Gnome out of range? Won't display in my monitor....

mehendrickson · n00b Joined: 10 May 2006 Posts: 2

Alright guys, I've been trolling here all day while I install this thing. I am a linux newb (I've been using Fedora on my laptop for a few months now and I decided to install Gentoo on my desktop just for fun)

Here's my problem. I spent pretty much the past day and a half working through the install, feeling proud of myself when things went well, and waiting for Gnome to compile. It finally finished, and with all the joy a child must feel the first time he gets an ice cream cone, I started the GUI. Then my monitor went blank and there's a small blue box that says "Out of Range" I'm guessing it has something to do with the video driver or something. How can I fix it and are their any keyboard shortcuts that will get me out of Gnome and back in the command line?

Thanks guys. Matt.

GetLinux · Apprentice Joined: 09 Nov 2005 Posts: 249 Location: USA

Most people can get out of this black screen by hitting CTRL+ALT+BACKSPACE or a similar combination of keys, then typing "reboot"+ENTER. (The unfortunate part is you can't see anything.)

I actually had to power off my computer the "bad" way.

Does GNOME use X? Then you need to customize your config file for X, which is /etc/X11/xorg.conf. First, read the file itself, because it explains itself pretty well in the comments. If you can't figure something out, post your monitor model and type, your xorg.conf file, your graphics card model, and which graphics driver you are actually using. If you don't know much about your monitor's specs (i.e., the horizontal and vertical refresh rates, the DPI and viewable area, the supported resolutions, the "native resolution" (if it's an LCD), etc.), then you should look for this information on the manufacturer's website.

I've never used GNOME, but I do know you need to have the proper settings for your monitor.
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mehendrickson · n00b Joined: 10 May 2006 Posts: 2

I'm not sure if it uses X or not but when I tried that it said it doesn't exist.

offensive_jerk · n00b Joined: 10 Mar 2006 Posts: 9

yes, gnome does use x....Im guessing that "out of range box" happens when your monitor kicks off becuase the syncs are wrong.. If that happens press cnt, alt, delete and x will shut down, which should give you your monitor back. what the other guy means is you have to edit the /etc/X11/xorg.conf file with an editor like nano. If you dont have an xorg.conf file, you can make one if there is a xorg.conf.example by typing cp "

xorg.conf.example xorg.conf"
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