am unable to install recently-purchased boxed Mandrake Version 9.2 PowerPack.

My intention is to totally replace my old Windows 98 system. The system(older Pentium 75, 72 Meg RAM) will not allow CD-ROM booting..

What I did:

created boot diskette with image file cdrom.img

rebooted off diskette with Mandrake installation CD1 in CDROM drive

selected "install"

displayed Linux information: Version 9.2 built Sep 23 2003 12:00:19

Noticed the following apparently abnormal entries in log:

================================

spawning a shell
cannot open shell -/tmp/sh doesn't exist
.
.
.
errorOpeningFile Mandrake/base/patch-oem.pl
warning: Error reading file Mandrake/base/patch-oem.pl
.
.
.
warning: insmod' ing module agpgart, i810fb failed at
/usr/bin/perl-install/modules.pm line 408

================================

Then "stage 2 install" started (DrakX v1.847,Sep 23 2003 09:45:58)

(NOTE: GUI seen was not the hi-res GUI presented in manual)

installation proceeds OK through:

- language selection (English/US)
- license agreement
- mouse activation (generic PS/2 wheel)
- configuring IDE
- security setting (standard)
- partitioning (erase entire disk; hda=6 gig)
- formatting
- format/partition of hard drive (full erase, 6 gig drive)

*** then system totally freezes on "looking for available packages..."
screen

Any advice/suggestions?

TIA...

How long did you wait?

I remember trying to install Mandrake 9.2 on a Pentium II 266 MHz and the installation did seem to freeze up at that point with no hard disk activity. It started again after 5 minutes.

I might not have had the same problem you did though. This line does look suspicious:
errorOpeningFile Mandrake/base/patch-oem.pl
warning: Error reading file Mandrake/base/patch-oem.pl

Why create a boot disk? Mandrake 9.2 should run off the CD unless your BIOS does not support boot from cd. Also are you sure your system meets the minimum requirements? I tried to install Red Hat 9.0 on an old system of mine but it stopped like yours has with no error messages, it was only when I read the documentation I found my system did not meet the minimum requirements. I am currently running Fedora but installed Mandrake 9.2 too and found no problems at all with the install. I would check your system requirements before you go any further. Good luck.

Mark Atkinson
www.stoctech.co.uk

I seem to have the min reqts: Pentium class, 64 meg RAM, etc...

BTW...I waited *overnight*...

moved to mandrake sub-forum at thread starters request.

My guess is a bad diskette. I'd try again making sure to do a full format (not a quick format). If format reports any bad blocks when done, try another. The only other possibility I can think of is a bad CD, either the disk or drive. Old hardware does have a tendency to crap out at times like this (or that's when people first notice the problem, anyway). One thing I like about Fedora (RedHat) is how it checks the CDs before install... Mandrake should "borrow" that idea.

I am revisiting this...thanks all for the advice to the Linux newbie!

I actually downloaded what seemed to be a later distro, but (according to the messages on screen) was the same version/build (same date/time). And got the same (non) result.

I also used a new diskette...so I don't believe that's the problem.

Based on some of the advice here, I am poised to get bigger, faster (used) machine, but I really don't think this is a hardware problem. I understand that the system may run like a slug because of the processor speed (or lack thereof...), but I am not convinced that these limitations would affect the *installation*

There are those (at least to me...) apparently pesky error messages in the log.

Anyone else in the same boat?

Any more advice/suggestions?

I just loaded a PIII-700Mhz with the same problem. It hung at looking for packages. I also waited 10Min. I shut it off a changed the cdreader. It than took less than a min to find packages. If your system has an older cd drive try using a new one. But with the specs of your system It probley wont work with a DVD drive cleanly.

I had the same problem. P3 733 MHz, CD-ROM was about six years old. Swapped her out for something more recent, and it worked like a charm. Thanks for the info!

I finally installed on my "new" machine (P3 550MHz, 256 Meg RAM), and...[zap] got the dreaded "LG CD-ROM" crash.

I took the CD-ROM drive from the old machine (it is actually a newer CD-ROM drive than the LG in the "new" machine...), installed it on the new guy, and *voila*...I'm in Linux Land!