I'm trying to install SUSE 9.1 PRO on a friend's Sony Vaio PCV-RS710GX Desktop computer but.. well.. here's the problem:

(Please keep in mind this is a DESKTOP and not a laptop)

I insert the SUSE 9.1 PRO DVD and boot from it and select Installation, when the screen comes up with "SUSE" and the Press F2 part, I press F2 and watch as it seems to just sit there and do nothing at the detecting or customizing usb connections/hardware/whatever part. I've waited but it never gets past this part. I have to ctrl-alt-delete reboot and watch it do the same thing again and again. It will never get past this part to go into the actual install procedure.

I tried changing some settings in the BIOS but nothing I changed made any difference, I still have the same freeze issue. This system is a P4 3Ghz w/ hyperthreading. I don't know what else to do to get into the actual install process.. I've tried the disable acpi install option but that doesn't work.

Any ideas, please? Thanks for reading.

i've seen distros hang detecting USB devices, storage devices in particular... got any connected?

Hi secesh, thanks for your quick reply,

No. I tried unplugging some of the usb devices to see if that would make a difference but it didn't. I unplugged the usb touchpad mouse (left the regular ps/2 mouse plugged in), the usb printer, the external usb modem...

..but now that I think of it.. while there isn't a storage device, there's an infrared usb thing for the remote control.. could this be causing the problem? I didn't try unpluggin that. If that's not the problem what would the solution be?

dunno.... but...

well, lemme preface this with i already know some die-hard linux-is-better-than-everything fans might disagree here, and don't misunderstand -- i like linux, but it can be a bigger pain than a little brother at times...

ok. linux and hardware don't always get along. in fact, it is one of the biggest reasons to hang on to some form of MS. when i install a distro, i like to try and baby linux a little, in that i will unplug most/all devices, and fight to get them supported on the system AFTER i have a linux system to fight with...

Thanks, secesh, I'll try to unplug all the usb devices and see how installation goes then.. It probably is that damned infrared remote control thing. I'll be doing this setup on my friend's system on Sunday so I'll post back here if unplugging this usb infrared thing doesn't ease install. Thanks again for your additional comments.

You could try to switch-off hardware probing during boot with hwprobe=-usb as kernel parameter.

see:
http://portal.suse.com/sdb/en/2001/0...parameter.html
http://portal.suse.com/sdb/en/2001/1...e_hwprobe.html

Thanks abisko00 for the post, as well as all the replies to my original question(s), I appreciate it.

It was in fact the infrared usb device that was the problem. He wasn't using it in Windows anyway so I just had him perma unplug it.