Linux Mandrake installation help

[CKOZUK]

Hi ive got myself a copy of mandrake 9 and am trying to install it on an old 200mmx box of mine. I wiped the hard disk using fdisk and then formatted it.

I then booted up into the mandrake installation sequence, I get past the language selection, the agreement and what type of installation I want and then it goes on to hard drive detction where it just hangs I can move the mouse but it wont go any further.

Cheers

[Hpro]

Hi,
can't tell you for sure but in Red Hat installation there when you boot with the CD - you will find a option to enter EXPERT MODE - and you can tell the computer how much ram you have - I think the problem isn't that it hang on the detection but may you need some minor adjustments like memory - BTW I never had installed mandrake..
Hpro

[CKOZUK]

tried doing that told it i had 64mb ram but still hangs. did have a previous distro of mandrake 8.0 which worked fine on he box tried installing it again and it hung in same place as 9.0

[crow]

It might be that you have to just wipe (write zero's) your drive but do not format. Thats the feeling I get from what I've read here on pcmech.
-
Len

[CKOZUK]

Originally posted by crow It might be that you have to just wipe (write zero's) your drive but do not format. Thats the feeling I get from what I've read here on pcmech. - Len

so just fdisk then partition ?

[Statica]

Is your system compatible with Linux? it could also be a bad installation CDs

[CKOZUK]

Originally posted by Statica Is your system compatible with Linux? it could also be a bad installation CDs

have had 8.0 working on it.

[crow]

No partitioning. Red Hat should do that upon instalation.
I'm new at Linux but thats the imfo I got here & it worked for me.
- Len

[crow]

Sorry! I meant Mandrake.
-
Len

[Statica]

Originally posted by CKOZUK have had 8.0 working on it.

Have you got the CD's to work on another computer? You dont need to go install anything, see if you can proceed anyfurther than where you are getting stuck.

[CKOZUK]

Originally posted by Statica Have you got the CD's to work on another computer? You dont need to go install anything, see if you can proceed anyfurther than where you are getting stuck.

ah good point. will try that.

[CKOZUK]

Originally posted by CKOZUK ah good point. will try that.

hi ok tried the discs on a diff pc and got past the point it was hanging on.

So tried installing on my system again but using one of the alternative boot.img as i have to boot from floppy cant boot from cd rom. Now I get as far as install programs and it hangs.

As an experimnet i tried installing 7.2 using the same boot disk got to them same point install programs this time it didnt hang just gave the error

no hdlist

[Computer Hobbyist]

How big is your hard drive? What kind of hd are you using? IDE, SCSI etc. And what did you mean "formatted it" in your first post?

Try this. Go back to fdisk. Take a look at your existing partitions. Delete any you don't want to keep (all of them?.)Try the reinstall again. This time go out for lunch after you reach the hang up point. Let Linux have a little time to survey the scene before you conclude that it has hung.

I kind of suspect your hd has been damaged. I would suggest you run your favorite disk checking utility to determine if it has been damaged and to what extent. I was going to suggest you boot to dos and run chkdsk, scandisk or norton disk doctor before running fdisk again, but note that this machine has been running Mandrake 8 and I don't know what kind of partitioning and file system you have on the drive right now.

I also don't know which fdisk you ran. I have assumed it was the Dos version, but it could have been the Linux version.

CH

[CKOZUK]

Originally posted by Computer Hobbyist How big is your hard drive? What kind of hd are you using? IDE, SCSI etc. And what did you mean "formatted it" in your first post? Try this. Go back to fdisk. Take a look at your existing partitions. Delete any you don't want to keep (all of them?.)Try the reinstall again. This time go out for lunch after you reach the hang up point. Let Linux have a little time to survey the scene before you conclude that it has hung. I kind of suspect your hd has been damaged. I would suggest you run your favorite disk checking utility to determine if it has been damaged and to what extent. I was going to suggest you boot to dos and run chkdsk, scandisk or norton disk doctor before running fdisk again, but note that this machine has been running Mandrake 8 and I don't know what kind of partitioning and file system you have on the drive right now. I also don't know which fdisk you ran. I have assumed it was the Dos version, but it could have been the Linux version. CH

Ok well the installation go to creating partitions and mount points and the progressed on to install programmes startes searching for avalable packages then hung, all disk activity stopped could not open cd drive.

I used the DOS fdisk utility, I installed indows again on it no problem, so I left windows on, booted up into installation and it removed windows like i asked and created its own partitions. But again hung on install programmes after checking for available packages.

[CKOZUK]

I am using a 2gb ide drive

[Computer Hobbyist]

That is a different problem than I read about earlier. You only have 64 meg of ram. Check to see if Mandrake requires more for Mandrake 9. That might be the reason it hangs.

CH

[Computer Hobbyist]

How big is your swap partition? Check to see the size HD Mandrake 9 requires as well.

CH

[Computer Hobbyist]

I was just nosing around the Mandrake forum site and note that somebody else with a similar machine had a similar problem. Conclusion, not enough horsepower to install Mandrake 9. Don't know if it helps, and don't even know if it is right, but that's what they said about a system with 2 850 hds, 64 meg of Ram and a 233mmx CPU.

CH

[CKOZUK]

Originally posted by Computer Hobbyist I was just nosing around the Mandrake forum site and note that somebody else with a similar machine had a similar problem. Conclusion, not enough horsepower to install Mandrake 9. Don't know if it helps, and don't even know if it is right, but that's what they said about a system with 2 850 hds, 64 meg of Ram and a 233mmx CPU. CH

where abouts in the forum have been flicking through there havent seen that though

[CKOZUK]

thanks for your help as well.

[Computer Hobbyist]

Mandrake Expert, typed in Mandrake 9, 64 meg, 2 gig hard drive or something like that. Getting old and my memory isn't as good as it used to be.

CH

[CKOZUK]

thanks for your help