strange ubuntu 8.04.2 + 9.1 behaviour
 

hi guys and girls,
this is my first time here so please be gentle with me.
i'm trying to figure out what distro to use but i'm experiencing strange behaviour, recently i purchased a new computer (this is my setup): q9400, xfx 790i sli ultra mobo, gtx 285, esi juli@ - soundcard, 3 raptors as main with raid0, 2 wd blue 640gb as programs - raid 0, 1tb wd green as time capsule.

i'm already runing vista 64 on this setup and it works like a charm for gaming, i decided to add a second operating sysytem and decided to try ubuntu as i'm familiar with it and i use it on my other 2 computers (msi wind u100 and pentium d 945).

while trying to install the new ubuntu 9.1, i manage to get to the boot menu on the cd. in the menu what every option i try (try before install, check cd for errors, memory check) seems to hang my computer with no ctrl+alt+del response.
after that i press the reset button and the computer doesn't seems to pass the post mem test (just stucks in middle of count and hangs). second reset or power off doesn't seems to help, the only remedy i found is that i have to disconnect the computer from power and after it will pass post test as normal.

after that i installed ubuntu 9.04 in parallel with vista using dm raid and managed to set my triplehead2go using resolution of 5040x1050 with no major issues. after compiling mplayer i saw that the sound system is oss and i completly don't like it just because i am more familiar with alsa and i like it's versatility alot more so i decided to move back to the version that i use on my other systems (ubuntu 8.04.2) and experience same strange behaviour all-over again as with ubuntu 9.1.

please help me to find remedy for this behabiour?

p.s

i checked the memory, changed the memory timings for less aggressive timings, doesn't seems like memory or cpu issue (primed it for days with no errors).

A big problem I would think is I'm presuming you mean hardware RAID. Linux in general does not play nice with hardware RAID.

how's that?
and why 9.04 installs without any issues?
and no it's not hardware raid it's fakeraid.

I have not experienced issues on a DL380 server with hardware raid. Can you elaborate a little which issues I might experience in future?

I would be very interested to know what RAID card you're using, also, do HP provide open source drivers for that RAID card? I'm assuming it's HP since you're talking about a DL380?

Take a look at this: http://www.ram.org/computing/linux/dpt_raid.html It's a howto/FAQ for hardware linux RAID. The main problem I had was finding linux drivers for an IBM RAID card. I ended up going with no RAID, and it works great. Obviously, I maintain images of my servers, and complete backup offsite for reinstalling. I ended up not believing in RAID, since when a HDD goes, generally you can expect the other HDD's in a RAID array to go fairly quickly. A good backup policy seems to me to be a better idea. The OP of course is looking at a different situation, wanting performance.

ok guys, it seems like you've drifted off topic.
also if the case is the raid setup, why does ubuntu 9.1, ubuntu 8.04.2 doesn't boot into live cd while ubuntu 9.04 boots and installs?
what is the diffrence?

Ok, I noticed that you installed 9.04 using dmraid. Can you try following the directions here: http://bbossola.wordpress.com/2008/0...sata-fakeraid/ for 8.04.2 or/and 9.10? I'm interested to know your success.

Here is another interesting post: http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1271660

hey dude,
i think u misunderstand me, i have no issues with raid setup i'm pretty familiar with them.
the issue is that ubuntu 9.1 and ubuntu 8.04.2 live cds doesn't boot at all. the systems hangs after i choose one of the options at the live cd boot menu (please read carefully the first post).
ubuntu 9.04 live cd does boot and installs without major issues except that the sound system of 9.04 is oss and i prefer alsa for my work (thats why i tried to move back to 8.04.2).
can u think why that happens? what's the diffrence between those 3 versions? why the computer hangs dead? until now i thought 8.04 + 9.1 are stable versions but it seems like they're not. maybe it's time to evolve to gentoo or even lfs?

I have had a lot of issues like you describe with live cds on SATA optical drives, some work fine, some are crap. Is it possible to transfer the 9.10 image to a flash drive using something like UNetbootin and try from there?

Did you run a checksum utility on the image?

Good alternative distros are Fedora and Sabayon (my bias obviously). Both are a little different from Ubuntu and you either have to use SU or set up Sudo if you want that functionality, Fedora package management is great, but the GUI management front ends are very slow, Synaptic really does rule the roost there.

I really like Sabayon, a little similar to Gentoo, but easier and quicker to set up but without the Gentoo optimisations.

My advice on distros is to try them in a VM and see how they go for your needs, live versions are really good for checking potential hardware problems, mind you regular release cycles can create havoc with that.

Likewise try a few different window managers as well, you may well be surprised at the functionality you get from lightweight ones, especially on devices like the Wind.

I have a wind with Karmic installed and ended up loading Gnome, KDE and XFCE to check it with the different systems and have to say that it really flies with XFCE, especially on the startup. Just after you login you have a functioning desktop, sure beats watching those pretty KDE icons light up over a couple of minutes.

Anyway enough dribble, I will be shot for dribbling on so much. Ah well, roll on the flames!

thank you for your help boobiescap, it seems to be external usb cdrom drive that did all this mess. but still, i found that the wind works best with ubuntu 8.04 with some tweaks. don't like xfce interface and the new kde, i'll stick with gnome. btw, also my warmachine(desktop) runs 8.04 and i find it the best ubuntu release for my needs. p.s, i'm praying for the next linux from scratch 7.0 64bit to be released and probably i'll move all of my systems to my custom linux. distros help, but their messy and most of the time you can never know what's under the hood.

-thanks