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Old 08-28-2006, 03:50 AM   #1
littlejoe5
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boots different every time - or not


I'm just learning Linux.

I installed Mepis6 on a 5G portion of the 55G hard drive on my Compaq Presario V2000 64bit laptop. I have a bunch of stuff connected to it thru the USB ports - two rather large hard disks a mouse, and an "all in one" printer (HP psc 1300).

When it boots properly, it is really nice, but to get it booted properly I sometimes have to shut it down and retry three to five times. It boots differently almost every time it boots. Or rather, I should say if it boots, it is the same, but the text that scrolls by on the screen during the boot process is different each time, and it very often hangs and won't boot at all.

Sometimes it seems to hang at a line that says something about installing hardware drivers. But if it gets past that, then it might hang trying to identify a device that it calls "sg3" or "sg4". I think that may be referring to the "card reader" which is part of the HP printer. If it succeeds in identifying that device to it's own satisfaction, then it will probably boot all the way up, but more often it will "fail" in that, and then hang permanently trying to load the "raid" devices (I don't think I have any!. Also, sometimes it hangs trying to identify something in connection with the "pcmcia" (which I am not using) .

Any words of encouragement?
Thanks,
littlejoe5
 
Old 08-28-2006, 08:26 PM   #2
kaz2100
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How does your penguin wake up, when nothing is connected through USB port?
 
Old 08-28-2006, 10:05 PM   #3
syg00
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Where these devices plugged in when you (initially) installed ???.
 
Old 08-28-2006, 10:30 PM   #4
mdmarmer
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Compaq v2000z

I have HP L2000 which is the same PC

1) Get BIOS upgrade -- I think there should be one on the Compaq or HP web site

2) Are you using wireless? Even if not you should set it up -- and add the driver you are not using to /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist as root

that is -- this file should contain

blacklist bcm43xx
or
blacklist ndiswrapper

then set up either bcm43xx or ndiswrapper to recognize wireless

3) Use "mutilities" ==>> set up each tab in "Network Interfaces" and be sure to click "Apply" before you go the the next tab. Easiest to open root konsole and type
mutilities

4) If you want to fix some of these things before BIOS upgrade, try boot cheat codes
noapic
or
noapic nolapic

type these on the GRUB boot screen after vga=791 (cursor will be there)

You can make permanent in /boot/grub/menu.lst (edit as root)

But BIOS upgrade is better and then you won't need these codes.

Mike

Post to http://www.mepislovers.com -- great forum

Use the wiki http://www.mepis.org/docs

Download the user guide http://www.mepis.org/node/6679
 
Old 08-30-2006, 12:46 AM   #5
littlejoe5
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thanks

Quote:
Originally Posted by kaz2100
How does your penguin wake up, when nothing is connected through USB port?
Thanks for a quick reply. The unit seems to wake up just fine when the USB ports haven't anything plugged in. But that won't help much, since I only have that way of adding hard drives (There is a Firewire connection, but I have no firewire drives). There isn't a "printer port" other than for a USB printer.
littlejoe5
 
Old 08-30-2006, 12:49 AM   #6
littlejoe5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by syg00
Where these devices plugged in when you (initially) installed ???.
Thanks, syg00, for a quick reply. Yes, those devices were plugged in at install - including the ones that seem to be causing the hangups. Is there even a way to tell Mepis to ignore those specific devices? Perhaps that is the function of "blacklist" (mentioned below by mdmaarmer.
littlejoe5
 
Old 08-30-2006, 01:32 AM   #7
littlejoe5
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Thanks, mdmarmer, for a quick reply.

Quote:
Originally Posted by mdmarmer
I have HP L2000 which is the same PC

1) Get BIOS upgrade -- I think there should be one on the Compaq or HP web site

I looked for one, but could not find one with sufficient description to be sure that it applies to my computer. What I did find is a lot of advice that updating a bios can be pretty dangerous. I'm not sure I want to chance it.

2) Are you using wireless? Even if not you should set it up -- and add the driver you are not using to /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist as root

I didn't intend to be using wireless, but I notice that Mepis6 turns on the little blue light with the wireless icon above my keyboard. I tried to turn it off with the button provided on the keyboard, but it won't turn off. Since I'm not using wireless (and don't want to) it seems to me a security 'hole' to have it turned on.
Now 'blacklisting' a program or service that is causing problems, sounds like a good idea to me (if "blacklist" does what it sounds like it might do). Would that forinstance keep the offending printer from hanging up the boot process? or the pcmcia? or the notion of "raid devices"? If so, how do I go about it? I do not understand the 'syntax' for these linux commands, or the directory structure, and I do not know how to find files, programs, or answers on my linux system.
But the commented lines in 'blacklist seem to be saying that 'blacklisted items will not be loaded by "udev", and it seems to me that loading by "udev" is the only way that is working to load several of my devices.


that is -- this file should contain

blacklist bcm43xx
or
blacklist ndiswrapper

then set up either bcm43xx or ndiswrapper to recognize wireless

3) Use "mutilities" ==>> set up each tab in "Network Interfaces" and be sure to click "Apply" before you go the the next tab. Easiest to open root konsole and type
mutilities

4) If you want to fix some of these things before BIOS upgrade, try boot cheat codes
noapic
or
noapic nolapic

type these on the GRUB boot screen after vga=791 (cursor will be there)

You can make permanent in /boot/grub/menu.lst (edit as root)

But BIOS upgrade is better and then you won't need these codes.

Mike

Post to http://www.mepislovers.com -- great forum

Use the wiki http://www.mepis.org/docs

Download the user guide http://www.mepis.org/node/6679
 
Old 08-30-2006, 06:21 AM   #8
syg00
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I thought there might be some issue(s) with udev, but looks like you should be listening to mdmarmer.
I never managed to get Mepis 6 (successfully) installed - I get the impression Warren hasn't handled error recovery too well this time around.
 
Old 08-31-2006, 10:17 AM   #9
littlejoe5
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I did add the noapic nolapic items in /boot/grub/menu.lst per suggestion by mdmarmer (thanks).
That seems to have helped tremendously. It still boots differently every time, but it doesn't hang (so far) and it seems to operate in the same way each time after boot.

For my own education, in plain English what do those two items (noapic nolapic) mean?
Thanks again, guys.
littlejoe5


Quote:
Originally Posted by syg00
I thought there might be some issue(s) with udev, but looks like you should be listening to mdmarmer.
I never managed to get Mepis 6 (successfully) installed - I get the impression Warren hasn't handled error recovery too well this time around.
 
  


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