Hi,

I am trying to setup a dual boot system. I just reformatted my HDD put a fresh install of XP pro on it and while installing mandriva I get a fatal error while finishing the initialization. I tried disableing the acpi but that didnt work. The error message I am getting in the kernal log is:

buffer I/O error on device HDC, logical blcok 2229498
hdc: media error (bad sector): status=0x51 {DriveReady SeekComplete Error}
hdc: media error (bad sector): error-0X34 {Aborted Command LastFailedSense=0X03}
ide: failed opcode was: unkown

My system is a Dell Dimension 4600 series
Intel P4 with hyperthreading 2.8 GHz, 1.5 GB 400Mhz RAM
250 GB HDD, ATI AGP X1650 PRO GPU

The harddirve is almost brand new, windows XP pro is on the system and runs normally at start up. Any insight into this problem would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Welcome Ecimack,



'hdc' is your DVD/CD drive? The errors indicate that either

* you have a corrupted iso, check the md5sum of the iso
* you have a bad burn. Reburn at a lower speed, on a different medium/brand

great I'll give that a try.

Thanks for the response

Ok I got a slow bruned copy of mandirva and successfully got it installed, now when I boot it drops me into the bash prompt instead of the GUI.

Is there a command to get there from BASH or did something install incorrectly?

Thanks in advance for your help

Looks like your graphical adapter or the monitor/resolution has not been setup correctly.

When you see the login: prompt, type: root (and enter), give the password, then start the config module by typing:
XFdrake
(it is case sensitive)
You'll get a menu where you can configure the type of video card and the xserver (for a start try here a non-commercial one if you have an ATI card, or the VESA), check the monitor and the resolution.

When you are done, type: exit
Now login with your username and user password, and type: startx

Yup thats exactly what it was. Got the GUI up and I am really impressed so far.

I am new to Linux so please bear with me. I downloaded the ATI linux driver for my grahics card and I get the following error message when I try to install:

Could not open the file: XXXXXXX
gedit has not been able to detect the character coding. Please check that you are not trying to open a binary fil. Select a character coding from the menu and try again

Character Coding: Current Locale (UTF-8)

I tried both selections in the drop down menu..no luck though. I even addedsome of the others and that didn't work either

Your problem with not being able to login graphical was most likely a result of the Powerpack edition trying to use the commercial ATI drivers.
With the workaround you disabled these drivers. To get you started :-)

You should not download ati drivers fromn their websites, all drivers are included in Powerpack, also the commercial closed-source.

What we need to find out now is, why the included ATI driver don't play nicely with your card.
Please give the exact model of your card, and the specs of your computer (notebook? desktop?), and your monitor.

I hope that someone else will continue to help you. I am not very good with commercial closed-source drivers.
Often it is just a certain setting which you can do in the MCC.

Please, someone with ATI knowledge, help Ecimack

First of all thanks for all your responses. you have been on the money both times.

my card is an ATI AGP X1650 Pro and my monitor is a gateway FPD2185W 24IN Flatpanel LCD
the computer itself is a Dell Dimension desktop 4600 series wirh 1.5 GB Ram, Intel P4 with Hyperthreading 2.8 GHZ

I will continue to search the forums for similar problems but if any one has any insight please post.

And thanks again for all the help

To help us diagnose the problem, please reconfigure the graphics card and, when asked, tell it you want to use the proprietary driver. Then restart, and it'll probably fail again. Log in to the text interface, then do this:

cp /var/log/Xorg.0.log ~
cp /etc/X11/xorg.conf ~

then follow chris b's steps to go back to the graphical desktop again, and you should find the Xorg.0.log and xorg.conf files in your home directory. Now please put them up somewhere we can take a look at them - you can just paste them here if you've got nowhere else to put them. Thanks!