Older laptop won't boot live cd's

timmyd2434 · 11-05-2010, 09:40 AM

I have an older compaq laptop (P4). I just wanted to be able to boot a live cd. The trouble is the only live cd I can get to boot is SUSE 9.2 and it ends up having a scripting error. It is an old disk so it is probably shot.

I have tried to get fedora 14 to boot, but it will not. A newer computer I have will boot from the FC14.

Any clue what is going on and why I cannot get the live CD's to boot?

linus72 · 11-05-2010, 09:45 AM

whats the specs?
ram, hd size, processor, etc?

thorkelljarl · 11-05-2010, 09:53 AM

Modules...

Newer versions of linux have a newer kernel without the older modules that are needed to boot older hardware. You might start by trying a live-cd of KNOPPIX 5.2.1 using cheatcodes if you need them.

If that boots, use the command "dmesg" to see what is loading during the boot process as a source of information for getting other live-cds to boot.

snowday · 11-05-2010, 10:07 AM

Maybe a hardware problem with your CD drive?
Maybe you're burning the CDs incorrectly (they should be burned as disk images, not data disks, and at the slowest speed).

Have you tried creating a Live USB on a thumb drive instead?

timmyd2434 · 11-05-2010, 12:45 PM

Its a P4 2.4GHz, 512Mb of ram, 1.5GB HD (yes its tiny, thats why I want a live CD), DVD+/-RW drive(not original) and I honestly have no clue what the video card it.

So you think it may be that it just needs some older modules. I see Knopix 5.1.1 and 5.3.1 but no 5.2.1. Where can I find it to try?

The CD drive seems to work fine bc it starts to boot SUSE but just doesnt finish after it says about an error looking for a module.

ricstirato · 11-05-2010, 12:56 PM

Does it show the name of the module? Might be a big hint on some special hardware you have.

In general, your system doesn't appear too old for a modern distribution (in terms of compatibility, not performance).
I'm running a similar system as media center (added a GeForce 8400), using Mythbuntu 10.04

onebuck · 11-05-2010, 12:57 PM

Hi,

I would use Knoppix 5.0 or 5.1 on this machine. Look at http://archive.cs.stedwards.edu/knoppix/ or http://www.kernel.org/pub/dist/knoppix/

timmyd2434 · 11-05-2010, 01:14 PM

breaks at loading aic79xx

FATAL: error inserting aic79xx (/lib/modules/2.6.8-24-default/kernel/drivers/scsi/aic79xx.ko): no such device

Then it goes on about modprobe for several lines finally ending in Keranl panic

snowday · 11-05-2010, 02:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by timmyd2434

breaks at loading aic79xx

FATAL: error inserting aic79xx (/lib/modules/2.6.8-24-default/kernel/drivers/scsi/aic79xx.ko): no such device

Then it goes on about modprobe for several lines finally ending in Keranl panic

Whoa there, 2.6.8 is a very old kernel... I would recommend something more recent if you want the best hardware support.

Pretty much you can't go wrong with the current release of anything in the Distrowatch Top 10: http://distrowatch.com/dwres.php?resource=major

Personally I like Debian or CentOS for older hardware (I am typing this from CentOS 5.5 on a Pentium 4 desktop).

Also don't forget to try my Live USB suggestion, to isolate whether or not it's your CD-ROM drive that's causing the problem.

btncix · 11-05-2010, 02:33 PM

If you can't boot from usb, but you can from netboot/pxeboot, I recommend you download and boot up the Slax live CD in network mode. Sorry, I forgot what the exact option was called. This allows you to boot any other netboot capable computer on your local network to boot up Slax. I think it's done via nfs. The only setup involved is changing the bios of your target computer to boot from the network. That's it.

timmyd2434 · 11-05-2010, 03:08 PM

I have tried a newer distro, FC14 live disk, but it wont pick it up and run. Yeah I tried the disk in another computer, its the disk. I tried the FC14 in another computer and it runs fine. I will try the network boot, PXE is what it is on my laptop. I just have to run a hard line (it doesnt have a wireless card).

I cant boot from a usb drive. It doesnt support it. I already tried. lol

jefro · 11-05-2010, 03:09 PM

Also older cd drives had a difficult time reading burned cd's. I like to use the black cd-r's as they seem to work on older stuff better. Always burn at the very slowest speeds. Older drives can't have any skips on the burn.

Start with a very good disk then then work out the bugs.

timmyd2434 · 11-05-2010, 03:21 PM

its a replacement drive, so its not terribly old. But My newer computer cant even boot from that disk. lol. But the new disk boots without a hitch on the new computer and the old one doesnt even recognise that it is there.

edbarx · 11-05-2010, 03:39 PM

If you are saying that the kernel panics after trying to load a module it may be that the module concerned is not compatible with your hardware. Try to see any command line options that you can use to prevent the kernel from attempting to load the failing module.

jefro · 11-05-2010, 05:25 PM

"But My newer computer cant even boot from that disk." It may be that your burner is a bit off.

Go to some friends computer and reburn it. Any good disk ought to be constant across newer hardware.

A new drive in an old computer doesn't mean it can read poorly burned disks.