Hello all...

I am trying to install onto a server which is operational. The server is Windows 2000. I am trying to install Redhat Advanced Server 2.1.

As I am running through the installation, I get to the part about adding partitions. I tried all of the options, but each time, it just hangs.

It will not go to the next step...not give me a warning message that all data will be wiped out. Nothing...just hangs.

In the past, if I recall, it just allowed me to install.

Do I need to wipe everything out? Format the drives? Anything like that?

Or will it simply allow me to install over the existing system and wipe things out on it's own?

It appeared that the disks were blinking during this process, but after several hours, it was still on the same screen, with no signs of progress.

Any insight would be greatly appreciated.

If you don't want to save the data, then reformatting is the optimal solution. You didn't mention anything about the hardware configuration, but if it is a slower system, or you have a really large harddrive array, it could take a while. You can actually check the background processes that are running by hitting <ctrl><alt><F4>. F1-F4 are consoles that display the text mode installation process, a limited shell interface, the current process in the installation as text, and lastly, the output of the current process and kernel messages (I'f I rememberr correctly). F7 will return to the graphical installation screen (if it is being used).

It could also be hanging on a raid driver or something. Check the output screens for more detail.

Thank you so much for your response.

I did a <ctrL>-alt-f4 as you suggested and I am getting the following message:

<4>3w-xxxx: tw_interrupt(): Bad response, status = 0xc1, flags = 0x11, units =0x0

Is that familiar?

Not really, but it looks like a driver error message. What is your hardware configuration?

IIRC, Advanced Server 2.1 is pretty old. You might have more luck with a recent release of Red Hat Enterprise of a clone such as CentOS. Still, it ought to work unless you have some strange hardware. Alternatively, your disk may be going bad -- does other partitioning software work as normal?