unable to boot into xubuntu v8.04 - drive/syslinux errors (?)
 

having some weird issues with my htpc, will not boot into ubuntu 8.04. In ubuntu I'm getting odd errors that say something about ata1/ata3 (changes during each boot or method).


[104.169048] ata3.00 : exception Emast 0x0 SAct )x) SErr 0x0 Action 0X2 Frozen
[104.169087] ata3.00: cmd c8/00.20.3f:00:00:00:00:00: /e0 Tag 0 dma 16384
ata3.00:status: {drdy]
ata3.00:revalidation failed (errno=-5)
ata3.01: failed to set xfermode (err_mask=0x40)
buffer I/O error on device sda1, logical block 0-7,0-1
sd 2:0:0:0: [sda] asking for cash data failed
sd 2:0:0:0: [sda] assuming drive cache: write through

I thought to upgrade xubuntu but got same msg, so tried reg ubuntu distro (both 8.10) but same thing, then I downloaded and burnt debian live and reg deb net install cds and got a weird syslinux error msg instead. Not a clue as to why, gparted boots fine and so does windows (thou I know this is an oxymoron).


isolinux8 diskerror 32, ax=4280, drive 9f

(rest of screen is static like antenna tv with no reception)


My setup:
2.4ghz quad
2gb ram (ddr2 800)
500gb Western Digital Sata2
Ati HD 2400
lg blu-ray burner/hd-dvd read
Viewsonic lcd 19" on vga
Samsung 1080p lcd tv on hdmi


part# 1 - ext3
part# 2 - ntfs
part# 3 - ntfs - downloads
part# 4 - ntfs - multimedia
part# 5 - swap - linux swap


some recent changes was addition of the blu-ray/hd-dvd drive, and recent issue with windows activation forced me to swap partitions and reformat (meaning part2 was windows and now is ubuntu and vice versa), though linux worked after that. So what the heck is going on? All hardware passes tests, including hd, no errors on partition table (software says). Only issue beyond that was a miss click deleted info on another partition and I tried using software to get back but didn't work..

Thanks for any help,
Not sure where to go, and def du not want to format the hd unless absolutely necessary. Also outta work so cannot buy a new one atm

Geoff

Have you tried the other installation options?

I'm not sure which ones woulda/coulda made helped, so I didn't bother. Actually my 3rd pc and wanted to
try setup as a htpc box but haven't used cause I have a way to play most stuff otherwise.


Problem actually fixed by going in bios and works much better than changing options and rebootng.
But was def the last thing I thought of to fix anything like that since nothing was ever changed

Thanks for ur help anyways,
Geoff

I'm not sure which ones woulda/coulda made helped, so I didn't bother. Actually my 3rd pc and wanted to
try setup as a htpc box but haven't used cause I have a way to play most stuff otherwise.


Problem actually fixed by going in bios and works much better than changing options and rebootng.
But was def the last thing I thought of to fix anything like that since nothing was ever changed

Thanks for ur help anyways,
Geoff