Debian installation: unable to install the selected kernel on a Pentium 4.

whatislove · 05-04-2020, 06:36 PM

Hello, I'm new on linux

(and sorry my bad english!)
I managed to create a debian bootable CD-R 700mb (i386, v10.3.0 made on win10 with imgburn) and boot it on an old Pentium 4, 1,21gb RAM with AwardBIOS

.
Tried several times, but the pc continues to face this error:

Quote:

(during the system base installation phase)

Unable to install the selected kernel
An error was returned while trying to install the kernel into the target system.
Kernel package: «linux-image-686-pae».
Check /var/log/syslog or see virtual console 4 for the details.

So I press ctrl alt f4 to see details:
https://i.postimg.cc/qRX21ddd/20200504-225848.jpg

The italian part says:

Code:

Unable to download some packages. Could be useful execute "apt-get update" or try the option "--fix-missing".

If i proceed anyway, the installation goes back to let me try again and select "install base system" or other options (installation menu).
Tried both manual partitioning and the automatic one and tried to erase the partitions.

If you need more info just let me know i'll be quick!

wagscat123 · 05-05-2020, 05:02 PM

Can you pull up another virtual console (ctrl+alt+F1-7 to change between them) and see how much disk space is free (command: df -h)? Sometimes packages fail to install when there isn't enough disk space on the root partition (assuming you're installing everything but /home and swap to one partition)

whatislove · 05-06-2020, 07:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wagscat123

Can you pull up another virtual console (ctrl+alt+F1-7 to change between them) and see how much disk space is free (command: df -h)? Sometimes packages fail to install when there isn't enough disk space on the root partition (assuming you're installing everything but /home and swap to one partition)

Sorry i couldn't reply earlier. It gives these info:

https://i.postimg.cc/4y08bQh9/20200506-142519.jpg

also, i forgot to say that i successifully connected to the internet, and that at the very beginning after cd boot it gives an invalid pblk lenght. not sure if it's related so i ignored it in my last attempts

wagscat123 · 05-06-2020, 07:56 PM

I quickly ran a test to see if I could try a different kernel (like a non-default kernel). I also ran the install in Italian since I happen to speak it, even though that was almost certainly not relevant. The only thing I couldn't simulate here was your hardware, although I did try 32-bit.

You might want to verify your disk (packages will mysterious fail if the disk is scratched or if the disk is corrupted)

If the disk isn't corrupt and it's not working with a verified install CD, you could try another 32-bit Debian install image, Debian 9 (supported until 2022 on i686/x64), MX Linux (I personally use this on my PC from the same era), or Slackware.

whatislove · 05-09-2020, 03:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wagscat123

I quickly ran a test to see if I could try a different kernel (like a non-default kernel). I also ran the install in Italian since I happen to speak it, even though that was almost certainly not relevant. The only thing I couldn't simulate here was your hardware, although I did try 32-bit.

You might want to verify your disk (packages will mysterious fail if the disk is scratched or if the disk is corrupted)

If the disk isn't corrupt and it's not working with a verified install CD, you could try another 32-bit Debian install image, Debian 9 (supported until 2022 on i686/x64), MX Linux (I personally use this on my PC from the same era), or Slackware.

Hey! Thank you for your suggestion to move on with another CD so i opted for a netinstall and everything is okay now! well, its still giving an invalid PBLK lenght but eventually i'll make a new thread. as expected, xfce runs decently on this old machine. debian is impressive
I'm still not sure what the problem was, but once it worked with another CD, i assume i wasted my time trying to install a corrupted image

thanks again!!

wagscat123 · 05-09-2020, 03:21 PM

Yay! Glad it's working. Sometimes changing something like that will mysteriously make things work. Debian is my go-to for old machines when Wi-Fi drivers aren't a limiting factor, it is remarkably solid and universal