Changing Video Card

[t-mark-g]

Yesterday I had to change the video card on a PC on which I had recently installed Fedora Core 3.

When I booted up the machine again it hung on the "Configuring Kernell Parameters".

The only way I have been able to get it to accept the new card is to do a full reinstall of Fedora. A repair install made no difference.

I am now concerned that if I ever need to change a video card in a machine running Fedora I risk loosing all my data. :eek:

Surely Fedora should be able to cope with a changed video card? After all Windows can do it so it can't be that difficult! :rolleyes:

[Harryc]

What video cards did you install, old/new?

[t-mark-g]

We removed an NVIDIA GEForce FX5200 and put in a Radion 9800, both of which the install recognised without any trouble.

[macemoneta]

If you change video cards, boot to single user mode (http://www.redhat.com/docs/manuals/linux/RHL-9-Manual/custom-guide/s1-rescuemode-booting-single.html), then run:

Xorg -configure

It will create a new (default) configuration for the video card, replacing /etc/X11/xorg.conf.

[Harryc]

If you change video cards, boot to single user mode (http://www.redhat.com/docs/manuals/linux/RHL-9-Manual/custom-guide/s1-rescuemode-booting-single.html), then run:

Xorg -configure

It will create a new (default) configuration for the video card, replacing /etc/X11/xorg.conf.Agreed...might not have been necessary if you had changed to another nvidia card, but definately required if switching to ATI. The OP probably did not need to reinstall Fedora.

[t-mark-g]

Thanks for that.

I still think it's a poor show that the system can't boot into a failsafe mode on it's own.

It doesn't bode well for us getting Linux more widely accepted for home use.

[macemoneta]

This is off-topic, but...

The average home user treats their PC like a toaster. They never add/change hardware, and they never apply software maintenance. Microsoft reported that about 30% of their user base is still using Win95 (or earlier), unpatched. Members of my family are in that group; when their machine doesn't work well, they buy a new one. They never install upgrades or maintenance (I periodically do it for them), and they would never install an OS (let alone a piece of hardware, like a video card). I get a lot of hand-me-down PCs.

We get really spoiled working and interacting with technically skilled people. A really large chunck of the population doesn't fall into that category. They couldn't tell the difference between WinXP, MacOSX and FC3. Every new machine is different to them, yet still more or less the same (like a toaster). If it has a web browser, an email program, and an IM client, they're done.

Walmart has been selling Linux PCs to that market segment for several years now, and they have been very happy with sales. They continually expand their inventory (this year adding Linux laptops). To these folks, a PC is a commodity and the OS is immaterial. Remember when it was common for people to work on their cars all day? Most people today don't ever "pop the hood". In another generation, no one will pop the hood of their PCs either (other than their "mechanic").

When a Tivo (a basic low-end Linux PC with a Tuner card) has a problem, do people pop the top and fix the problem? No, they RMA it. If their model Tivo doesn't work with HDTV or satellite, do they upgrade the tuner card and install software? No, they buy a new one. If you haven't seen the signs, that's where the PC is going, like it or not.

[Woad_Warrior]

if you had changed the older nvidia card to a newer one, you wouldn't have had to do a thing. you could have rebooted into 3d enabled enviroment because nvidia's driver is good for nearly all of their cards. (i've done that 3 times already with no problems) macemoneta's fix would be the proper way of changing to a new vid driver, although, while i was in single user mode, i'd probably remove the old driver and install the new one via apt, yum, or the binary file from the vendor, then run the Xorg -configure so that i wouldn't need to do multiple reboots.
macemoneta is pretty much right though about his comparison of folks you'll meet here on this forum vs. the majority of comp users. to them, a comp is the equivalent of a toaster or car. the toaster crowd will simply get a new system rather than upgrade their machine, and the ones who treat it like a car will go to a pc shop and pay someone else to install new hardware, new os, etc...
the days of the backyard mechanic though are numbered. i used to do all my own car repairs and maint., but as complicated as newer vehicles are, the number of repairs i'm capable of doing has decreased significantly. (although i can and still do the routine maint.)