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Old 09-20-2004, 07:40 AM   #1
erikhielscher
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Registered: Sep 2004
Distribution: Debian
Posts: 1

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Hardware problems running Debian sarge


Hey everyone,

I just bought a new PC about a month ago and I've been having a really hard time getting it working. I want to exclusively run Linux on it, but I don't have that much experience installing Linux. (I've done a RH8 and a Debian 3.0 install previously on a P3, the Debian install being that on which I am writing this.) First, specs:

Intel P4 3.2GHz w/ HT
MSI 865PE Neo2 mobo
512 MB RAM
2 80GB SATA Seagate Barracuda HDDs
Sony 16x DVDROM
LITE-ON 48x CDRW
no floppy

And I added when it came:
NVidia GeForce FX 5900 128MB

I also am a complete newbie when it comes to any sort of hardware stuff. After putting the graphics card into the machine, I tried to install Debian 3.0 off CDs but it wasn't able to find the CDROM drives or the HDDs (I was told by a Linux friend that it was too old to support my hardware). So, I dl'd sarge and the install went fine. Now after a couple of weeks my system is totally unstable. Once I tried to boot and there were vertical green lines on the screen during the BIOS messages and the system couldn't find the drives; I went into the BIOS and turned on SMART and changed the boot order (two things that weren't causing problems before) and then it booted fine. The other day it froze with no kb or mouse response and the screen had some checkering blended into the normal display. I am kind of afraid to use the machine until I have some idea of how to fix it, but I'd really like to as it cost me almost $1000 and that's a lot of wasted CPU time. Let me know if you have any ideas and if I should post any further info.

Thanks in advance,

Eric
 
Old 09-21-2004, 01:40 PM   #2
macondo
Senior Member
 
Registered: Jul 2003
Location: Central America
Distribution: Slackwre64-current Devuan
Posts: 1,034

Rep: Reputation: 62
"So, I dl'd sarge and the install went fine. Now after a couple of weeks my system is totally unstable."

Probably the product of a bad installation.

"Once I tried to boot and there were vertical green lines on the screen during the BIOS messages and the system couldn't find the drives; I went into the BIOS and turned on SMART and changed the boot order (two things that weren't causing problems before) and then it booted fine."

Eventually, when you know how to do a correct installation, this will disappear; switch to the Debian forum in this site, where help is more available by Debian users.

Basically, answer the easy questions, like language, keyboard, at the beginning, take the default partioning, skip Dselect, at the end, install the x-window-system, locales, vim, icewm, icewm-themes, type startx and once inside the X, you can install anything with apt-get.

Check this thread:
Debian Configuration Post-Install
http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...hreadid=224547


"The other day it froze with no kb or mouse response and the screen had some checkering blended into the normal display."

What kernel?

Last edited by macondo; 09-21-2004 at 01:50 PM.
 
  


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