CD Boot Problems URGENT=Please Read

Forum: Other Help Topics
Topic: CD Boot Problems *URGENT*=Please Read
started by: Virulent_Virus

Posted by Virulent_Virus on April 05 2004,14:47

Hey Guys (and Gals),

This is my first post here. Woohooooo!

Anyhow, down to business, as they say. I spent the last two nights downloading the DamnSmallLinux .iso. At only (!) 50Mb in size, i was willing to stretch to get myself a copy of a linux distro to try (but I fully intend to get it anyway, sick of M$). So I go to one of the many ftp pages availible, and eagerly download version 6.2. I then burned the .iso to a CDR and read lots of docs.

However, I am unable to find a decently small and easy to use partitioning program to divide the HD. Also a little nervous about doing it because my dad uses this computer for his business (eek). So, i simply tried a live boot (booting from the CD). Inserted my freshly burned CD into my DVD Drive and reset. Pressed F5 to get to a startup menu and chose to boot from the CD. I am presented with a blue screen and push enter as instructed to begin booting up. I get two messages:

loading vmlinuz (might have been vmlinux, can't remmber)
[OK]...booting kernel... (or somthing to that effect)

Everything appears ok, but after doing this all i get is a black screen with no command prompt or X Windows/etc. The computer locks up. I reboot and try the procedure again. Using the -failsafe/ -expert/ -toram and various other options has no effect. Is there anything I can do or have I got a bad download/ etc?. I hear i can chek the MD5 Checksum, but I don't know how. Any help given is much appreciated, and I expect I will thoroughly enjoy my time here

.

Thanks,
Virulent_Virus

Posted by cbagger01 on April 05 2004,17:20

Try typing in

knoppix vga=normal

at the Boot (F2) prompt. Your system may not be able to display the frame buffer. Do you see a little penguin icon in the upper left corner before your computer crashes?

You can check your MD5 checksum by using an MSDOS/Windows utility called md5sum. Get it here:

< http://www.etree.org/md5com.html >

Follow the instructions on the web page for installation.

Then make sure that your damnsmal.x.x.iso file and your damnsmall.x.x.md5 file is in the same directory, say for example C:\damnsmall

If the MD5 file gets downloaded with a *.md5.txt extension, please remove the .txt by renaming the file.

Then go to an MSDOS or "Command Prompt" and cd into the c:\damnsmall directory.

Then type in

md5sum -c damnsmall.x.x.md5

(where .x.x is the version number of the ISO. Type in the name EXACTLY as it was shown in Windows Explorer. If you are unsure, do a 'dir' command to display the directory. Also, you need to make sure that your .iso file is saved exactly as the original name. Do not rename this file)

You should get a message back saying that the ISO is OK or not OK.

Good Luck.

Posted by hasty on April 05 2004,17:32

Ok First up md5sum is a way of checking that the download is not corrupt.
When you download an iso there is also a md5sum file in the same directory which is like a small serial number to verify it's integrity.

For windows you can download a free checker (about 400kb zip file)from:-
< http://www.md5summer.org >

Next whats your video card? I had problems with onboard v3 cards & a radeon9700. In both cases using a boot code made the loading screen visible.

When Boot comes up at the start, theres a pause where you can enter a cheat code. Pressing F2 at this stage should reveal those usable.

When I had a similar boot problem I found that entering

knoppix vga=normal

after the flashing Boot cusor worked.
HTH

Posted by Virulent_Virus on April 05 2004,18:42

Ok thanks for the tips i'' go try them now.

Posted by Virulent_Virus on April 05 2004,19:03

ok using knoppix vga=normal dosen't seem to have any effect. The MD5 sum matches and is ok.

Would the fact that i'm running direct from a cd have any effect. I have no partitions except my windows one, im just pusing F8 at start.

Posted by Virulent_Virus on April 05 2004,19:05

p.s I don't our fave mascot appears, but i didnt really look. ill go back and try again to make sure.

Posted by Virulent_Virus on April 05 2004,19:16

Right. Tux dosen't appear. In fact, NOTHING appears. just pushing enter at the prompt gives a blank black screen and a locked up PC. using any options means i somtimes get the usuall messages and the processes stop at "....Uncompressing Kernel"

Posted by cbagger01 on April 05 2004,23:09

How much RAM do you have?

Describe your computer system to us. Maybe we can figure out what is causing the problem.

So

knoppix failsafe

didn't work?

How about:

knoppix failsafe vga=normal

Posted by Rapidweather on April 06 2004,01:14

When I started out with Damn Small, first thing I did before downloading my own
copies, was to send off for a couple of cd's from John Andrews, the DSL man
himself. Those worked just fine. Once I got the feel for DSL, then I could go on to
the download and burn phase.
Also, you might try your cd on other computers, laptops, etc. Perhaps there is
a problem with that machine. I did, however, run into the black screen problem,
and fixed that with boot: knoppix vga=normal.
Also was able to use xvesa X server with no problem, too, on a Dell P-4 with 17 inch lcd monitor and one gig of ram.
I could do either fbdev or xvesa on that machine, but had to use vga=normal on fbdev.
---
Just my thoughts.
---
:;):

Posted by pvdvyve on April 21 2004,09:11

Hay, looks like a problem here.
I made a DSL run on different ways.
-just put in that CD en reboot
-copy the image straight in a subdirectory and boot with a boot diskette
-eventually made a HD-install
I had a problem with an old Pentium-75Mhz and 48 Mb RAM and it's monitor, but I had an option to set up the screen resolution, and that fixed my problem.
I think you'd better check up with your hardware and look for the problem to be solved there.
Have fun ...