Blank screen of death

[McLeod, Peter (Yuetsu)]

(a re-post of my previous message as it's own problem/thread)...
Last night I tried, for the first time, to get linux running on a mac
(yellow-dog 2.3).  Firstly I tried entering the GUI install.  I got a blank
screen.  Then I tried entering the text install.  I got a blank screen.
Finally I tried the text-safe-mode option and that allowed me in.  I went
through a very familiar "Red Hat" text install program and chose the text
login instead of the gui.  On completing the installation I rebotted and got
the options (l) for linux and (m) for mac os 9 (having followed the
instructions for a dual boot single disk in the YDL booklet).  I chose l for
linux and it brought up another boot: prompt (I hope this is yaboot not
bootx though I can't remember chosing one over the other).  After that brief
display I got the blank screen again and this is where my adventure ended.
Does anybody know why or perhaps any idea about how I can find my way to a
shell.

I'm running a G4 and I have the "Studio Display" screen (model m7768 if that
matters).