Black screen at launcher

Linux support forum for Eschalon: Book I
Post Reply
stupac
Pledge
Posts: 2
Joined: June 7th, 2010, 3:09 pm

Black screen at launcher

Post by stupac »

Hi there, I get a black screen at the launcher. No error messages (in terminal or otherwise). I can alt-tab out and can see the launcher behind other windows, but when I click on it the screen goes completely black again. I can hear the music at first too. Not sure how to proceed. I'm using Salix 13 (based on slackware). Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Code: Select all

$ uname -a
Linux darkstar 2.6.29.6-smp #2 SMP Mon Dec 7 16:02:16 CST 2009 i686 Intel(R) Pentium(R) M processor 1600MHz GenuineIntel GNU/Linux

# lspci
00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation 82855PM Processor to I/O Controller (rev 21)
00:01.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82855PM Processor to AGP Controller (rev 21)
00:1d.0 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801DB/DBL/DBM (ICH4/ICH4-L/ICH4-M) USB UHCI Controller #1 (rev 03)
00:1d.1 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801DB/DBL/DBM (ICH4/ICH4-L/ICH4-M) USB UHCI Controller #2 (rev 03)
00:1d.2 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801DB/DBL/DBM (ICH4/ICH4-L/ICH4-M) USB UHCI Controller #3 (rev 03)
00:1d.7 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801DB/DBM (ICH4/ICH4-M) USB2 EHCI Controller (rev 03)
00:1e.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801 Mobile PCI Bridge (rev 83)
00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation 82801DBM (ICH4-M) LPC Interface Bridge (rev 03)
00:1f.1 IDE interface: Intel Corporation 82801DBM (ICH4-M) IDE Controller (rev 03)
00:1f.3 SMBus: Intel Corporation 82801DB/DBL/DBM (ICH4/ICH4-L/ICH4-M) SMBus Controller (rev 03)
00:1f.5 Multimedia audio controller: Intel Corporation 82801DB/DBL/DBM (ICH4/ICH4-L/ICH4-M) AC'97 Audio Controller (rev 03)
00:1f.6 Modem: Intel Corporation 82801DB/DBL/DBM (ICH4/ICH4-L/ICH4-M) AC'97 Modem Controller (rev 03)
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: ATI Technologies Inc RV350 [Mobility Radeon 9600 M10]
02:05.0 Ethernet controller: Broadcom Corporation BCM4401 100Base-T (rev 01)
02:06.0 Network controller: Intel Corporation PRO/Wireless LAN 2100 3B Mini PCI Adapter (rev 04)
02:09.0 CardBus bridge: Ricoh Co Ltd RL5c476 II (rev ac)
02:09.1 CardBus bridge: Ricoh Co Ltd RL5c476 II (rev ac)
02:09.2 FireWire (IEEE 1394): Ricoh Co Ltd R5C552 IEEE 1394 Controller (rev 04)
phaedrus
Apprentice
Posts: 32
Joined: June 6th, 2010, 8:36 pm

Re: Black screen at launcher

Post by phaedrus »

With Book I, I have had zero trouble running it on Slackware 13.0. I'm running Slackware x86_64, so I've got 32 bit Slackware installed in a chroot jail, which runs Book I like a champ. This is just as a point of reference (meaning, if your problem is with Book I, there's hope).

On the other hand, I've been getting almost exactly the same symptoms with Book II on Slackware 13.0 (after upgrading glibc to 2.11.1 in my 32 bit chroot jail).

Are your 3d drivers installed an working? (Meaning, does glxinfo report that you've got 3d acceleration?)
phaedrus
Apprentice
Posts: 32
Joined: June 6th, 2010, 8:36 pm

Re: Black screen at launcher

Post by phaedrus »

If it is book I, you may try running:

Code: Select all

$ xhost +
This will turn off all authentication on your X server (all connections have maximum permission, and everyone is allowed to connect), so I don't suggest running this way on networks you don't control, nor running this way as a matter of habit, but it's a good test.

(This command:

Code: Select all

$ xhost -
will turn all the security checks back on.)
stupac
Pledge
Posts: 2
Joined: June 7th, 2010, 3:09 pm

Re: Black screen at launcher

Post by stupac »

Thank you for the replies guys! sorry I haven't gotten back to you in some time. Was fiddling with it again today and discovered that if I alt+tab, I can double click on items on the Eschalon menu and they will load. So if I open it the screen still goes black, but I can alt+tab to another open window, move it out of the way and I can see the start button which I double click. The game then loads without issue. Though it has CTD'd a few times since then it seems to be working just fine. Thanks for the tips though. Very odd, but at least I can get it working.
Post Reply