I'm trying to install RedHat 7.3 on a Compaq Proliant 2500. When booting from CD-ROM en hitting <ENTER> to start installing the installer says "You do not have enough RAM to install<etc.>"

The box is loaded with 448 Megs of Ram, but apparantly it only sees 16 Megs.

After consulting a similar problem also posted here, I went into kernel mode (via the F3 key) and entering 'linux mem=448M'. It boots, but crashes in a kernel panic saying:

EXT2-fs: unable to read superblock
cramfs: wrong magic
FAT: unable to read boot sector
isofs_read_super: bread failed, dev-09:00, iso_blknum=16 , block=32
'Kernel panic: VFS: Unable to mount root fs on 09:00'

What goes wrong here??

Are you sure the cd is burned correctly? If possible try to install from it on another machine OR if you burned it, calculate the checksum of the image you downloaded using md5summer (www.md5summer.org) or md5sum (under Linux).

Hi

I have the pleasure of a Proliant 5000. Same problem drove me mad!

Try

linux mem=exactmap mem=640k@0 mem=440M@1M

May also need a dd option to load the SCSI array controllers etc, so you need to dd the drvblock.img file from the images directory to a floppy which you will be prompted for, also may be best to do a text install. So the line becomes...

text dd mem=exactmap mem=640k@0 mem=440M@1M


Check...

here

Hope that helps

Jim

Thanx for your help!! I will try this. I did manage to install RH 6.0 but that one only sees 32M. Anyway, I'll kep y'all posted..

The 'text dd mem=exactmap mem=640k@0 mem=440M@1M
' did the trick indeed!! It's now installing RH7.3 without a glitch!

Thanx for your support drjimstuckinwin!

You're welcome.

That page I linked to is extremely useful.

I've actually escaped from Win now, should probably change my name!

I was very glad to find this thread, as have an obstinate Proliant 2500 and three RedHat 8.0 in front of me. Unfortunately, despite creating boot diskettes and trying

text dd mem=exactmap mem=640k@0 mem=440M@1M

I get the kernel panic. My messages are

RAMDISK: Couldn't find valid RAM disk image starting at 0.
Freeing initrd memory: 506k freed
Kernel panic: VFS: Unable to mount root fs on 09:02

Jonas

JBJ

Depends how much RAM you have. Substitute 440 in mem=440M@1M for the amount of RAM you have, minus a bit. So a 1Gb machine I would put mem=960M@1M 256Mb mem=240M@1M.

Jim

Thanks,

The problem was in the amount of RAM stated. Although I did in fact substitute with my actual amount of RAM - 1 (in my case I used 195) it did not work. When I reduced the amount to 190 it did. I don't know why it didn't like the last 5 Mb, but what the heck.

Jonas

Hello anyone experience a second processor failed after installing RH 8.0??? I was able to load linux just fine with the help of the threads above "linux mem=exactmap mem=640k@0 mem=440M@1M" but I still have two problems... No graphics are recognizing & and my second processor doesn't seem to be recognized either... Anyone ever have that happen?

Hi

I expect that the problems are..

1 You have booted the Linux UP kernel, which is the failsafe single CPU kernel. As it boots, grub/lilo should give you a choice, go for the one that says smp.

2 The onboard graphics on the 5000 isn't supported by X as I recall, won't even work with generic drivers except for text. I can't remember what the chipset is, might be a fix out there somewhere! Get yourself one of those cheap PCI graphics cards off Ebay or somewhere, and save yourself a LOT of grief, only need a 1MB Ram one (I used an old ISA VGA card in mine for a bit, then a 32MB Elsa PCI card, but it didn't seem much different!).

Regards

Jim

I loaded the proper kernel-smp during boot... the message I get is "212-Processor Slot 9, Processor 2 Failed" this is displayed at the begining of the boot process in BIOS...

Aha, the second point might explain the problems I am having. I suspected there was a graphics problem with Proliant. Although the installation worked well, Gnome is *extremely* slow. For example, it takes more than a minute to render a menu.

Jonas

If the CPU is reported as failed in the boot process, there are a few explanations...

1 It has genuinely failed

2 The server thinks its failed, but its actually OK. This might be caused by heatsink compound on a pin or something like that preventing proper contact.

3 The CPU's are not matched, or the speed switches are set wrong.

4 There's something loose!

If you've just built the server (or even if not!), open it up again, and fiddle with everything to check it's all seated properly. Check the speed switches on the CPU board are set correctly, and that the CPU's are matched. Then run smart start, fire up the system configuration utility, and it should ask if the failed CPU has been repaired. You can also do it with the F10 diagnostics menu (if you still have it). Answer yes, and if the CPU is OK, it'll magically reappear, if its dead, it won't!

Let me know how you go on.

Jim

Dear All,

It is successfull to install RH8 by typing parameter "linux mem=exactmap mem=640K@0 mem=255M@1M" in Proliant 2500. However, only about 16MB memory are detected each time, even i have tried to put this command line to lilo.conf : append=" mem=exactmap mem=640K@0 mem=255M@1M", could anyone experienced the same situation and have any solutions to solve it?

Thx

Xela