Slack13.1 Install Dell 600SC, Install Disk #1 boot hang
 

Am trying to install Slack 13.1 to a Dell PE 600SC with 1G Mem, a pair of ATA HD (8 & 20 G), Intel Pro 1000 dual port NIC. Using the hugesmp.s kernel (or the huge.s kernel doesn't matter) the boot halts at:

Triggering udev events: /sbin/udevadm trigger --action=add

Only method to get its attention is to reset the machine, no keyboard activity is recognized. I have tried booting with NIC removed (bare machine) no joy. I can boot in single user mode, but if I call rc.S, obviously I windup back at the hang point.

Machine is at current revision of Bios.

Any assistance is greatly appreciated! :-)

Does your Dell PE 600SC have a CERC ATA100/4ch raid controller?
Apparently this has been a problem in the past. http://www.humbug.info/?p=123
From http://www.fixya.com/support/t408840...cerc_ata_100_4

I have no experience with raid controllers, so I can offer no advice, but hopefully someone with knowledge in this area will chime in.

Hi!

Thanks for your reply! The system does not have a CERC or PERC controller, only the standard EIDE interfaces. The system had originally shipped with an CERC expansion card, but it no longer has one.

You sent me to Dell though to make sure that it was an expansion card and not an integrated chip ;-)

Thanks again,
jim

How confident are you of the hardware? If the boot is failing when triggering udev events, then it may be due to faulty hardware. (Apparently this machine is well supported by Linux). The 8 and 20GB drives sound old to me. Perhaps you could try unplugging each in turn.
Also, how confident are you of the install media? Is this a disk that you have used previously?

Am pretty confident of MOST of the hardware. I have tried isolating the HDs one at a time with no joy (they are old but they are at hand and the system cost me nothing ;-)), I md5'd the iso (CD) and burned two disc's, both behave identical results and both will readily boot in an an old Dell Optiplex PIII box. I also have a Slack13.0 disk set and disk one of the set boots right up. Now there is some diff between them as the 13.0 id's the drives as hda and hdb, while the 13.1 id's them as sda and sdb. I did put two new sticks of memory (512M) from crucial, bios is happy with them as is the 13.0 and 13.1 def kernels.

As you can boot with the 13.0 CD then I suggest you try this.
http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...ml#post3998362

PS - Sorry for the delay. I _knew_ I had seen this, but it took me quite a while to find the post.


http://rlworkman.net/howtos/libata-switchover

I have a Dell Opt Gx1 Ihad to switch cdrom from my other computer to load debian.

Hello Eddy1,

Thanks for your post! Am pretty confident of the CD media and player.

allend,

Interesting you should suggest that, had thought about proceeding after the successful 13.0 boot but opted not to thinking that there maybe some issues/dependencies between the 13.0 boot env and the 13.1 media. I'll give ere a shot and report back, probably not today, wasn't planning on going over to the shop till tomorrow.

Thanks for your time to locate the post and for the link on the libata changes! :-)

jim

hey jclive:
Since your post I've actually learned how to install slackware 13.1, It took about 4x's to actually finish installing.
Anyway after installing I can see the difference in installing Slack as opposed to anyother distro. There is definately a steep learning curve involved, as when you're done installing you're not done. Unlike other os'es it drops you to text-mode, and has you wondering if you screwed up. After reading more on it, you realize that you haven't though.

I really have to commend those who actually have their systems up and running, because you have to really read up on it and understand what you're reading.I actually started out with debian and my LUG group said I should've started with an easier distro like Ubuntu. I actually think that I started out with the right distro and learned a little along the way, but if I would've started with slack at the beginning it would've probably discouraged me. But I think if a person starts in the right place they can appreciate the additional learning experience that comes with installing and making a useable and efficient system.
I really don't think that a person who has configured their computer to use slack can get stuck for long.They have to pretty much know the system.

Hi jclive,

I had the same problem with Dell 600SC. Try to boot from install CD with these parameters: huge.s noudev

It worked to me. I have another problem - installation can't continue because system froze within recognizing CD/DVD source drive. I specified /dev/sr0 manually (found in /var/log/messages) - it didn't work :-( Auto recognizing didn't work too and system froze. I like Slackware, but at this moment I used CentOS 5.5 - but I will try it again soon. (After introduction of Slackware 13.37)