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when trying to install mandrake 8.1 from cd the initial splash is displayed and i press enter to get it started. it does a little loading but then all of the sudden it just stops and my monitor display turns off. im trying to do a dual of mandrake/98se. i had this same problem when i tried to install m$ xp. it would install to a certain point then the same thing would happen as described above. the people ive spoken with have no idea what the problem is. im at wits end cause i really want to break into the linux community and learn something new. any help would be greatly appreciated.
533 celeron
i440BX mobo
384 megs ram
hercules 3d prophet II mx video card (32meg)
diamond monster sound mx300
adaptec aha-2940uw controller
teac r55s cd-writer
unknown 55spin cdrom
current os is ms 98se
--thanks again, Pyst
Choozo
10-01-2001, 01:42 PM
Do you see the same behaviour while you are running Win98 normally? If so, you may have a hardware problem.
Cheers :)
everything is running fine in 98. im thinking that it is a hardware problem but which piece i havent the slightest. =\
Choozo
10-01-2001, 02:40 PM
First thing you could try is to get into BIOS and make sure PnP OS is set to OFF/DISABLED, and turn OFF/DISABLE anything with Shadow Memory/Graphics (I don't remember the all names but it has 'Shadow' in them :) )
Hope that helps? :)
ugh this is getting frustrating. i tweaked my bios and it still didnt make a difference. im wondering if my cpu could be shot. ive tried every type of install even though it would be over my head on some of them just to see if i could get it to load. is there by chance an installation log created somewhere that i could reference? or some way to break the screen when the last statement is made? ive tried numerous times to read it but it disappears too quickly.
Choozo
10-01-2001, 05:13 PM
Tough one :confused:
It could possibly be some dodgy RAM, so maybe swapping some of the RAM sticks around could help?
Just a shot in the dark at this point....
Good luck :)
ok i tried switching out my ram and still nothing but i was able to read a little more where it stopped. it was something along the lines of trying to load mdkinst_stage2 as a ramdisk. then everything stops as described in the first post.
Choozo
10-01-2001, 06:24 PM
I'm all out of suggestions at this stage. You may have some success searching this forum, hop over to www.mandrakeuser.org (http://www.mandrakeuser.org) or a search on www.google.com/linux (http://www.google.com/linux)
(Since you mention having the same problems with MS XP, i guess there is nothing wrong with your CDs - unless the XP is also a dodgy set?)
Cheers :)
Frank Taplin
10-01-2001, 06:29 PM
My bet would be flakey memory. I'd try swapping the RAM out for some known good ones. When it creates a RAM disk it uses the RAM to act like a hard drive and if it fails it's usually bad memory. Other than that I had similar problems until I pulled my modem and nic. IT then installed fine. the only drawback to that is that you can't use those parts until you get new drivers for them.
At what point did the XP installation fail? I'm alot more familiar with windows installations than with linux.
Frank
if i remember correctly it seemed than xp failed when it was trying to install the necessary files. as the memory goes i couldnt have 3 bad sticks could i ? its pc100 and ive had it for a while but one thing i have noticed with it is that it seems to get used up fairly quickly. i.e..if im burning a cd it will completely be used. i use memturbo to recover it. i really hate that im having this problem. ive been trying all day to find out the problem and correct it. if this is any help i was trying to upgrade 98se to xp which probably wasnt the smartest thing but things got so screwed up that i ended up reformatting c: and reinstalled 98se. so now im trying to install mandrake and im having the same problems. im starting to think that im **** outta luck. :(
Frank Taplin
10-01-2001, 08:29 PM
All three probably wouldn't be bad just one. Have you tried pulling all of them out and then adding one in. If it works with just the one then it's one of the other two sticks. If it doesn't work pull that stick and put in another one.
Generally if a Windows install fails during preparing to install the files it's a memory or processor problem. With the Ramdisk problem in Linux I'd tend to lean toward memory.
Going to XP from 98se isn't necessarily a bad thing.I'm not particularly fond of activation or the luna interface but it's a heck of a lot more stable than 98. If you're using Windows for games and home use I'd probably go with 98. If ouy're using Windows for business, networking, or other things like that I'd use XP.
Hope this helps.
Frank
well i think i can rule out it being my memory unless all 3 sticks are bad. ive been reading up on other boards and have seen people having similar problems. some have said that having a bad burn can cause it. so im getting 2 isos from 2 different locations just to test the theory. one never knows. im starting to harbour the thought that my cpu is on the fritz or a combination of mobo/cpu. i appreciate you guys trying to help me out. knowing theres a community out there thats willing to even help us newcomers makes me want to get into linux even more. thx again!
--Pyst
Bobo the Red
08-04-2002, 11:10 AM
Ok ... I've got a really dumb question to ask ... are you using your linux dist. to partition and format your drive? If so ... dont ... use something else ... I used the partition manager that comes with xp for my dual boot system.... assuming that you want vfat partitions ... which are really fat 16 dos partitions ... which cant format larger than 2 mb ... format them as fat 32 partitions using fdisk from the win98 cd or as I did ... use the disk manager from xp ... it has .... and is working for me. ...
Any Q's drop me a note...
mdwatts
08-04-2002, 03:56 PM
Do you have the required free space available on your hd and what type of installation are you selecting?
Try 'Expert Mode' as you have more control over the entire installation process.
I had problems installing my distro on my new dual mp system I built. I had to add 'noapic' during the install and also to my bootloader after the installation was complete.
Check Mandrake's website for possible parms you can try adding during the install.
Allen614
08-04-2002, 04:04 PM
Mandrake 8.2 Errata (linux-mandrake.com) has an article about kernel memory problems and a Perl script "patch.pl" that you run on a floppy when you boot from CD that fixed me. I'm running a K6-2 but it might help you out also. There are several articles about non-pentium processors but that did the trick for me.
Choozo
08-04-2002, 04:14 PM
This thread is just about a year old (~10 months), so I gather that Pyst solved this one way or another?
Cheers :)