[CentOS] Screen blacked out

Tue Mar 6 17:31:40 UTC 2007
techlists at comcast.net <techlists at comcast.net>

I have a CentOS 4.3 workstation I use for experimentation on my desk at work. It was plugged into an old LG 14" monitor, and I switched the video cable to a Samsung 17" LCD without rebooting.

The screen resolution was set to 800x600 on the 14" monitor, and the display worked fine at 800x600 after switching to the Samsung 17". When I changed the resolution to 1024x764, the screen went black and I haven't been able to get it back again.

I hoped rebooting and having the system search for new hardware would adjust the display driver to the correct monitor but it didn't. I booted with CD1 in rescue mode and changed /etc/inittab to start in command line mode (3), but the screen still goes black after going through some initial boot processes.

I suspect the issue is driver related, rather than screen resolution related. When I initially went to change the resolution, it recognized the monitor as a generic VGA, and I changed the monitor type to Samsung Syncmaster 711T at the same time as changing the resolution.

How can I get the system to recognize the new monitor?

Paul G.