Whiskers:

I have installed xf86-video-vesa 2.3.2-2 but while xf86-video-nouveau 1.0.6-1 is also installed that seems to be given preference > in the boot procedure, so I'll remove it and keep my fingers crossed!

I experienced similar problems. I wasn't able to start X without xf86-video-nouveau, but had core dumps with it. Now I'm trying an install on another machine with an Intel video card. So far so good, but it hasn't been long enough to tell. I'm new to Arch and have been using another distro for years. Arch has over 60 fewer processes running and less than half as many files in /etc than my old distro had. These things are helpful for me from a sys admin perspective. Thanks for the work done on Arch so far. -- Brian Wood Ebenezer Enterprises - in G-d we trust. http://webEbenezer.net (651) 251-9384