Another Try at Linux
 

This is my firt post here. I hope to one day become a Linux User.
I tried with zero success to install Ubuntu. I could only get so far as to select the language. After numerous posts in many forums, I have given up, at least for now.
I am going to try PC linux. I hope that I have more success.
I just finished this computer build.
Intel Duo core processor
4 GIG of Ram

Vista 64 is running without a problem. this leads me to believe it is not a hardware problem
Before I begin, I would appreciate any advice.
I do not want to give up again.

Thanks for listening

If Ubuntu failed, than there it is more than likely that PCLinux will fail too. It is considerably older and will have less support for newer hardware. But what was your problem actually? Hardware issues?

Hi and welcome to the forums.

If you still want to give Ubuntu a shot, I could give a hand. Just post all your hardware specifications (since you put the machine together it should be easy for you), the version of Ubuntu you've tried and what error messages you got.

If you post the error(s) you're getting, and information about what version and distro of Linux you're using, we can help you more. Try Mandriva or OpenSuSE as well....OpenSuSE is my personal favorite, but don't know why you'd have trouble installing any of them.....

Motherboard P5Q Pro
4 GIG Memory

What other equipment is relevant.

This is what happened.

First, I got an error message that I solved by disabling the floppy drive in the Bios.
Once past the language all I got was such words as busy box and a prompt Initramfs -

I downloaded twice, and did several burns, one at the slowest speed.

Yeah, there you have it. That motherboard does not like Linux. The best you can do is grab the beta of the upcoming Ubuntu 8.10, which should be new enough. Still, I believe that the motherboard uses some Marvell parts that - even a few weeks ago - were not supported by the kernel. If 8.10 does not install from disc, try installing from a USB stick so you can bypass the Marvell controller - or use a SATA cd/dvd drive.

I am using a SETA DVD drive. Please elaborate on other suggestions.

Pq5 Intel P45 chipset ICH10

That is indeed very new hardware. I would think you will need a distro with a new kernel (2.6.26 possibly) in order for it to work properly on that hardware.

http://www.gentoo-wiki.info/Asus_P5Q-E

Centos 5.2 is reported to work on the P45 chipset boards..


There is a thread in the Asus forums discussing installing Linux on that board and getting things working. the sticking points from the threads I have browsed seem to be.

Disk controllers
Network Interfaces
Audio

Best of luck to you !!

Suggestions

Suse 11
Debian Testing - make sure to upgrade to the 2.6.26 kernel
Centos 5.2

It could be a hard drive issue. Go into BIOS and check whether your drives are running in IDE or AHCI mode. The value may need to be toggled.
However, I can only repeat that you may have better lucky trying 8.10. That ASUS motherboard has the ICH10 chipset, which was released only after 8.4 was released. I have another one of those ICH10 based boards (MSI P45) and I haven't had any issues, though.

I do not know what AHCI means. I am ashamed to say that I do not know what a kernel is.
I do not understand since I was not trying to install it to the HD.

So if you don't know what AHCI or a kernel is, how sure are you that you dvd drive is really SATA and not PATA?

I used a SATA cable to hook it up. That I am sure of. My previous build had an IDE interface.

If he built it, I guess that looking at the wires is simple enough even for a novice user.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advance...ller_Interface

AHCI let's you use all the SATA specific stuff that it's impossible to use when the drive is running in IDE emulation mode, like NCQ.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Native_Command_Queuing

The kernel is the core of a given OS, though in windows you will hear that word only rarely. It's the first program that is loaded (besides the firmware in the BIOS and things like that), and it's the one that will manage all the processes, the cpu time slices, the memory and the i/o from/to the rest of the subsystems.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kernel_(computer_science)

The linux kernel has historically been a monolithic kernel, which means that every single driver was into the kernel itself, though that's no longer true. Still, even if the drivers can be compiled as external modules, they are shipped within the same kernel source tree. So, a newer kernel means usually better support for the most modern hardware. If you are using last generation hardware, then you should either choose a bleeding edge distro that is always shipping the latest kernels, or you will need to compile an updated kernel yourself.

Ah, OK. Now there is just one question left: why doesn't it work when you are using the ICH10 chipset when I and others haven't experienced any issues. Right now, I am wondering whether your drive is really connected to the ICH10. Many motherboards have two additional SATA ports that are managed by a different controller. Maybe you should simply try plugging the cable into a different port if that is the case.

Thanks to all for your kind and informative replies. I will not reply for a while. It does not mean that I am not interested, just that I have other things to do. Please be specific. Tomorrow I will open the case and use different SATA headers.

Thanks again