About to install FC4

[guy]

I tried to install FC3 last year, and had a lot of issues (see http://forums.fedoraforum.org/forum/showthread.php?t=45207).

Here are the details of my machine-

AMD Athlon 64 3000
ASRock K8 Upgrade 64 bit (754) sis 760 GX DDR 400+ 128VGA+ 8XAGP+ SATA+ LAN+ USB 2+ 6Channel Audio
1gb DDR 400Mhz RAM
200Gb ATA/UDMA 133 Hard Drive
Dual Layer 8 Speed DVD Re-Writer
6.0 Channel Audio O/B
128Mb Graphics on board
Fujitsu Ergopro e174

Eventually I reverted to FC2, but now I'd like to try FC4- please take a look at my old thread, and let me know if you think there is likely to be similar problems with installing FC4. I realise that it's hard to say, but I'm hoping to avoid the stress that I encountered last time!

Thanks.

[GoodOmens]

Try it and see what happens ;-)

[Mat]

you seem to have had problems with your graphics card. FC4 is newer (obviously) so hardware support is better and chances are that you won't have a problem at all..

So, I'd go with GoodOmens' advice :)


Mat

[guy]

Right, I'll give it a shot once I get home from work, and I've backed up all my stuff.

As you can see by the questions I tend to post, I'm far from an expert in spite of the fact that I've been plugging away on Fedora Core for a year or two. I am but a simple internet user/cd burner, so I don't ask for that much!

[weinerdogus]

Some info on the sis 760 and linux: http://www.winischhofer.at/linuxsispart1.shtml#13

[paperdiesel]

Can you wait a bit? Wait a couple of months and put fc5 on there. There are lots of big improvements over fc4, and you won't be halfway through the support cycle already.

pd

[guy]

Too late! Left the computer on overnight to download the FC4_64 iso, burned it to a dvd, and then tried to install it.

The sha1sum numbers didn't match, but I closed the window where I downloaded the iso from, and went ahead with the installation anyway.

Bad idea! The installation didn't work, the machine wouldn't even boot back into FC2, and I've ended up at square one, having re-installed FC2.

I was ready for that to happen, so I've left the machine on again today whilst at work, downloading the iso (will check the sha1sum numbers properly this time). I've also downloaded it here at the office, and put it onto my Iriver, which I should be able to mount, if the download at home fails again.

Stay tuned for another thrilling installment!

[guy]

Also, using 512k broadband, should the file take more than 12 hours to download? It was done in an hour here at the office.

[Mat]

if the shasum doesn't match, the file wasn't downloaded properly... any attempt to install is most certainly doomed to failure



Mat

[guy]

Well, I can't disagree with you there. I think it was a combination of frustration over things not working as well as I would like under FC2, and the fact that I waited some 15 HOURS for the ISO to download, that got me to risk it all.

[txcrittr]

Guy,
I recently tried to install FC4 x86_64 on an Abit KV8 MAX3, wound up installing the 32 bit version instead. There is a bug open on that. I had a huge problem that I traced to bad memory. If you haven't already done it, get MemTest86 and run it about an hour or so to make certain your memory is good. Then go to your hard drive maker's website and get their latest diagnostics. Run it on the drive. Be CAREFUL doing that. Don't accidentally run the format tool. It would have saved me over 30 hours and several ruined CDs to have known up front that my memory was bad.

[guy]

The fun might just never end... I watched the timer count down to zero (nearly 12 hours in total) for the FC4_64 iso download when I got home, and then watched it start counting UP! Anyone else had that happen?

Having witnessed the above I was glad that I'd put the iso's (both CD & DVD versions of FC4_64) that I downloaded whilst at the office onto my Iriver. I then successfully mounted the thing (I almost felt like I knew what I was doing, at that point), and burned them to DVD's using CDwriter, and rebooted the machine. Nothing! Nada! I tested the FC2 CD's that I paid for, and they started the boot process fine, so I don't know what was wrong. The sha1sum figures matched, so what gives?

[txcrittr]

Are your DVD player and CD player the same unit? If you have a CD and a DVD, look in the BIOS and be sure the DVD is set to boot before the HD. If the CD and DVD are one in the same - I got no clue.

[guy]

Ok, bought an FC4 DVD off ebay, and I am happy to report that it all works rather well. I was happy to see how USB drives mount automatically, and everything looks great so far. Thanks for the words of support, folks.