Slackware Installation Problems (my first post)
 

Hey everyone,

I am new to Slackware, but not new to Linux distros.
I am having a "fatal error" when installing and need some assistance.



So heres what I have done:
1. Burnt iso onto dvd (I checked md5, its all good)
2. Began install, worked great, until package installs began.
3. The very first package had a "fatal error"
Package:
4. About every 5 packages are so it gave me a fatal error dialog.
5. I got to the AR package section and just quit after having so many fail.

I know there is nothing wrong with the disk, and some install fine and some dont..


So I don't know if this is common or an easy fix, but I am coming from a GUI so I am very fresh with text based installs and its all a bit confusing.
So thanks in advance, I am sure I'll definitely have more to contribute once I get this figured out.
:confused:

I assume you allocated enough space when patitioning?

It might be worth doing a reformat too with checking bad blocks. Had this problem once.

Well firstly the package aaa_terminfo-5.7-noarch-1 should not be the first as aaa_base-13.1 is the first one. What errors are you getting reported ?

Hi,

Welcome to LQ!
It does look at a image problem. How did you check the md5sum for the download ISO & burnt ISO for a valid md5sum? The 'md5sum' is very important to learn to use and too regularly get in the habit of utilizing it. You can get a sum checker for M$ if need be; 'md5sum.exe'.

For GNU/Linux the 'man md5sum' will get you all the information to perform the check. You can get the 'man command' from the 'cli' at anytime.

If you downloaded the CD/DVD ISO then be sure to check the md5sum for the original ISO. From the cli;

If the ISO md5 is OK then you should check the image burn with 'CdromMd5sumsAfterBurning''. This way you will know if the burn was OK!

This will check the download ISO with the known md5sum that you also get with the ISO. You should do the check for any download that you might perform, even a LiveCD. Sometimes you may need to lower the burn rate to get a valid burn.
:hattip:
These links and others can be found at 'Slackware-Links'. More than just Slackware® links!

Thanks for the responses everyone.

To add some info about the Md5, I checked it using the WinMd5Sum Program and it matched up.
The program used to burn the disk was InfraRecorder at 8.0x speed on Session At Once write method (if that matters)

There is no verification on whether the burn was valid, but I did get a "Sucess!" dialog once finished.

I don't believe I left a partition, I think I am using the whole HDD. As for reformatting I formated the disk in ex2 but didn't check for bad blocks. I'll try that when I get back from work and post my results as well as any errors that I may encounter.

One more thing, I first began installing using the Recommended option, and then quit and tried the Newbie option so I can see what is actually failing.
@bgeddy, I found that when using the newbie mode it automatically skips over packages that are "fatal" and since it goes by so fast maybe I missed the aaa_base-13.1 But I'll verify everything later when I get back!

on one of my pc's I would get this error as the dvd reader was going bad
is your dvd reader ok?

Hi,

Try DAO, Disc-At-Once.

As I stated: 'If the ISO md5 is OK then you should check the image burnt with 'CdromMd5sumsAfterBurning'.
:hattip:

Update:

I checked the disks Md5sum and it was in fact different, but I am not sure what I checked was the correct thing to look at.

I opened up the disk and found the hash (correct word right?) using the file: "CHECKSUMS.md5" which is a file located directly on the list and is not in a directory. So if this is the correct method of checking the disk then my burn was coruppted. I will attempt it again with InfraRecorder. (The site you gave me ^^^ said to turn off byte padding, whatever that is..) I will have to use Session At Once again because Infra Recorder doesn't allow DAO writing. I am also going to write it at 4x speed.

If this doesn't work then maybe I should consider a new burner. Any recommendations are welcome.

Thanks, and I will update soon.

After many installs as you will see this is a corrupted burn. I understand your frustration when it comes to theses types of set backs.

Yeah, I've done many installs but this is a first for something like this. Almost all of my installs have went off without a hitch, except for the first time I tried installing Ubuntu from a hotel network. The connection was so bad that the download kept corrupting.

Update:

I am currently reformatting the hard drive and picked the option to check for bad blocks.

Its taking FOREVER. It's still sitting here after 30min with no sign of finishing. Anyone know of any commands I can run to see if its actually formatting like its saying it is? The only command I know so far is df lol

Edit: Holy crap it just finished..

Edit: Installing now, things seem to be going smoothly..

Ok guys, the latest attempt was successful with no fatal errors.

But a new problem has arose.
When I boot up (the laptop had Ubuntu prior to this) I get:

Grub Loading stage1.5

Grub Loading, please wait...
Error 15.

Now I know this means that its booting from the HDD, but wait, I reformatted the entire Hdd. Why is it trying to boot into Ubuntu?

Hi Bull3t, as no one else seems to be around, I'll chime in.

Formatting does not rewrite the MBR (apparently), I have seen this a few times in recent days myself. So the old grub records are still there.

Also, apparently you did not run lilo when installing, or perhaps you installed lilo to the root partition.

Your slackware install is there, you just need to reinstall lilo to the MBR.

As I do not know your partition scheme I will write some generic instructions and you can figure it out from there...

First, boot to the installation CD/DVD and login as root.

Then mount your slackware root partition somewhere, I think there is a /mnt/ directory by default, it will do, like this:

mount /dev/sda5 /mnt (assuming your slackware root partition were sda5)

Confirm that it is mounted then chroot into it...

chroot /mnt

At this point your are running in your slackware system as if you were booted into it.

Now, let's check your lilo config file by editing /etc/lilo.conf

Look for a line near the top like "boot = /dev/sda5"

This tells lilo where to install the bootloader.

To install to the MBR it should be something like "boot = /dev/sda"
To install to the root partition it will be a numbered partition, like "boot = /dev/sda5"

If you are not dual booting then you probably want the MBR.

If you set up lilo during the install then the rest of the file is most likely correct, but make sure it has a section something like:

image = /boot/vmlinuz
root = /dev/sda5
label = Slackware
read-only

If so the you are probably OK... run lilo without any options for the simplest case, it will use the /etc/lilo.conf file.

lilo

Now reboot.

Let us know if this works for you!

Hi,

The 'boot=' parameter within '/etc/lilo.conf' specifies where to look for the boot sector.
Correction for 'boot=' definition;

If you want to specify the boot device when writing the bootloader then the option for the 'lilo' command would be;

I suggest that 'man lilo' & 'man lilo.conf' will clarify things.
:hattip: