Install hangs at "configuring hardware"

[don-bothell]

After burning 5 CD's for both 10.10 and 10.04 which checked OK but though the install seemed
to complete on some occasions (some showed an error, but no diagnostic) the restart would
stop on a blank screen.

I gave up and asked for a disc by mail. I was sent a 10.10 and after several tries on both
hard drives the install always hangs (stopped for hours) at "configuring hardware".

I have been able to re-install my Ubuntu 7.10 from its original downloaded install disk and
everything seems fully functional. Would like to upgrade but how do I proceed ??

System: AMD Athlon 64 AMIBIOS 8.00.09 1800MHz ASUS K8N-E board One GB ram

[dino99]

you might install by adding either: nomodeset, nolapic; noapic, noacpi, irqpoll on the boot line (F6 if i remember)

noacpi often do the job

[sikander3786]

As mentioned by dino99, adding some boot parameter might help.

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/LiveCDBootOptions

7.10 is no longer supported so I wouldn't advise to install it.

The black screen problem with 10.04 could have been fixed by nomodeset parameter also.

Does the Live session itself run properly? Are you sure there isn't actually any problem with the hardware itself?

[don-bothell]

As mentioned by dino99, adding some boot parameter might help.

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/LiveCDBootOptions

7.10 is no longer supported so I wouldn't advise to install it.

The black screen problem with 10.04 could have been fixed by nomodeset parameter also.

Does the Live session itself run properly? Are you sure there isn't actually any problem with the hardware itself?

7.10 is working fine but I do not want to stay with a non-supported platform.
The live session for 10.10 is what I am using to send this - even though the
hardware test program under systems says my keyboard does not work !!

How are boot parameters added ?
I suspect the ASUS drivers need updating but cannot find them anywhere on the web, though
they do offer lots of help for windows users.

You ask about hardware problems ? when in 7.10 there seem to be none. But the live session
10.10 has no sound output and reports incorrectly that the keyboard is non-functional.

[sikander3786]

10.10 has no sound output and reports incorrectly that the keyboard is non-functional.

If you are having those problems from the Live CD, they will continue to appear after a complete install. You will need to look for some workarounds regarding your hardware on the forums/web. Or give 10.04 a try.

You can add boot parameters by pressing F6 at the Try Ubuntu/Install Ubuntu page. See the page I linked in my above post for an explanation.

Edit:

the restart would stop on a blank screen.

If you got were able to install 10.04 successfully. And if all your hardware was working, we can solve that problem much easier than the one's with 10.10. In my opinion, if 10.04 works, it would be better to install that. You just need to add nomodeset and then install the graphics drivers for you card. Blank screen problem should go away by that.

[don-bothell]

If you are having those problems from the Live CD, they will continue to appear after a complete install. You will need to look for some workarounds regarding your hardware on the forums/web. Or give 10.04 a try.

You can add boot parameters by pressing F6 at the Try Ubuntu/Install Ubuntu page. See the page I linked in my above post for an explanation.

Edit:

If you got were able to install 10.04 successfully. And if all your hardware was working, we can solve that problem much easier than the one's with 10.10. In my opinion, if 10.04 works, it would be better to install that. You just need to add nomodeset and then install the graphics drivers for you card. Blank screen problem should go away by that.

I tried the nomodeset option on the install but it still hangs at "configuring hardware".
Earlier, I downloaded a CD image for 10.04 which would not install either that's why
I opted for the mailed disk hoping download issues might have been a problem - but
Iwas sent the disc for 10.10 which not only will not install but fouls up 7.10 on my
other drive, though I specifically limited the install to the non-7.10 drive. Fortunately
I have been able to re-install 7.10 but that gets tobe time consuming.

You are probably right that since 7.10, the improved Ubuntu's have left my hardware
unsupported, though I tried hard when building this computer to use generic stuff.

My searches for hardware support are so far barren. ASUS offers lots of automatic
help for their windows users but does not even mention Linux

I have opened a thread to ask for what motherboard I should change to with some
assurance that the next Ubuntu release will not leave me behind again.

[don-bothell]

I have downloaded the "alternate" version of 10.04
It gets to about 70% complete and gives a message:
Please insert disc labeled Ubuntu 10.04.1 LTS-Lucid Lynx release .......

This is the disc that I am trying to install from, and reinserting does nothing.

I checked a thread for this error and found many people with this problem,
but no resolution.

On restarting the install and trying "Fix broken system" I can get a shell and look
into all the files but I don't know what to check to heal the system ???

[sikander3786]

I have downloaded the "alternate" version of 10.04
It gets to about 70% complete and gives a message:
Please insert disc labeled Ubuntu 10.04.1 LTS-Lucid Lynx release .......

This is the disc that I am trying to install from, and reinserting does nothing.

I checked a thread for this error and found many people with this problem,
but no resolution.

On restarting the install and trying "Fix broken system" I can get a shell and look
into all the files but I don't know what to check to heal the system ???

If the installation stuck at 70%, I don't think it would be healable.

I feel it is a bug with your hardware. You can submit a bug at launchpad and let the developers track it down for you.

Instructions on submitting a bug report, post # 7 in this thread.

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1611252

[don-bothell]

If the installation stuck at 70%, I don't think it would be healable.

I feel it is a bug with your hardware. You can submit a bug at launchpad and let the developers track it down for you.

Instructions on submitting a bug report, post # 7 in this thread.

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1611252

I followed your link, then searched for Mythbuntu but found blank page for amd64.
How do I get to install in debug mode ??

[boylejv]

I had the same problem trying to install Ubuntu 10.04.1 on an old Pentium III Compaq (600 MHz), with 512 MB RAM and a 10 GB hard drive.

I would install the Live CD and select to Install and the installation would progress to 93% and stall at either "Configuring hardware ..." or "Starting PC Card services...".

I tried all of the boot parameters mentioned at various websites including acpi=off, noapic, nolapic,, etc and also tried passing the hw-detect/start_pcmcia=false option as well. None of these worked.

What I finally did get to work took 4 hours. Instead of selecting Install, I selected to Try Ubuntu and let my PC boot up (which it did every time with the Live CD). There was an Install icon on the desktop to perform the install. Rather than using the icon, I copied the command from the icon's properties and pasted it into a terminal window hoping that I would get more information on stderr. I got no messages at all that way however.

The install continued and after seeing that the terminal window was not providing any information, I put the install into the background (CTRL-Z and then bg <process id>) and closed the terminal window.

The install proceeded again until 93% and stopped at "Configuring hardware..." In an attempt to see what might be happening, I reopened a terminal window and ran "ps -ef" to see what processes were running. The processes were changing and this showed me that the install was still doing something but very slowly. Eventually though it appeared to hang with only the install.py process running.

So I decided to take a look at the Python code and I opened a file browser from the Places->Computer menu item. And low and behold, the install proceeded to "Starting PC Card services..."

Each time after that when the install seemed to hang again, I opened the file browser using Places->Computer and this seemed to work each time in making the install continue. Sometimes it did not fix it right away but if I waited until the install.py process was all that was running, it seemed to work.

Needless to say, this was an onerous process. It took about 3 more hours to get through the install this way. At one point, the progress bar actually regressed from 98% back to 94%. I can't explain that at all.

It isn't just waiting for a slow install to finish. I ran it once overnight and it was still stuck at "Starting PC Card services..." 7 hours later. It seems that some interaction with the computer like opening a file browser wakes up something and the install proceeds again. Perhaps the second IDE drive I have is going into hibernation or something and the file browser wakes it up. This is just speculation.

I hope this sheds some light on the install problem for someone who knows the process in detail. Why would starting the file browser make a difference? Perhaps then we could get to the root cause(s) of the problem and others wouldn't have to do this 3 hour manual process.