AMD K6-2 450 xubuntu 6.061 alternate install reboots when loading kernel
 

That's all I can say. The system runs fine, albeit reeeeeealy slow with Windows 2000 and 64 MB PC100 memory, but when I try to install xubuntu it reboots right at the loading kernel.............. part of the install. Tried other options, they all do the same thing! Any suggestions? And yes, I tried noapic and I searched already!

How come you're using 6.06 ? Have you tried 7.04?
(I guess the long-term support?)

The linux kernel gets updated for the latest hardware constantly, so maybe you might find that this bug has been fixed in a later version of Ubuntu / whatever your distro is.

I found this out from my own personal experience when I tried to get linux to install on my (then) fancy new laptop 14 months ago. It took a little while before the kernel supported my hardware. Forgive my hardware ignorance, but is AMD K6-2 a recent machine? This might be the problem.

Otherwise, I suggest you try the ubuntu mailing lists and ask about this bug there. LQ is great but sometimes when it comes to genuine bugs as opposed to user issues you're best off talking to the actual developers, who'll probably be able to fix it for the next release / give you a work around.

AMD K6-2 is a circa 1999 vintage. I know, I've got a few of those. Learned computing on them!

That's the right 'buntu (Xubuntu) for the old computers but the advice to use a newer version could help things out there. Also the alternative install cd for Xubuntu might have to be used instead of the Live CD mode the standard desktop cd uses. (Edit - Oops, I see you're already using that, but try the latest perhaps.)

Another alternative is Debian Etch with just the standard task checked during the install and installing the xfce desktop once up. A bit more complex as Xubuntu already does that automatically but different distro's work better on certain hardware. Sometimes a bit of distro hopping is needed to find the one that easily handles what hardware you have.

You likely could get either to run but then might need some help as far as booting up the installer with certain switches (like noacpi, noapic, etc.) to get the thing to start the installation. Older hardware sometimes needs a few work-arounds.

Don't give up though. Linux is superb for an older computer. A little patience, reading, learning and you'll get it done. And with very good performance too, as long as you don't expect a fancy Gnome or KDE environment on an old box like that. XFCE is very nice. PuppyLinux, DamnSmallLinux, and Zenwalk Linux are also distro's that work well on older machines.

Would like to add that Slackware also runs fine on lower-end/older hardware also, and the newest version 12 comes with a recent XFCE desktop (same as in Xubuntu). Installation is text-menu-based, but not difficult. It's worth a try, if you can't get Xubuntu running. Zenwalk is a lot like Slackware, but Zenwalk is (or was last time I checked) for i686 only, not for older ones. And Zenwalk has a package manager capable of doing a lot, whereas Slackware doesn't come with one preinstalled (it has a system for installing, removing and working with packages, but not one for automatically downloading them from web reposities, for example - though you can easily obtain one).

There's been a lot of changes since Dapper(6.06). Unless you have some specific reason for using a version that is over a year old(ie, you're paying for support), download the alternate install for 7.04, and give it a try.

IGF

Is this not a kernel issue? I remember having serious problems with Ubuntu on an old machine (it refused to boot too). I turned out I had to use the legacy kernel and the problems went away. Maybe install on another machine and then move back the hard drive.

I installed Xubunu 6.06 on a AMD K6-III/450 on an Asus P5A motherboard with 128MB. I used the alternate CD without issues. As far as I can remember the only difference between my processor and the OP's processor is the L2 cache.

Did you check MD5sum of download and integrity of CD?

Well, I determined, after trying other OSes and stuff, that the motherboard was not holding up to the test of time, so I stripped it and chucked it. I set upon a Compaq Presario with a K6-2 500, and after installing 6.061 xu alternate, it works fine, but SLOW. It has 384 RAM.

Maybe I should get Xgl working, no? Now I need to find a PCI graphics card, 'cause AFAIK there ain't no support for the SiS 5955 onboard graphics.

Hmm, I dont' understand why its that slow... You could try to find an el cheapo PCI video card to see how that goes(It can only help)...

I'd definitely stick with an Nvidia chipset, if you get one.

IGF

The early SiS on-board graphics chipsets were really bad, causing screen drawing to actually be seen. That's why it looks slow. They did alright with 5597/98 versions but really only with the Direct X optimizations their drivers used. Direct Draw and the like. With those somewhat later versions than what you have and their drivers, they did really well with HiColor 16 Bit 2D drawing but still slowed up when applying 24 bit which is what Linux and xorg use by default. If you switched your xorg.conf to use 16 Bit instead you'd likely see snappier drawing.

Don't even think about running an XGL layer on top of that. You could get an NVidia PCI card. I wouldn't go more than an GeForce 400MX PCI. That board just wouldn't take advantage of anything better. 3dfx Voodoo 3000 PCI would work great with those boards. And I think it supports AIGLX so you wouldn't need XGL to run Compiz. I believe the xorg drivers include DRI for those cards so you'd get 3D right off the bat. These are 16 bit color cards so you would need to set things to 16 bit Hi-Color in xorg.conf. 24 bit would work but your games wouldn't. So it would be best to just set it to 16 bit depth and leave it there. A Voodoo 5 5500 wouldn't show you anything better (except 24 bit color) and would drain that system, and would need a more powerful power supply than it likely has as well. Don't bother. The 3000 is tops for a board like that.

With the NVidia card you could install a legacy NVidia 3D driver but those did not support AIGLX so you would need to use XGL if you wanted Compiz. XGL works great with higher powered systems using ATI Radeon cards but would likely put a drain on that system.

So, for 3D gaming an NVidia card is tops. For slightly less modern game compatibility 3D gaming plus Compiz the Voodoo card is the best bet.

Older ATI Rage 3D cards are supported with AIGLX with the open source ati driver, but work pretty crappy on Linux just as newer cards and proprietary drivers do. At least for 3D gaming. So you would get Compiz but either the NVidia or Voodoo solutions are much superior for 3D gaming.

If you like new games played slowly get the NVidia. If you like older 3D games and would like to use Compiz get the Voodoo.