now i just get this black screen with white writting
ubuntu 10.04.1 LTS localhost tty1
localhost login:

i can't access bios to try a new installation, f11 took me to the scree ( i dont know what its called) that had lots of options one of which was bios, now when i press f11 i just get to choose boot device, sata or cd/dvd, when i click cd/dvd and put the xbmc live cd back in, xbmc starts to load up then i come back to the login screen again?
any ideas please i'm done in with this

[hammerhead69]

Just re-installed xbmc live, done everything as per my guide tells me to do
re-start, xbmc sign comes up
then back to black screen white writiing
ubuntu 10.04.1 LTS xbmclive tty1
xbmclive login:

i didnt have much of a clue to start with but now im completely out of ideas

[toddwv]

hi, i've been at this most of today
i finally got a correct iso and installed xbmc live on my new asrock vision 3d
i thought it had installed correctly, but now i just get this black screen with white writting
ubuntu 10.04.1 LTS localhost tty1
localhost login:

i can't access bios to try a new installation, f11 took me to the scree ( i dont know what its called) that had lots of options one of which was bios, now when i press f11 i just get to choose boot device, sata or cd/dvd, when i click cd/dvd and put the xbmc live cd back in, xbmc starts to load up then i come back to the login screen again?
any ideas please i'm done in with this

Your post is a bit confusing. What do you mean that you can't access the bios to try a new installation? Do you actually mean you can't get to bios to change the boot order? Pressing the delete button usually takes you into the bios.

Did you try to run it from cd first before installing? This is a good way to see if it will run on your computer out of the box. If it doesn't and you aren't comfortable poking around, you might be S.O.L. unless you're willing to learn a bit.

When you get to the login screen, which IS a sign that there's a problem, you can try logging in with UN:xbmc and PWD:xbmc then type startx. If XBMC loads, well, you'll have to find why it kicked out to the control terminal. You can dig around the log files to see if it logged an error.

Good luck. I'm mostly just responding to try and help you get started in the right direction.

[nzwogboy]

Have your tried typing the user name and password in?
xbmc/xbmc

[hammerhead69]

toddwv:
when i 1st turned the rock on, pressing f11 at start up took me to a page (i dont know what it's called) that had lots of options and information, i had to move right to get to bios, then i could change the order 1sr, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, but there was no usb option. eskro got me round that i wasn't using a iso for xbmc live, but anyway, since trying to install xbmc, when i press f11 at start up i can no longer get to this "page" with lots of different options and info, mostly it goes straight to the login page decribed, but i did manage to get it to take me to a small page that gave the option of boot from sata or boot from cd/dvd, so i did a boot from cd/dvd and reinstalled, this time using xbmc as password and login, same thing happened.
I haven't tried running from cd just load to disc
i can try that when i get home, thanks.

I have tried entering the password and login a number of times, more writting i dont understand, but no xbmc start up thats for sure

shall i write down exactly what it says when i enter the password and login the post it?

[hammerhead69]

When you get to the login screen, which IS a sign that there's a problem, you can try logging in with UN:xbmc and PWD:xbmc then type startx. If XBMC loads, well, you'll have to find why it kicked out to the control terminal. You can dig around the log files to see if it logged an error.
.

I just tried re-installing but kept coming back to that login page, then i tried safe install, back to login page again, when i try to login it only lets me input login, nothing registers on the screen for password, so i pressed retrun anyway, lots of writting come up, nothing that mentioned error just ubuntu has no warranty etc
i entered "startx" and lots of new writting is now on the screen i hope this makes sense to someone, i'll pick out the bits i think are important

NVIDIA: could not open the device file/dev/nvidia0 (input/output error).
(EE) date time NVIDIA (0): Please check your systems kernel log for additional error
(EE) date time NVIDIA(0): messages and refer to Chapter 8: Common Problems in the
(EE) date time NVIDIA(0): Failed to initialize the NVIDIA graphics device!
(EE) Screen(s) found but none have a usual configuration,

Fatal server error:
no screens found

Please consult the The X,Org Foundation support
at http://wiki.x.org
for help.

ddxSigGiveUp: Closing log

(damn it thats all i could manage in time before it went, fingers crossed someone can help)

[toddwv]

I just tried re-installing but kept coming back to that login page, then i tried safe install, back to login page again, when i try to login it only lets me input login, nothing registers on the screen for password, so i pressed retrun anyway, lots of writting come up, nothing that mentioned error just ubuntu has no warranty etc
i entered "startx" and lots of new writting is now on the screen i hope this makes sense to someone, i'll pick out the bits i think are important

NVIDIA: could not open the device file/dev/nvidia0 (input/output error).
(EE) date time NVIDIA (0): Please check your systems kernel log for additional error
(EE) date time NVIDIA(0): messages and refer to Chapter 8: Common Problems in the
(EE) date time NVIDIA(0): Failed to initialize the NVIDIA graphics device!
(EE) Screen(s) found but none have a usual configuration,

Fatal server error:
no screens found

Please consult the The X,Org Foundation support
at http://wiki.x.org
for help.

ddxSigGiveUp: Closing log

(damn it thats all i could manage in time before it went, fingers crossed someone can help)

On some systems, you can hit the pause button on bootup to give more time to write stuff down. I looked up the asock. You hit F2 to go into the BIOS setup or F11 to go into the boot menu.

Sounds like a video driver issue.

This is what I could find for the nVidia video card you have (NVIDIA® GeForce GT425M Graphics). I don't know how familiar you are with the Linux command line, but these are commands to install nvidia video drivers. Since your's is a new install and your x is broken, I don't see any harm in trying them. Worst case scenario is that you'd have to reinstall again.

$ sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ubuntu-x-swat/x-updates
$ sudo apt-get update
$ sudo apt-get install nvidia-current nvidia-settings

Sorry if you know this stuff already, I don't mean to talk down to you...

Don't type in the $, that's just my way of indicating that it's line to be entered in the command prompt.

sudo runs the command as root so it will most likely ask you for the password, which I think you said you had set to xbmc.
The first adds a software repository
The second updates your software packages database.
The third installs nVidia drivers.

Once it installs, try to reboot. If it works, great. If it doesn't...more frustration. Trust me, I feel your pain but XBMC is worth it.

Note: apt-get update is often necessary if you're installing different packages but with xbmc-live, apt-get upgrade is a REALLY bad idea so don't accidentally use the upgrade option unless you're curious and want to risk a complete reinstall. I have personal experience with this.

Hope this helps. If not, here's hoping an nVidia/XBMC guru happens to wander by this thread.

[hammerhead69]

toddwv: you're not talking down to me, my knowledge of linux is zero

i dont have a clue

so basically i'll start up, then when the login page comes up , i'll try to login, then when the rest of the writting comes up then do i type in

$ sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ubuntu-x-swat/x-updates
$ sudo apt-get update
$ sudo apt-get install nvidia-current nvidia-settings

without the $

shall i do these one at a time ? or type all 3 then hit return?

also, there's an option for flash install at the beginning is that a way for me to install updates?

[kees667]

To go to the next line you have to press enter so you can't do them all at once. Good luck!

[hammerhead69]

now i can't get back to that page that i was on last night, it lets me put the login in, but nothing comes on the screen when i try to enter the password,

i've just tried re-installing xbmc live, this time when i got to set up network configuration when it did work automatically instead of pressing "set this up later" i pressed set up manually, and this all seems to go to plan, updated time etc from my network, took at lot longer to install and i thought it had finally worked, rmeoved live cd, re-booted and failure again

login screen, enter login press return more writting about ubuntu has no warranty, starting entering the 1st sudo halfway through the screen went black

does anyone know how i can restore to factory settings to start over again from scratch in casr there is something ive done wrong 1st time round

[hammerhead69]

What do people think about either trying to install the ubuntu desktop, so i can try to update the nvidia bits

or even buying windows and going down that route? Although this is an expense i was hoping to avoid

[hammerhead69]

Just tried to re-install xbmc live for the 40th time

now it won't even try to install that,

error: hd1 cannot get C/H/S values
error: you need to load the kernel first.

Press any key to continue.............

[toddwv]

Installing Ubuntu sounds like a good step. Newer kernel, later vid drivers and a more intuitive interface than trying to muck around the commandline which can be daunting if you are not used to it. Once you've learned to hack around a bit, you can take your newly acquired skills back to xbmc-live or build your own standalone if it turns out that earlier versions just don't gel well with your hardware which is ALWAYS a possibility with Linux, unfortunately.

[hammerhead69]

Yeah i thought it maybe worth a try, but it didnt work
wouldn't install due to a kernel error
said install kernal first
i dont know what a kernal is let alone how to install one on a system that goes to a black screen minutes after start up
im waiting for advice on whether windows 7 might install otherwise im going to have to take my new unit to a shop which is a pain

[kees667]

Does the live cd work when you boot from it?