Pain999 Posted June 2, 2004 Report Share Posted June 2, 2004 I am not familar with ECS BIOS but maybe one of these tricks might help. Try the CPU disconnect in the BIOS if you have that option, and disable everything that your not using like maybe SATA and RAID. Linux uses the RAM differently and since I have a double sided DIMMs in dual channel i had to find a beta bios on one motherboard that I could enable command per clock so you also might look for a beta BIOS too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GreenBandit Posted June 2, 2004 Author Report Share Posted June 2, 2004 I have now also tried disabling loads of stuff in the Bios including UDMA access to HDD & CD/DVD. I haven't got RAID or SATA & there is no CPU disconnect setting in the BIOS (I've also read something about that causing a problem). I've d/l & tried MDK10Move2, but after showing the Welcome screen and the desktop background, it does nothing else, no toolbar or any buttons. MDK10Move lets me get a bit further. I am able to get to a working desktop and launch HardDrake2 v9.1.1, but when select disk hda then click on the "run config tool" button, the config tool does not run. If I boot the system, then go to Control Centre > Hardware > DiskDrake, but that locks up with "detection in process" on the screen. Occasionally I get a bit further. I did manage to get 3 partitions yesterday (as per my post June 01 0900), but then MDK10 OE locked up during the installation of packages, but at least it got past the selection of which packages to install. I know my partition selection was not ideal, but surely it would at least allow an installation ? I can't get MDK10 Move to work for long enough to get the 4 partitions suggested by Ixthusdan. How big should / /home /usr & /swap be ? (hda=40Gb hdb=40Gb) ? I don't think it is formatting itself that is the problem, it seems to be any type of sustained activity :-( Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeoneil Posted June 2, 2004 Report Share Posted June 2, 2004 As you still have nforce2 problems you could look in this forum. I don't know if you have found this forum already, but I found it very helpfull. The nforce Linux forum is full of questions and possible answers to your problem. It was from there that I realised I needed to update the BIOS for the Shuttle motherboard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gowator Posted June 2, 2004 Report Share Posted June 2, 2004 also TRY knoppix. Move is based on Mandrake kernels whereas knoppix is based on debian. For the sake of a dload it could work! often where one fails the other will work! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GreenBandit Posted June 3, 2004 Author Report Share Posted June 3, 2004 Just used W98 FDISK & FORMAT to clean up buth HDDs. Then tried Knoppix 3.4 rel 17/may/04. I got about 5 seconds of working desktop before it froze. The command knoppix26 just lead to a blank black screen. Reformatted the drive, & tried MDKMove2, it also gave a blank black screen. MDKmove(dated 03/Dec/03) loaded up OK, but when I try to run Control Center or HardDrake, I get a few seconds of the message "detection in progress", then it just dissapears. On the 4th attempt, HardDrake let me create several partitions that (I stayed with its choices), but it doesn't report that a partiton is formated after doing so. I tried the nForce2 link given, but couldn't get through. Any more ideas from anyone Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeoneil Posted June 3, 2004 Report Share Posted June 3, 2004 This kernel bug report may provide a bit of help. It is a long page so scroll down and you will find several different kernel parameters you could try a boot time. Also, it is reported that the nforce2 bug is fixed in kernel 2.6.6 if you could somehow get hold of that. Of course, your problem may be unrelated, but the symptoms are the same. The link in my previous post to the nforce forums should work! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest GreenBanditAtWork Posted June 3, 2004 Report Share Posted June 3, 2004 Many thanks to mikeoneil for the links to the other forums - the nForce link worked today OK :-) I would recommend that anyone else having nForce2 lockup / freeze problems work their way through these forums as there are many many options to try! I have had a quick read through several pages of info, and it would appear that one way forward is to go & try different kernel versions, but can anyone explain to me if there is a way of using a certain kernel version (say 2.6.6) with MDK10 Official. I just do not yet know enough about Linux to know if it involves recompiling, patching, or just command line parameters ? (once I actually get a version of Linux running, I will b able to learn a lot more about all this) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gowator Posted June 3, 2004 Report Share Posted June 3, 2004 it would appear that one way forward is to go & try different kernel versions, Yep thats why I suggested knoppix over move. but can anyone explain to me if there is a way of using a certain kernel version (say 2.6.6) with MDK10 Official Unfortunately Mandrake kernels are not documented like some non profit distro's. What is difficult to explain is that in addition to the kernel being improved in a linear fashion its also being improved in various other directions at the same time. The official 'linus certified' kernel is www.kernel.org as you will see there are plenty of version beyond the 2.6.6 stage (see the pre-releases) but also there are kernel patches. these are changes to the kernel that 'improve' performance/reliability etc. but are only partly tested. http://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/people/ contains some peoples own patches, for instance alan contains alan cox's. Some patches make it into a later release others dont. Now mandrake will generally patch certain things, before 2.6 the -mm (multimedia) patches increased performance on mm stuff and preemtimive mutlitasking. Pre-emptive is now built in to 2.6. There are lots and lots of these, some used by mandrake and others not. One problem I had is that the 'advertised' kernel-source-x.x.x package of mandrake is not the source that was used to make the actual kernel-x.x.x-mdk. I have never found ANY documentation that says what mandrake patch in and do not (on a specific kernel) but the kernels are usually pretty fast (and reliable) ... Some kernels i boot and the hardware is completely different - these are minor version changes like the -mdk100 on the end and my hardware dissapears or reappears, things like the DVD writer gets id'd as a CD player and the cardreaders dissapear/reappear. One way round this is to actually download your own source from kernel.org and compile it yourself with your own patches you also download,. its NOT as bad as it sounds but the first time will be a learning experience! Another is just using the binary kernels and mandrake source. Unforunately it appears some of the undocumented patches or changes are things that affect the nforce! 9.2 was the bane of my life! I actually stopped using mandrake altogether on my nforce machines although in retrospect the bios patches might have been usable (except I dont have a floppy drive) The short answer is type kernel as the search parameter in add programs (MCC) BUTR make sure whatever you choose has the source available too if you have a nvidia and want to use the accel drivers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeoneil Posted June 3, 2004 Report Share Posted June 3, 2004 It seems then you need kernel 2.6.6 or later. I don't know how to go about compiling it yourself, and in any case you need a working Mandrake system before you can do that, in which case you wouldn't need a new kernel in the first place! Mandrake Cooker may be a possibility, again I can't offer much help here, though browsing the ftp mirror reveals it uses kernel 2.6.7rc1 which is available as an RPM as well as a source RPM. I wonder if you could at least get your system to boot eventualy into MDK10 whether you could take the cooker RPM of kernel 2.6.7 and install that? The last option which is not very satisfactory is just to wait a couple of months for MDK10.1 community edition. Cooker page Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gowator Posted June 3, 2004 Report Share Posted June 3, 2004 It seems then you need kernel 2.6.6 or later. I don't know how to go about compiling it yourself, and in any case you need a working Mandrake system before you can do that, in which case you wouldn't need a new kernel in the first place!Mandrake Cooker may be a possibility, again I can't offer much help here, though browsing the ftp mirror reveals it uses kernel 2.6.7rc1 which is available as an RPM as well as a source RPM. I wonder if you could at least get your system to boot eventualy into MDK10 whether you could take the cooker RPM of kernel 2.6.7 and install that? The last option which is not very satisfactory is just to wait a couple of months for MDK10.1 community edition. Cooker page Well, thats what I did on 9.2... I just used knoppix with a HDD install. Then when 10CE was out I tried it out again! If you were determined you could install knoppix and compile the kernel under knoppix. Just getting a working kernel (unpatched) isn't that hard. If you get a preconfigured .confure then its just a make ; make modules_install; make_install (hopefully) personally, Id probably wait! I just downgraded to 9.2 AMD64 becuase 10 cooker was proving too much time wasting. Sure I might try a 2.6 kernel but at least I have a WORKING kernel in the meantime even if its a 2.4 one. I Look on the bright side, if I was using windows I wouldnt even have a 64bit one! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GreenBandit Posted June 3, 2004 Author Report Share Posted June 3, 2004 Knoppix 3.4 rel 17/May/2004 has failed me, even with 2.4 & 2.6 kernels on freshly formatted FAT32 partitions& so has MDK move. I can't get this system to boot reliably to any Linux that I have tried so far so the RPM kernel2.6.7 is not yet an option. I now have information overload & I am really gratefull to all that have been helping me, one day I hope I am able to help others. I'm not one of the lucky ones where X fails & Y works, so I have a lot of forum information to wade through before I hassle people for more information. I want to find a MDK patch that gets the nForce2 system going, if not I will use my 550MHz Jetway J542B system for Linux (already proved OK with MKD10CE) & use my 2000+ nForce2 system for my W98SE based Office system until MDK10.1 is released. I do look on the bright side - I will end up not using Windows - somehow ! I'll probably go quite for a while now while I digest all this new info, but I'll be watching this space in case new suggestions arrive - my email notification is enabled. B) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gowator Posted June 4, 2004 Report Share Posted June 4, 2004 It sounds like a lot of work. knoppix and mandrake kernels are quite different.... keep the live disk though. I suspect something in the bios or your REALLY REALLY unlucky .... the thing about the knoppix or live CD's is you can test in a non destructive way. do some searching, reading etc. and take a break though. Often this osrt of problem resolves itself when you look at after a weekend away. sometimes its just we overlook the obvious.... consider taking it along to a linux user group (if you have a local one) it might just be one tiny thng like the graphics card interupt or something which is handled differently in linux causing a conflict. good luck at any rate..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest GreenBanditAtWork Posted June 11, 2004 Report Share Posted June 11, 2004 I have now managed to get MDK10 Power Pack working I replaced the motherboard (ECS 741GX-M), RAM (different brand of PC2100) and processor (Duron 1.3GHz). Not an elegant technical solution, but it worked! One day I will get back to retrying the nForce2 mobo, but probably not until the weather gets colder. Many thanks to all those that offered help. :D One day I WILL understand. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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