This sounds exactly what happened on my machine, too (also a Voodoo 3 2000 AGP). I can't add anything that hasn't been said...
When I typed "startx" from the root shell (in "recovery mode", it made it all the way to the desktop before locking up.
I typed in Xorg -configure, and that generated a file for me in /root/xorg.conf.new. After I edited the mouse parameter from /dev/mouse to /dev/input/mice, I ran X -config /root/xorg.conf.new, and it worked perfectly, ie. the cross-hatch screen with the X cursor, where you have to use Ctrl-Alt-Backspace to close.
This sounds exactly what happened on my machine, too (also a Voodoo 3 2000 AGP). I can't add anything that hasn't been said...
When I typed "startx" from the root shell (in "recovery mode", it made it all the way to the desktop before locking up.
I typed in Xorg -configure, and that generated a file for me in /root/xorg. conf.new. After I edited the mouse parameter from /dev/mouse to /dev/input/mice, I ran X -config /root/xorg. conf.new, and it worked perfectly, ie. the cross-hatch screen with the X cursor, where you have to use Ctrl-Alt-Backspace to close.