Hi all im new to Backtrack and by no means an expert on linux as i have always used windows7. Recently i decided to install Backtrack 5 R3 to my laptop as my desktop is running windows 7 i didn't see the point in having them both running the same os. So i first made a live usb then booted up my laptop entered the command startx and BAM black screen with flashing caps lock, i then searched the net and found tons of people were having the same problem. For 2 days i tried numerous ways to fix this i managed to get past it on the live usb so i installed BT5 to my HDD and again blackscreen after startx so i searched again and finally found how to sort this and make it permanent so i thought i would share it here, so here is a little tutorial below .

1) boot from your live usb and when you come to the first screen where you have different boot options like Text,Forensic,Stealth and so on you want to hit TAB key on your keyboard. Now you should see some text below the boot options find where it says
Code:
text splash vga=791
and replace with
Code:
quiet splash i915.modeset=1 vga=791
then hit enter and log in to Backtrack.

2) Now install Backtrack to your HDD as desired and wait for it to finish, now when it asks to reboot hit yes wait till screen goes black and remove your usb then hold SHIFT key on your keyboard (this must be done before Backtrack boots back up). You should now be in the grub menu now hit E on your keyboard and find whrere it says
Code:
text splash vga=791
as we did before and change to
Code:
quiet splash i915.modeset=1 vga=791
then hit CRTL+X on your keyboard. Now just login with ROOT and TOOR then startx you should now be on the GUI.

3) To make this permanent you need to go applications then accessories then search for files. Next type grub in the name and files in the look in folders part. Scroll down to /ect/default right click and open with gedit then find the line that looks like this
Code:
GRUB_CMD_LINUX_DEFAULT="text splash vga=791"
now replace with
Code:
GRUB_CMD_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet splash i915.modeset=1 vga=791"
then hit save and close window. Now open a terminal and type
Code:
update-grub
then just reboot and you are done .

Hope this helps some people out and saves them hours of agonizing searching on the net.

#coppas