Mandriva One 2007 -- Hard disk install won't boot
 

Hi,

So I'm installing Mandriva One 2007. No shared partitions, I'm using the entire disk. I boot on the CD just fine, the KDE GUI looks great. I run Live Install, and it wipes the HD as instructed, and seems to install all the files. The install ends, and I'm left looking at the KDE desktop. Okay, all fine and well. I reboot, and when the computer tries to boot on the HD I get the message "trouble loading operating system" and it freezes there

All the partitions are there -- three. They are:

hda1 -- journalised FS: ext3
hda5 -- Linux swap
hda6 -- journalised FS: ext3

I ran mount to see what drives were mounted. This is what I got:

[guest@localhost ~]$ mount
none on / type unionfs (rw)
none on /proc/sys/fs/binfmt_misc type binfmt_misc (rw)
[guest@localhost ~]$

Is the install not mounting the drive? What's going on...

--Marshall

One additional thing. The message is actually "error loading operating system." Not 'trouble.'.

--Marshall

Moved: This thread is more suitable in the Mandriva forum and has been moved accordingly to help your thread/question get the exposure it deserves.

Are you sure the installation was completely successful? It seems to me like the bootloader was not installed to the MBR and thats why you are getting the error above.

I'm not sure, because I'm seeing no visual cues that tell me how the install is ending. I see a progress bar in live install, it reaches the end, Live Install *seems* to end without an error, and then I'm left looking at the KDE desktop. (Remember, I'm running off the CD.) I let the machine sit for quite a while, thinking there might be a process going in the background I don't know about. But after a while I simply reboot the system. It tries to boot on the hard drive and I get "error loading operating system."

I googled that error and found a bunch of messages from three years ago, related mostly to WinXP and Fedora, that discuss the fact that some BIOS' identify and classify the IDE hard drive at boot time, and that early on in the boot process the OS does not know the type of IDE drive in the computer because the computer has not identified it yet. Here is the relevant link.

http://whocares.de/2004/12/28/error-...rating-system/

I'm running a 950MHz Micron system with an AMI BIOS. Specs follow:
Salto - GVC 810e Flex ATX Motherboard - MBD001130-01
Processor Type: Celeron, Pentium III
Socket Type: Socket 370
Memory Type: Non-ECC (16 Bit) PC-100 SDRAM
Maximum Memory: 512MB
Cache: On Processor

I hope this helps...

What I think you should do is try a distro that installs grub by default e.g. Ubuntu. If that installs and boots without any problems, then the issue will definitely be related to LILO the bootloader used by default on Mandriva. If Ubuntu does not boot, then it could be some other problem.

Can you point me to such a distro? Its name, etc. Where I would find the ISO file? Thank you again.

--Marshall

Err, I did say Ubuntu in my post above ;). You can download the iso from ubuntu.com.

Sorry, I am a relative newbie. I'm steeped in Windows and PC lore, but not so much in Linux. :)