30 Jun
2008
30 Jun
'08
7:44 p.m.
----- Original Message ----
From: Surya Pratap <pratap.surya(a)gmail.com>
To: linuxers(a)mm.glug-bom.org
Sent: Monday, June 30, 2008 4:48:31 PM
Subject: [ILUG-BOM] Need Help
Hi All,
I am using an IBall Marshall Dual Core Laptop,
it does not alllow the install of Linux as the installer, irrespective
of the linux flavor hangs up,
can anyone suggest a way to install Linux in the system.
Most linux installers hang up without any error message
I have tried the noapic and nolapic options in boot parameters with Ubuntu
The BIOS is a Phoenix BIOS, but SIW reports it as COMPAL BIOS
at present, it has windows installed in it and working fine
Regards
Surya Pratap
--
http://mm.glug-bom.org/mailman/listinfo/linuxers
At what stage of booting does it hang? Also what is on the screen when it hangs? Try a
Ubuntu Live CD (Pref Hardy) and boot in the verbose mode. Can you tell us at what stage
the verbose mode hangs ?
Regards,
Sameep
1 Jul
1 Jul
12:44 p.m.
New subject: Need Help
On Monday 30 Jun 2008 19:44, Sameep wrote:
----- Original Message ----
From: Surya Pratap <pratap.surya(a)gmail.com>
To: linuxers(a)mm.glug-bom.org
Sent: Monday, June 30, 2008 4:48:31 PM
Subject: [ILUG-BOM] Need Help
Hi All,
I am using an IBall Marshall Dual Core Laptop,
it does not alllow the install of Linux as the installer,
irrespective of the linux flavor hangs up,
Provide info as the bottom half of your message suggests.
What are the error messages?
At what stage does it "hangup"
What is the chipset?
are the drives sata or ide
ALWAYS get the info about mobo chipset BEFORE you buy.
can anyone suggest a way to install Linux in the
system.
Most linux installers hang up without any error message
Which distro are you talking about there are at least 20 that i know
of.
I have tried the noapic and nolapic options in boot
parameters with
Ubuntu
The BIOS is a Phoenix BIOS, but SIW reports it as COMPAL BIOS
at present, it has windows installed in it and working fine
I have yet to come across a machine on which you cant install a linux
distro.
--
Rgds
JTD
2:50 p.m.
New subject: Need Help
On Tuesday 01 Jul 2008, jtd wrote:
I have yet to come across a machine on which you cant
install a linux
distro.
Way back, a colleague had picked up a Compaq rack mount server (dot com
bust auction) with a WinNT server installation. We were unable to
install; we tried RH, Mandrake, Caldera. The install would hang.
--
Arun Khan
3:49 p.m.
New subject: Need Help
On Tuesday 01 Jul 2008 14:50, Arun Khan wrote:
On Tuesday 01 Jul 2008, jtd wrote:
For such machines, use a boot server and image file. Or dd a minimal
install to the disk. connect the disk to another machine to do this.
In the distant past, in many cases where installations were bombing,
running memory check showed up bad ram. If an install bombs i simply
change the ram nowadays and send the ram back to the vendor.
such rams are most likely to crash the system under load.
--
Rgds
JTD
I have yet to come across a machine on which you
cant install a
linux distro.
Way back, a colleague had picked up a Compaq rack mount server (dot
com bust auction) with a WinNT server installation. We were unable
to install; we tried RH, Mandrake, Caldera. The install would
hang.
4:34 p.m.
New subject: Need Help
On Tuesday 01 Jul 2008, jtd wrote:
On Tuesday 01 Jul 2008 14:50, Arun Khan wrote:
I did not know about this
technique back in 2000. Even today, though I
am aware of it, I have not tried it yet.
On Tuesday 01 Jul 2008, jtd wrote:
For such machines, use a boot server and image file. I have yet to come across a machine on which you
cant install a
linux distro.
Way back, a colleague had picked up a Compaq rack mount server (dot
com bust auction) with a WinNT server installation. We were unable
to install; we tried RH, Mandrake, Caldera. The install would
hang. Or dd a minimal
install to the disk. connect the disk to another machine to do this.
In the specific machine, all the disks were part of hardware raid - we
did not want to mess with it's setup.
In the distant past, in many cases where installations
were bombing,
running memory check showed up bad ram.
Hmm. how do you do this if the system fails to boot some sort of live cd
(with mem test tools)?
If an install bombs i simply
change the ram nowadays and send the ram back to the vendor.
Yup, if it is still under warranty. In our case it was not, buying new
memory would cost my colleague more than what he paid for the server
(way back in late 2000).
Had we persisted, we would have found some hack but at that time it was
not worth the time and trouble. Strange but true, it did not hang when
we tried NT install.
-- Arun Khan
7:10 p.m.
New subject: Need Help
On Tuesday 01 Jul 2008 16:34, Arun Khan wrote:
the image is the kernel with memtest. Not loading even this would be
something.
But there is always a first time.
--
Rgds
JTD
On Tuesday 01 Jul 2008, jtd wrote:
Ah scsi. You would definetly need a custom kernel back then.
On Tuesday 01 Jul 2008 14:50, Arun Khan wrote:
I did not know about this technique back in 2000. Even today,
though I am aware of it, I have not tried it yet.
On Tuesday 01 Jul 2008, jtd wrote:
For such machines, use a boot server and image file. I have yet to come across a machine on which you
cant install
a linux distro.
Way back, a colleague had picked up a Compaq rack mount server
(dot com bust auction) with a WinNT server installation. We
were unable to install; we tried RH, Mandrake, Caldera. The
install would hang. Or dd a minimal
install to the disk. connect the disk to another machine to do
this.
In the specific machine, all the disks were part of hardware raid -
we did not want to mess with it's setup. In the distant
past, in many cases where installations were
bombing, running memory check showed up bad ram.
Hmm. how do you do this if the system fails to boot some sort of
live cd (with mem test tools)?
10:10 p.m.
New subject: Need Help
On Tuesday 01 Jul 2008, jtd wrote:
On Tuesday 01 Jul 2008 16:34, Arun Khan wrote:
It was a NCR/Symbios SCSI chipset (among SCSI NCR/Symbios chips had the
best support in Linux, FreeBSD ...). The installer recognized it and
loaded the modules, soon after this the install would enter never
land.
--
Arun Khan
In the specific machine, all the disks were part
of hardware raid -
we did not want to mess with it's setup.
Ah scsi. You would definetly need a custom kernel back then.
10:56 p.m.
New subject: Need Help
Arun Khan wrote:
On Tuesday 01 Jul 2008, jtd wrote:
In my 4+ years old system which is the most most GNU/Linux friendly, mem
test would hang in the second round itself. However it has installed XP
and most Linux distros in it. (Touch Wood)
--
Regards,
Rony.
GNU/Linux !
No Viruses
No Spyware
Only Freedom.
In the distant past, in many cases where
installations were bombing,
running memory check showed up bad ram.
Hmm. how do you do this if the system fails to boot some sort of live cd
(with mem test tools)?
2 Jul
2 Jul
11:34 a.m.
New subject: Need Help
On Tuesday 01 Jul 2008 22:56, Rony wrote:
Arun Khan wrote:
If memtest says it's bad, it is definetly bad. It just happens that
you are not using this part of mem. Drams are complex beasts with
charge pumps and internal delay lines. Hence certain combos of data
and address bits at full speed fail. This is one reason for random
crashes.
BTW linux had a badram patch which could use known defective memories.
--
Rgds
JTD
On Tuesday 01 Jul 2008, jtd wrote:
In my 4+ years old system which is the most most GNU/Linux
friendly, mem test would hang in the second round itself. However
it has installed XP and most Linux distros in it. (Touch Wood) In the distant past, in many cases where
installations were
bombing, running memory check showed up bad ram.
Hmm. how do you do this if the system fails to boot some sort of
live cd (with mem test tools)? 
2 Jul
2 Jul
3:23 a.m.
New subject: Need Help
On Tue Jul 01, 2008 at 09:25:48PM +0530, Osric Fernandes wrote:
On Tue, Jul 1, 2008 at 3:49 PM, jtd
<jtd(a)mtnl.net.in> wrote:
I would guess something similar to this
http://linux.duke.edu/doc/pxe-Quick-Start.ptml
I think HBCSE something on the same lines.
--
"Until you stalk and overrun, you can't devour anyone."
--- Hobbes
For such machines, use a boot server and image
file.
How is this done?
11:39 a.m.
New subject: Need Help
On Wednesday 02 Jul 2008 03:23, Mehul Ved wrote:
On Tue Jul 01, 2008 at 09:25:48PM +0530, Osric
Fernandes wrote:
And keeping such a setup around is very handy. pxe/tftp with nfsroot
allows sorting out problems with machines having defective media /
hardware without having to open the system. Quite useful when those
branded boxes are under warranty.
--
Rgds
JTD
On Tue, Jul 1, 2008 at 3:49 PM, jtd
<jtd(a)mtnl.net.in> wrote:
I would guess something similar to this
http://linux.duke.edu/doc/pxe-Quick-Start.ptml
I think HBCSE something on the same lines. For such machines, use a boot server and image
file.
How is this done?
1 Jul
1 Jul
11:12 p.m.
New subject: Need Help
jtd wrote:
I have yet to come across a machine on which you cant install a linux
distro.
It has to be done in a reasonably quick time with available resources.
Many a times even giving a demo on a first visit can be very difficult.
Network boots are not possible in stand alone machines. A client of mine
has a decent Asus board that's a few years old but no Debian based
distro boots live into this. I have a collection of live CDs that I
carry everywhere. Finally only Sabayon booted with full desktop. I would
get various device IO errors with the debby ones. After wasting more
than an hour trying various distros and boot options, the client gets
fidgety and starts forming his opinion about GNU/Linux.
--
Regards,
Rony.
GNU/Linux !
No Viruses
No Spyware
Only Freedom.
11:38 p.m.
New subject: Need Help
On Tuesday 01 Jul 2008, Rony wrote:
old but no Debian based distro boots live into this. I
have a
collection of live CDs that I carry everywhere. Finally only Sabayon
booted with full desktop. I would get various device IO errors with
the debby ones.
Verified the media was good on other machines? I have had CD-R media go
bad inspite of keeping them in a cool/dry place.
--
Arun Khan
2 Jul
2 Jul
10:59 p.m.
New subject: Need Help
Arun Khan wrote:
On Tuesday 01 Jul 2008, Rony wrote:
Yes I use them regularly on other machines for demos.
--
Regards,
Rony.
GNU/Linux !
No Viruses
No Spyware
Only Freedom.
old but no Debian based distro boots live into
this. I have a
collection of live CDs that I carry everywhere. Finally only Sabayon
booted with full desktop. I would get various device IO errors with
the debby ones.
Verified the media was good on other machines? I have had CD-R media go
bad inspite of keeping them in a cool/dry place.
11:25 p.m.
New subject: Need Help
On Wednesday 02 Jul 2008, Rony wrote:
Arun Khan wrote:
If the media is good, then the hardware could be flaky, like my DVD/RW.
It can boot from a bootable CD but bootable DVD no go.
--
Arun Khan
On Tuesday 01 Jul 2008, Rony wrote:
Yes I use them regularly on other machines for demos. old but no Debian based distro boots live into
this. I have a
collection of live CDs that I carry everywhere. Finally only
Sabayon booted with full desktop. I would get various device IO
errors with the debby ones.
Verified the media was good on other machines? I have had CD-R
media go bad inspite of keeping them in a cool/dry place.
11:31 p.m.
New subject: Need Help
Arun Khan wrote:
On Wednesday 02 Jul 2008, Rony wrote:
The problems are pro-Doze mobo/bios related. I carry a magic box that
has a mix of various live CDs and DVDs. :-)
--
Regards,
Rony.
GNU/Linux !
No Viruses
No Spyware
Only Freedom.
Arun Khan wrote:
If the media is good, then the hardware could be flaky, like my DVD/RW.
It can boot from a bootable CD but bootable DVD no go.
On Tuesday 01 Jul 2008, Rony wrote:
Yes I use them regularly on other machines for demos.
old but no Debian based distro boots live into
this. I have a
collection of live CDs that I carry everywhere. Finally only
Sabayon booted with full desktop. I would get various device IO
errors with the debby ones.
Verified the media was good on other machines? I have had CD-R
media go bad inspite of keeping them in a cool/dry place.
3 Jul
3 Jul
12:38 a.m.
New subject: Need Help
On Wednesday 02 Jul 2008, Rony wrote:
In my case, the DVD/RW used to boot from both bootable CDs and DVDs. :(
-- Arun Khan
Arun Khan wrote:
If the media
is good, then the hardware could be flaky, like my
DVD/RW. It can boot from a bootable CD but bootable DVD no go.
The problems are pro-Doze mobo/bios related. I carry a magic box that
has a mix of various live CDs and DVDs. :-) 
12:24 p.m.
New subject: Need Help
Arun Khan wrote:
On Wednesday 02 Jul 2008, Rony wrote:
With DVD's there is an issue of some older devices being specific about
media, some DVD readers are built for DVD+R and some are for DVD-R the
newer devices come with support for both.
well friends, the issue that originally raised this help thread has been
resolved, the issue was about the boot parameters that needed to be
added to the boot command, addition of the following did the trick:
*noapic
acpi=off and
pnpbios=off*
sometimes the option *generic.all_generic_ide=1* too needed to be added
(in case the system still hangs or acts stubborn)
for some reason the option *quiet *seems to throw the
generic.all_generic_ide=1 option as invalid
Surya Pratap
Arun Khan wrote:
*In my case, the DVD/RW used to boot from both bootable CDs and DVDs. :(
*
-- Arun Khan
If the media is good, then the hardware could be
flaky, like my
DVD/RW. It can boot from a bootable CD but bootable DVD no go.
The problems are
pro-Doze mobo/bios related. I carry a magic box that
has a mix of various live CDs and DVDs. :-)
6 Jul
6 Jul
8:01 a.m.
New subject: Need Help Debian installtion
I am planning on installing Debian on one of my computers and learn to live
happily ever after. I am afraid I am used to the GUI of MS. Now that I confessed
my erroneous ways, what do I need to look out for while installing Debian (with
a GUI to begin with).
The system is "well matured" i.e., an ASUS, socket A motherboard with an AMD
Athlon running at 1600(?).But then I am not a gamer or into graphics.
Since I am a total newbie feel free to give minute details about using Deb. I
realise Ubuntu or Linux-xp are far easier on my nerves and your patience but
lets give it a try.
Thank you gentlen and Ladies,
regards
hg.
10:29 a.m.
New subject: Need Help Debian installtion
On Sun, Jul 6, 2008 at 8:01 AM, <h.godavari(a)shaw.ca> wrote:
I am planning on installing Debian on one of my
computers and learn to live
happily ever after. I am afraid I am used to the GUI of MS. Now that I confessed
my erroneous ways, what do I need to look out for while installing Debian (with
a GUI to begin with).
Read the manual on the Debian installation CD/DVD thoroughly. It's a
great document and will tell you everything you need. If run into any
issues you can email here with specific details of your problem and
any approaches that you tried to solve the problem but did not work.
--
Siddhesh Poyarekar
http://siddhesh.in
11:21 a.m.
New subject: Need Help Debian installtion
On Sunday 06 Jul 2008 08:01, h.godavari(a)shaw.ca wrote:
I am planning on installing Debian on one of my
computers and learn
to live happily ever after. I am afraid I am used to the GUI of MS.
Now that I confessed my erroneous ways, what do I need to look out
for while installing Debian (with a GUI to begin with).
If you are going to use only the standard desktop use ubuntu/kubuntu.
Kubuntu is more "windows like".
If you are planning to do development etc in the near future, Debian
is the way to go.
The system is "well matured" i.e., an ASUS, socket A motherboard
with an AMD Athlon running at 1600(?).But then I am not a gamer or
into graphics.
Details, Details, the devil is in the details. What model of ASUS
mobo, what hard drive, what graphics chipset, what sound chip. Every
mobo comes with a particular chipset and often same models have a
slightly different version or even different combos.
Get this info BEFORE you start installation to save yourself grief.
Since I am a total newbie feel free to give minute
details about
using Deb. I realise Ubuntu or Linux-xp are far easier on my nerves
and your patience but lets give it a try.
Aha. So no Ubuntu for you. Good.
Use etch, 3 dvds. Remember to use the latest ssl from
security.debian.org. (for a change Debian screwed up ssl throughly in
etch). Backup any doze data - XP stoped booting cause it could not
figure out the partitioning scheme, and requires editing some ini
file to work.
Remember GNU/Linux does not assume windoisms. You will face several
issues with closed file formats (doc, xls, psd, msmpeg, wma, flash,
asp, MSjava, dxf and i dont know what else). But the sooner you get
rid of these formats the safer will your data be, and you will
realise what a ride you have been taken for by the closed software
vendors.
--
Rgds
JTD
7 Jul
7 Jul
12:38 a.m.
New subject: Need Help Debian installtion
h.godavari(a)shaw.ca wrote:
I am planning on installing Debian on one of my
computers and learn to live
happily ever after. I am afraid I am used to the GUI of MS. Now that I confessed
my erroneous ways, what do I need to look out for while installing Debian (with
a GUI to begin with).
Hi. Your message is new but you appear to have replied to someone's
earlier message by deleting its contents. This creates a problem for
those email clients that sort messages according to threads (topics).
Always compose a new message for a new thread.
Debian DVDs have a tendency to be corrupt as downloading DVD isos is
error prone, so be ready for media glitches. I had to record the same
downloaded ISO for the third time on to my Moser Bayer DVDs to get a
problem free installation. If you are new to GNU/Linux, it is better to
use the Kubuntu or Ubuntu live + install CD.
A safer way to install Debian is to use the Etch-KDE single CD. However
there are a lot of packages you will need to add post installation, like
Open Office etc., but this CD is rock solid so go for it if you are
willing to spend some extra hours. For overall instructions read this link.
http://fci.wikia.com/wiki/DebianEtch-KDE
The system is "well matured" i.e., an ASUS,
socket A motherboard with an AMD
Athlon running at 1600(?).But then I am not a gamer or into graphics.
K/Ubuntu live cds will tell you all before installation.
Since I am a total newbie feel free to give minute
details about using Deb. I
realise Ubuntu or Linux-xp are far easier on my nerves and your patience but
lets give it a try.
Thank you gentlen and Ladies,
Once you start using Mozilla Thunderbird as your email client, make full
use of the inbuilt spell check.
--
Regards,
Rony.
GNU/Linux !
No Viruses
No Spyware
Only Freedom.
9:57 a.m.
New subject: Need Help Debian installtion
On Mon, Jul 7, 2008 at 12:38 AM, Rony <gnulinuxist(a)gmail.com> wrote:
Debian DVDs have a tendency to be corrupt as
downloading DVD isos is
error prone, so be ready for media glitches. I had to record the same
downloaded ISO for the third time on to my Moser Bayer DVDs to get a
problem free installation. If you are new to GNU/Linux, it is better to
use the Kubuntu or Ubuntu live + install CD.
Dear Rony,
Don't blame entire Debian due to your bad connection and habit to burn
CD/DVD without checking md5sums.
--
Cheers,
Kartik Mistry | 0xD1028C8D | IRC: kart_
Blogs: {ftbfs,kartikm}.wordpress.com
8:47 p.m.
New subject: Need Help Debian installtion
Kartik Mistry wrote:
On Mon, Jul 7, 2008 at 12:38 AM, Rony
<gnulinuxist(a)gmail.com> wrote:
What makes you think I did not check md5? Why does the same ISO burn
properly the third time? I mentioned downloading DVD isos, not Debian.
--
Regards,
Rony.
GNU/Linux !
No Viruses
No Spyware
Only Freedom.
Debian DVDs have a tendency to be corrupt as
downloading DVD isos is
error prone, so be ready for media glitches. I had to record the same
downloaded ISO for the third time on to my Moser Bayer DVDs to get a
problem free installation. If you are new to GNU/Linux, it is better to
use the Kubuntu or Ubuntu live + install CD.
Dear Rony,
Don't blame entire Debian due to your bad connection and habit to burn
CD/DVD without checking md5sums.
10:37 p.m.
New subject: Need Help Debian installtion
On Mon, Jul 7, 2008 at 8:47 PM, Rony <gnulinuxist(a)gmail.com> wrote:
How it is so special that Debian ISO got corrupted and others were
not? I am wondering because if this is case, it must be serious issues
and should be hot topic on debian-devel or debian-cd list, which is
not, means there is something wrong from your side.
Did you tried to report problem(s) to Debian List/IRC etc? If not,
please do so. Just don't lead anyone to wrong direction because of
your problem.
And fix your CD/DVD burning tool too.
--
Cheers,
Kartik Mistry | 0xD1028C8D | IRC: kart_
Blogs: {ftbfs,kartikm}.wordpress.com
Don't
blame entire Debian due to your bad connection and habit to burn
CD/DVD without checking md5sums.
What makes you think I did not check md5? Why does the same ISO burn
properly the third time? I mentioned downloading DVD isos, not Debian.
8 Jul
8 Jul
10:13 p.m.
New subject: Need Help Debian installtion
Kartik Mistry wrote:
On Mon, Jul 7, 2008 at 8:47 PM, Rony
<gnulinuxist(a)gmail.com> wrote:
How it is so special that Debian ISO got corrupted and others were
not? I am wondering because if this is case, it must be serious issues
and should be hot topic on debian-devel or debian-cd list, which is
not, means there is something wrong from your side.
Read my message again.
Don't
blame entire Debian due to your bad connection and habit to burn
CD/DVD without checking md5sums.
What makes you think I did not check md5? Why does the same ISO burn
properly the third time? I mentioned downloading DVD isos, not Debian.
Did you tried to report problem(s) to Debian List/IRC
etc? If not,
please do so. Just don't lead anyone to wrong direction because of
your problem.
Read above reply.
And fix your CD/DVD burning tool too.
It works fine.
--
Regards,
Rony.
GNU/Linux !
No Viruses
No Spyware
Only Freedom.
7 Jul
7 Jul
9:59 a.m.
New subject: Need Help Debian installtion
Rony wrote:
h.godavari(a)shaw.ca wrote:
if you are really going to download the whole stuff then
*http://www.debian.org/CD/jigdo-cd/ *might be good place to start
Regards
Surya
I am planning on installing Debian on one of my
computers and learn to live
happily ever after. I am afraid I am used to the GUI of MS. Now that I confessed
my erroneous ways, what do I need to look out for while installing Debian (with
a GUI to begin with).
Hi. Your message is new but you appear to have replied to someone's
earlier message by deleting its contents. This creates a problem for
those email clients that sort messages according to threads (topics).
Always compose a new message for a new thread.
Debian DVDs have a tendency to be corrupt as downloading DVD isos is
error prone, so be ready for media glitches. I had to record the same
downloaded ISO for the third time on to my Moser Bayer DVDs to get a
problem free installation. If you are new to GNU/Linux, it is better to
use the Kubuntu or Ubuntu live + install CD.
*A safer way to install Debian is to use the Etch-KDE single CD. However
there are a lot of packages you will need to add post installation, like
Open Office etc., but this CD is rock solid so go for it if you are
willing to spend some extra hours. For overall instructions read this link.*
8:49 p.m.
New subject: Need Help Debian installtion
Surya Pratap wrote:
if
you are really going to download the whole stuff then
*http://www.debian.org/CD/jigdo-cd/ *might be good place to start
I will find out more about that.
--
Regards,
Rony.
GNU/Linux !
No Viruses
No Spyware
Only Freedom.
8 Jul
8 Jul
10:37 p.m.
New subject: Need Help Debian installtion
Surya Pratap wrote:
if you are really going to download the whole stuff
then
*http://www.debian.org/CD/jigdo-cd/ *might be good place to start
"Getting Debian ISOs has always been a painful, slow and supremely
inefficient process. Jigdo is a tool for distributing and obtaining
Debian ISOs in an easy, fast and very efficient manner. This HOWTO
describes why you should use jigdo, a little bit about how it works and
how you use it to get and update Debian ISOs."
http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/Debian-Jigdo/
Thanks for the jigdo link. That should be *the* solution for downloading
extremely large files. I had installed and tried bit-torrent but it
required others to access my system too. Since all traffic originating
from outside is blocked by my firewall, it did not work out well. Jigdo
is just like any other download manager.
--
Regards,
Rony.
GNU/Linux !
No Viruses
No Spyware
Only Freedom.
5625
days inactive
5633
days old
29 comments
10 participants
participants (10)
-
Arun Khan -
h.godavari＠shaw.ca -
jtd -
Kartik Mistry -
Mehul Ved -
Osric Fernandes -
Rony -
Sameep -
Siddhesh Poyarekar -
Surya Pratap