Cannot install Linux

[KMJones1]

I have installed a new HDD into an old P3 800Mhz machine and want to use it for Linux.
I have tried 2 versions and they refuse to load. They get to "booting into kernel" and either hang or crash and reboot. There is no HDD activity, and it is the same if I disconnect the HDD.
I can install WinXP OK however!
The disk is a single partition 80GB completely blank and FAT32 formatted (with Partition Magic), and no drive letter.
Any ideas please??

[faulkner132]

Try re-downloading the ISO image and then burn it again. It could be your CD's are messed up.
Try using a Ubuntu CD, as you can boot to the live environment (just to make sure it will work) and install it from there.

[KMJones1]

Thanks for the suggestions.
I have tried a Red Hat 8 disk and it has the same problem.
I have tested the Ubuntu disk on another machine and it runs fine.
I have also tried to run Dban to reset the disk. This is Linux based and it has the same problem - it hangs at "booting the kernel".
There is something odd about this machine that Linux picks up but Windows doesn't.

[faulkner132]

Try removing the partition (leaving it unformatted) and see if the Linux CD detects it.

[kilgoretrout]

Specs please. This is probably a hardware compatibility issue. The behaviour is typical with certain laptops and other hardware and there may be a workaround. What generally happens is the system loses the cd drive after loading the linux kernel so the installation cannot continue.
You can try running a knoppix live cd but when you get the first boot screen type in:

knoppix noapic nolapic acpi=off

and then hit enter.

[KMJones1]

Thanks for this. (By the way, I am also on PC Pro Linux forum with this prob.)
The present position is:
The BIOS POST sees the HD and the CDrom OK, although if I go into the BIOS setup and set Auto Detect for the HD it hangs. It won't accept User spec. for this size disk.
The HD is formatted as a single partition 80GB FAT32, formatted and empty. No drive letter (I use Partition Magic).
I tried to use Dban and got the hanging prob, so someone on PCPro suggested loadlin. I have put loadlin.exe on a DOS bootable CD and run that. DOS sees the A: drive and the D: drive CDROM only.
loadlin runs OK to a point, and ends with "hda...(something about the HD)....." and "hdc..(something about the CDROM)..........." (too quick to read easily), and then crashes and reboots.
I agree that it seems to be hardware related, but very difficult to see where.

[KMJones1]

I forgot to give spec. for the machine:
It is a NEC Direction SM800VP CT UK. - Pentium 3 800MHz; 384MB DIMM; VIA 694 chipset; nVidia Geforce 256 graphics board 32MB. MoBo is MSI 6309
I have removed the original drives because the HD seemed to be screwed up. turned out to be a faulty memory bank - now replaced. I built another machine, put the HD and the floppy and a new CD writer into it and it was fine!
So the NEC box sat around for some time, and now I want to install Linux on it just to experiment with. I bought new HD (Samsung 80GB 7200rpm) and floppy, and used the old CDROM.
Hope that's clear!!

[glc]

This almost sounds like the bios is using a nonstandard LBA translation or something like that. Do you have a hard drive smaller than 32gb you can use to test with?

Hmm - MSI - you may want to check the motherboard for bulging or leaking capacitors - they were plagued with that problem during that time frame.

[KMJones1]

I can set the HD to 32GB with a jumper - tried with no effect.
I inspected the mobo and can't see any prob with capacitors.
Sorry!

[KMJones1]

OK I give up!!
I find that I cannot load Windows completley either, having tried Win98 and XP. They seem to be installing fine, but in the end they crash.
I have tested the memory and the HD very thoroughly, so I must have a faulty MoBo.
Many thanks for all the ideas and time you have given me!
I'll use a live CD approach to play with Linux on another machine.

[faulkner132]

You can always install the HD into your other PC and load Linux there.

Here is a walkthrough on how to do this using Ubuntu 6.06:
http://www.132solutions.com/ubuntu.p...t=installation

[KMJones1]

Thanks I had that in mind.
Thanks for the link also
ATB

[kilgoretrout]

A few observations. First, a VIA chipset motherboard and an intel cpu are a very bad combinaion with any OS. You will see a lot of posts on this board reporting problems with this setup. You may want to check and see if there is a bios update available for that board that might make it more stable. Second, linux and PM do not play well together. With most modern linux distros, there is no need to partition the drive before installing. If you are going to be using the entire drive, you're better off leaving it with no partitions and letting the install program do the partitioning for you.
At this point, you may want to get the hard drive manufacturer's dignostic utilities and do a zero fill of the entire drive which will wipe it entirely clean. You may then be able to get something installed and running on the thing.

[KMJones1]

Thanks for these useful thoughts.
I had checked with the BIOS supplier who say that I have the latest version.
I started with a blank HD and this was when the problems started. So partitioning was a second attempt. Later I did a simple partition for Windows to load into, which it saw correctly. I have since used PM to revert to a single unallocated unformatted partition.
I have run diagnostic utilities on the HD (Maxtor's powermax) - everything passed; and memory - all passed.
Win98 was the closest to installing. It got all the way until the very final stage - booting the OS and updating the settings (remember that irritating little drum?!); then hung.
Again - thanks for the thoughts.

[glc]

If memory and hard drive diags all pass, it's very likely a dud motherboard. Not surprising with a MSI with a Via chipset for an Intel processor. The caps may visually look fine, but they could be breaking down internally. If you have a way to monitor power supply voltages, take a look - I'm betting the +12v rail may be pretty low - down around 11.4v and full of ripple. Before totally giving up, you *could* try a different power supply and/or a video card that's less of a power hog - those original GeForce 256's were very inefficient and hot running.

[KMJones1]

Great - thanks for these ideas.
I'm looking into a new MoBo at present, so a new 24+4 pin power supply (to replace the 20 pin one) will no doubt be required anyway. Do you know if new boards will work with a 20 pin supply, by the way? (The case is a really good one, with easy installation of drives and cards.)
I won't have time to look at your ideas immediately, but thanks!

[Shanks]

Wow It's very helpful thread! Now I understand what is my problem. Thanks ppl!

[glc]

Do not use a 20 pin PSU on a 24 pin board. It may work but if you put any kind of decent PCI-E video card in, it will be way short of +12v amps to run properly.