Re: Fwd: Debian Won't Install! (System Locks Up)

[Kent West <westk@acu.edu>]

Mark Seven Smith wrote:

> In the installation [of Potato], the install program that comes up is a 
> simple text-based interface, with scrolling lists and such. 
> But if I try to scroll the lists, the whole computer 
> bombs--it just locks up.  It is very strange; the keyboard 
> wont' work, the RESET switch won't work, I have to 
> power-down, and then power back up and reboot.
>
> I am booting from the CD-ROM (although I have tried making 
> floppy disks to boot from; but it didn't matter).
>
> The card is an ATI Rage 128. 
> It was suggested that I try WOODY Debian.
>
> So, I just received my CD-ROMs containing WOODY.  However, 
> I STILL CANNOT INSTALL!  What is going on?
>
> I can get through the installation process, by formatting 
> my hard drive ahead of time, and then just hitting <ENTER> 
> at each prompt.  BUT THE REAL PROBLEM COMES when I am 
> supposed to choose "modules".
>
> I cannot scroll 
> through these [choose modules] lists; in fact, I can choose the FIRST "fs" 
> above (binfmt_aout), because I don't have to scroll any 
> lists, I just have to click the down-arrow a few times to 
> get to where "fs" is, and then when I select that, 
> "binfmt_aout" is right there, and I select that, and then 
> it is fine.
>
> But when I go further down the list, the greater the 
> chances the system is going to lock up, WITHOUT WARNING.
>
> I am currently running Red Hat Linux 7.1. I can also run 
> (and have run just fine in the past:) SuSE Linux, Mandrake 
> Linux, and various other types of Linux that I've tried.  
> Also, I used to run Windows 95, 98, and 2000 on this very 
> system, with no problems.
>
> I stripped ALL of the hardware out of my computer, except 
> what was absolutely NEEDED for the install--trying to see 
> what other pieces of hardware might be causing the trouble. 
> I also changed my keyboard, twice.  I haven't tried a 
> different video card, because I cannot afford it, and 
> anyhow I am using that same video card in Linux, right now 
> (but tragically, this isn't Debian!)  I am running Red Hat 
> 7.1, <sigh!>
>
> I have an ABIT motherboard, with 256 MB of RAM, a sis-gig 
> hard drive, a 30-gig hard drive, an Intel PII 400 MHz, 300W 
> power supply, D-Link DFE-530TX ethernet card, standard 
> SoundBlaster sound card, a 56kb modem card that is not 
> being used, a generic fast CD-ROM player (56X?  I don't 
> recall), and a floppy drive.  I am using a cable modem box, 
> for Cox@home Internet connection.
>
> Does anyone have any ideas at all?  Please help!
>
> If there are alternative ways to install Debian from the 
> CD-ROM (automatic, for instance), then I would like to hear 
> about any & all alternatives; because I figure that once it 
> is installed, the problem will go away--after all, Debian 
> IS simply Linux, and I am using Linux right now!  :-)
>
> Thanks in advance,
>
> --Mark Seven Smith
> pampaluz@home.com
A couple of ideas:

Are you overclocking? Try dropping the speed a notch or two.

Any other BIOS settings that may be causing problems?

Set up a small (50 - 75MB) partition on hda1 with an MS-DOS fdisk and 
format and make it bootable to MS-DOS (or Win95 Command Prompt only). 
Either configure it to access your CD-ROM from DOS, or then boot off the 
Woody CD to the point where you can Alt-F2 to another virtual terminal 
and mount the DOS partition. Copy from the CD-ROM to that partition all 
the files you need to boot Linux from DOS and do the base install. 
This'll take 5-15MB (I don't remember exactly). You can figure out what 
files you need by checking out the HowToInstall pages at www.debian.org 
(I can give you exact references if you can't find it). Then start the 
Linux install from there (via loadlin.exe), and when the installer asks 
where you want to install the base OS from, specify the DOS partition. 
After a successful install, you can reclaim that partition for other 
uses (make it 128, 256, or 512MB and you can convert it to swap space, 
which supposedly gives you a slight speed advantage to have your swap at 
the beginning of your disk, or you can move your / partition that that 
area, etc). This may or may not work, but it should be worth trying.

If you have multiple sticks of RAM, swap them around. Shouldn't make a 
difference, but you're grasping at straws, so try it.

Your video card should be okay; still, if you can borrow a different one 
just long enough to try, that'd be good. If you have a college in the 
neighborhood, they might have a hardware shop with some old PCI card 
they'll loan you (or sell you for $3).

You can also bypass installing any modules during the install; you can 
always install them later after the base install.

Kent