unable to install linux, please help
 

hi there, im unable to install mandrake 9.0
on my box. i initially had red hat 7.0 intstalled, but then i bought myself a new motherboard, cpu and ram and thought i might just as well try out mandrake, thus i removed the red hat installation and installed the new hardware. Thats when my trouble started. Whenever i am finished with the configure part and it starts to
install packages one of two things will happend. 1. i will get a "fatal error" with no other option than to reboot. or 2. i will get an error message saying something like "blablabla. this is most likely due to the partition not being formated" and i must reboot yet again.
i have tried to format the disk with both partition magic and diskdruid(worked just fine), tried both ext2 and3. I have two disks and i will get the same error message no matter which disk i try to install on. i have also tried red hat 8.0 and caldera with the same result.
i have tried graphical and non graphical installations. and im fast running out of ideas now :(. on one of the disks i have XP installed, but i tried to remove the ide cable to that disk (thinking that there might be a remote posibility that it was the culprit) and install linux on the remaining disk, but i again got the above mentioned error messages.
my hw consists of the following:
-kt3 ultra2(ms-6380e) motherboard
-amd athlon xp1800 cpu
-creative geforce2 graphics card
-256 mb ram ddr-pc333mhz
-western digital 6gb ide hd (a couple of years old)
- 60gb ide hd (forgot brand)
-cdrw (16/10/24/8x ?)
-creative 12x dvd player

ps: my cpu temp is a comfortable ~50 celcius)

ive tried various forums, but noone has been able to help me.

any help appriciated.

nappy

It sounds like a hardware problem with your hard drive.

Look at some of the other tty's while you install (hit <CONTROL><ALT><F2-F12>), one of them will give you error messages.


John

that was a great idea.. i did just that when i tried to install
mandrake 9.0 on my 6gb ide disk last night. Here are SOME of
the error messages:

- <6>end_request: I/O error,dev 16:41 (hdd), sector 7344224
several of these with different sectors
- rpmdb: fsync input/output error
- bad package locals-en.2.3.1.3-7mdk.i586


indeed it looks like a hw failure on the disk.

but then i have a couple of questions:

1. why is the disk accessable in windows when i format it with
fat32 ?
2. why is diskdruid and pqmagic able to format partitions on this disk?

i havent checked the error messages on my other disk,
but im fairly sertain that i will get the same messages
as the symptoms are the same on both disks
(see my initial post in this thread).

im gonna borrow another ide disk from a friend of mine, and
if i get the same error message trying to install on that disk
my new motherboard is gonna get thrown out the window :(
as i then cannot see any other solution that it is the cause of
my troubles.


regards
nappy

:)

Here's what I found about the error itself:
http://www.unixguide.net/linux/faq/09.20.shtml

Not that I found all that much, but here's my google:
http://www.google.com/linux?q=end_re...&start=20&sa=N

Be sure to check your connectors...


Because neither of these programs do an exhaustive check of the drive.


If you do get the same problems, be sure to try out new IDE cables first. Good luck :)


John

well, i guess its official now. i tried installing mandrake 9.0
on a third disk that i borrowed from a friend. I also used
another ide cable. And you know what ? the installation
just hang on one of the first packages.
(i tried several times)

with all the things ive done to try and fix this i guess its safe
to say that its impossible to install linux (at least red hat, mandrake or caldera) on an ms-6380e motherboard.
and if i forgot to mention it, im using the lastest stable bios version (5.6?)

gawd damit..thats the last time im ever gonna buy an msi
motherboard :(

nappy

Yeah, I did some looking and you have a too-new mobo:
http://www.google.com/linux?q=6380e&...&ie=ISO-8859-1

Hopefully it will be supported shortly... :(


John

I also have an MSI KT3 Ultra2 6380e motherboard, and I also have loads of problems with it. I did manage to get it installed though, using one of the alternative kernels (think it was 2.2.19 or something, i forget).

Running Mandrake is slow and it hangs all the time. I have no access to my CD-RW or DVD drive, I keep getting I/O errors and IRQ timeouts.

I'm also pretty sure my MSI board hates linux, which sucks cos i paid £50 for MAndrake and it doesn't work!!! nevermind...

I've just looked on the Mandrake Soft website and apparently it should work: http://www.mandrakelinux.com/en/hard...ther&F_ID=6107

Well, its official. My old 6380e board isn't compatible with Linux. I've just bought and installed a new A-Bit KD7 mobo, and everything works fine. Linux loves it.