Linux won't run!

wolfman

Agree with @asbokid.

- Distro's will vary, but all run off the Linux kernel, albeit maybe a slightly different version, or compiled differently
- Your hardware will easily handle Linux

I know there have been quite a few suggestions, but mine would be either Ubuntu or Linux Mint. I'd start with the latest version, so 11.04 or Mint 11.

Grab a spare usb stick, and from Windows go to:
http://www.pendrivelinux.com/creating-an-ubuntu-live-usb-from-cd/

You can create a usb stick that can boot Linux from a downloaded ".iso" image of Ubuntu or Linux Mint. From there you can run Linux, see if it freezes. You can also install it from the USB once it has loaded up.

It's also worth trying a 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Ubuntu or Linux Mint.

Linbox

Linbox wrote: »

You could of course ignore my advise as well

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

HooCanTellMee

Hi folks,
I have just read most of the posts, Linbox has me to a tee! The only thing I can get to run is Puppy, that suggests which graphics driver to use? This was with it installed on ram! Then it runs! I have now tried Ubuntu, older and new versions, Ubuntu for netbooks, Lubuntu, Suse, Fedora (also older and new versions), Mint and tried disks back to 2008! They all freeze, either during the install or soon after, start thinking I have cracked it, then mouse pointer stuck and nothing to do but switch off!
I think my difficulty has been reading magazines, they suggest the PC is more than capable of running most of the newer distros, well over the minimum spec. I get carried away with the bells and whistles! Trouble is they don't work, and then I am lost. Why can't they do what Puppy seems to do, recognize the graphics card?
asbokid,
How easy is it to find and install the drivers for the Radeon card, please remember I am not a technician, can I just download a more up to date linux that includes the driver? I could download on this machine then copy over
Hope I am not wasting your time, but I am grateful for the suggestions, even the ones I can't quite follow!
I need to get something soon, this machine has just shut itself down, think it is on its last legs! It also has an AMD CPU and is very similar in spec to the one I am trying to get to run Linux, It is running Mandriva but the other won't!
Going to have a look and see what I can find on the net.

Linbox

Glad to see that you can run some linuxes.

As you say your kit should be more than capable of running say Mint with CompizFusion to ultimate. There is something that is incompatible, or maybe faulty that XP ignores in your hardware.

I cant help with an ATI driver installation as no experience.

If your system fails to install you probably have something that linux cant handle for some reason.
Are you getting the lock up with a Live CD? I had a problem with one machine that would run Linux from a live cd but wouldn't run once installed.
If you get to the desktop (or from livecd) start a command line window and type sudo lshw>hardware.txt then copy that once completed to a flash drive and post it here. or run

fwor

As Linbox says, we still don't know whether any of the distros other than Puppy will run as LiveCDs rather than installs.

If they don't, then there are a set of easy options that can be selected with the function keys at the try/install/check disk/etc menu on a Ubuntu LiveCD. At the very least you should use F6 and try it with acpi=off, noapic, nolapic and nomodeset options selected.

If you select those options, they should be in effect both while it is running as a LiveCD and as a full install (I think, but you would need to check the kernel options that GRUB uses after the install is complete too be sure about that).

There's also the F4 option to use a driver update disc, but I'd leave that for now (not least because I don't know how you use that!).

debitcardmayhem

debitcardmayhem wrote: »

I would also try with the option for graphic mode for safe rather than normal.
For Ubuntu there is a bit here that may be worth trying https://help.ubuntu.com/community/RadeonDriver

Did this not help ?

prowla

Linbox wrote: »

You could of course ignore my advise as well

Since we appear to be in pontificating mode, could I advise you to spell "advice" correctly.;)

prowla

Would it be possible to get a (cheap) supported graphics card and put it in to the PC?

asbokid

HooCanTellMee wrote: »

How easy is it to find and install the drivers for the Radeon card, please remember I am not a technician, can I just download a more up to date linux that includes the driver?

At least with Ubuntu Linux, both of the X server drivers for the Radeon are included with the distribution. However, I wouldn't worry about video card drivers just yet..

Get a stable kernel to load first.

fwor gave some good advice up there, about kernel boot options.

At this stage, you should try all the failsafe options which disable the kernel code for hardware that is known to be problematic.

fwor wrote: »

There are a set of easy options that can be selected with the function keys at the try/install/check disk/etc menu on a Ubuntu LiveCD.

At the very least you should use F6 and try it with acpi=off, noapic, nolapic and nomodeset options selected.

I would do exactly that and report back.

If you want to make the detective work easier, then find the make and model number of the motherboard that is in the machine. It's usually reported by the BIOS but if not, the details can be found printed on the motherboard itself.

Some component on the board - e.g. the drive controller - is probably buggy or non-compliant with standards, and a workaround will be needed.

Once you have discovered the m/b make and model number, you will probably find from a google search that its issues with the Linux kernel are well known. Solutions to overcome the problem will be documented.

So..

1) try Ubuntu again with those failsafe options recommended above by fwor
2) discover the motherboard make and model number
3) google that model number w.r.t. Linux kernel problems
4) report back!
5) good luck!

asbokid

Linbox wrote: »

Are you getting the lock up with a Live CD? I had a problem with one machine that would run Linux from a live cd but wouldn't run once installed

Which would suggest there was perhaps a problem with the kernel driver for the hard drive controller....
.

If you get to the desktop (or from livecd) start a command line window and type sudo lshw>hardware.txt then copy that once completed to a flash drive and post it here. or run

That's really good advice from linbox..