mandrake powerpack 10.1's first reboot

pcandpc · 05-13-2005, 09:06 PM

Hello?

The first reboot of Mandrake PowerPack 10.1 gets
stuck at always the same point no matter how many
times I try the install and reinstall.

Basically, after I choose the "linux" at the boot menu,
the boot process appears to be hung. That is, nothing
further is happening.

I'm thinking possibly of faulty packages or CD media ...

Any idea or comments?

Thanks.

mike33 · 05-15-2005, 01:13 AM

check the lilo configuration (assuming that lilo is the boot loader); use the installation cd as a rescue cd (type "rescue" to boot the cd into rescue mode)

kencaz · 05-15-2005, 01:22 AM

Are you booting the graphical interface. It's not very informative, however, hitting the F2 or F3 (I can't remember right now), will put you in Verbose mode and you'll be able to see where it's hanging or you can do a step through process.

It may also be checking the partitions which awhile, however, I beleive it that was the case it would automatically dump you in verbose mode.

As "mike33" said, could be that LiLo is just pointing to the wrong drive or partition...

KC

pcandpc · 05-15-2005, 01:23 AM

Hi mike33,

Thanks for your response.

Actually, I replaced this Mandrake with SuSE, but
please tell me what to do after I run the rescue CD.

Specifically, what am I looking for?

I'll look into this when I work with Mandrake later.

I remember having double checked on the lilo configuration,
and couldn't find anything wrong as far as the kernel image
pointer.

Regards,

pcandpc · 05-15-2005, 01:33 AM

Hi kencaz,

Thanks for your input.

Here, the issue is that I cannot boot to complete
the full installation. That is, near the end of install
phase, the system would auto-reboot for some kind of
post-installation configurations, right? It's here where
I'm always stuck no matter how many installs and reinstalls
I do.

As stated in my previous reply-post, I'd checked the lilo
configuration for the correct kernel image, and this looked
just right.

So, if anyone has any idea what I should be looking for
when I use my rescue CD, I'll be much thankful.

Regards,

kencaz · 05-15-2005, 02:33 AM

Have you checked the MD5Sum for the install discs. At least eliminate that possibilty first.

http://www.linuxiso.org/viewdoc.php/verifyiso.html

KC

mike33 · 05-15-2005, 02:46 AM

With a rescue CD you can access the files on your drive for reading and writing, using the kernel on the cd. Assuming that you get a root command prompt via the cd, you can mount the partition that you installed linux on, and for example modify the lilo configuration file, which should be at /etc/lilo.conf, (but then you should rerun lilo by chrooting to the directory where you mounted the partition). From the rescue cd prompt you can run the command

Code:

fdisk -l

to list the partitions available.
It would help if you gave us more information though, such as: the type and number of hard drives, whether this is a dual boot system or not, how the drives were partitioned, and so on. You can find out much of this with a rescue cd. For example, if you have an ext3 filesystem on the partition /dev/hda7, then from the rescue cd you can mount it say at /mnt with the command

Code:

mount -t ext3 /dev/hda7 /mnt

Then

Code:

chroot /mnt

Then list the contents of /etc/lilo say:

Code:

cat /etc/lilo.conf

Also list /etc/fstab:

Code:

cat /etc/fstab

pcandpc · 05-16-2005, 09:57 PM

Hi kencaz and mike33,

Thanks for your valuable inputs.

I've put aside Mandrake for now as SuSE 9.3 Pro
replaced its place on my dual boot system. I will
certainly look into your options when I return to
Mandrake sooner or later.

Regards,

pcandpc · 05-24-2005, 07:25 PM

Hi all,

I've come back to fiddle with Mandrake PowerPack 10.1.

Well, I've got a replacement from the Linux vendor where
I originally purhased this Mandrake. And, this replacement
works great on the installation.

Thanks everyone for your interests in this issue.