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Topic: Can't get LiveCD to boot on anything, omg help!

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smag

Group: Members
Posts: 15
Joined: Dec. 2006

Posted: Dec. 08 2006,20:27

Well, I'm still stuck

Now I've done this:

1. Re-aquired dsl 3.1 ISO's via TORRENT (both the isolinux version AND the syslinux version.)

2. Verified the MD5 checksums for both with MD5summer, they both matched perfectly

3. Burned the images to CD-R (again, not RW), slowly (isolinux version with 4x speed, and the syslinux version with 2x speed) with BurnCDCC.

4. Tried to boot both of them in all 3 old machines (again, 2 old compaq presarios, and a Toshiba Tecra 8000 laptop), same "nothing" happens. (Hangs, bails, and moves on to floppy and/or HDD for boot) Does it with isolinux version and with syslinux version Live cd's.

5. Tried the isolinux version Live CD in the main PC (compaq pavillion w/sempron 3200+, 512): hangs indefinitely on a black screen with a blinking cursor that doesn't respond to KB input. (a waiting cursor?) Combo drive makes HORRIBLY SCARY noises of clicking and clacking. (Which doesn't happen on the old PC's drives, only the new DVDRW combo drive.)

Then when (later) trying to boot XP (on the newer PC), it goes into 'messed up' mode for diagnostic checking. (The new PC has a seperate boot menu, and a boot order list, tried them both. The order list already checks CD drives first, and there is no floppy drive.)

6. Took one of the unchecksummed disks I made yesterday, and managed to get it at least 30 yards, clear across the highway (would have flown further, but the wind flipped it!) :angry:

7.Cried in my cofffee.

Just to be sure, the syslinux Live CD, when looked at under XP, appears to contain:

Dir: KNOPPIX; containing 3 items, boot, boot, and knoppix
Dir: LOST+FOUND; empty
Index.html "why are you still using windows?"

So, why am I still using windows? I wish I knew the answer. I'm gonna go bum all my friends' dusty old PC's from their closets next, and get A+ cert and start the path to inner geekery, but not until I can get DSL to work on SOMETHNG in this house first!

smag

Group: Members
Posts: 15
Joined: Dec. 2006

Posted: Dec. 08 2006,20:28

oops Doubled eek!

rja

Group: Members
Posts: 46
Joined: Jan. 2005

Posted: Dec. 09 2006,00:40

Honest! It really isn't supposed to be this hard.

Scrapping the bottom of the barrel here with a couple more ideas (because it sounds like you have followed the instructions to the letter):

1. Maybe those blank CD's are of poor quality, or the CD Burner is defective. Those sounds that you hear are what makes me suspicious of one or the other being broken. Has the combination of those blank CD's and CD burner worked before?

Try a different brand of CD's and/or burn them on a different drive.

2. Or you are really Bill Gates and just messing with our minds!

smag

Group: Members
Posts: 15
Joined: Dec. 2006

Posted: Dec. 09 2006,20:03

I think you may be right. My DVDburn drive appears to be dead for writing anything. (Which SUCKS, because it's only 6 months old, and has only burned a couple dozen disks!)

So I moved to my regular combo drive to burn with, and found that it writes fine, but no matter how low I set BurnCDCC to run it, the drive's slowest speed is like 12x. So, when setting it to burn at 2x or 4x, it's still burning at 12 or most likely 16x.

I have another old CDburn-drive in one of the old PC's that I might be able to get to burn slower, I might have to swap it in to make the cd at slow speed, then swap it back to boot the old PC with again. That's the next experiment, anyway.

I appreciate all the advice. I will get it to work. I got it to -almost- boot on the laptop. It ran and ran for a while before bailing, and I had a couple minutes of excitement!

EDIT: WOOT! I got it to work on one of the old PC's!!!! I used an OLD burner to write the disks at 1x. It WORKS!!!

8 replies since Dec. 08 2006,09:53

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Damn Small Linux Board » Damn Small Linux » Other Help Topics » Can't get LiveCD to boot on anything