Hi. I am attempting to install Fedora Core 1 on a Sony laptop (PCG-R505TL). The laptop has no disk drives, so I installed using a CD-drive attached via PCMCIA. After some problems recognizing the CD drive, I was able to get the installation to work by entering

ide2=0x160,0x386 nopcmcia nousb

The installation seemed to go fine. The problem occurs when I reboot following the installation. The boot goes fine at first, until the machine reaches this point:

insmod: /lib/modules/2.4.22-1.2115.nptl/kernel/drivers/block/floppy.o: init_module: No such device
insmod: Hint: insmod errors may be caused by incorrect module parameters, including invalid IO or IRQ parameters
you may find more information in syslog or the output from dmesg
insmod: /lib/modules/2.4.22-1.2115.nptl/kernel/drivers/block/floppy.o: insmod block-major-2 failed
PCI: No IRQ known for interrupt pin A of device 01:02:0
Please try using pci=biosirq
ds: no socket drivers loaded

At this point the boot hangs and nothing happens.

I am totally new to linux, but my guess is that linux is either looking for a floppy drive which it cannot find (because there isnt one) OR linux is trying to deal with the stupid memorystick drive.

From googling I have found that people with similar issues have been able to repair them by adding "alias floppy off" to /etc/modules.conf.

Since I am trying to learn how to use the system, I would like to understand exactly what this would do, as well as how to do it (if it would work). I am able to boot from CD in rescue mode.

Many thanks, and any other tips would be much appreciated.

Please write to penseur at myway dot com

modules.conf gets read during boot, if you
alias floppy off it's not going to try to load the
module that allows you access to a (non-existing)
floppy ...


Cheers,
Tink

Thanks for the response, Tink.

Just to be clear - what I need to do is:

1) boot in rescue mode
2) open up /etc/modules.conf in a text editor
3) add alias floppy off to that file

I havent tried this yet, but does it matter where in modules.conf I add the alias floppy off?

That's right, and the location would matter if there's other
lines that refer to the same module/device.


Cheers,
Tink

Tink - Thanks for your help!

I booted into rescue mode and made the necessary change to /etc/modules.conf, and that seems to have solved the problems with the floppy.

However, the boot still hangs at this point:

PCI: No IRQ known for interrupt pin A of device 01:02:0. Please try using pci=biosirq.
ds: no socket drivers loaded!

So, my guess now is that there is a problem with the PCI driver. My laptop has one PCI slot which the external CD-ROM uses. How can I determine what the problem is here, and what do i need to do to fix this? Also, where should i enter pci=biosirq, and will this do any good?

All help is much appreciated.


Email penseur at myway dot com.

ds is part of pcmcia ... is the machine a notebook?


Cheers,
Tink

Yep, it is a notebook - a Sony Vaio PCG-R505TL (about 3.5 years old). I think the problem stemmed from the fact that my external CD-ROM drive (from which I was booting) connects via PCMCIA. However, the problem no longer exists.

After a bit of frustration with Fedora Core 1, I decided to try a different distribution. I downloaded the ISO for Gentoo 2004.3, primarily b/c its installation documentation seemed pretty good. I booted from my external PCMCIA CD-ROM drive and eventually, following some trial and error, entered this command at boot

gentoo ide2=0x180,0x386 nohotplug

From there, installation proceeded perfectly, and the machine reboots fine. There are still some issues with my network card that I have yet to figure out, but that appears to be normal.

I don't know if the same command would have solved my problems in Fedora - maybe later I'll go back and see.

Any thoughts on why 'nohotplug' seems to have been the solution?