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Old 07-06-2007, 10:48 PM   #1
TheGeneralsLounge
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Registered: Mar 2007
Location: Australia
Distribution: 20+ Ubuntu PC's (dual boot WXP)
Posts: 18

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Turining 20 pcs into dual boot linux with seperate distros and unable to run live cds


Hi everyone long time no speaky.
LUG is going well, growing with every meeting and to support it further I am intending to (trying trying trying) install Linux on my 20 pc's to make them dual bootable howver, I seem to be running into a small problem where they don't like to run from Live CD's so this is making it very hard for me to start this project.

Problem - they seem to freeze on booting from Live CD (Ubuntu, Elive, Knoppix - only DSL and Kiosk CD works) with an error message along the lines of kernel panic? (will write it down and place it here)

The general plan is to install 5 popular distros on to 4 computers (totaling 20) to allow for, well, pretty much anything from letting the LUG replicate other peoples problems, provide "development servers" for the web designers meetings, basic introductions to Linux of different varieties to new Linux members, show off gaming on Linux etc etc

if anyone is able to help it would be greatly appreciated.

Regards,
Justin

The PC's are...
Code:
------------------
System Information
------------------
Time of this report: 7/7/2007, 13:14:34
       Machine name: CONTROL
   Operating System: Windows XP Professional (5.1, Build 2600) Service Pack 2 (2600.xpsp_sp2_gdr.070227-2254)
           Language: English (Regional Setting: English)
System Manufacturer: INTELR
       System Model: AWRDACPI
               BIOS: Phoenix - AwardBIOS v6.00PG
          Processor: Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 CPU 3.00GHz (2 CPUs)
             Memory: 1024MB RAM
          Page File: 434MB used, 2025MB available
        Windows Dir: C:\WINDOWS
    DirectX Version: DirectX 9.0c (4.09.0000.0904)
DX Setup Parameters: Not found
     DxDiag Version: 5.03.2600.2180 32bit Unicode
 
Old 07-06-2007, 10:56 PM   #2
2damncommon
Senior Member
 
Registered: Feb 2003
Location: Calif, USA
Distribution: PCLINUXOS
Posts: 2,918

Rep: Reputation: 103Reputation: 103
The only real information you provide on the PCs is "Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 CPU 3.00GHz (2 CPUs)" and "1024MB RAM", no info on hard drive size or other devices such as video, sound and etc.

Troubleshooting one "error message along the lines of kernel panic" will probably prove more useful to you than seeing it multiple times.

EDIT:Showing what something like the Belarc Advisor says about the PC could be helpful.

Last edited by 2damncommon; 07-06-2007 at 11:02 PM.
 
Old 07-06-2007, 11:19 PM   #3
TheGeneralsLounge
LQ Newbie
 
Registered: Mar 2007
Location: Australia
Distribution: 20+ Ubuntu PC's (dual boot WXP)
Posts: 18

Original Poster
Rep: Reputation: 0
Quote:
Troubleshooting one "error message along the lines of kernel panic" will probably prove more useful to you than seeing it multiple times.
I'm actually unable to provide any more info on the exact error message until one of my clients leave and i have a free pc to try again on, I should have known better and stated "(will write it down and place it here the second I get a chance)"

anyway - here's the info from Belarc advisor, thanks for the link it is already proving useful.
Code:
Operating System 	  	System Model
Windows XP Professional Service Pack 2 (build 2600) 	  	Enclosure Type: Desktop
Processor a 	  	Main Circuit Board b
3.00 gigahertz Intel Pentium 4
16 kilobyte primary memory cache
2048 kilobyte secondary memory cache 	  	Board: MICRO-STAR INTERNATIONAL CO., LTD MS-7131 REV:1.0
Bus Clock: 200 megahertz
BIOS: Phoenix Technologies, LTD 6.00 PG 02/18/2005
Drives 	  	Memory Modules c,d
79.99 Gigabytes Usable Hard Drive Capacity
40.27 Gigabytes Hard Drive Free Space

HL-DT-ST DVD-ROM GDR8164B [CD-ROM drive]
3.5" format removeable media [Floppy drive]

WDC WD800JD-75MSA1 [Hard drive] (80.00 GB) -- drive 0 	  	1024 Megabytes Installed Memory

Slot 'A0' has 512 MB
Slot 'A1' is Empty
Slot 'A2' has 512 MB
Slot 'A3' is Empty
  	Local Drive Volumes
  	
		
c: (NTFS on drive 0) 	79.99 GB 	40.27 GB free
  	Network Drives
  	None detected
Users (mouse over user name for details) 	  	Printers
local user accounts	last logon
 Admin 	7/7/2007 10:33:31 AM 	(admin)
 Staff 	11/3/2006 5:36:46 PM 	
local system accounts
 Administrator 	never 	(admin)
 ASPNET 	never 	
 Guest 	7/7/2007 12:36:29 PM 	
 HelpAssistant 	never 	
 SUPPORT_388945a0 	never 	

DISABLED Marks a disabled account;   LOCKED OUT Marks a locked account
	  	
Amyuni PDF Converter 2.07 	on LPT1:
Brother MFC-7420 USB Printer 	on USB001
Brother MFC-7420 USB Printer 	on \\design\Brother MFC-7420 USB Printer
Brother PC-FAX 	on USB001
Controllers 	  	Display
Standard floppy disk controller
Intel(R) 82801FB Ultra ATA Storage Controllers - 2651
Intel(R) 82801FB/FBM Ultra ATA Storage Controllers - 266F
Primary IDE Channel [Controller] (2x)
Secondary IDE Channel [Controller] (2x) 	  	NVIDIA GeForce FX 5500 [Display adapter]
CMO CMC 19 [Monitor] (19.1"vis, July 2005)
Bus Adapters 	  	Multimedia
Intel(R) 82801FB/FBM USB Universal Host Controller - 2658
Intel(R) 82801FB/FBM USB Universal Host Controller - 2659
Intel(R) 82801FB/FBM USB Universal Host Controller - 265A
Intel(R) 82801FB/FBM USB Universal Host Controller - 265B
Intel(R) 82801FB/FBM USB2 Enhanced Host Controller - 265C 	  	Realtek AC'97 Audio
Communications 	  	Other Devices
		
Realtek RTL8139 Family PCI Fast Ethernet NIC
 primary  	IP Address: 	10.1.1.2 / 8
	Gateway: 	10.1.1.1
	Physical Address: 	00:13:D3:A7:41:DC
Realtek RTL8139 Family PCI Fast Ethernet NIC - Virtual Machine Network Services Driver
 
Networking Dns Servers: 	192.231.203.132
192.231.203.3
	  	USB Human Interface Device
Brother MFC-7420 USB
Standard 101/102-Key or Microsoft Natural PS/2 Keyboard
PS/2 Compatible Mouse
USB Composite Device
USB Printing Support
USB Root Hub (5x)
Virus Protection [Back to Top] 	 
AVG 7.5.476 Version 7.5.476
    Realtime File Scanning On
	 
Missing Microsoft Security Hotfixes [Back to Top]

All required security hotfixes (using the 06/12/2007 Microsoft Security Bulletin Summary) have been installed.
 
Old 07-06-2007, 11:51 PM   #4
2damncommon
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Registered: Feb 2003
Location: Calif, USA
Distribution: PCLINUXOS
Posts: 2,918

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The hardware looks good to me.
I have had to use "noapic" and "nodma" options with Knoppix on some PCs, maybe "acpi=off".
Do I understand correctly you have 20 PCs with the same specs, or 4?
Also you say DSL and Kiosk work. They boot completely? But not Knoppix or Ubuntu?

Last edited by 2damncommon; 07-06-2007 at 11:53 PM.
 
Old 07-07-2007, 12:08 AM   #5
TheGeneralsLounge
LQ Newbie
 
Registered: Mar 2007
Location: Australia
Distribution: 20+ Ubuntu PC's (dual boot WXP)
Posts: 18

Original Poster
Rep: Reputation: 0
Quote:
Originally Posted by 2damncommon
The hardware looks good to me.
I have had to use "noapic" and "nodma" options with Knoppix on some PCs, maybe "acpi=off".
Do I understand correctly you have 20 PCs with the same specs, or 4?
Also you say DSL and Kiosk work. They boot completely? But not Knoppix or Ubuntu?
Yes 20 pc's is correct. all the same stats (some grafics cards are different but have saame problems in the end)

DSL and Kiosk work yes - not Knoppix, Ubuntu, Elive, Flight Gear Live, Pyrobot, GISKnoppix (well, knoppix), looking glass. I don't believe the boot disks for Fedora Core work either.

Someone mentioned it could be a BIOS setting?
 
Old 07-07-2007, 12:19 AM   #6
2damncommon
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Registered: Feb 2003
Location: Calif, USA
Distribution: PCLINUXOS
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Take a look at knoppix.com, then click the Knoppix-info icon, then the Knoppix Cheatcodes link. There are a lot of options to try when booting Knoppix.

The first version of Knoppix I tried worked great but I was discouraged when other "newer" versions did not work. I found the "noapic" option worked great on my home PC. The "nodma" option worked on another PC I used.

Straight from the Knoppix Cheatcodes and Hints:
In case of a failing hardware autodetection, try booting with any of
the "no-" options as shown in the table above, like in
knoppix noagp noaudio noapm noapic acpi=off nodma nopcmcia noscsi nousb
to skip some critical parts of the autodetection system.

Last edited by 2damncommon; 07-07-2007 at 12:21 AM.
 
Old 07-07-2007, 12:35 AM   #7
TheGeneralsLounge
LQ Newbie
 
Registered: Mar 2007
Location: Australia
Distribution: 20+ Ubuntu PC's (dual boot WXP)
Posts: 18

Original Poster
Rep: Reputation: 0
ah ok, thanks very much for that - buy you a beer sometime
will try it out and hopefully get some results to post back here.
 
Old 07-07-2007, 01:14 AM   #8
2damncommon
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Registered: Feb 2003
Location: Calif, USA
Distribution: PCLINUXOS
Posts: 2,918

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Quote:
Originally Posted by TheGeneralsLounge
ah ok, thanks very much for that - buy you a beer sometime
All the more to look forward to for a down under trip. So far I only had watching the toilets drain opposite I was used to.
 
Old 07-07-2007, 01:48 AM   #9
TheGeneralsLounge
LQ Newbie
 
Registered: Mar 2007
Location: Australia
Distribution: 20+ Ubuntu PC's (dual boot WXP)
Posts: 18

Original Poster
Rep: Reputation: 0
Quote:
Originally Posted by 2damncommon
All the more to look forward to for a down under trip. So far I only had watching the toilets drain opposite I was used to.
LOL what about the kangaroos, hoopsnakes and drop bears?
 
Old 07-17-2007, 08:44 PM   #10
TheGeneralsLounge
LQ Newbie
 
Registered: Mar 2007
Location: Australia
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Posts: 18

Original Poster
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Problem solved!

Thanks to 2damncommon for attempts at helping in here and thanks to the members of the Adelaide Linux Meet-up group for solving this. It turned out to be a problem with the BIOS settings, the "Advanced Chipset Settings" "onboard chipset" was enabled, we disabled this and selected the pci graphics card and now linux works, in fact, when playing pc games the pcs themselves are blazingly fast and haven't crashed since *notices windows poking its head around the corner with a conniving grin on its head*.

Next question coming right up in a new topic (if forum search is unsuccessful)
 
  


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