Re: debian lenny installation on an ibook g4 keeps freezing

["Tomislav V. Butkovic" <tomislav.butkovic@gmail.com>]

Hello all,

Thank you all for the timely reply.


>Based on my experiences the freezing
>probably is because of overheating. If the CPU over heats, that is the
>main cause of freezing. Do you hear the fans kick in during
>installation or does it remain off?

It sounds likes the fans are on. The ventilation port where the hinge is is not blocked, neither is the one next to the hard drive. If it is overheating, how would I go about fixing this? 

>To me this sounds like a faulty RAM problem. Try removing any additionnal RAM module and install Debian the >usual way.

The additional RAM module is originally installed as the sticker on the ibook says: "800MHz/384MB/40GB/COMBO" - Should I still try taking it out?

It sounds like, according to amit, that the unit is overheating. I am stumped on how to go about stopping it from overheating... I would assume that since the RAM module is originally installed by apple, that it would not be a problem. Is that a safe assumption?

Thank You,

tomislav

2009/6/18 Amit Uttamchandani <amit.uttam@gmail.com>

On Thu, 18 Jun 2009 10:42:45 -0400
"Tomislav V. Butkovic" <tomislav.butkovic@gmail.com> wrote:

> Hello all,
>
> I'm installing debian lenny on an ibook g4 800mhz 360+mb ram and the
> installation process keeps freezing during various points of the
> installation during various installation attempts. Most commonly
> during the partintioning or during the installation  of the base
> system. The farthest I've gotten in the installation of the base
> system is 98% then it froze. I am not sure what the problem here is.
> It seems that the longer period of time that the machine is off, the
> farther it can go through with the installation.
>
> I got the ibook from a friend with no hard drive. I put a 160gb
> seagate hard drive in, pata. I have tried installing ubuntu,
> opensuse, and now debian. Debian is the only installer that has
> gotten this far without any other problems.
>
> Any help would be appreciated. I am new to linux, though I strongly
> support the concept of community run open source software development
> and the free distribution of information.
>
> Thank You,
>
> tomislav

Sorry to hear that you are having problems. iBooks and Powerbooks are
well supported by Linux in general. Based on my experiences the freezing
probably is because of overheating. If the CPU over heats, that is the
main cause of freezing. Do you hear the fans kick in during
installation or does it remain off?

Instead of installing the whole base system. Simply use the net-install
CD and install the most basic system. This means when you are asked to
select what kind of install you want, disable the 'Desktop System'.

Another way to test out the theory is to run the debian cd in rescue
mode and just leave it on. In this case you are not installing anything
but simply running from the CD. If this freezes still then it is most
likely the CPU overheating.

Also make sure there are no obstructions blocking the heat vents or fan
air flow.

Good luck,
Amit