can't find the installation CD
 

Hello,
I'm trying to install Mandrake 9.2 on a Dell Latitute CPx laptop. I configured the BIOS to boot from the CD, and this happens successfully: the kernel is loaded and the usual startup messages appear. I see the Mandrake splash screen and hit enter for the standard installation. The system detects external devices (USB, etc.) without a problem. It then tries to detect the Mandrake installation disk in the CD-ROM drive, and it says it cannot find one. This seems very weird: I'm able to boot from the CD-ROM, and I can see the initial screens, but it then says it can't find the installation CD.

I suspect that I perhaps can't boot from the CD and then use it in the same session, but I don't know. The documentation doesn't mention anything like this. Please help if you can!
:Pengy:

well, ive never done anything with mandrake, but it doesnt sound right. Did you download the cd and burn it ? Or did you buy it?

There are two installation CDs (the first two). The third CD is called "international". If you have the powerpack, the fourth and fifth are "sources". Then it gets a little confusing, as the package manager often refers to the sixth disk labeled "supplementary apps" as "contrib" instead. The seventh is "commercial apps".

I burned cd, i even looked into cd with konqueror and everything seemed to be fine.

this happened to me last week--apparently the CD-ROM drive was bad. the install disc would only boot up to a certain point and then the installation kept giving me errors saying it couldn't find the CD or something like that. i changed the CD-ROM drive and it worked fine. your .iso file could be corrupt as well--try doing a checksum on the file with md5sum. here is the hash:

http://linuxiso.org/md5sum.php/474/M...t.i586.iso.md5

and instructions (if you need them):

http://linuxiso.org/viewdoc.php/verifyiso.html

How i change the CD-ROM drive (sorry i'm not good in linux), but with what?:confused:

sorry if i confused you. i didn't mean i changed the CD-ROM driver, i mean i actually took the CD-ROM drive out of the computer and put another one in it. but this was only my personal experience. since you're running it on a laptop, it could just as easily be some sort of hardware conflict, which i would have no idea how to resolve. try getting the checksum from your installation .iso file using the instructions in the link i posted and see if it matches the checksum in the other link i posted. other than that i really don't know.

I had this problem but the mistake I made was that I did not burn the CD as an ISO image until someone pointed out that this is what I should do.

I created mine in my Windows XP machine using Nero CD burning software.

1. Download the .iso files.
2. Open Nero.
3. Click on the 'File' pull down menu and then click on 'Burn Image...'
4. An Open File browser will open up. Locate the first downloaded .iso file and click on 'Open'.
5. Make sure that the Write to CD and Filnalize CD boxes are checked and burn away (Note: It also helps to user slower burning speeds to avoid write errors - although my CD writer is capable of writing at 16x, I tend to stick to 4x)
6. When it has finished, you'll have the first CD - just repeat for the same for the .iso files of the other discs.

If you don't have Nero, you can download the free demo from the link below:

[URL=http://www.nero.com/en/631934351031098.php]


Hope this helps.:)

It could be a hardware problem. Dell, Gateway and Compaq use there own hardware configuration. Even though it boots fine, to load the second stage the installer needs to load the module required to access the CDROM.

Since you can view the files on the CD they are probably burned correctly. Changing a drive IMO isn't an option for you seeing your computer is a laptop.