Minimal Install with 7.10 mini.iso & fluxbox; help?

[fINTiP]

NOTE! SUMMARY AT BOTTOM FOR THOSE WHO DO NOT LIKE READING!

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After getting fed up with running my dismal 6gig laptop harddrive at 85%, I decided ubuntu running with fluxbox as per normal desktop install was just way too bloated.

I had tons of software I didn't ever use.

So after a bit of chatting on the IRC channel, I took the plunge and burned a minimal CD, of 7.10.

I proceeded to install as per Psychocats' instruction, with a few small exceptions:

Where she said to type in this:

sudo apt-get install xorg xterm gdm icewm menu firefox gksu synaptic

I traded icewm for fluxbox, and dropped synaptic & gdm altogether. I also added pidgin, dillo, & xchat to the list.

The biggest deal here is that I dropped gdm. I don't want a graphical login, I want to boot and just go to terminal, log in there, and manually start my window manager.

But I can't find info on doing this anywhere. On the #ubuntu, I am told to look into more documentation in fluxbox, which I'm doing (but I am having trouble finding the info there also).

Anyways, I tried following her instructions, which go as follows:

sudo dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xorg
sudo /etc/init.d/gdm start

But obviously I wasn't going to start gdm, which is when I realized the above problem. I tried "startx", which, as I typed on #fluxbox,

started a fluxbox session, but my right click [menu] did not work, my resolution was not good (which is probably not fluxbox's fault), and what's more, now my tty's aren't accesible. I just get black screens.

WHY are my tty's not accesible???

Note: my resolution is poor using fluxbox (my LCD is capable of better), and my mouse has two shadows. Right clicking the toolbar does bring up the toolbar menu, to clarify- right clicking the desktop is where the loss is. No menu comes up.

This means no terminal. Which means I'm at a total loss as to what to do. Where did I go wrong?

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To summarize:

1. I'm trying to do an ABSOLUTE MINIMAL install- fluxbox, ubuntu kernel, and programs of choice ONLY.
2. I don't want a graphical login, but seem unable to start a window manager session without one. :\ How to overcome this?
3. Why are my tty's unaccesible?
4. Of lesser importance, my resolution sucks.

Also, if you have any tips on how I could better do this install, I'm open to suggestion and starting from scratch if need be.

I am running a 500Mhz old HP laptop with 384ish Ram, 6gig HD. Model is N3290 Pavilion.

Was working fine with ubuntu 6.10 previously, capable of gnome but preferred fluxbox.

If you need any more info, let me know... I'm kajo on #ubuntu if you prefer to help me in real time.