Xfree86 4.3.0 under 5.2.1-Relase on Compaq Armada e500

[Michael McCormack]

Having severe problems getting xfree to run on this machine;

Compaq Armada e500
ATI Rage Mobility P/M
8MB (?) Video RAM -- I think this card steals system RAM.
384 MB system RAM

Have tried around six different XF86Config files both generated from 
xf86cfg and found in various places, including the ones posted on the 
FLCL. I have tried these with ACPI enabled and disabled, but the result 
is always the same.

startx hangs at:
(==) Using config file: "/etc/X11/XF86Config"

The logfile reports nothing after the PCI probe stuff.

The system doesn't lock up completely; it still responds to 
ctrl-alt-del, but that's all it will do.

I can post logfiles and/or dmesg output if anyone thinks it'll help. I'm 
still running the GENERIC kernel.

Any help appreciated.