Every Linux Distro I Touch Goes Wrong - Please Help

Baryonic Being · 07-22-2004, 08:39 AM

Please see http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...55#post1062555 for my experience with Slackware.

sirra462 · 07-23-2004, 08:45 AM

I have installed SuSE 9.1 and 9.0 on quite a few "ancient" machines with little to no problems. It truly sounds like there is a hardware issue. Especially hard drive. Getting errors like that can mean quite a few different things, and none of them are good. If the machine is old enough, it is quite likely that the hard drive is on its last leg and ready to die. You said that it took 3.5 hours to install? That is a big sign that something is wrong. In my experience an install on an old system should be no longer than 1.5 hours depending on software configurations. I can maybe see 3.5 hours if absolutely everything was installed, but not likely. I think that there is a major disk problem. I once had a laptop that responded similarily - took forever to install - nothing worked right - everything continually broke, replace the hard drive and the install was a snap, and have had no problems since.
Of course I am speaking from my experience alone and the problems could be something different, but I am willing the bet that there is a hard drive issue.

NoxVampyre · 07-23-2004, 05:23 PM

I just came accross a really wierd issue that may or may not help you, so take this as what it is. Just something to check.

I was trying to re-install windows on a Compaq and the bloody thing was taking forever to format. I tried everything including another HDD. I could not figure this problem out. I finally in frustration switched the jumper on the drive from CS to Master. Boom it formated and installed in no time. Turns out that the board and drive both support CS but someone had switched out the IDE cable for an older one to put in a second drive. When I tried a different cable it worked fine on CS as well. It was wierd problem, and I in no way guarantee that it will help you, but you might want to give it a look.

Hope it helps even a little
Nox

Baryonic Being · 07-24-2004, 04:28 AM

A hard drive issue sounds likely. Thank you for your help.

Actually Nox, you could have found the problem. Last year, I had Windows and Mandrake Linux running on that computer, with Mandrake on the second hard drive. The trouble was that the second hard drive was larger, and Mandrake didn't really need all that space. I can't remember my exact motives, but I swapped the two hard drives around physically, intending to make the second drive the Master and the first one the Slave. Well, that didn't work, so I had to swap them back again, and it just might be that I put the jumper back on to CS instead of Master...

I'll check that out as soon as I can.