Mandriva installation: It did everything but hanged at booting
 

Dear All,
I am really new to Linux world and just crawling with your support. I just downloaded the Mandriva 2007 4-cd version called for i586. I completed installation in an already-partitioned IBM machine (512MB ram, 2.2GB, i don't know the architecture) with Windows loaded in another partition. Great! it could recognize almost all the drives as if it not only recognized my computer but also me and my periphery. As expected, I received the "congratulations" from it.
The story begins here. When I pressed reboot, it loaded lilo and as default option Linux started to boot. While booting, it displayed something like "for verbose mode press esc". As you can imagine, I chose the existing graphical mode. However after reaching the log bar almost 40 to 45%, it ceases to move. I waited just thinking this is the very first boot, so may be long. I waited until my patience could do so and the only option for me was the power botton. Again I tried booting and now i hit esc. The verbose mode came and continued saying lots of OK out of which the lasts were:
Checking if partitions have enough free space [OK]
Checking for new hardware [OK]
-
Then nothing happens except the blinking of the cursor as shown above.
Will you please guide me. How can I check compatibility of my machine? I appreciate if you treat me a Linux-illiterate person. They say type this and that but I still don't know where to type those commands!.
Looking forward to hearing from you!
Rohini

This is not enough information to really help you. [ok] messages don't tell us what the problem is. I know that you said you wanted simple explanation, but I don't have it for you:(

My next move would be to try to get the kernel messages as opposed to those contrived [ok] messages. I would use a boot CD or floppy, mount the hard drive partition containing the logs, and check messages. This normally is the file /var/log/messages. Then, try and see what the kernel messages are to find out why it's dying on you. Another option would be to try to reinstall, but I don't think that will help.

Let me know if you want to try this, but I don't know if Mandriva has a "Live-CD" option as I've never run Mandriva before. I can certainly give you the commands to mount and view the logs if you can get a system to boot to the command prompt.

Dear all,
(Further clarification of problem and update)
Re installation did the same.
I could get no command prompt. While changing the boot option to failsafe or something, it also did everything in text and after series of OK messages it ends up to a cursor. I can't type nothing and I can't know whether keypad would work or not in such situation, also the mouse.
Then, I downloaded the live cd version (1-cd version of Mandriva 2007) and booted from it. But, again the same. It hanged at the same step as the already installed one did. So, is this something that Mandriva 2007 has some conflict on my machine?Again in the live cd, there is no way except to press power button.
I am sorry but I can't be more technical than this as I am really new to Linux. How happy will I be if somebody with the same experiennce in the past guide me?

You've done well, especially for someone new to Linux. Since you have no real attachment to Mandriva (I'm assuming this because you are new) it might be time to dump Mandriva and try a different distribution. As a Slacker, I always recommend Slackware, but for a someone new I am compelled to recommend Ubuntu first and then Suse. They seem to work the best right out of the box. It will give you *much* more satisfaction to get something going than to stay in this state of limbo.

Someone like myself could probably figure out a work around if I was sitting in front of the system but I don't even think it's worth messing with. Just try a different distribution and move on. Linux is Linux, but different distros include different hardware drivers compiled into the kernel. They also contain different initialization scripts. These variables all contribute to differences in how the distributions work on various hardware.

This is an interesting site that helps people choose the right distribution. It's kind of fun and it actually seems to work for me as it always points me to Slackware and then Gentoo. This is correct for me. It also pointed my dad to Ubuntu, which is also correct in my opinion. Give it a try:

http://www.zegeniestudios.net/ldc/index.php
At the bottom of the site choose "Take the Test"

Post back if you have success or failure in whatever you choose to do. I always like to know the outcome ;)

A couple of comments
 

First, a comment on the use of the English word "hanged" in your thread title. The verb "hang" is one of those irregular ones, but -- in this case -- it is very irregular. Specifically, "hanged" is used only when referring to the result of an execution (usually a criminal) when the person being executed is suspended by a rope around his or her neck. When referring to a process, one should use "hung." (Unless, of course, the computer was executed by hanging.)

Second:
There is, right now, a political problem with a recommendation to use SuSE. The company, Novell, that now owns SuSE, has recently signed a "patent sharing agrement" with Microsoft which may violate the terms of the GPL. If this turns out to be the case, then Novell (and, therefore, SuSE) will be forbidden to distribute software licensed under the GPL. This could leave SuSE users without any community support, and it's not likely that Novell would have the resources available to maintain support for programs they distributed in SuSE by themselves. So, if I were looking for another distribution to try, I'd hesitate to bother with SuSE until the political problems are resolved.

Sorry for incorrect use of the term 'hanged' and thank you for pointing it.
I now gave up Mandriva and just tried live CD version of Ubuntu and liked it. But I am still confused to install it. As you suggest, I too does not want to go for SUSE because of the political issue. I will try that site suggested above for selection of the distribution that fits me.
Thank you for your suggestions.

Hey man, we're always willing to help get people started.

I'm not trying to start anything here, but I'll throw my 2 cents in... Don't flame here, I'm not looking for it.

I personally dumped Suse after Novell got a hold of it. It took a few steps back in my (and many other well respected people's) opinion with Suse 9.0. 8.2 was almost nirvana. I haven't gone back to them since. This is the way it works with Linux, the best survive.

That being said, I would tend to look at the partnership with Novell not as a threat but as a complement. Microsoft has finally submitted and acknowledged the power of Linux. They know that they are going to have to *live* with it. It's no longer a question of whether it will go away, but "how do we adapt and move forward along with it?" Don't think that Microsoft didn't watch the SCO thing intently. Everyone watched it. We *all* learned from it. It made many of us believe that GPL is going to stand! This is huge. The SCO thing is one of the best things to happen to us. Microsoft would be committing suicide if they try the SCO maneuver. They are already well hated and have a serious image problem which Apple seems to be capitalizing on quite nicely lately ;)

We are entering a new era as Linux users. We are finally getting recognized by the big boys. I've been using Linux for over 10 years and I've been waiting for the tide to change for a long time. This is it guys! We've truely arrived! Do not underestimate how significant this is.

If Red Hat or Suse screw it up, they will diminish in the community. But... these types of companies are necessary for Linux to survive in the corporate space because they give big customers a neck to strangle when there are problems. That's what support is all about to businesses. They need "experts" to turn to. And they want companies that are strong to back Linux up. The more these companies fill this need, the better Linux adoption becomes.

Personally, I would never use a big name distro because they suffer the short comings of profit interest. A distro like Slackware that I use is "pure". But I want the big boys to succeed badly. I want to see Linux on every desktop. I would like nothing more than for Microsoft to just "go away". I've felt that way ever since OS2 died off. Hell, I even liked CPM better than MS DOS... but that's going back pretty far :D

Just remember guys. Linux is going to be fine no matter what. Probably Suse too. This is because people like us (developers, admins, users) decide what wins, not courts and not companies like Microsoft. We have a lot more power than you think. Rest assured. Microsoft is crying "Uncle!" not "Wolf!"

For help installing Ubuntu, look here or just search in that forum. There is also Vine, a Japanise distribution; and the Japanise Linux Users Group which might be able to offer assistance.