FC2test3 - monitor goes off when X starts

[Kevin F. Quinn]

Tried installing FC2 test 3 from scratch on a desktop; P4, GeForce 3 Ti 
200 (nVidia) card with an LCD panel 1280x1024 attached to the analogue 
svga output.

The graphical install just comes up blank - i.e. as soon as X starts, 
the monitor switches itself off.

Ran through the text install, fine until reboot into installed system 
when the same thing happens.

I can't reliably get to the consoles (or at least, if it does switch, 
the monitor doesn't switch on).  When I have been able to get to a text 
console, it seems that X found nothing wrong; when anaconda started X, 
the X log didn't mention any significant failures, indicating that X 
thinks the graphics card was configured ok.
(maybe I'm trying the wrong thing to get to the consoles - CTRL-ALT-Fn)

I've tried nofb, noddc, and setting the resolution directly.  It could 
be a refresh rate problem, but the monitor says "no signal" rather than 
the "xkHz yHz out of range" message it gives if I set Windows to an 
out-of-range frequency mode.

Any suggestions?  Can I force the horizontal/vertical frequency settings 
on the kernel command line?  Can I force the install to halt at a 
command prompt before starting the graphical install - or indeed get the 
installed system to boot to a shell promot instead of the graphical 
login? It's difficult to work this sort of thing out without being able 
to get into the system to start with :)

TIA Kev.