iB::Topic::DLS on Dell Latitude D610

	Damn Small Linux :: Damn Small Linux Board The DSL Forums

» Welcome Guest
[ Log In :: Register ]

Damn Small Linux Board » Damn Small Linux » Laptops » DLS on Dell Latitude D610

		Mini-ITX Boards Sale, Fanless BareBones Mini-ITX, Bootable 1G DSL USBs, 533MHz Fanless PC <-- SALE $200 each!
		Get The Official Damn Small Linux Book. DSL Market , Great VPS hosting provided by Tektonic

[ Track this topic :: Email this topic :: Print this topic ]

Topic: DLS on Dell Latitude D610, Won't even boot properly!

< Next Oldest | Next Newest >

jmangan

Group: Members
Posts: 4
Joined: June 2005

Posted: June 27 2005,13:19

Background:
I have a laptop from work which runs a locked down XP and work rules preclude installing anything on it anyway. It would be nice to run what I want from a USB key. Having read a few reviews Damn Small Linux looks good.

The problem:
I have downloaded and burnt two CD images dsl-1.2.iso, dsl-1.2-syslinux.iso.

Both CDs are bootable and contain KNOPPIX, lost+found and index.html files and folders. One also has a boot folder. I'm not sure why there are two CDs but there is obviously a difference (read on).

If I boot off the CD with the boot folder then no matter what options I select I see the start of the kernel loading (2.4.26), minirt24.gz being unpacked and then the screen goes blank and the machine locks solid. Power off/on and repeat.

The second CD fails in a similar way except that the failsafe option works. However the failsafe option disables useful things like USB support (see 'background').

I looked in the boot folder and found an isolinux folder containing (amongs other files) isolinux.cfg. This appeared to include the options used for a failsafe boot (nousb nofirewire noagp, etc.) so I tried that with the other CD but it always locked up. I even added a couple of extra options such as nopam noapic noswap. (I thought I could start with a successful boot and then remove options until I isolated the problem and had USB working).

For reference Knoppix 3.8.2 runs vanilla straight from the CD (but is a bit big for my USB key).

I am open to any ideas (or alternatives) so that I can install dsl on a USB key and run it on this machine with support for ethernet, wireless and as much else as is possible.

Thanks for any advice.

ke4nt1

Group: Members
Posts: 2329
Joined: Oct. 2003

Posted: June 27 2005,13:22

Just for grins and giggles..

Try booting up your syslinux DSL CD with..

" dsl nopcmcia vga=normal "

...and see if it makes it thru a bootup with
your USB intact.. Also check your USB options in bios.
Enable any "legacy" USB devices...

Let us know..

73
ke4nt

jmangan

Group: Members
Posts: 4
Joined: June 2005

Posted: June 27 2005,13:48

I couldn't find any 'legacy USB' setting in the BIOS and so far I haven't got as far as using the USB key. Just getting the laptop booted would be good.

I tried both CDs (hey, twice the grins) with the suggested options but after mirt24.gz I got a screen full of register values, flags and other arcana.

It started and ended with:

Oops 0000
. . . . .
. . . .
. . . . .

Code: Bad EIP value.
<0> Kernel panic. Attempted to kill init!

I now recall generating this same error with some of the combinations of options I previously tried.

So - dead in the water?

jmangan

Group: Members
Posts: 4
Joined: June 2005

Posted: June 28 2005,08:15

Whoohoo! . . . and yet so simple.

When I started this the only clean boot I could get was with the 'failsafe' option on the dsl-1.2 CD so I concentrated on that CD.

After ke4nt1's suggestion yesterday (and armed with the full knoppix cheatcode list) I returned to the isolinux CD . . . and it worked! Eventually I whittled it down to 'acpi=off' (which doesn't work on the non-isolinux CD). So I was just suckered down a wrong path.

Thanks for the suggestion ke4nt1.

Now all I have to do is mount the USB, install DSL, find drivers for the internal ethernet, wireless, audio . . . . . ..

makeMineLinux
Unregistered

Posted: July 14 2005,18:33

Thanks! This worked great for me.

I had the same problem and had tried several different options with no success. The ACPI made sense to me so I tried this and it worked. I used the command "knoppix lang=us acpi=off" and I had success.

It was great that you had this discussion and that I was able to find this with a simple Google search.

4 replies since June 27 2005,13:19

< Next Oldest | Next Newest >

[ Track this topic :: Email this topic :: Print this topic ]

Damn Small Linux Board » Damn Small Linux » Laptops » DLS on Dell Latitude D610