Okay I think I'm close:

I installed the latest knoppmyth .iso. but the display is way too dark, and unclear. it looks psychadelic, right image shape but incorrect coloring. i jacked the brightness up to the maximum but its unwatchable.

i imagine something's wrong with my nvidia drivers. i have a nvidia 6200 card and i believe the install generates errors when it tries to reach the nvidia host to download the latest drivers. but then again, i'm not sure.
i managed to download some drivers from nvidia using the lynx browser. i think i installed them, but i'm limited in my linux experience.

i haven't editted the XF86config-4 file, and honestly i wouldn't feel real comfortable doing that without precise instructions. but i know about vi.

I appreciate all help,

David

I definitely updated the NVIDIA drivers to the 1.0-7676 but I'm still getting the strange coloration.
When it boots, the Welcome to KnoppMyth screen looks great, but when it finishes and the NVIDIA logo arrives, everything goes grey, monochromish. I've also noticed that the frontend and i think x-server crashes when I flip to a channel with low signal.
the recording modes and buffer work. i've just got a terrible picture.
should i try another video card, an earlier knoppmyth distro, or give up entirely?

Sounds like you need to edit the XF86config-4 file :S

What display are you using? TV/monitor/lcd/etc? if its plugged into a TV, you could try using a normal monitor and see if you have the same problem.

How about looking at the log file (/var/log/XFree86.0.log) to see if there are any clues? I'm guessing there's something in your /etc/X11/XF86Config-4 that doesn't play nice with the new card. A visit ot the Nvidia Linux forum might also be worth while - http://www.nvnews.net/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=14

David,

Please tell me exactly what card and motherboard you have? I have the same issue with my 6200 card. Have been trying to solve this on and off for weeks.

Here is what happens to me and some paths I tried to follow that failed.
http://mysettopbox.tv/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=6478&highlight=

Here is what nvidia told me to do and the problems I am having doing it.
http://www.nvnews.net/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=58744

Here is more about the problems getting the nvidia script in knoppmyth.
http://mysettopbox.tv/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=6438&highlight=

Maybe together we can solve this.

_________________
GA-K8NS-939 Ultra
AMD 64 939 Venice 3200+
1GB RAM (2 512MB DDR400 184PIN DIMM )
HD3000
2 160GB SATA Seagate Barracuda 7200.7s
MSI Nx6200ax-td128 video card
Cooler Master Cavalier 2 - 350W PS
BenQ DW1640

Thanks,

Chris Lopeman