Slackware installation stops when selecting a keyboard map
SlackwareThis Forum is for the discussion of Slackware Linux.
Notices
Welcome to LinuxQuestions.org, a friendly and active Linux Community.
You are currently viewing LQ as a guest. By joining our community you will have the ability to post topics, receive our newsletter, use the advanced search, subscribe to threads and access many other special features. Registration is quick, simple and absolutely free. Join our community today!
Note that registered members see fewer ads, and ContentLink is completely disabled once you log in.
If you have any problems with the registration process or your account login, please contact us. If you need to reset your password, click here.
Having a problem logging in? Please visit this page to clear all LQ-related cookies.
Get a virtual cloud desktop with the Linux distro that you want in less than five minutes with Shells! With over 10 pre-installed distros to choose from, the worry-free installation life is here! Whether you are a digital nomad or just looking for flexibility, Shells can put your Linux machine on the device that you want to use.
Exclusive for LQ members, get up to 45% off per month. Click here for more info.
Slackware installation stops when selecting a keyboard map
I have a 14-year-old PC that I use as a small server/playbox. I recently had a problem with Slackware mounting the root filesystem. The problem got more and more frequent so I did a test with the WD HDD check utility.
The HDD is okay (or so says the utility) so I attempted to re-install the OS. This was probably something against the Unix philosophy, and I should have seeked advice before doing that. But I did.
And I never managed to install Slackware. The installation pauses just after the kernel boots (the default one, from the 14.1 DVD) and I have to select a keyboard map:
Code:
Enter 1 to select a keyboard map
My gut feeling says that the mobo is very close to dying, but I just want to make sure that I'm not doing something stupid on the software/OS side.
I have a 14-year-old PC that I use as a small server/playbox. I recently had a problem with Slackware mounting the root filesystem. The problem got more and more frequent so I did a test with the WD HDD check utility.
The HDD is okay (or so says the utility) so I attempted to re-install the OS. This was probably something against the Unix philosophy, and I should have seeked advice before doing that. But I did.
And I never managed to install Slackware. The installation pauses just after the kernel boots (the default one, from the 14.1 DVD) and I have to select a keyboard map:
Code:
Enter 1 to select a keyboard map
My gut feeling says that the mobo is very close to dying, but I just want to make sure that I'm not doing something stupid on the software/OS side.
So, could this be a software issue?
Run a Live CD (SystemRescueCD, Knoppix) on it for a couple of days. That will bypass the hard disk and "narrow" the problem down to mobo, memory, power supply, CPU, overheating, etc.
Do you press Enter or enter 1 and press Enter at that prompt?
I think I pressed ENTER, I don't remember for sure. I can't bring the system to that stage right now to test this again.
My hardware is:
mobo: Asus P4B
CPU: Pentium 4 1.5GHz
RAM: 512MB SDRAM, probably at 133MHz
VGA: GeForce 2 MX400 (or MX200)
I disconnected the hard drive, and the Slackware install DVD pauses around when it creates a ramdrive. I tried booting from Knoppix 7.0.1 (with the HDD disconnected), and it paused at 'Booting the kernel'. Nice.
I thought maybe the DVD-ROM is flipping out, so I tried booting pfSense from an older CD-Rec. It didn't even recognize that there was a disc on the drive. Interesting. FreeBSD 10.1 install CD did start the booting process but paused at the point where it detects USB ports (on board). I was also able to boot the FreeBSD install on my DVD-ROM, but it paused on the same spot.
Just for the giggles, I connected back the drive and I'm installing Win98SE right now to see if that's going to work!
The most obvious thing is to check with another IDE DVD-ROM but I don't have one and really don't want to get into the trouble of buying one unless there are really good chances that I don't have a hardware failure on MOBO/CPU/RAM.
I think I pressed ENTER, I don't remember for sure. I can't bring the system to that stage right now to test this again.
My hardware is:
mobo: Asus P4B
CPU: Pentium 4 1.5GHz
RAM: 512MB SDRAM, probably at 133MHz
VGA: GeForce 2 MX400 (or MX200)
I disconnected the hard drive, and the Slackware install DVD pauses around when it creates a ramdrive. I tried booting from Knoppix 7.0.1 (with the HDD disconnected), and it paused at 'Booting the kernel'. Nice.
I thought maybe the DVD-ROM is flipping out, so I tried booting pfSense from an older CD-Rec. It didn't even recognize that there was a disc on the drive. Interesting. FreeBSD 10.1 install CD did start the booting process but paused at the point where it detects USB ports (on board). I was also able to boot the FreeBSD install on my DVD-ROM, but it paused on the same spot.
Just for the giggles, I connected back the drive and I'm installing Win98SE right now to see if that's going to work!
The most obvious thing is to check with another IDE DVD-ROM but I don't have one and really don't want to get into the trouble of buying one unless there are really good chances that I don't have a hardware failure on MOBO/CPU/RAM.
So, does it?
If you have 2 x 256 sticks of memory try running a Live CD with one removed and then the other. Another thing to try is a different IDE cable (the shorter the better). Remove any extraneous PCI cards as well - modems, network cards.
Heh... If there are people still answering this thread it means I'm not the only one that feels bad retiring old hardware if there is even a slight chance it might still work.
My BIOS doesn't boot from USB. I created the floppy and the PC didn't manage to boot from the floppy! I tested the floppy in Virtual Box and my desktop ("bear metal") and it worked fine. But not on that old PC.
Is there anything else I can try?
Hey, I haven't tried memtest. I'll give it a shot!
Distribution: Debian Sid AMD64, Raspbian Wheezy, various VMs
Posts: 7,680
Rep:
I tend to think that there's not enough RAM and the processor is not very fast. Whether it is actually failing due to not enough RAM to hold Slackware in RAM or whether the CPU is just too slow to make it work quickly enough seems like details. Then there's the optical drive which may or may not be failing to read DVDs because optical drives are horrendously silly.
Distribution: Debian Sid AMD64, Raspbian Wheezy, various VMs
Posts: 7,680
Rep:
Quote:
Originally Posted by swapjim
Slackware 14.1 was running on this machine ever since it got released. Why would it stop now?
Because you're booting Slackware into RAM then using more RAM to run the installer etc.? I could well be wrong, I'm really just guessing here, but running an installer means taking up RAM with the OS and, perhaps, the Slackware that boots now takes more RAM than the one which used to boot.
I'll let others verify whether I am typing rubbish or not.
LinuxQuestions.org is looking for people interested in writing
Editorials, Articles, Reviews, and more. If you'd like to contribute
content, let us know.