Red Hat 8.0 and ASUS A7N266-VM/LAN/AA walkthru

I ran into some real trouble installing RH8.0 on my new ASUS A7N266-VM/LAN/AA motherboard. I thought I would share my solutions with the masses since this seemed to be a common occurance.

Specifically I ran into 3 problems: 1) couldn't install in graphic mode, 2) couldn't boot from HDD after install 3) couldn't startx once booted.

I never resolved the graphic install, I just had to install in text mode.

First, I downloaded 3 files and burned them to CD:

grub_0.93+cvs20030102.orig.tar.gz
from http://people.debian.org/~nobse/debi...ckported/grub/

NVIDIA_kernel-1.0-3123.src.rpm
NVIDIA_GLX-1.0-3123.i386.rpm
both from ftp://download.nvidia.com/XFree86_40/1.0-3123/

I then installed Red Hat 8.0 in text mode with all the included packages and set to boot to the command line instead of the GUI or X. I tried a minimal install but didn't have all the packages necessary to install/upgrade the 3 new packages. Be sure to make a boot floppy disk. I needed it.

Once the install was complete I couldn't boot from the HDD because I got "Error 28: Selected Item too big to fit into memory.

So I booted from the floppy and logged in as root.

I put the CD in with the above files and typed: "mount /mnt/cdrom" at the command line
then "cp /dev/cdrom/* ~" this copied all the file from the cdrom to the /root directory
then, while in the root directory, typed "gzip -d grub_0.93+cvs20030102.orig.tar.gz" which unziped the file removing the .gz
I then typed "tar xvf grub_0.93+cvs20030102.orig.tar" which unarchived the file and put the contents in the /root/grub-0.93+cvs20030102 folder
I then typed "cd ./grub-0.93+cvs20030102" to change to that folder
then "./configure"
then "make"
then "make install"
then "/usr/local/bin/grub-install /dev/hdb" my boot drive is hdb instead of hda, you might use hda if you boot device is your primary master drive
After this I could remove the boot floppy and reboot from the Hard Drive

Now the NVidia drivers.

I logged back in as root and typed the following commands:

rpmbuild --rebuild NVIDIA_kernel-1.0-3123.src.rpm
rpm -ivh /usr/src/redhat/RPMS/i386/NVIDIA_kernel-1.0-3123.i386.rpm
rpm -ivh NVIDIA_GLX-1.0-3123.i386.rpm

I then edited /etc/X11/XF86Config and changed the driver from "nv" to "nvidia" and removed the 3 lines at the bottom re: "dri"

typed "startx" and viola' now I am typing this in gedit on the gnome desktop.



I hope this helps someone. This was surely a heck of way for me to get started with linux. I wanted to jump in with both feet but didn't think I would need my SCUBA gear.

update: when I ran through this same process on my second identical machine startx still wouldn't run. I rebooted and set the BIOS to the defaults and then x would start

Also, I found a couple of typos in the above post. You should mount the /mnt/cdrom instead of the /dev/cdrom and when you are installing the NVIDIA Kernel, there is a "i386" before the ".rpm" in the filename. I already corrected both of these in the above post but thought that I would mention them in case anyone copied the post before I made the corrections.

I also changed the command to run the grub-install to: usr/local/bin/grub-install /dev/hdb (or hda, etc. depending on your boot device)

hey pat,
thanks so much for the posting. it is illuminating and i appreciate the detailed explanations. will give it a try tonite - josie

ps: did you ever find out why the original grub version could not handle the bzImage appropiately ? - i would love to find out why.

I'm also having trouble running redhat 9....

I have the ASUS A7N266-VM.

I installed redhat 9 and upon reboot i get the dreaded error 28 message.

I've tried booting via boot disk but the system hangs on 'Finding modules.'

My question is: Is there a way i can install the NVIDIA drivers without booting into redhat?

I've read some posts on using the rescue mode, but explainations I've read are vague.

I'm a newbie so can someone post a walkthrough solution?

thanks,

Eldwin

Hi I have the same mobo and had the same problem. Are you using a USB mouse? If so, do not plug it into the "main" two sockets use one of the extensions.

Otherwise try going into BIOS and pressing F5 for the default settings.

I had a working Mandrake 9.1 but had my mouse on a front USB socket when I moved it to the back the same thing happened to me. Thinking a file had got corrupted I re-installed and although everything loaded OK the system hung on boot.

I plugged the mouse in via a USB>PS2 adaptor, and had the same problem, it was only when I reset the bios, that all went well.

If you have other settings non standard, after resetting bios set them how you like them, just don't touch anything to do with detecting the mouse or other hardware, or "usb legacy devices" etc.

Thanks davecs!!

I was able to boot into the command line.

Eldwin