ctrl-alt-f7 to login, but can't get text window

[vbdanl]

Hi. Another newbie to linux. Have used unix in the workplace for years, but not at home. Working with old scsi hardware. Installed FC4. During boot up, can read mounting,etc messages scrolling just fine. When it gets to where I expect to see a login screen, the screen clears, then gray background with colored horizontal lines scroll 90 to nothing. That is all it does. Found by reading posts that I could ctrl-alt-f7 or f8 and it would jump to a graphical login screen. can login, and see mozilla, etc. tried to get to normal linux/unix login screen (text mode), but those screens just have the scrolling lines. thanks for any help.

[jsowoc]

This might be a problem with video drivers. I have the same thing with my Matrox P650. When I go to text mode, I have horisontal lines. However, if I type in my logon and my password, the lines go away and I have "normal" text.
I haven't figured out a workaround, other than to ignore the fact that you can't see the username being typed.

Try to log on, and worst-case, you can always ctrl-d to log off if the screen doesn't fix itself. If you are able to log on, and it works, post here, and we'll think of filing a bug report. I had the same error in FC4, but it didn't bug me enough for me to do anything about it.

[vbdanl]

I tried, but no luck. I see some disk activity, but the screens (1-6, 8) all stay with scrolling vertical lines. The only one that works is ctrl-alt-f7. I was able to get to a terminal screen by using the terminal option from the pull down menu. And then I can get multiple screens with ctrl-alt-n. Not sure if this has anything to do with the problem, but I see "ACPI unable to locate RSDP" during the boot process.

I was finally able to get Ctrl-Alt-F1 screen. It is unreadable, but not scrolling. Like you said, I was able to login (just not see what I was typing). It logs in to a bash shell. There is a blue border around a black screen. The words seem to start (about half a character) on the left side of the screen, then wrap to the right side, so every line you see has part of the first letter chopped off (because it is on the left side of the screen). I tried adjusting the monitor controls, but that didn't help. The screen is set to 800 x 600.

When I Ctrl-Alt-F7 to jump back to the Fedora gui screen, then jump back to the F1 screen, the F1 screen is hosed up again. Maybe my video card can't handle changing modes(?), or maybe I need a different driver? - I really am clueless..

I also haven't figured out how to get connected to the internet with the linux box either. Should I start a new post to discuss that problem, or add it here? Thanks again..

[vbdanl]

please read last updated post.. thanks.

[vbdanl]

installed yum update and things look a lot better now. Still see ACPI error and mknod errors during boot, but screens come up, and I am now able to get on the internet, etc. I am getting there.. the roads just a bit rocky.. --) Thanks for the help.