free edition will not first boot for first timer

[ianw1974]

I'll have to take a look into how we can combat the udev errors that is stopping your boot process.

 

EDIT:

 

something I found quickly, see if it's any difference by adding this to the end of your kernel line:

 

load_modules=off

 

I'm hoping this is generic for Linux, and not where I read it on the Arch wiki. It should stop udev automatically loading modules. So let us know if any different.

[johnwillyums]

Hi Ian, have tried the following-

 

1)Deleted kernel line back to hda5- added noapic load_modules=off

result-

Give root password for maintenance (or type Control-D to continue)

I tried to type but could not.

 

2)Deleted kernel line back to hda5- added noapic nolapic load_modules=off

result-

udevd-event[1672]:run_program:'/sbin/pam/_console_apply' abnormal exit

 

3)deleted kernel line back to hda5-added noapic nolapic acpi=off load_modules=off

result-

udevd-event[1672]:run_program:'/sbin/pam/_console_apply' abnormal exit

 

Attempts 2) and 3) achieved the same result.

 

Is this of any help? Am I getting any nearer to achieving a result?

 

Thanks for your support, John Williams :wall:

[Guest blin]

Try disabling ACPI in your motherboard's bios. This is a known issue that sometimes is solved by the "linux noacpi" suggestion, but other times seems to require the bios setting. I've had a number of machines where bios ACPI needed to be disabled to complete an install (especially to SATA), but after install, would work fine with ACPI re-enabled in bios.

 

If possible, try downloading the live CD Mandriva One iso, Gnome or Kde, and burn it from your windows install.

This is the easiest way to test whether it's your hardware or your install, and handy to have around for recovery.

[johnwillyums]

Thanks for your input Blin.

How do I disable ACPI in my BIOS?

Will certainly download the live cd. Should I then try a fresh install with it?

Thanks again, John Williams

[ianw1974]

Depends on your BIOS, but you can go into the BIOS with the DEL key, or whatever the key sequence is. If it's a branded PC (Dell, HP, Compaq, etc), then it might be difficult to disable it.

 

Try not deleting anything from the kernel line, and just add the commands and see if it helps any better. You should now have to add this:

 

noapic nolapic acpi=off load_modules=off

 

and not just one command.

[johnwillyums]

Hi Ian, that got me a lot further in the boot process than previously.

I added the four commands as you suggested, so the full line read-

 

kernel(hd0,4)boot/vmlinuz BOOT IMAGE=Linux root=/dev/hda5 resume=/dev/hda6 splash=silent vga=788 noapic nolapic acpi=off load_modules=off

 

This got me back to the blue screen and the progress bar moved nearly halfway across before stalling and I got a semi transparent text overlay finishing with this-

 

<6>bootsplash:status on console 0 changed to on

[FAILED]

 

***An error occurred during the system check

***Dropping you to a shell; the system will resume

***when you leave the shell

Give root password for maintenance

(or type Control-D to continue:_

 

The word FAILED was in red. Needless to say I tried typing but could not.

 

When I saw the progress bar moving across I thought it was really going to work this time, it's only moved a few centimetres previously.

 

Does this help? What do you suggest I try next?

Thanks again for your help, John Williams

[ianw1974]

When you see the progress bar moving, can you press the ESC key, so we can see what is going on behind it. That way, we might get another error or two on how to go further.

 

Also download and try the Live CD as suggested, and we can see if it will actually work or not. But also, in the meantime we'll continue troubleshooting.

[johnwillyums]

Hi Ian, just tried the live cd and that fails too.

I got the orange screen and the bar gets about 2/3 of the way across before stopping.

I tried again in verbose mode and got lots of text, loads of oks but then it stalled at this-

 

EIP:[<c011637b>] smp_apic_timer_interrupt+0x2b/0x70 SS:ESP 0068:f540dc24

 

So it's something to do with apic again. Does this mean that my hardware cannot run Linux?

 

I do hope not as I really want this to work, cheers, John Williams

 

PS. during the boot from my dvd install if I press esc once the progress bar is moving nothing happens.

[johnwillyums]

Hello again. As you suggested I have tried to boot my dvd install several more times in text mode, with the 4 extra commands added to the kernel line. These are the results

 

1) EIP:[<019b75b> ste_page_address+0x15b/0x170 SS:ESP 0068:f768fe08

<7>eth0:no IPv6 routers present

 

2)Second time was different again, after several pages it stopped on a page with about 20 lines of red text as follows-

 

SMP

Modules linked in:sg sd_mod cpufreq_conservative intel_agp agpgart usb storage scsi_mod ehci hcd uhci_hcd usbcore fsdev evdev ext3 jbd

 

then came several lines including-

CPU:0

Stack...

Call trace...

This included-

<c0103ccb>error_code+0x4f/0x54 <c01bdd3c> copy_strings_kernel+0x2c/0x40

 

There followed several lines of code beginning 8b 55 e8 and so on

The red text ended with-

EIP:[<c01bdc2f>] copy_ strings+0x13f/0x220 SS:ESP 0068:c1b41e5c

 

After that was the message in black text about dropping to shell and typing Control-D to continue.

 

3) The third time was a repeat of the first, no red text and what seemed to be the same code (8b 55 e8 etc) followed by the same message-

<7>eth0:no IPv6 routers present

 

Could it be my router? It is a BT Voyager 240 ADSL Router and is connected to my pc by ethernet cable.

 

Appreciate your help, John Williams

[johnwillyums]

This is driving me nuts. I just tried again and got a similar result but different code- beginning 89 1d a8 b8 etc. I could copy this out if you think it necessary but it's certainly different from the last time.

 

The line beginning EIP was the same except for the final number. this was-0068:f7a91e08 (previously 0068:f768fe08)

 

This was followed by the same message as before-

<7>eth0:no IPv6 routers present

 

So I'm stuck and beginning to think these problems are insurmountable.

What do you think?, John Williams

[arctic]

(Whoah... long read.) Give it one last attempt but unplug all devices (!) that are not really needed, like printers, card readers, routers, etc. If it hangs again, then I guess that your hardware is not (yet) compatible with Linux. It takes a bit of time to write drivers for the various hardware components. Not everything is supported immediately (sadly). You could try another distro/live-CD however that has a newer kernel, like Ubuntu or Knoppix or Sidux.

[johnwillyums]

Thanks for your reply Arctic. Can't see much point in unplugging stuff. After all I need my router to get online. Also none of my stuff is exotic- a BT router, Canon i9950 printer etc. It's all about 2 years old.

You mention trying another distro. Is there really any point?

Mandriva free 2007 Spring has kernel 2.6.17.

I have a free dvd of Xandros desktop 4 with kernel 2.6.18.

Should I try that? It doesn't look as good as Mandriva. Or would knoppix be even newer?

Also should I just try another distro or do I need to get rid of Mandriva. Currently it has half my c drive.

I have downloaded a copy of GParted live cd but am unsure how to use it. At the very least I'd like to get my system back to the way it was before.

This has been a big disappointment so far for me but thank you all for your help.

John Williams

[johnwillyums]

Hi. I've downloaded Wubi latest release- Wubi-7.04-test.exe.

Should I try running this or do I need to remove Mandriva ? If so how?

thanks, John Williams

[arctic]

First of all, when giving a live-CD a try, you do not need to uninstall Mandriva. Use live-CDs first in order to check for hardware compatibility. If one of them actually boots you to a desktop, then I encourage you to install that distro. When you go for the installation process, you do not need to uninstall Mandriva, but simply reformat the partition where you installed Mandriva (every distro should have a partitioning tool) and continue with the installation process.

 

Sidux might be a good choice for testing if a newer kernel will solve the problem you encounter. It uses kernel 2.6.20.1 (info: http://distrowatch.com/table.php?distribution=sidux )

[ianw1974]

I'm using Ubuntu 7.04 on one of my machines and it comes with a 2.6.20 kernel. So whilst Mandriva has a 2.6.17 kernel, this might be the source of your problems. Unless you try something else, you'll never know if your machine will work with Linux or not.

 

Ubuntu 7.04 is damn up-to-date, even like using Debian Sid as I know, as I had that just before, and a lot of the software is the same version in Ubuntu. Just doesn't break as easily as it can in Debian Sid. Debian Etch however, is rock solid.