Hi all,

Newb to Linux but have been messing with it for a couple months. I've been able to run several distros from live CD and I do have some specific questions regarding Linux which I'll ask at a later time.This post is regarding inability to boot distros in a friends system.

He has 2 Compaqs...a laptop presario 2000 and a desktop thats about 3yrs old with an intel processor and both bypass the linux discs he burned and boot right into windows XP. Bios in both systems is set to boot cd drive as the first device.

He brought his laptop over tonight and we tried MY discs with the same results. We tried 4 flavors. When Mandriva, Ubuntu and Freespire discs are installed the cursor flashes for a minute like something is going to happen...but NO Linux boot screens ever appear and there are NO error messages or system hangs. After a minute or so of cursor flashing...the laptop just boots into windows XP like there is no disc in the drive.

The 4th one we tried...and the only one that worked is Puppy. It boots in the laptop without issue and works fine except for the wi-fi. Since its such a small distro...I'm not even sure it supports wi-fi. The main issue is why does the laptop boot and run Puppy live cd but not Mandriva, Ubuntu or Freespire??

It's not the discs. Minor issues aside (which I'll address in a future thread) those same 4 discs boot and run fine in both of my Homebrew systems...A New Intel dual core desktop(E8400/Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L) and a 5 year old AMD system (Sempron 2500/Asus A7V8X-X).

I figure whatever is causing the boot issue in my friends Compaq laptop is the same problem with his Compaq desktop so if we can get one going...the other should work too.

Any ideas??

Thanks
Dave

If the computers are very old (>8 years), they may not support booting via 'isolinux' - can you look at your discs and see if PuppyLinux boots via an alternative ElTorito method? 'isolinux' uses the 'no-emulation' ElTorito spec and you will see an 'isolinux' directory on the install CDs - if there is no 'isolinux' directory, Puppy may boot a slightly different way (also possible that isolinux is hacked to change names - but who'd waste time doing that).

I do see Isolinux on the cd. NO mention of ElTorito.
Puppy is version 4.00-k2.6.21.7-seamonkey...so I believe this is an older distro. Total size is small at 87mb.

Both the Compaq Desktop and laptop are only a few years old and both running XPSP2.

Is this a bios issue with his Compaq's? I've seen others post that they have issues booting Linux Live CDs into Dells and Compaqs sometimes. If so...are there any work arounds?

Please try "Smart Boot Manager"
http://linux.simple.be/tools/sbm
http://wiki.linuxquestions.org/wiki/Smart_Boot_Manager

A boot cdrom can be created too,
if you have no floppy drive.

Good Luck !

I'm new here & don't know much, but also have a Compaq Presario (3000) & was having trouble installing opensuse 11.0 from a Livecd. In frustration I hit F8 on reboot, chose Safe Mode with Prompt. It kept offering XP but I then put in the free DVD that came with this month's LINUX FORMAT magazine, and that worked! I installed it right from there & it's installing as I write this. If anyone needs the DVD I'm happy to snailmail it to them for a CD-sized SASE.

Alan

Thanks for the replies. I'll get with my friend to see about trying the smart boot manager in his systems.

Thanks for the offer Alan. I'll pass it on to him in the event we can't get anywhere here...but I'm still optimistic at this point that we can get Mandriva going. It's the one I like best so far in testing and I think he would too.

BTW...
I have tried GAG graphical boot manager in the past but only played around with it a bit from floppy and did not make any changes to my MBR. I was only testing to see if I understood the basics and could set it up. I was able to put my current OS on it but never added any others and since we are attempting to boot Linux from a live CD...I'm not sure GAG would be of help anyway...or would it?

UPDATE: Spoke to my buddy and he was able to boot into a copy of
Knoppix 5.1.1 I gave him on his Compaq desktop. He didn't try the laptop yet. Will update if anything further develops.

alan plz send me it platinumready@gmail.com