8.04 will not install

[wlwaugh]

Cannot install 8.04 I am trying to install to a clean HDD in a system I just assembled. The kernel loads and then I get

Busy Box v1.1.3 (Debin 1:1.1.3-5ubuntu12)
Enter 'help' for a list of built-in commands

initramfs

If I enter help I get what is to me a lot of giberish.
This happens if I try to install or run without changing my computer or check the disk. I checked the disk on my windows machine and it was OK.

[Partyboi2]

Have you tried installing with the alternate cd?
http://releases.ubuntu.com/hardy/

[tparker]

Cannot install 8.04 I am trying to install to a clean HDD in a system I just assembled. The kernel loads and then I get

Busy Box v1.1.3 (Debin 1:1.1.3-5ubuntu12)
Enter 'help' for a list of built-in commands

initramfs

If I enter help I get what is to me a lot of giberish.
This happens if I try to install or run without changing my computer or check the disk. I checked the disk on my windows machine and it was OK.


I got the same thing. Some forum/google hunting turned up some solutions that are working for people but you may have to try more than one to see what works on your system. For me, all I needed to do was put a blank disk into my floppy drive then reboot and try the install again. It worked, I am posting this from my 45 second old Hardy install! :)

In my case it looked like the install was checking for something in the floppy drive and fell over when it couldn't find it, falling back to Busy Box in what I assume was an attempt to give the user a chance to fix the problem. For future reference, the gibberish you get when you type help is a listing of all the commands you can use in Busy Box. Busy Box is kind of a baby terminal/command line and that block of text is showing you the commands it knows for you to use, they are just smushed into a block of text instead of listed down the screen.

Other fixes I found people saying worked for their systems were:

1)go into your Bios settings (as your computer is booting, before it gets to using the install CD something on screen should tell you what button to push to enter 'Bios', 'set up', 'settings' or something similar) and find the part where it shows what kind of hard drive set up you have. If it is set to SATA and you have an option for RAID, pick that instead even if you don't have a raid. Save the settings, exit bios, and try the install again.

2)when you boot to the install CD and are at the screen where you pick whether to check out Ubuntu without installing, install, verify the CD, etc. hit the F6 key for alternate boot menu. In that there will be a line that ends in "--" (without the quotes). After the dashes add this:
pci=nomsi then contiue with the install.

I did not try either of those second methods, for me the disk in the floppy was the least hassle/invasive so I tried it first and it did the trick.

Fair warning - once my install started going there were many looooong pauses where the screen didn't tell me any information about what, if anything, was happening and I couldn't see any changes. I was sure something else had crashed, but it hadn't. Be patient, wait it out. My system finally got to a point where I had a black screen with a blueish band in the middle. After a while that changed to an orange band in the middle that was jaggedy and looked like my video was hosed. Not knowing what else to do I took the chance that orange color meant X login screen and (after checking my drive activity lights to be sure nothing was happening) I hit control-alt-backspace. Ta-da, screen flickered and returned as normal login screen.