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Topic: Repeating 99's instead of boot

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mksql

Group: Members
Posts: 13
Joined: July 2006

Posted: July 15 2006,02:33

DSL 3.0.1 boots and runs great on this Compaq Armada 3500. I performed a HD install, and it worked well to - for about an hour. After a couple of success full restarts, I shut the laptop down, and powered on a couple of hours later.

Now, I simply get a the following character sequence on the screen within several seconds of power on:

L 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99

The 99's repeat for several lines, then the system simply stops responding. Attempting the install several times again does not solve the issue. I cannot get the install to take, even though it initially worked.

Ideas?

brianw

Group: Members
Posts: 245
Joined: Sep. 2005

Posted: July 15 2006,15:26

When you say you tried installing several more times then I am guessing you can boot from the cd.

This would suggest MBR or partition table corruption. What happens when you
boot from the CD, open a terminal and type
sudo fdisk -l

mksql

Group: Members
Posts: 13
Joined: July 2006

Posted: July 15 2006,17:34

This is the strange part. Using fdisk, the partition table always shows what I have configured, as I try different solutions. Is there a document that recommends how the disk should be partitioned for a small distro like DSL (I am a Linux novice)?

As a test, I deleted all the partitions using cfdisk, and rebooted without the CD, and I still get the same error. How does this happen with no paritions on the disk?

green

Group: Members
Posts: 453
Joined: Oct. 2004

Posted: July 15 2006,17:48

There is a very old howto on how to fix this issue.
http://www.damnsmalllinux.org/talk/node/135
The website suggested in the howto does not appear to host the files any longer. However, it'll give you an idea of what you need to do and this will be a learning experience for you.
This has happened to me a couple of time. What i did was just boot theDSL cd, NOT toram, and make it install with GRUB. That fixed the MBR and then I could go back and do intstall something else or just keep DSL or whatever.
Be patient and try not to curse too much.

Good luck.

EDIT: by install i mean choose HD install from the Tools menu in fluxbox. Go thru the steps and somewhere along the way it'll ask you if you want the GRUB install. It's been a while since I've done it, but keep plugging away at it and you'll be fine.

mksql

Group: Members
Posts: 13
Joined: July 2006

Posted: July 15 2006,21:45

Thanks green - problem solved.

1) cfdisk to recreate the partitions
2) boot CD
3) install from desktop
4) use grub for bootloader

4 replies since July 15 2006,02:33

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Damn Small Linux Board » Damn Small Linux » HD Install » Repeating 99's instead of boot