I have a 'previously Vista' 2.4Ghz machine with an AMD Athlon 64bit processor and 2Gig of RAM. Dell Dimension E521 with a 250Gig HD.

In a previous life, I used to administer (and use) high end UNIX workstations for automotive 3D modeling CAD apps. So the linux/unix thing is coming back to me slowly. I picked up a Redhat/Fedora book at Barnes&Noble that came with a Fedora 8 install DVD and a core CD that you can boot off of for trial purposes.

I managed to get Fedora 8 installed from the DVD, but the installation hangs as soon as you log in. I don't think it's a hardware problem because if I boot and run off the CD (or even copy it to RAM and run off RAM) everything runs fine. I'm using it right now. If I boot from the HD though, I have about 10 seconds once 'logged in' and it doesn't seem to matter whether I just log in and wait for it to hang or if I log in and try to run a bunch of apps. Always the same result. It tells me on login that there are 222 updates that need installed, but it won't run long enough to even download them let alone install them.

I've visited redhat.com and fedoraforums.org and browsed, but I don't know how to narrow down my search from simply 'installation hangs' and there are roughly 2,883,973,438 hits for 'installation hangs'. So I'm not sure where to even start.

The last bit of relevant info I can think of is that a common problem seems to be the 'acpi=off' command that I had to use to get the installation to run properly. With this option added or ignored, I get the same result upon trying to boot the new intall.

Try booting with the kernel option:

clocksource=acpi_pm

If that works for you, add yourself to this bug.

OK. Tried that. No luck.

However, some new info I might have missed before posting... When it locks up, I am able to still 'Tab' through the 'active' window, whatever that happens to be when it hangs. So maybe it's hanging somehow on the mouse? I've tried 3 different mice with the same results, all USB but in different ports. Same same.

???

If the keyboard is active, the system isn't hung. It sounds like a USB mouse issue; try toggling (reverse the current setting) "legacy USB" support in your BIOS.

Just to show how rusty I am... How exactly do I edit the bios again? Do I append the correct option to the boot command or is there an actual text file I need to edit?

The BIOS is part of the hardware (firmware), not part of the OS. There's usually a key that you hold down while powering on the machine (usually either Delete, Escape or F1). Check the users guide for your machine.

OK, new info... I tried to find 'legacy USB' in my BIOS as suggested above, but the only USB options I find are to turn USB ports on or off, no mention of anything deeper than that. This machine only has USB ports, NO PS/2 inputs.

Which leads me to my new info... While looking through the BIOS, I found the following entry in the 'Event Log':

R 11/13/2007 23:32:26 POST Error Keyboard Error

Which indicates a keyboard error immediately upon boot. I am using the standard USB keyboard and mouse that came with the machine when new, and have unplugged all other USB devices. They are the standard, most basic, plain Dell keyboard and Dell 3-button mouse.

I forget where I'm supposed to look for detailed logs of boot info???

Sorry, I forgot one more piece of important info:

If I boot the machine from the core CD and run it that way, it works fine with no keyboard errors no matter what keyboard/mouse combo I use, even if I plug 2 keyboards and 2 mice into the machine. I can run the CD for days like this without the machine hanging.

However, when I boot off the HD installation, I get a few minutes max before it hangs. Generally the mouse input dies first, meaning that the cursor freezes and will not move when you move the mouse. After mouse input fails, I can tab through the open windows for a few minutes before keyboard input also freezes, meaning that eventually the tab/arrow buttons stop working after a bit. Oy Vey.

Hi 350. I am currently struggling with the exact same problem you were struggling with. That is my Fedora core installation hangs in the same scenarios after installation and login. Have you found a solution in the meantime? thank you, regards, Henko

gouwsh , you do KNOW that the above posts are from 2007 --- right!!!!!
11-14-07, 12:34 AM

and if you are just installing fedora 8 DON'T !!!
install fedora 11

im using fedora 11, and have a very similar problem, except the mouse freezes and the keyboard will carry on working during installation. which doesnt fill me with hope for my foray into linux. funny thing is im using a dell dimension e251 too, 1 gig of ram, amd athlon dual core, geforce 7300 LE. previously ive tried to install ubuntu, kubuntu and opensuse. although i managed to install these three, once i'd logged on to the system i had the mouse hangs mentioned above, the keyboard would work for so long afterwards and then freeze too. any questions ive asked in various forums or other posts ive read all draw a blank, noone at all in the world of linux seems to be able to fix this issue. i'd really love to move over to linux, but it seems on this system at least its impossible. the only version of linux that has had any serious uptime on this pc is knoppix, which ran for a week no problems from the dvd. *sigh* any ideas linux world?

and a bump. fiiinally found the answer to this most annoying problem!! and now im using fedora 11 trouble free...for now a bios flash was all it took. there is/was some problem with the usb aspect of the bios that made all linux distros go all funky. forgive my technical jargon. anyhow, hopefully this will help anybody else having this problem with a dell e521