[plug] Problem with Toshiba 420CDT laptop debian install

[David & Lisa Buddrige]

Hi all

A friend of mine wanted to try out Linux.  So, they got hold of a Toshiba
420CDT laptop, with 1.2GB hard-drive, 40Mb RAM, and a low-end Pentium
processor.  I have loaded it up with Debian Woody, with basic X, plus KDE.
When I crank it up and it gets to the login screen, it just freezes.  The
keyboard is locked up, and I can't even use Alt-Ctl-F1 to get to a shell and
see what's going on.  Do you think this is a RAM problem?  (It seemed to run
Win98 ok.  I don't know if the RAM can be upgraded (I'm hoping so) but I am
not sure if this is the problem or not.  Does anyone have any ideas?

The login manager that I am using is the most basic one I could find (xwm or
somesuch from memory) - in any case, it just has a login-name/password field
and _nothing_ else - the basic X screen is shown behind it without even a
coloured desktop.

Any ideas muchly appreciated. 8-)

cheers

David.