How to troubleshoot with a non-working display?

[Zill]

I a using Tiny Core 5.4 with Xorg as my windowing system.  For my display I had been using a Dell U2414H monitor connected with an HDMI cable and everything was okay.  My monitor was taken from me and replaced with a Dell U2413 connected with the same HDMI cable.  Now when I power on my system I can see the boot up messages saying that the extensions are loading.  After that I see the Tiny Core disclaimer line, and then the display goes black.  I never see the desktop, but I assume this is happening as it is attempting to start.  The monitor pops up with a message saying "Entering Power Save Mode".  Hitting Ctrl+Alt+Del doesn't dump me to a console.  If I turn off the system and then boot from the basic 5.4 iso I downloaded and burned to a cd, then everything comes up just fine.  This makes me think that it is Xorg that is having problems.  I am able to get the previous monitor back and that will make the problem go away, but I am interested in learning from this experience.  How does one attempt to troubleshoot something they can't see?  Is there another way to get the console to show up?  I don't have a grub prompt where I can type in extra boot codes.  Any information would be appreciated.

[Rich]

Hi Zill
If X is running,  Ctrl-Alt-F1  gets you into the console and  Ctrl-Alt-F2  gets you back into X.
Ctrl-Alt-Backspace  kills X and puts you into the console.

[Zill]

Thanks for the speedy response Rich.
Ctrl-Alt-F1 causes the screen to leave Power Save Mode, but the screen is still black (the difference is the back light turned on).
If I hit Ctrl-Alt-F2 the screen goes back into Power Save Mode (backlight turns off)
Ctrl-Alt-Backspace does nothing.
I did a fresh install to make sure the issue wasn't some corrupted config file, and I am experiencing the same issue.

[Rich]

Hi Zill
I don't know, maybe try entering  reset  or  clear  at the console and see if you get a prompt (Ctrl-Alt-F1).

[gerald_clark]

Did you set a screen resolution with lxrandr ?
If so. remove the config file "~/.config/autostart/lxrandr-autostart.desktop"

[Zill]

Rich,
Typing reset and/or clear after Ctrl-Alt-F1 does not cause the prompt to show up.

gerald_clark,
There is no autostart under ~/.config.  I did find "/usr/local/etc/xdg/autostart/" but the only thing it contained was "at-spi-dbus-bus.desktop"

[Zill]

I want to clarify something:
The "at-spi-dbus-bus.desktop" file is on my day to day use machine.

When I say a fresh install.  I boot from the iso, install gpparted, create two ext4 partitions, click on TC Install, frugal install to existing partition sda1, install type is Core Only, and the only boot codes I add are "waitusb=5 home=sda2".  Once that is done, I power down, remove the CD, and turn it back on.  It shows me the command prompt.  At the prompt i type "tce-load -wi aterm Xprogs Xorg-7.7 flwm_topside && sudo reboot".  When it reboots it begins to act as described in the initial post.

This problem happens in both instances.

[gerald_clark]

Boot with the 'text' option and you can test X by entering 'startx' at the prompt. You may see some error messages.
install pci-utils and show the output of 'lspci' here.
You may need to not install or install a hardware driver.

[curaga]

Also, the usual approach for a displayless computer is setting up a ssh server and logging in from another computer.