Unable to boot after install - old hardware

English Install/Boot/Login
1

I had installed 11.4 x32 on an older pc (year 2000, ha). On reboot I receive the error: Error Loading Operating System

the Specs of the PC are:
P3 1ghz CPU
Aopen AX34 Mainboard w/ Via VT82C686A chipset
ATI Radeon 7000 series 64MB AGP video
384MB RAM
60GB 7200 RPM HDD (as Master on 1st IDE plug on Primary IDE controller)
50x CDROM (Primary Slave - used to boot 11.4)
DVDROM (2ndary Master - will not boot from)
8x/4x CDRW (2ndary Slave - will not boot from)

When booting into the LiveCD, it does work, but is it sloooooow. haha. I did install through the Live desktop, even though I only had 384MB RAM. Is it possible that this could have caused any issues with the config and setup while installing?

I have generated a Hardware Info profile and posted it: (sorry its in 4 parts, SUSEpaste didnt accept the full file. Each file is 2000 lines, the last being less.) These can be viewed at:

SUSE Paste - Part 1
SUSE Paste - part 2
SUSE Paste - Part 3
SUSE Paste - Part 4

If I reboot into the LiveCD textmode, I can see the HDD. output of fdisk -l


Disk /dev/sda: 60.0 FB, 60022480896 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 7297 cylindes, total 117231408
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal) 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x6ae724d4

   Device Boot        Start            End        Blocks    ID  System
/dev/sda1              2048        1204223        601088    82  Linux swap / Solaris
/dev/sda2           1204224       43151359      20973568    83  Linux
/dev/sda3          43151360      117229567      37039104    83  Linux

I am able to mount /dev/sda2 and navigate my way to /mnt/disk2/boot/grub and view menu.lst


# Modified by YaST2. Last modification on Wed Jun 6 05:59:37 MDT 2012
# THIS FILE WILL BE PARTIALLY OVERWRITTEN by perl-Bootloader
# Configure custom boot parameters for updated kernels in /etc/sysconfig/bootloader

default 0
timeout 8
gfxmenu (hd0,1)/boot/message
##YaST - activate

###Don't change this comment - YaST2 identifier: Original name: linux###
title openSUSE 11.4
    root (hd0,1)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz root=/dev/disk/by-id/ata-st360021A_3HROKL94-part2 resume='dev'disk'by-id/ata-st360021A_3HROKL94-part1 splash=silent quiet showopts vga=0x31a
    initrd /boot/initrd

###Don't change this comment - YaST identifier: Original name: floppy###
title Floppy
    rootnoverify (fd0)
    chainloader +1

###Don't change this comment - Yast2 identifier: Original name: failsafe###
title Failsafe - openSUSE 11.4
    root (hd0,1)
    kernel /boot/vmlinuz root=/dev/disk/by-id/ata-st360021A_3HROKL94-part2 showopts apm=off noresume nosmp maxcpus=0 edd=off powersaved=off nohz=off highres=off processor.max_cstate=1 nomodeset x11failsafe vga=0x31a
    initrd /boot/initrd

I do recognize the /dev/disk/by-id references, from while I was learning how to mount the drive and looking through the /dev/ folders.

I also went looking into the logs and boot.log is empty, and I had looked through several of the other logs but did not see any obvious errors or warnings. But I am also unsure what I should be looking for.

Does anyone have any ideas what I can do to get this old fart to boot?

2

You don’t have any active partition. Unless you installed Grub into MBR, nothing can boot.

Boot from live CD, open a terminal and type:

su -l
/sbin/sfdisk -A2 /dev/sda
3

348 is to small for a full modern GUI.

Try a lighter distro on this haedware like puppy or D.A.M.N Small Linux

4

Thank you please_try_again, I’ll give this a shot in a moment and share the results back here.

Gogalthorp, I agree. Though my goal for this machine is to setup a small local web server to learn on. I plan on setting to to boot rulevel 3. I chose to keep with OpenSUSE so I dont confuse myself learning how another distro does things. In your opinion, is this still too little to run the OS on, or is that more for the desktop UI?

Thank you for the suggestions.

5

Well as a no GUI one it is probably fine. You might try lxde or another light foot print GUI if you must have a GUI.

6

Ive logged in as root and run the command /sbin/sfdisk -A2 /dev/sda

The prompt returned Done and I checked with /fdisk -l again. I can now see that /dev/sda2 has a * under the Boot column.

I rebooted and received the same error: Error Loading Operating System

I booted the LiveCD textmode again and check the output of fdsik -l. There is still a * under the Boot column for /dev/sda2.

7

Yes, the partition will remain active and there is nothing wrong with it. I’ll suggest installing Grub into MBR from the live CD (although in this case, the bootflag becomes irrelevant). See how here: http://forums.opensuse.org/english/get-technical-help-here/how-faq-forums/unreviewed-how-faq/429971-re-install-grub-quickly-parted-magic.html. You don’t need Parted Magic. It can be done from the live CD. Try this first. If it doesn’t help but Grub is loading, probably the installed kernel doesn’t include the driver which would allow it to access your hard disk. You should find out which driver is used in the live system:

# lsmod | grep ata

Mount your root partition and see if this driver is included in the installed kernel


$ su -l
# mount /dev/sda2 /mnt
# lsinitrd /mnt/boot/initrd | grep ata

Also check the modules listed in /etc/sysconfig/kernel

# grep INITRD_MODULES /mnt/etc/sysconfig/kernel

Add it if it’s missing and rebuild initrd.

But this is just one possible explanation, and I guess that many systems would boot with ata_generic (even slower). Thus I’m not totally sure it’s the problem.

8

I agree
Or
Bodhilinux.com

9

On 06/07/2012 01:56 AM, Wandering Voice wrote:
>
> my goal for this machine is to setup a
> small local web server to learn on. I plan on setting to to boot rulevel
> 3.

while i agree with the others here who have already suggested you use a
system more suited for an old, underpowered (for today’s systems)
machine, if you must stick with openSUSE then use the DVD to install a
server type system…

to do that, on the install page where you can select either KDE, Gnome
or other desktop environment [see slide under paragraph 5, named
“Desktop Selection” at
http://doc.opensuse.org/documentation/html/openSUSE/opensuse-startup/art.osuse.installquick.html#sec.osuse.installquick],
instead of selecting a desktop, check the “Other” and then … hmmmmm
… i don’t recall what the options are, but one should be something
like text only…and, then when you get to the point in the install
where the page looks like that under paragraph number 9, click on the
“Software Selection” section and be sure to include the Server pattern…

but, if you must have a desktop to set up your eventually run level 3
server you are gonna have to select something much lighter than openSUSE
12.1 with KDE or Gnome…

ymmv

–
dd

10

Sorry to have dropped off this thread. It’s been a stressful few days. I’ve started a new job, spilled coffee on my netbook, and have had some other hardware issues.

As I’m now back on my desktop, I’ve decided to utilize its unused resources. I’ve decided to stop messing with the ancient hardware for now and explore setting up virtual machines for what I want. I figure this would be a good opportunity to do as suggested and try out the lighter weight distros mentioned.

Thanks everyone for their replies. I’ve taken notes of commands and info for future troubleshooting, should I need it.

11

caf4926 wrote:

> I agree
> Or

Is anyone else using nntp getting timeout errors on some posts here (@dd and pta)
Same in other places in the forum too?

12

caf4926 wrote:
> caf4926 wrote:
>
>> I agree
>> Or
>
> Is anyone else using nntp getting timeout errors on some posts here (@dd and pta)
> Same in other places in the forum too?

This post seems like a complete non sequitur?

But in answer to your question, my answer is yes sometimes.

Occasionally I click on a new message and see a timeout warning.
Then I click on some other message, click again on the new message and
all is well. I’m using an old TB and the effect is only a very minor
inconvenience so I haven’t bothered trying to investigate what happens.

Cheers, Dave

13

This is random
I posted this weeks ago
And it arrives today!

14

caf4926 wrote:
> This is random
> I posted this weeks ago
> And it arrives today!

I believe the Italian postal service used to have that as a delivery
option? :slight_smile: