Unable to boot Compaq presario 900

Forum: Laptops
Topic: Unable to boot Compaq presario 900
started by: khurdp

Posted by khurdp on Jan. 02 2006,00:50

Hello,
This has started happening when I burnt the new DSL 2.0. I could boot fine with DSL 1.5. Nothing happens after the 'Accessing image at /dev/scd0' message is displayed.

I can boot though with the expert option and am posting here from DSL 2.0 booted using the 'expert' boot option with no other parameters. I have to answer no to the using other modules from a floppy question, yes(autoprobe) to 'Load SCSI Modules' and no to (re)configure others - keyboard, soundcard, mouse & X11.

Am I doing something wrong or is this a bug in 2.0 (new, or already reported)?

Thank you,
Prasad

Posted by cbagger01 on Jan. 03 2006,11:19

Can you boot with:

failsafe

as your boot parameter?

Posted by khurdp on Jan. 04 2006,01:15

I get the following booting ONLY 'failsafe' (not as a parameter). 'failsafe' as a parameter to expert gives the same result as expert.

8<----------------------------------->8
Can't find KNOPPIX filesystem, sorry.
Dropping you to a (very limited) shell.
Press reset button to quit.

Additional builtin commands available:
cat mount umount
insmod rmmod lsmod
8<----------------------------------->8

Posted by Ray on Jan. 05 2006,19:04

Nothing happens after the 'Accessing image at /dev/scd0' message is displayed.

I am a new user trying to load dsl on a 1999 laptop running win98se athlon chip 400mhz.

Am I doing something wrong or is this a bug in 2.0 (new, or already reported)?

Thank you,
Ray

Posted by MethodOne on Jan. 06 2006,00:55

Did you use the md5sum command-line utility on the iso file? If you use Windows on the system you burned the CD, download < md5sum.exe > and save it to C:\WINDOWS. Then enter the following command in the iso directory at the MS-DOS/Command Prompt:

md5sum dsl-2.0.iso

If the number that appears matches the one at < http://distro.ibiblio.org/pub....md5.txt >, then you have a good iso. If not, you should download it with a download manager. I use < Free (as in beer) Download Manager > on my laptop with XP Pro. Remember to use md5sum once you downloaded DSL again.

Also, if the regular iso doesn't work with your system, try the syslinux version.

Posted by Delboy on Jan. 17 2006,16:17

Quote (khurdp @ Jan. 03 2006,20:15)

Although not a DSL. laptop newbie, I am just trying to boot it up on a new (old) laptop: Toshiba Portege 3440CT. I get the same above message with DSL V 2.1 isolinux iso booted from my external CDrom drive. I will try the syslinux one too tonight but can any one please recommend a boot parameter that will work? I have done a search on this forum and can't find a clear fix yet.

Posted by cbagger01 on Jan. 17 2006,18:23

Try booting in your old OS and then copy the \KNOPPIX\KNOPPIX file over to your C:\KNOPPIX\KNOPPIX (note the uppercase letters).

Someone here recently posted an intereasting boot command that worked for some external CDROM drives but the surefire way is to copy the KNOPPIX stuff over to your MSDOS/Win95/Win98/WinME C: drive

Posted by Delboy on Jan. 18 2006,11:09

Thanks cbagger01, but this didnt work either.
Will try new download.

Posted by Delboy on Jan. 19 2006,10:53

2.1b_syslinux.iso didn't work either. It seems to be something to do with the SCSI compatability of my rom drive via the pcmcia slot it is connected too. MSN lite (Mandriva based) puts up a report screen of processes, following a failed boot, and this says the cdrom is loaded and OK. Tried an old DSL 1.5 version also to no avail. I will go into BIOS and check boot settings. The F2 button I have to press with this Portege at boot to get a list of drives for selection just does not seem to keep it's eye on the ball.
Oh yes - I've tried 'failsafe', 'expert' 'noscsi' and a few other boot parameters at the prompt.
I can see a 'poor man's install' coming on......

(Toshiba Portege 3440CT)

Posted by cbagger01 on Jan. 19 2006,17:48

Another possibility is to copy the cdrom files over to your C:\ drive and then use "loadlin" to launch DSL from MSDOS or MSDOS mode from Win95/98

Search the forums for keyword

loadlin

or

loadlin AND *minirt*

for more information.