Linux/Beryl white-screen problem, need help

J

Jonny Two Shoes

Expert Member
Joined
Nov 13, 2006
Messages
4,542
Reaction score
17
Location
Gauteng
Hi there,

I'm a complete and utter Linux noob :)

Anyway yesterday I installed Kanotix to my HD after I got totally fed up with Vista :/

It was working really well until last night I decided to enable Beryl for all the fancy graphics and what not. Well I click on Beryl manager which is pre-installed and suddenly everything turns white :/ now I can't get anything back again.

So today I am taking whatever chance I get to read up on solutions and lo and behold there are plenty...some quite advanced mind you.

But none of them tell me how the feck to disable beryl so that I can actually do what they suggest. :confused:

So my question is, how do I disable Beryl when I can't see what I'm doing after log-in? It's like working blind.

I have other log in options but they seem terminal based. FailSafe mode works but not sure how to disable beryl from there for my other login :(

I would just like to go home with an answer today so that I don't get stuck and then have to research on my cellphone :p
 
Last edited:
First off, are you using KDE or Gnome? And I assume by "white screen", you mean that you cannot see anything on the screen? What happens after a restart?
 
well the best thing to do would be to boot into console mode, and then applying the fixes there, or boot up, and when the screen turns white , press ctrl+alt+F1, to open a terminal session and apply the fixes there.

Unfortunately I use kubuntu, so have no idea what this beryl is you speak off, so cannt help you beyond opening up a terminal session
 
You can also substitute the F1 key in the ctrl-alt-F1 sequence with F2, F3, F4 and so on.

If he's using Beryl, then he might be using an outdated distribution, and I would recommend he download the latest Ubuntu instead.

PS - when will the next version of Ubuntu be released?
 
Last edited:
PostmanPot said:
Beryl became Compiz-Fusion.
Click to expand...

Ah ok, I installed Compiz-fusion yesterday, but on kubuntu it does not work, it does not break anything, but there are no options for you to change or choose from
 
Gothan said:
Ah ok, I installed Compiz-fusion yesterday, but on kubuntu it does not work, it does not break anything, but there are no options for you to change or choose from
Click to expand...

sudo apt-get install compiz-kde

:D
 
don't you love apt-get? :D

makes things so much simpler :D

Just as an aside - where do the packages reside which you've downloaded with apt-get? And is it possible to save these packages to hard drive/cdrom for future use?
 
Kasyx said:
You've been repeating that mantra for the last week now, chiskop :D

You should create a thread for it: "Ubuntu Packages: Where the Fsck They Go"
Click to expand...
:D

I like that question - makes me look cleverer than I am. :)
Actually started a linux FAQ like beanie's general hardware and software FAQ, but haven't had a chance to finish it.
 
Oh sheesh...typical. I ask a question on Linux forums and people start going on a tangent about these weird terminal commands and funny words :p :) ha ha. You blerri Linux people. Soon I will be one of you :eek:

Anyway I'm using Kanotix based on Devian (not sure about KDE or Gnome yet, I realise these are like distro's for Linux? would Devian be one of these?). It came with Beryl pre-installed. And yes as soon as I activated Beryl everything went white. I can go a bit moggy and press buttons and I see that there is a cube graphic glitch sometimes and I can also see a random icon in the cube now and then. But that's it, everything is white. Restart only helps until the login screen. After login screen Beryl starts up automatically way too fast and I can't stop it.

Was going to download Ubuntu but I saw XX days to go until new version !!! so I decided to wait for that first and practice on this Linux I already have in the meantime.

Will try cntr/alt/f1, thanks for suggestion guys :)
 
chiskop said:
:D

I like that question - makes me look cleverer than I am. :)
Actually started a linux FAQ like beanie's general hardware and software FAQ, but haven't had a chance to finish it.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I'm working on something similar for Linux gaming. If you need any assistance let me know :D
 
is Beryl not maybe in /etc/init.d

so some sort of sudo /etc/init.d/beryl stop

/end guess
 
Jonny Two Shoes said:
Oh sheesh...typical. I ask a question on Linux forums and people start going on a tangent about these weird terminal commands and funny words :p :) ha ha. You blerri Linux people. Soon I will be one of you :eek:

Anyway I'm using Kanotix based on Devian (not sure about KDE or Gnome yet, I realise these are like distro's for Linux? would Devian be one of these?). It came with Beryl pre-installed. And yes as soon as I activated Beryl everything went white. I can go a bit moggy and press buttons and I see that there is a cube graphic glitch sometimes and I can also see a random icon in the cube now and then. But that's it, everything is white. Restart only helps until the login screen. After login screen Beryl starts up automatically way too fast and I can't stop it.

Was going to download Ubuntu but I saw XX days to go unt
I know it's intimidating for new users, but il new version !!! so I decided to wait for that first and practice on this Linux I already have in the meantime.

Will try cntr/alt/f1, thanks for suggestion guys :)
Click to expand...

Devian = debian for goths? :D

The reason that terminal commands are given is that they're consistent across more distros.

We don't know if you're using adept or synaptic. Then if you're using adept, and I'm using synaptic, it's hard for me to explain where to look for things.

Also, I've never used kanotix before - but if it's debian-based, I can be pretty certain that apt-get install whatever will work.

The command line can be your friend, and will often make things easier/quicker. But I know the command line can be intimidating, and there will 99% of the time be a GUI way to do things - its just easier to explain the command line.
 
Go console mode as its being suggested "cntr/alt/f1"
On the console, You can configure basic display settings using tools or by editing the config files.

Try tools such as (depends on distro) drakeconf, system-config-display or "xserver-configlet-capplet "
 
Debian not devian...yes thanks! :) my bad.

So just an update...

Got home pretty late last night and tried to boot up my PC. Suddenly I was having some kernel panic sync error with the mounted drive or some such junk and I couldn't boot. I could not even boot with the live CD which was strange. So then I tried my XP CD to see if I could repartition the drive and start over....even that gave me ACPI blue screen errors and reboots. The Vista disk also did not work...I was like WTF??!

So then I tried reflashing BIOS with the motherboard disk as playing with BIOS settings did not work. After more trial the PC still kept throwing errors. After a while I decided to run memtest with the linux boot. Errors kept coming up everywhere so I was like 2xWTF?!?! Open case and remove 1gig of RAM, reboot and now everything is fine...thats a happy and sad moment at the same time :/

Anyway I haven't had time to determine which of the 2 512's are causing the problem but I still have 2Gig remaining.

So I really just decided stuff this Beryl nonsense, I re-installed Linux. So now all is OK, no more whitescreen.

Now I'm on my steep learning curve with how a linux OS works :) took me forever to figure out the apt-get install command :/

Unfortunately I still have problems to address,

1. cntr/alt/f1 gives me a blank screen and monitor switches off. Same with shift/backspace and also when I shut-down or restart...it just hangs there with monitor off :/ PC stays on and I have to manually shut down or restart
2. sudo does not work as it says my profile is not a sudoer or something, so I can't disable x-server so that I can install nvidia drivers (wondering if this caused white screen..no nvidia). Even if I run terminal as root I can't seem to figure out the command that stops x-server.

Well I'm off to uncle google again :) at least I got my DSL to work even in bridged mode on Linux :p pity I only get home late tonight again :( doing my MCSE atm and what do you know, I'm doing Vista support :(:(
 
Last edited:
i really think your best bet is to hold on for the next ubuntu - there will be plenty of people on here who are more familiar with ubuntu and it'll be easier to help out.
:)
 
chiskop said:
i really think your best bet is to hold on for the next ubuntu - there will be plenty of people on here who are more familiar with ubuntu and it'll be easier to help out.
:)
Click to expand...

9 days to go :) it's...just...too...far...away :p I'm very impatient with launch/release dates, guess I have Telkom and gubbament to blame for that :/
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top
Sign up to the MyBroadband newsletter
X