Linux Install Troubles

**him61** · September 11th, 2008, 04:09 AM

Hello everyone!

Ok, this problem has been plaguing me for a while, and I can't seem to find a solution for it. Now, I've gone through several distributions, and the same problem seems to happen durring the process of instalation. For whatever reason, when I begin the instalation, the progress bars will freeze in place in the exact same spots every single time, and nothing will happen. Now, because this has happened to 12 or so different distros that were cleanly burned, I think it may be a hardware problem... Any ideas?

**#43 fan** · September 11th, 2008, 07:08 AM

Is it during the paritioning or the actual installation?
If it is during the installation, then it could be hardware incompatibility.
Or, have you tried using a different sized partition?
What are the specs of the computer?

**him61** · September 11th, 2008, 10:53 AM

Put it this way, in Ubuntu, the CD menu would pop up, and I select Graphical Instalation. It will then load the linux kernel, and I'm guessing the installer tries to start running, but it freezes about 3 seconds after I select graphical instalation.

Asus P35 motherboard (P5K-Pro I believe), Core Quad, 4 GB RAM, HD 4870, more than enough disk space, 700W Tagan PSU, etc...

**#43 fan** · September 11th, 2008, 12:02 PM

So when the kernel is loading is the issue. My guess is the hardware has a conflict with the kernel.
You could try using Ubuntu Intrepid Ibex Alpha 5. It uses the 2.6.27 kernel, IIRC.
I'm using it on the laptop, seems to be working better than 8.04. Better hardware support.

**him61** · September 11th, 2008, 05:25 PM

That failed as well. BTW, the kernel is already loaded before any status bars are shown. Also, if this helps at all, my keyboard is powered off when this happens.

**#43 fan** · September 11th, 2008, 08:57 PM

Originally Posted by him61

That failed as well. BTW, the kernel is already loaded before any status bars are shown. Also, if this helps at all, my keyboard is powered off when this happens.

Does a live CD work? I'm leaning towards the motherboard being incompatible, but I could be wrong.
Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L and Linux - LinuxQuestions.org
That may help.

**Foggy** · September 12th, 2008, 12:22 AM

My Asus P5K Pro has a lot of issues with hardware that I can't fix. (Building computers for 15 yrs.) BIOS chip can't be flashed, book shows 3 or 4 ways all of them lock the computer and nothing short of a power down will bring it back. (rant over)

**#43 fan** · September 12th, 2008, 08:48 AM

Originally Posted by Foggy

My Asus P5K Pro has a lot of issues with hardware that I can't fix. (Building computers for 15 yrs.) BIOS chip can't be flashed, book shows 3 or 4 ways all of them lock the computer and nothing short of a power down will bring it back. (rant over)

For him61, the hardware is simply not compatible with Linux.
At least that is my suspicion.
Is this the motherboard that wasn't installing correctly before him or is it the newer build?

**him61** · September 12th, 2008, 01:01 PM

It's the newer build.

**#43 fan** · September 12th, 2008, 01:05 PM

Originally Posted by him61

It's the newer build.

Have you tried setting the SATA to AHCI? Perhaps that may solve it.

**him61** · September 13th, 2008, 12:41 AM

I did. No difference.

**#43 fan** · September 13th, 2008, 12:51 AM

It seems to be a rather large incompatibility.
I wonder if BSD would work.
Have you tried 64-bit?

**him61** · September 13th, 2008, 02:05 AM

I didnt try BSD... and yeah, I tried both 32 and 64 bit.

**#43 fan** · September 15th, 2008, 11:12 AM

Originally Posted by him61

I didnt try BSD... and yeah, I tried both 32 and 64 bit.

BSD does have a slightly different kernel, so it may work.

**him61** · September 23rd, 2008, 09:57 PM

BSD didnt work either... But I have some new info. I tried to boot up in verbose mode, and this is what was printed on the screen before it froze:

[88.015677] sd 2 : 0 : 0 : 0 : [sda] Assuming drive cache: write
[88.019302] sd 2 : 0 : 0 : 0 : [sda] Assuming drive cache: write

And that's where it locks up.