Bug#511177: Lenny - "Unable to install the selected kernel"
Package: Install base system
Boot method: CD
Image version: http://cdimage.debian.org/cdimage/daily-
builds/daily/arch-latest/i386/iso-cd/debian-testing-i386-netinst.iso
07-Jan-2009
Date: 07-Jan-2009 and approx. 15:00 EST USA
Machine:
Abit KT7A-RAID mobo
Athlon 1.2GHz T-bird
512MB RAM
VIA Apollo KT133A chipset
HighPoint HPT370 RAID chipset
ATi Radeon VE (7000)
Generic 105 key PS/2 keyboard
Logitech LX3 USB mouse connect through a PS/2 adapter
Maxtor 20GB HD
Teac CD burner
Ethernet card
Sound Blaster sound card
4 USB ports
Hanns-G LCD monitor
The parallel port and 1 serial port have been disabled.
It is a very basic, no-frills system.
Partitions:
PRIMARY PARTITIONS:
Partition 1: FAT 125MB MSDOS
Partition 2: FAT32 1.47GB Windows 98
Partition 3: EXT3 203MB /boot
EXTENDED PARTITION:
Partition 4: FAT32 1.17GB
Partition 5: FAT32 352MB
Partition 6: FAT32 400MB
Partition 7: FAT32 996MB
Partition 8: FAT32 7MB
Partition 9: FAT32 1.07GB
Partition 10: FAT32 753MB
Partition 11: FAT32 996MB
Partition 12: EXT3 5.76GB /home
Partition 13: EXT3 4.87GB /root
Partition 14: Swap Area 996MB
Output of lspci -knn (or lspci -nn): Don't know what this is and
Debian will not install to get it.
Base System Installation Checklist:
[O] = OK, [E] = Error (please elaborate below), [ ] = didn't try it
Initial boot: [O]
Detect network card: [O]
Configure network: [O]
Detect CD: [O]
Load installer modules: [O]
Detect hard drives: [O]
Partition hard drives: [O]
Install base system: [E]
Clock/timezone setup: [O]
User/password setup: [O]
Install tasks: [ ]
Install boot loader: [E]
Overall install: [ ]
Comments/Problems:
I've tried multiple times to install Lenny on my computer that ran
Etch just fine. Each time I try to install Lenny (starting a year ago),
during the install process the error "Unable to install the selected
kernel" pops up during the "Configuring linux-image-2.6.26-1-486"
process. This also happens when I try installing linux-image-2.6-
486. These are the only two kernel images offered.
Etch r2 to r5 always offered the 686 kernel. This Lenny installation
CD does contain the 686 kernels but only offers the 486 kernels.
In terminal 4, the log shows:
"mkinitramfs-kpkg failed to create initrd image
Failed to create initrd image
dpkg: error processing linux-image-2.6.26-1-486 (--nfigure)
subprocess post-installtion script returned error xit status 9
E: Sub-process /usr/bin/dpkg returned error code 1
For my latest install attempt of Lenny, I selected "None" at the
kernel prompt thinking I could install the correct kernel later.
However, GRUB failed to install. I install GRUB in the /boot partition
because I use another boot loader (System Commander) that
resides in the MBR and detects GRUB in /boot. What I got from
terminal 4 was: "main-menu[1205]: (process:3101): sed:
/target/etc/kernel-img.cf: No such file or directory."
The other problem I found with both Etch r5 and Lenny installers is
that they do not correctly identify the hard drive partition numbers
during the "Partition hard drives:" phase beyond partitions 1 and 2.
The partitioner sees partition 3 as #4, partition 4 as #5, partition 5
as #6 and so on. When I installed GRUB for Etch r5, I had to
designate "/dev/hde4" to install it into partition 3 (/boot), which
should be "/dev/hde3". Etch r2 showed the correct partition
numbers.
I'm fairly new to Debian and Linux in general. I'm glad to help make
Debian better but I have not yet learned the fancy stuff, like
checking MD5s, and have forgotten much of what I learned 7
months after I accidentally trashed my Etch install. As such, I kind
of starting over. I know Etch installs and runs just fine but I don't
know what else to offer to get Lenny to install cleanly.
Reply to: