8.04 install hangs

[danielpalos]

Hello,

I am trying to install Ubuntu 8.04 on an etower 766id machine with 256 meg. of ram and a 20gig hardrive. It continually hangs at around 25 to 30 percent, leading me to suspect a potential hard drive issue.

I would like to format the disk through the F6 option but don't know the syntax.

I also get one file error when checking the CD for errors, but it does not include the file name.

I changed the os in the bios to Other, instead of win95/2000 with no result that iteration.

- It would be nice to have a menu option to format a hard drive when setting up the partitions.

Any links to installation specific issues such as these would be appreciated.

[Pumalite]

Try Xubuntu Alternate CD:
http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/xubuntu/releases/8.04.1/release/
If that doesn't work; stick to a smaller distro like Puppy or DSL

[niyonk]

It is very much obvious that it hangs due to the CD error.
Checking of CD defects doesn't show what file is corrupted, I think...
The CD is just messed up, sorry!

You might want to download a new Ubuntu CD image and burn it again

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Installation for more info

[Pumalite]

You cannot boot a Live CD with 256 of RAM (maybe some eaten up by integrated graphics) unless you make a 500 MB /swap partition ahead of time.

[danielpalos]

Try Xubuntu Alternate CD:
http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/xubuntu/releases/8.04.1/release/
If that doesn't work; stick to a smaller distro like Puppy or DSL
I will try this as soon as I download it if you think I still need to. Ubuntu is working from CD, but it is very slow. and has some video issues (small squares) that can be "worked around" by selecting an area with the mouse and dragging it to cover the "square" that contrasts with the wallpaper.

I would still like to format the hard drive and create a swapfile from the F6 "command line" if someone can provide the syntax.

[danielpalos]

It is very much obvious that it hangs due to the CD error.
Checking of CD defects doesn't show what file is corrupted, I think...
The CD is just messed up, sorry!

You might want to download a new Ubuntu CD image and burn it again

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Installation for more info

I forgot to mention that this is the second disk I have installed the iso image on. Ubuntu does run from CD as stated in a prior post. I am under the impression that it may be a distribution issue, but I cannot confirm it.

[danielpalos]

You cannot boot a Live CD with 256 of RAM (maybe some eaten up by integrated graphics) unless you make a 500 MB /swap partition ahead of time.
How can I make a swap partition ahead of time? Can you provide the syntax? I would also like to format the hard drive from the F6 option during the same iteration.

[Pumalite]

What are you using? Vista or XP?

[danielpalos]

What are you using? Vista or XP?

I used to have XP (upgrade) on it. I am under the impression that there is nothing there anymore since the partition was created.

It doesn't boot from the hard drive after the "install". I get an error message stating that the is no OS.

It does work off the CD, though slow.

[danielpalos]

Can anyone provide the parameters for setting up a swapfile manual from the radio button options during the install process. I am not very familiar with linux.

I have a MKS toolkit disc, but it is collecting dust in my cd album.

Is SCSI a default nomenclature? I do not have any SCSI disks on this system, but the installation says it is installing on SCSI1 on the / (root?) on device 0,0,0.

[Pumalite]

Get Gparted Live CD and partition your drive:
http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=115843&package_id=271779
Burn the iso to disk and boot from it
Delete whatever is left in it. Then make 3 partitions:
15 GB for '/'
All less 1 GB for /home
1 GB for /swap
Then install Ubuntu, go Manual and use the prepared partitions.

[danielpalos]

I am trying an install from the desktop this time to see if it makes a difference.

The install from the desktop was unsuccessful due to an error message stating it could not read a file from the CD or to the hard drive. I know I get 1 file error on the CD, but would still like to format the hard drive to eliminate that as a concern.

[danielpalos]

Try Xubuntu Alternate CD:
http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/xubuntu/releases/8.04.1/release/
If that doesn't work; stick to a smaller distro like Puppy or DSL

I am download this file now since the second CD with the previous file did not work either.

[Pumalite]

Use this guide:
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/BurningIsoHowto
Do md5sum on iso, burn at 4x or less, do not use CD-RW

[danielpalos]

I tried to install the x os but I got a similar result. It seemed as if it installed and even displayed a "standard" desktop this time, but when I tried to boot from the hard drive, I was informed that no os was installed.

Now, I am no longer sure a format of the hard drive will solve this issue. However, that is what I haven't tried yet.

Do you still recommend I try to install this OS on this system?

I did get a clean scan of the CD, but I also still got an error message saying that a file could not be copied. At this point, a format of the hard drive couldn't hurt.

Can I run one from the F6 "command line"?

I did format the partitions with gparted.

Thanks for any advice and suggestions.

[niyonk]

There is probably something you are not doing right or something wrong with the CD burning. Why do you still get errors after you download a fresh copy of a different distro?
Check your CD Burn Speeds and do md5sum on the ISO as suggested.

Sorry about the troubles :(

[danielpalos]

I did get a clean scan of the files on the CD with the X os.

The usual error message I get has to do with an ACPI file, but it usually gets past that.

Both versions of Ubuntu run from CD. The problem is when trying run from the hard drive.

I did run a format from an XP CD from the repair console. It still won't load from the hard drive, though.

I still get an os not found type of error. I am not sure if that is due to XP formating, but i doubt it since Ubuntu should install its own boot loaders along with any partition configuration and os install. It may just be a hard drive issue. I will see if I can reinstall Windows Millennium from the the original CD.

Update on this issue. 11.07.2008.

It appears the problem was due to faulty hard drives. I had to low level format the hard drive twice to get it to work. Out of three of the systems I was working with, only one system was a clean install. It is a pretty nice operating system when it works. It would be nice if the OS supported USB more effectively. I could not get USB wireless networking to work. A PCI based solution had to be implemented instead.

Update 12-17-08

A USB hub seems to work for wireless USB applications. I installed a 4 port (usbver. 1.1) hub and then connected the wireless device to that hub. The wireless device was recognized and it worked well enough to upgrade to ver. 8.1.