Alright so I wanted to try linux out so I did some research and found that ubuntu would be the best choice for a n00b. I downloaded the .iso tried installing it but I kept getting a Kernel Panic Error. I tried getting some idea whats wrong from the ubuntu forums but there isn’t allot of help there. So eventually I gave up and decided to try openSUSE next, I downloaded the correct .iso but when I tried to install it I get the same error but a little more detailed.
CPU 0: Machine Check Exception
This is not a software problem
Run through mcelog – ascii to decode and contact your hardware vendor
Kernel Panic not syncing: Machine Check
So I get the feeling that linux in general just isn’t compatible with my laptop which is a compaq, nvidia graphics, 3 gigs of ram and windows vista.
but it said that is wasnt a software problem, so isnt it the linux kernel that isnt compatible with my laptop, but if that isnt the case what would you recomend for a list of distros i should try, ive never used linux before so I need something that is relatively easy to install, and also something good…i guess?
Since you don’t have more than 3GB of RAM, you can use the 32 bit version without any noticeable difference in performance. Both Intel and AMD 64 bit procs work just as well in 32 bit mode. Except for the Intel Itanium, which is a true 64 bit only processor.
In fact, you might want to give the 32 bit version of opensuse to see if that fixes the problem.
maxiscool wrote:
> Alright I guess Ill try 32bit, yet another 700 meg download yay.
I have an HP dv2815 with a 2 GHz AMD Turion 64 X2 and 3 GB RAM. It
will run both 32- and 64-bit versions of Ubuntu and openSUSE. I expect
that any distro with a recent kernel (2.6.22+) would work.
Your machine is NOT incompatible with Linux. What I suspect is that
you have some faulty RAM. Linux and Windows use RAM very differently,
and the bad parts may not show up. You should run memtest86+ on your
machine for an extended period of time (12 hours +) to see if
something shows up. I think the Live CD has the memory test in the menu.
This is the kernel dev’s way of saying that the machine isn’t responding to the spec they expect it to. As the message points, it’s an issue with the way your vendor has implemented their hardware config. It could also be a fault with the hardware, as lwfinger alluded to. This doesn’t mean your machine can’t run linux, just that it won’t run linux necessarily out-of-the-box.
Can you post details about the actual system you’re running? Processor isn’t enough. If you post the details of the actual system, there could be other users with the same system that have found workarounds. Barring that, google is often a good resource, if you do a search for your specific system +linux. I’ve often gone that route when diagnosing linux issues.
You might also want to consider, that the live cd is not really the best installation method. Use the dvd if you can.
32bit will work fine for you and may prove less trouble to setup if you are new to linux.
caf4926 wrote:
> maxiscool;1868799 Wrote:
>> Alright I guess Ill try 32bit, yet another 700 meg download yay.
> You might also want to consider, that the live cd is not really the
> best installation method. Use the dvd if you can.
> 32bit will work fine for you and may prove less trouble to setup if you
> are new to linux.
>
>
I would second that; the live CD caused problems on my system, but I
then used a network install rather than DVD to reduce the download volume.
–
PeeGee
Asus M2V-MX SE, AMD 64X2 3800+, openSuSE 10.3 x86-64/XP Home dual boot
Asus M2NPV-VM, AMD LE1640, openSuSE 11.0 x86-64/XP Home dual boot
Alright I found this site Compaq Presario CQ50-115NR - Linux on Laptops Forum I guess other people are having trouble too with the same laptop, but nothing seems to answer my kernel panic problem the brokenmodules=ath5k in the boot options didnt work. So I guess I should memtest my ram, and then try installing with net install? or download the 4 gig dvd?
btw: 32bit live cd failed too, i didnt get a kernel panic error but the installation just stopped and by caps lock light started flashing again.
Alright my friend across the hall from my dorm, let me try and install some distro called backtrack2 and it failed too and gave me this more detailed error.
Fatal error occurred Live Data not found. Searching for BT directory. You are maybe using a unsupported boot device (eg SCSI or PCMIA CD-ROM).
Not that we want to steer you away from Suse of course. But if I had exhausted all the install options I would start seeing how some of the other top distros respond
you might also consider
fedora
mepis
pclinux
linuxmint
maxiscool wrote:
>
> btw: 32bit live cd failed too, i didnt get a kernel panic error but the
> installation just stopped and by caps lock light started flashing again.
When the caps lock flashes at 1 Hz, that is a really serious kernel
panic. From what I read, you have not yet done the memory test. Have
you checked the media to see if it is correct?
I have had a devil of a time installing various new Linux distros (Ubuntu, OpenSUSE, etc) on my PC because of a new kernel bug that manifests itself when the installer polls the SATA hardware with a hard reset function. One of my DVD drives can’t respond to the reset in the expected way and as a result the installer loses its connection with the drive and can no longer locate the installation files, causing the installation to hang.
I found that installing the same software from an old PATA DVD drive worked a treat. The SATA drive still caused the installation to stall temporarily, until the hardware test gave up on the drive, but it quickly resumed and completed as expected.
Unfortunately the SATA drive still can’t be recognised at boot time, (except when I leave a CD in it, don’t ask, I don’t know why), making the boot period longer than necessary, but I still get a fully working Linux system eventually.
You could try connecting a USB DVD drive, that may bypass your problem until a bug fix arrives.
hi
i have a Compaq Presario CQ50-106ca and it works perfectly under OpenSuse 11.0.Here is the way of installing OpenSuse. Add: brokenmodules=ath5k before clicking install.once it’s installed add in:/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist blacklist ath5k.To make your Atheros card work download :madwifi-hal-0.10.5.6-r3861-20080903.tar.gz.Then in a konsole:tar -zxvf madwifi*,cd madwifi*,make,make install,modprobe ath_pci.then finish your config. with Yast.Dont forget your module is ath_pci not ath5k.hope this may help someone!