8.04.1 Server crashes on install -- WTF?

[netboy541]

Hello.......

I have a IBM eserver xseries 330 2U
dual p3, 2 gig of ram, scsi hard drives.

I currently have pure debian etch running on it, and I need to nuke it and install Ubuntu Server. I run kubuntu on every workstation in my house and ubuntu server on all my servers. For the life of me, I cannot get this box to install ubuntu.

I downloaded the ISO, checksum matches. Burned the CD, popped it in the server. It boots, and acts fine until........

it detects the cd rom - that goes by incredibly quick
reads the contents, in alphabetical order
then dies on "loading additional components" on the file "binutils-static-udev"
It makes it to 2% and then dies.

It says it can't read the cd-rom.

It does this on the server and alternate cds.


It boots 7.04 fine, RedHat 9, Fedora Core 8, and a bizillion other distros I have lying around, so it's not the drive.

I verified the CD against the ISO on a seperate linux box, and it matches, so I don't know what the problem could be, other than I need to pass a switch to the kernel, or it's a <gasp> bug! I've wasted about 6 hours of my life so far on this, and I'd love to get it working like it should. It's not supposed to be this hard, or aggravating!



Any help would be appreciated!

[windependence]

Is your CDROM a SCSI device?

-Tim

[netboy541]

no, it's an ide device.

[windependence]

Well that shoots that theory. :( I have seen this before and it's not always a CDROM problem even though it seems like it is. It's usually some other hardware problem, but almost always hardware nonetheless. Sorry I can't give you any more direction on this. I would start with RAM first. Maybe swap it out with some other brand and see what happens.

-Tim

[netboy541]

i just don't understand it. it runs debian perfectly fine, it just locks up during the cd-rom check. then it tells me the cd-rom isn't there, and won't retry. it's enough to make me want to scream... lol

Does ubuntu have a way to install over the internet? i was reading and i don't wanna get into all that pxe stuff, and the ibm won't boot from a usb stick....

[windependence]

I'm thinking you could copy the ISO to your deb install and mount it, and then try an install from that.

-Tim

[Dangerousdave26]

Is your CDROM a SCSI device?

-Tim

windependence I have a Poweredge 2500 and the CDRom is a SCSI device (even though the motherboard says IDE on it) The BIOS reads it as SCSI ID 6.

What it your therory on this problem it is doing the same thing on this server?

[windependence]

Well I have seen a few SCSI controllers behave funny when installing some OSs, that's all. It's rare, but sometimes just installing an IDE or SATA CD drive will fix the problem. I thought maybe he had this issue.

-Tim

[Dangerousdave26]

I think that is the case here.

Unfortunatly there is no SATA or standard IDE connections on the MB.

I will have to figure out another work around.

[windependence]

You could stick a cheap controller card in if you have PCI slots. Even SATA controllers are getting pretty cheap now and IDE is very cheap.

-Tim

[netboy541]

here's one that will blow your mind.

i set up a VMWare session, using the SAME EXACT CD,on the same exact box, and it installed just fine.


beats the hell out of me... i'm tooootaaallly stumped on this one....

[windependence]

Well the CD you are using in VMware is an emulated device. Ubuntu doesn't see your real CD, only the virtual one, which is usually a pretty plain vanilla device.

-Tim