◼ For mouse problems, run XF86Setup and try the PS/2, Microsoft, MouseSystems, and Logitech options. Most mice will fit under one of these. Also, the device for your mouse is /dev/psaux for PS/2 mice and a serial port such as /dev/ttyS0 for serial mice.
◼ If you don’t know what video chipset you have, try running SuperProbe; it can often figure this out for you.
◼ If your screen doesn’t have a lot of color, try selecting a different video card or tell X how much video RAM you have.
◼ If your screen goes blank or has unreadable text when you start X, you probably selected an incorrect refresh rate. Go back to XF86Setup or xf86config and double-check those settings.
◼ xvidtune can help if the image on the screen is shifted too far to the left or right, is too high or low, or is too narrow or wide.
◼ xdpyinfo can give information about a running X session.
◼ XF86Setup can set your default color depth.
◼ You can select your default window manager by editing /etc/X11/window-managers.
◼ /var/log/xdm-errors can contain useful information if you are having trouble getting xdm to start properly.
As a final reminder, try the XF86Setup or xf86config tools for configuring or reconfiguring X for your hardware.
B.2 Troubleshooting the Boot Process
If you have problems during the boot process, such as the kernel hangs during the boot process, the kernel doesn’t recognize peripherals you actually have, or drives are not recognized properly, the first things to check are the boot parameters. They can be found by pressing F1 when booting from the rescue disk.
Often, problems can be solved by removing add-ons and peripherals and then booting again. Internal modems, sound cards, and Plug-n-Play devices are especially problematic.
Tecras and other notebooks, and some non-portables fail to flush the cache when switching on the A20 gate, which is provoked by bzImage kernels but not by zImage kernels. If your computer suffers from this problem, you’ll see a message during boot saying A20 gating failed. In this case, you’ll have to use the ‘tecra’ boot images.
If you still have problems, please submit a bug report. Send an email to submit@bugs.debian.org. You must include the following as the first lines of the email:
Package: boot-floppies
Version: version
Make sure you fill in version with the version of the boot-floppies set that you used. If you don’t know the version, use the date you downloaded the floppies, and include the distribution you got them from (e.g., “stable” or “frozen”).
You should also include the following information in your bug report: