Troubles Installing

English Install/Boot/Login
1

Hello,

I have not seen this one in the posts or searching the web.

I have a computer that I am trying to install suse 11.0 DVD using a USB drive.

During boot the suse splash screen comes up with the choices like “Boot from Hard Disk”, “Installation”, etc.

But a black text box pops up on the upper left of the screen covering some of the options.

It is like the IBM ASCII with three boxes arranged as two columns and a box accross the bottom.

The upper left column says “data” with some numbers and stuff, the right column says “prog” with some hex numbers and accross the bottom are more numbers.

I can choose installation and I end up in a text screen with “boot:” and a flashing cursor in the upper left corner.

If I type “linux” it starts to load linux with the progressing dots and then reboots.

I have used this same hardware to load many other systems such as Ubuntu, Debian, WinXP etc…

Why is it that suse is the only one that will not work?

2

There is a HowTo here:
SuSE install from USB drive - openSUSE

3

If I understand this how to I need to have suse already installed so that I can install suse?

This is my situation. This machine is dual boot and has WinXP and a linux distro.

In the past, that distro has been Ubuntu, Debian and others. Presently it has a new version of Fedora.

All this software has been installed using the same USB DVD drive.

Now, I would like to replace Fedora with Suse.

4

Does this also happen if you choose the “Text” option from the resolution F key?

It actually sounds like defective media. It would not seem to have anything to do with your wanting to install to the USB drive; the kernel isn’t even loading, so that drive isn’t involved yet. It’s very important to first do the md5sum check on the iso and secondarily the 'media check" (which is different) from the DVD menu.

5

It seems that regardless of what the first key you press it causes the circular flowery thingy to show at the end of the highlighted choice which is “Boot from Hard Disk”.

Then the second key, regardless of which one you press, takes me to the fulll screen text mode I described below.

I have been able to boot this CD from another computer so I do not think it is the media and I can install other OS’s using the same hardware.

6

It is always a matter of the combination of a particular burn plus a particular piece of media plus a particular drive. Please just do the “media check” from the menu. If that doesn’t work, this DVD has a problem.

7

My problem is that I cannot get past the second entry (Installation) as it then goes to the full screen text mode so I don’t think I can do a disk scan?

8

I forgot to mention, I did not burn the disk. It is a disk from my Linux Magazine.

9

A little more detail.

As I indicated after the second key press I end up in a full screen text mode that shows “boot:” so I type linux return.

It will say “Loading linux” with dots showing progress then it say’s “Loading initrd” showing some dots then they slow down and finnally it reboots?

I am going to borrow the camera from my work so I can take a picture of the screen.

10

Oops! Maybe this is why the others worked, and this one doesn’t. I don’t know exactly what is on that media or how it was prepared. Another user had a similar magazine disk which also had Ubuntu and other software on it, and it behaved strangely.

If you can get a few screenshots we might be able to guess the problem. I don’t suppose downloading/burning the DVD is an option?

11

Well this is annoying, I can’t figure out how to attach a jpg.

I have read “How do I attach a file to a post?” in the FAQ area but cannot find the ‘Manage Attachments’ button.

I am not sure how to get to the main ‘New Post’ or ‘New Thread’ page but I know I did not select the ‘Quick Reply’ button?

I see “Post Icons”, “Trackback”, “Additional Options” but where the heck is “Manage Attachments”?

12

Help!

Under “Posting Rules” it says “You may not post attachments”

I don’t see anything in the FAQ that explains this?

So how do I post a jpg of what my computer is doing?

13

You really need to upload it to a service like ImageShack

Use the url that it gives you and the in the forum post, use the advanced editing and the Insert Link button.

14

](http://g.imageshack.us/thpix.php)http://img151.imageshack.us/img151/641/susenc4.th.jpghttp://img151.imageshack.us/images/thpix.gif

Thank you for your help posting this. You can see the box in the upper left corner covering some of the options menu.

Some more info:

I took the DVD to work and did a media check and all is OK, then I verified it would boot properly and proceed normally so I don’t think it is bad media?

Then, I borrowed another external DVD drive and plugged it into the same machine and I got the same problem so I think I can rule out the USB DVD drive?

That leaves something in the CPU hardware that causes this problem?

I cannot believe that other people have not had this issue.

Is there a way to jump right into a shell and run in text mode?

Thank you.

15

hold Shift on the keyboard when booting the installation media. This starts the text-mode boot menu instead

16

I took the DVD to work and did a media check and all is OK, then I verified it would boot properly and proceed normally so I don’t think it is bad media?

That is a reasonable conclusion.

Then, I borrowed another external DVD drive and plugged it into the same machine and I got the same problem so I think I can rule out the USB DVD drive?

That leaves something in the CPU hardware that causes this problem?

Rule out the USB connection only if you have successfully booted from another CD or DVD. So if you installed Ubuntu or Fedora this same way, then the hardware is working - or more precisely, the software on those DVD’s was able to interface with the bios USB controller (which is different than the USB drivers the OS later loads).

Generally speaking, it does appear that the software on the DVD is struggling with something in your hardware. You get strange behavior on the boot menu screen, which is before the kernel is even called - at that point, the boot loader is the only code loaded. Then the kernel cannot access the graphics device framebuffer, and then it reaches a hard stop on the hardware probe.

Try doing this. Boot from the DVD. At the menu, press the Escape key. You should get a pop-up informing that you are going into text mode; choose OK. You will then get the “boot:” prompt as you did before. Now type this at the prompt:

edd=off acpi=off apm=off nolapic vga=0x303

And hit Enter. You should see the text and dots as you did before, and then the text should appear differently, a more clean, compressed, readable look. That may take you through to the installation. Follow the scrolling carefully; if it hangs, before it reboots you may see what it was trying to do when it hung.

If none of that works, do you still have another linux installed? Or a Live-CD of any sort? Anything bootable. What I’m looking for is a way to determine the primary hardware components. In linux from the command line, this does that:

lspci

In particular, we’ll see the exact chipset, controllers, and graphics device. From there we may find there is an issue with a component, requiring a specific “cheat code” for the kernel (e.g., like the edd above). Often when one distro boots and another does not, it is because the former has something already built into the kernel that the latter requires to be manually specified.

I cannot believe that other people have not had this issue.

I seem to recall something similar on these forums to the strange screen-within-screen in the corner you saw, but the problem was handled by @oldcpu, one of the mods. He has seen a wide range of installation issues. I suggest that you send him a PM asking to take a look at this problem.

Is there a way to jump right into a shell and run in text mode?

You already have. When you typed “linux” at the “boot” text prompt and then saw “linuxrc” and the dots … that was the installation kernel loading into RAM. You said that the machine then rebooted itself - meaning that the kernel encountered a fatal hardware error.

17

I failed to mention above that the “lspci” command must be run as root.

18

I went to the text mode and typed linux with the switches you provided but it did not seem to help.
Here are the results of the lspci command:

00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation 82852/82855 GM/GME/PM/GMV Processor to I/O Controller (rev 02)
00:00.1 System peripheral: Intel Corporation 82852/82855 GM/GME/PM/GMV Processor to I/O Controller (rev 02)
00:00.3 System peripheral: Intel Corporation 82852/82855 GM/GME/PM/GMV Processor to I/O Controller (rev 02)
00:01.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82852/82855 GM/GME/PM/GMV Processor to AGP Controller (rev 02)
00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation 82852/855GM Integrated Graphics Device (rev 02)
00:02.1 Display controller: Intel Corporation 82852/855GM Integrated Graphics Device (rev 02)
00:1d.0 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801DB/DBL/DBM (ICH4/ICH4-L/ICH4-M) USB UHCI Controller #1 (rev 02)
00:1d.1 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801DB/DBL/DBM (ICH4/ICH4-L/ICH4-M) USB UHCI Controller #2 (rev 02)
00:1d.2 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801DB/DBL/DBM (ICH4/ICH4-L/ICH4-M) USB UHCI Controller #3 (rev 02)
00:1d.7 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801DB/DBM (ICH4/ICH4-M) USB2 EHCI Controller (rev 02)
00:1e.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801 PCI Bridge (rev 82)
00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation 82801DB/DBL (ICH4/ICH4-L) LPC Interface Bridge (rev 02)
00:1f.1 IDE interface: Intel Corporation 82801DB (ICH4) IDE Controller (rev 02)
00:1f.3 SMBus: Intel Corporation 82801DB/DBL/DBM (ICH4/ICH4-L/ICH4-M) SMBus Controller (rev 02)
02:08.0 Ethernet controller: Intel Corporation 82801DB PRO/100 VE (CNR) Ethernet Controller (rev 82)
19

After re-reading your reply mingus725, I am not sure if I should see text mixed in with the dots because I do not?

using this command:

linux edd=off acpi=off apm=off nolapic vga=0x303

resulted in this:](http://g.imageshack.us/thpix.php)http://img263.imageshack.us/img263/1552/bootingzl9.th.jpghttp://img263.imageshack.us/images/thpix.gif

and the display is no different then if I had simply typed linux.

The second line shows where the dots suddenly slow down.
It displays about 6 more very slowly and then it reboots.

20

The kernel is choking on its initial probe of the hardware. What is it you booted with/used to run the lspci command? It might also be helpful to know the kernel - at the command prompt do


uname -r