weird installation problem

Forum: Other Help Topics
Topic: weird installation problem
started by: Merkoth

Posted by Merkoth on Oct. 06 2004,23:00

hi, i'm new here. i just burned dsl and tried to boot it. the problem is that, after some loading, the screen just goes blank and the caps lock and scroll locl leds start blinking. then, nothing else happens. i tried disabling (most) hardware detection, but then the system is unable to find knoppix data... any ideas?

Posted by harper on Oct. 09 2004,02:14

I have the same problem with my laptop, this only started happening with the 0.8x versions of DSL. I have a Compaq Presario 2175 us with 512 MB DDR, I have Windows XP Professional, Mandrake Linux, and DSL 0.73 installed on this machine's HDD. I just got DSL 0.8.2 and it runs beautifully on my desktop, and yes, it even runs on my server!! (No Problems), I have tested out several configureations on other machines, and the work fine, but with my laptop I get the same thing Merkoth gets.

Posted by cbagger01 on Oct. 09 2004,02:47

Try downloading and creating a DSL boot floppy image.

Or search the forums on keyword "syslinux".

Posted by harper on Oct. 09 2004,02:48

I don't have a floppy frive on this POS laptop

Posted by Merkoth on Oct. 09 2004,03:20

thx for your answers! i'll try with the floppy booter

Posted by ke4nt1 on Oct. 09 2004,03:23

I have seen this occur when certain memory addresses are accessed that should not be
during the loading of the apm and acpi portions of the knoppix autodetection routines ..
This used to be an issue with multiprocessor boards, but a memory workaround was made..

The floppy image will give you another method of booting up that may
help to resolve the initial issue with detection ..

Have you tried the many options available at the boot line, like noagp, nomce,
failsafe, noacpi, noapic, noscsi, noapm, etc..

Usually, ONE of these will "workaround" the memory issue, and allow you to
complete the sequences at boottime.. Finding the right one that works
can be challenging, but once you know it, your set!

Another option is to preset certain portions of memory to be off limits
with bios options that SOME computers offer..

Another is to disable some features like caches, power management, etc.
in your bios, and see if that helps response..
Then we can isolate the area involved, and prescribe a fix..

Of course, a google search using keywords like
" linux" and "your model number" may be helpful,
Also , look for bios updates for your box ..

73
ke4nt

Posted by cbagger01 on Oct. 09 2004,04:28

You don't need a floppy drive on that laptop.

There is a post somewhere in this forum on how to remaster your DSL cd *.iso to use SYSLINUX instead of ISOLINUX.

However, you will need to do your remastering on a computer that has a floppy drive. Once you are finished, you can burn your new remastered iso to a CD-R and try to boot up your laptop with it.

Or if you want an alternative approach, you can download and use an older version of DSL like version 0.7.3 instead.

Posted by harper on Oct. 09 2004,15:08

Thanks for all the tips folks! :-D @ cbagger01: I am using 0.7.3, lol, but thanks for the advice. You guys are loads of help.

@ ke4nt1: Whoa, ty for all the info, if I can get it working I'll post here and let you know what it was I had to do to get it running, that way anyone else with the same problem might have a fix. :blues:

Thanks alot dudes! :-D

Posted by Merkoth on Oct. 16 2004,18:09

well, i had no luck at all...
the only thing i managed to discover is that the system, once booted, is unable to find the main knoppix image. i tried every boot option but nothing helps... i tried a few bios options too but, since most of the time i don't know what i'm really doing, i'm a bit afraid

Edit: i have the SAME problem with Morphix, my pc doesn't seems to like Knoppix-based distros...