[vox-tech] debian login

[ME]

Mike Simons said:
> On Tue, Jun 03, 2003 at 02:03:46PM -0800, stoatspam@fastmail.fm wrote:
>> When I try to login to Debian right after I power up the login screen
>> disappears for a second and then comes back. It does the same thing two
>> or three more times then it lets me login like normal. What is it doing?
>
>   If you are logging into a text console... then it is very likely the X
> server trying to start up, but the configuration for X is broken in some
> way so the X server dies.  The screen blinks black when X tries to
> change which terminal is on the screen to itself then when X dies it
> switches back.  Look in /var/log/XFree*.log for more information about
> what is killing X.

Mike's answer is most likely the correct one, and where you should start
first. As an "if other attempts to fix fail, what next" consideration:

When monitors get close to their display limits (exceeding Hsync/Vsync)
they can sometimes "cut out" and blank the screen.
I had a monitor that would flicker a bit during startup of X as I was
pushing it to work very close to its limits. The monitor would enter into
a state where no image was displayed, but the "power" button on the front
of the monitor no longer glowed green, but instead red (or maybe yellow or
orange.)
Such incidents with a monitor faling can be associated with many odd
"squeak-like" sounds coming from the monitor.

Also, some LCD (and projectors) will take time "perfecting the image"
while others are pretty fast at getting it right, and yet others can just
flicker between a few different settings until they get to a display
setting they "like".

Again, I think Mike has you on the right track. The above two other
examples/ideas to check are not too common.

-ME