I got 13.1 installed on my 1st computer. It took reloading the file on the flash drive using a special program to properly write the iso image. To see the details see the thread ‘Stuck in Grub rescue - Help’. Now, I need to install it on a notebook computer. I am trying to use the same flash drive. I have double checked that the flash drive will boot first. And then it boots to the 2nd screen of the install process where you select ‘Installation’. I am unable to make any selection. The process seems to be hung. Any suggestions on how to get this to install?
I am installing 32-bit. I don’t know about UEFI. What is UEFI? I just know that they are both HP Pavilion computers. With one being a desktop and the other being a notebook.
This is an older notebook. It’s BIOS is KE.M1.45 by Phoenix Technologies. There is no floppy setting in the bios and I don’t believe the computer is wireless. Any way I have always had to plug it into a router to access the internet. To double check that it was not the flash drive, I made a new one. It still hangs at the same point. Because of the age of the notebook, it’s processor (Intel Celeron 1.6GHz x86 Family 15 Model 2 Stepping 7), and lack of Ram (1 GB), I chose to install the 32 bit system.
Any other suggestions as to what I could try? I am all ears!!
> x86 Family 15 Model 2 Stepping 7), and lack of Ram (1 GB), I chose to
> install the 32 bit system.
Are you using the live gnome/KDE image? Try the full DVD instead, needs
less memory.
Or, if memory is the problem, the alternative is using another Linux
live (I suggest puppy) to create at least a swap partition in the hard
disk. Then boot again the openSUSE install media, and after booting but
before doing anything else, switch to a text console and activate that
swap partition.
I had to do that on an old laptop of mine, with 500 MiB RAM.
1 GB should be sufficient. I installed it with less and without swap (768 MB) in VMs successfully more than once.
Could you describe the problem in more detail maybe?
F.e. how does it hang, can you still move the mouse, what screen do you mean exactly?
Maybe post a picture.
PS: as I still think it might be related to a missing floppy drive (the notebook doesn’t have one, right?), try to type “brokenmodules=floppy” at the boot menu, where it allows you to select “Boot from Harddisk” or “Installation”.
The processor and RAM should be adequate. I installed openSUSE 13.1 KDE 32-bit on a ThinkPad T23. Its processor is Intel(R) Pentium(R) III Mobile CPU 1133MHz, and it has 1 GB RAM. I installed using the full 32-bit installation DVD.
When the installation gets to the second screen, is there no response to the up arrow, down arrow, or tab keys? Does the mouse pointer work? If you a using the laptop’s internal pointing device, try connecting an external mouse.
@crmhrm - There is no response to any key not the arrow keys, not the page up and page down keys, and not the touch pad. I tried your suggestion of using a external mouse, but I only have a usb mouse and the bios asked for a ps/2 mouse. Tried it anyway, didn’t work.
@wolfi323 - There is no floppy drive. I tried to put an image of the screen I am stuck on but it did not work. It is the screen that lists Boot from Hard Disk, Installation, Rescue System, etc. You cannot type anything on the boot menu page both because the keyboard does not work and because there is nowhere for anything to be typed.
@robin_listas - I am using the dvd image on a flash drive. I had this problem on both my desktop computer and the notebook which changing to the flash drive solved on the desktop computer. I have not tried your suggestion of using [FONT=microsoft sans serif]puppy to create a swap partition yet, but I will if I have to. I really need to get this notebook operating.
@wolfi323 - An external keyboard does not work. Again all I have is a USB one and that is not recognized
@Fraser_Bell - I started out with the dvd drive and could not get even this far. It would not load at all. Just gave me a blank screen. Using the flash drive has done the best to date.
> It is the screen that lists
> Boot from Hard Disk, Installation, Rescue System, etc. You cannot type
> anything on the boot menu page both because the keyboard does not work
> and because there is nowhere for anything to be typed.
Well, yes, you can type, but the big problem is that your keyboard does
not work. That’s the main problem, then, the rest is irrelevant for the
moment.
> @robin_listas - I am using the dvd image on a flash drive. I had this
> problem on both my desktop computer and the notebook which changing to
> the flash drive solved on the desktop computer. I have not tried your
> suggestion of using puppy to create a swap partition yet,
> but I will if I have to. I really need to get this notebook operating.
OK the keyboard never worked ie at the first menu it is not seen or can you make a selection then it freezes?
If it is looking for a nonexistent floppy it will appear to freeze while it is looking. Note reports are that it will eventually timeout but may take 10 or 15 min. The real solution is to go into the BIOS and tell the BIOS there is no floppy.
The problem is the the BIOS says there is one and the kernel believes the BIOS so goes looking and looking and looking…
Having said that, I encountered the floppy search hang a couple of times with previous openSUSE versions, but it was always further into the installation procedure, when it was looking at drive and partition configuration. Still, some search delay could be happening at the installation screen.
Does the optical drive really read DVDs? Many notebooks from that era were CD only. There is a network installation image that fits on a CD.
@crmrhm - You are right it is a Pavilion xt118. I had not notice the t before in the number. That helps. In reading through the BIOS, there is nothing that speciffically says floppy drive, but there is a selection in the Boot Loader that is for Removable Devices. I have it last in the boot order. This computer has a PC Card Slot. I do not have a PC Card for it. It has a QSI CDRW/DVD SBW-241 Drive. So it supposedly does read DVDs.
@gogalthorp - The keyboard never worked. I am never able to make a selection.
@Fraser_Bell - “[FONT=arial]try booting with the live DVD into a live session of openSUSE, see what happens then” By this do you mean to take the live dvd and boot into my other computer that I have openSUSE on already? I am in the process of making a Puppy Linux Cd to see what happens
No. The Live DVD should run as a live session off the DVD, does not need openSUSE installed on the machine. Try booting the problem computer with that and see if you have the same keyboard problem.
If that doesn’t work, then try the Puppy CD.
Basically, at this point, I am just trying to see if the machine just boots with either of these operating systems, before looking at how to solve the install problem.