Can't install Ubuntu on desktop, help pls?
Hi to all!
I know it's a little off topic since it's not notebook-related, but I was hoping that some of our fellow Linux/Ubuntu could maybe help me a little bit...?
I would like to install Ubuntu when I get my IFL90, but first would like to try it out... haven't been really able to however...
First of all I am kind of newbie when it comes to Linux, but have fair knowledge of computers and Windows.
I have unsuccessfully trying to install/boot Ubuntu 7.0.4 for 3 days now on my desktop: I downloaded/burnt the LiveCD and on my wife's Toshiba Satellite it boots perfectly (writing this from her notebook).
I checked the MD5 checksum, it's fine
I checked my desktop memory from the CD utility and it didn't find any errors.
My desktop:
P4 2.4Ghz
Motherboard PcChips M909 V5.0A
Chipset Intel i845E/G/PE/GE
512 RAM
2 HD
GPU: GeForce 6200 AGP PRO
There was no way I could boot from the LIveCD, so I got the Alternate CD and was able to install it on a partition of its own, however it will not boot (dualbooting with Win XP Pro; Win still boots fine).
I searched around this forums and tried a *lot* of parameters, here are my errors:
- normal boot: native_apic_write_atomic+0x6/0x10
- recovery mode: native_apic_write_atomic+0x6/0x10
- noapic nolapic: error_code+0x7c/0x90
- noapic acpi=noirq: says something about sysfs bridge and then starts displaying a lot of messages (too fast to read)
- noapic acpi=off: lots of messages
- noapictimer: IOAPIC invalid reference to IRQ 0 and then failed to set xfermode (err_mask=0x40)
- noapictimer irqpoll: IOAPIC invalid reference to IRQ 0 and then unable to handle kernel paging request at virtual address 030c2444
Similars errors (native_apic_write_atomic+0x6/0x10 or error_code+0x7c/0x90) resulted from the following parameters being used:
- noapic nolapic irqpoll
- apic=off irqpoll
- noapic
- pci=routeirq
- irqpoll
- acpi=off
- ide=dma
- irqpoll pci=noacpi noapic nolapic acpi=off
Any ideas? I'm really running out of options here... :(
Regards
Answer:
Re: Can't install Ubuntu on desktop, help pls?
I had a hard time trying to run the Live CD on one of my own machines. The fix for me was to slow down the burn speed. After turning 3 or 4 CD's into coasters, I finally got one to work. Keep at it, Ubuntu/Linux is worth the effort.
Perhaps you'd have better luck with another distro. PCLinuxOS 2007 worked for me on the first try. Good luck.
Answer:
Re: Can't install Ubuntu on desktop, help pls?
Let's try to break this down a bit into manageable pieces. What happens when you just try to boot with the LiveCD?
Answer:
Re: Can't install Ubuntu on desktop, help pls?
With the LiveCD, after eliminating both quiet and splash from the boot options, I get a *lot* of messages (too fast to read and the pause key won't work).
However, I noticed that before that I get 5 messages:
end_request: I/O error, dev fd0, sector 0
Buffer I/O error, on device fd0, logical block 0
The partition where I installed Ubuntu was #6 I think, but this was from the LiveCD.
I can see the various steps being completed with [Ok]; then, shortly after it prints "Loading Hardware Drivers" all the problems begin...
Any ideas?
Yeah, I know there are many distros available, but I would really like to do everything possible with Ubuntu before switching (from what I understand the community is HUGE!).
Regards
Answer:
Re: Can't install Ubuntu on desktop, help pls?
if you don not have floppy disk drive ingore it
fd0 is the device name for you floppy disk
Answer:
Re: Can't install Ubuntu on desktop, help pls?
Right, fd0 is the floppy. The LiveCD may be probing for devices. Two questions:
1. If you just boot the LiveCD without changing any options what do you get? Do you get a graphical screen to come up at all, a login prompt... ?
2. If you boot the LiveCD with the options that allowed you to see all individual steps, same question, what do you get?
Answer:
Re: Can't install Ubuntu on desktop, help pls?
1) I get the splash screen, with the bar moving right and left; after a while the bar starts filling the area from the left, but when it has done like 20-30% it freezes.
2) without the splash option, I can see the various steps being completed, the last of which is Loading Hardware Drivers, and then a lot of too-fast-to-be-read messages are displayed. Sometimes it stops and I can see it's reporting error_code+0x7c/0x90
Btw, for the sake of it I tried a PCLinus 2007 LiveCD and got similar problems. This time it printed Detecting video cards and then started displaying lots of messages too. The final message was "BUG: unable to handle kernel paging request at virtual address e0c2a034" and then "Not tainted VLI".
Eliminatin the acpi=on (in PCLinus) resulted in "Kernel panic - not syncing".
Any ideas?
Geez, on my wife's laptop I got almost everything working on the LiveCD! Even power management and sound... what's so different on my desktop?
Answer:
Re: Can't install Ubuntu on desktop, help pls?
Try Ubuntu 6.06 LTS. Looking at the spec of your PC, it maybe too old?
I don't know the reason why, but many of the current "popular" distros have issues of some kind or other on older hardware, where as last year those distros had versions that worked well on that generation of PC.
Answer:
Re: Can't install Ubuntu on desktop, help pls?
maybe do text mode install ? then try to updateing
have you try safemode graphics?
can you also try runing memorey check on machine
is you 512 megs in one or two sticks?
http://www.goldmemory.cz/ is one mem testing program
they is also
http://www.memtest86.com/
Answer:
Re: Can't install Ubuntu on desktop, help pls?
Yeah, the guys from the ubuntuforums suggested trying 6.0.6 LTS, downloading right now...
As for the other questions:
In the end I did use the alternate CD to install Feisty; it installed just fine (pretty quick too), but once I try to boot I get the same errors I get with the LiveCD.
Tried safe mode: same problems
I have 1 stick 512Mb
I ran the memtest from the boot options: it found no errors to report...
Jeez, I'm close to downloading 3Gb to get Linux working... X_X
Still can't understand why on wife's old Toshiba Satellite everything works perfectly.
I'm thinking about removing the video card and see if it makes any difference... what do you think?
Regards and thank you for the replies!