I'm wondering if it's getting stuck on "firstboot", or possibly having a 
hard time getting the proper video resolution, also on firstboot.
Two things to try.
1st
let it sit there at that black screen for 10-15 minutes, see if it sorts 
itself out.  (This sounds silly, but has occasionally worked, the 
machine was really just trying to figure out the video and was taking a 
long time)

2nd
Boot into single mode (see instructions below, but instead of putting 
"vga=ask" put "single".  Once you are booted into single user mode tell 
firstboot not to run.  There are a couple ways to do that

  /sbin/chkconfig --level 2345 firstboot off
or
  echo "RUN_FIRSTBOOT=NO" > /etc/sysconfig/firstboot

Then reboot, and see if you come up in a graphical mode this time.

Troy

Alex Kruchkoff wrote:
> Roger,
> 
> Please do not send your questions to me but to the list instead [cc:ed].
> I can give you a hint: instead of default resolution 80x25 use different 
> with more rows/columns per screen - it would be easier to troubleshoot.
> 
> When you'll see a GRUB screen waiting a few seconds, press any key [for 
> example an arrow down] it will bring the GRUB menu.
> If you have more than 1 kernel [OS] to boot -- navigate to SL50. [using 
> up and down arrow keys]
> 
> Press "e" [for edit] key and you will see all parameters to boot up your 
> SL 5.0
> Navigate to kernel line and press "e" again.
> 
> If you have such options as "quiet" [means suppress kernel messages] or 
> "rhgb" [red hat graphical boot] remove them with Backspace.
> also type "vga=ask" and press enter.
> 
> Try to boot the kernel by pressing "b".
> 
> At the begining the kernel will show standard VGA resolutions in the 
> text mode.
> Try "scan" to find extra modes implemented in your BIOS.
> 
> Select mode with the highest resolution something like 144x64 or 
> whatever option you'll have. There are more chances that you spot some 
> error message.
> 
> BTW my laptop is very strange -- it's impossible to boot up linux or 
> solaris if the USB mouse is attached. The laptop will freeze. So I can 
> insert usb mouse only after a few initial checks (with [OK] lines).
> 
> Thanks,
> Alex
> 
> PS May be someone on the list has a hardware similar to yours and will 
> give another advise on how to troubleshoot your problem. This is why 
> posting to the list is much better than to an individual
> 
> 
> 
> Roger Hunter wrote, On 05/30/2007 11:14 AM:
>> Thanks Alex.
>>  
>> No, no error messages. The install gives all sorts of messages, most 
>> too fast to read or record.
>>  
>> Rger
>>  
>> /-------Original Message-------/
>>  
>> /*From:*/ Alex Kruchkoff <mailto:[log in to unmask]>
>> /*Date:*/ Tuesday, May 29, 2007 07:02:05 PM
>> /*To:*/ Roger Hunter <mailto:[log in to unmask]>
>> /*Cc:*/ [log in to unmask] 
>> <mailto:[log in to unmask]>
>> /*Subject:*/ Re: Proprietary video drivers in SL5 (ati & nvidia)
>>  
>> Roger,
>>
>> As you replied to my email I assumed, that you are subscribed to the 
>> list.
>>
>> Just post your question/s to [log in to unmask] 
>> <mailto:[log in to unmask]>
>> <mailto:[log in to unmask]> [I cc:ed]. Someone will help.
>>
>> You probably need to post error messages that you see on the screen,
>> while you computer is trying to boot.
>>
>> When you turn the computer on, do you see any messages from the BIOS 
>> POST?
>> Did you see any GRUB [boot loader messages]?
>> Did you see any kernel messages while the kernel is loaded?
>>
>> Thanks,
>> Alex
>>
>>
>> Roger Hunter wrote, On 05/30/2007 09:37 AM:
>> > Alex;
>> >
>> > Pardon me for butting in but I have no idea how to use these mailing
>> > lists.
>> >
>> > My problem with SL50 is that it will in no way boot up from my hard
>> > disk. It goes thru the install, gets to the point where it should
>> > bring up the login screen and freezes with a black screen.
>> >
>> > I have an 850MHz AMD Athlon with over 700Mb RAM and two drives; a
>> > 200Gb and a 40Gb. The big drive has a dozen other flavors of Linux
>> > installed so I'm totally in the darkabout this.
>> >
>> > Roger
>> >
>>
>> .
>>
>>     
>>     
>>
>> ____________________________________________________
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-- 
__________________________________________________
Troy Dawson  [log in to unmask]  (630)840-6468
Fermilab  ComputingDivision/LCSI/CSI DSS Group
__________________________________________________