FC5 Installer (Graphical) Hangs

krstcs · #1 4th June 2006, 10:57 PM

Hi all,

I am not new to Linux, but I don't work with it much, so my ability to troubleshoot is limited. Hoping some of you can help.

Trying to convert to Linux from WinXP Pro. XP works fine on my system, btw.

OK, here is the problem:

When I try to install FC5, I get through the first 3 questions about location and language, but on the next screen the system hangs and there are some graphical gliches noted. Actually, it looks more like the wrong character set is being accessed, even though I have selected US-English, etc. It doens't look like a hardware issue, but I have tried Ubuntu 6 as well, and it locks during attemps to mount the root filesystem, for those who are familiar.

PC:
Pentium 4 3.0Ghz (before the renumbering by intel)
1.0 GB PC 3200 RAM
2X SATA 100GB drives - NO RAID
ASUS P4P800 SE MB w/onboard sound and 10/100 Lan
ATI Radeon 9600 (256 MB)
ATAPI DVD
ATAPI CD-R/RW
SB16 Soundcard (additional to MB card)

Thanks,
krstcs

krstcs · #2 4th June 2006, 11:01 PM

Sorry, should have included, ISOs were fine and CDs burned fine.

krstcs

***bob*** · #3 4th June 2006, 11:08 PM

How about your partitions? Did you use Partition Magic or some other program (not XP, 'cause that won't work)? If that's okay and your confident there are no problems, try a text install and see if it's related to the graphics. Your 'media check' was okay too, right?

krstcs · #4 4th June 2006, 11:25 PM

Actually, I have one drive with XP still on it. The other, I deleted the NTFS partition, so there shouldn't be a partition on it. Do I need to use something else to make sure (like PM) ?

As for media check, let me try that one more time to make sure...

Thx,
krstcs

***bob*** · #5 4th June 2006, 11:33 PM

I take it you did 'fdisk & format' on the drive? It might still be reading as ntfs - try this: http://www.perfectdrivers.com/howto/fdisk-format.html As long as you're at it, why not try to set up your drives this way? http://www.fedorajim.homelinux.com/ The nice thing there is that Windows stays intact on it's drive and FC stays complete on it's own drive - no overwriting the mbr. Not the biggest deal in the world, of course, but it keeps things neat.

krstcs · #6 5th June 2006, 12:04 AM

Actually, I just deleted the partition from the disk manager in XP. I did not re-format since every other time I have installed Linux, it has re-partitioned itself.

OK, now the weird stuff. When I boot to the FC CD and try to enter "linux mediacheck" at the "boot:" prompt, it attempts to do an install instead. Appears that this happens no matter what I select for options. Could this be the burn? The CD appears to be OK, but I can't check the media from the cd itself, only from XP (I know, this just shows the files, and I sure don't know all of them).

So, is this a media thing then? I tried to re-burn my Ubuntu at 8X instead of 52X, just in case that was it's issue, but it still doesn't work either. I want to use FC, but at this point, anything to prove Linux will run...

Anything else I burn on the CD burner is just fine. I have never had a problem with it, even at 52X.

Thx for the help,
krstcs

***bob*** · #7 5th June 2006, 12:59 AM

Well, you did a sha1sum prior to the burn? And the 'media check' will come up as part of the install process. Yes, simply removing the partitions should clean the drive, but if two different distros are having problems, it may be time to check that drive on the manufacturer's site and confirm it's okay. I had a bad, brand new drive that gave me fits for a day until I checked it out and found that it was full of errors. Fortunately, these drives generally have a 3 year warranty and I soon had a free replacement.

So, if it's okay, then try a 'text install' and see if the graphics is the reason for the stall and fail. Sometimes, ATI gives linux fits. You can always get the graphics going once the install is finished by typing, as root, 'system-config-display' and then selecting your details from there.

krstcs · #8 5th June 2006, 03:54 AM

Bob, thx for the help.

My problem seems to be that the anaconda installer won't accept any of my options. It just boots into the graphical one, no matter what I type, including "linux text".

Now, I could be missing something, i.e., does it always start of in the VGA looking red/blue screens and then go into a "graphical" installer or text installer? Or should I be seeing all command-line/shell options on the text install?

Thanks again for the help. Maybe I can learn something in this...

krstcs

***bob*** · #9 5th June 2006, 04:01 AM

Well, this is from the Installation Guide: http://fedora.redhat.com/docs/fedora...ions-installer

I'm a fortunate guy that all my installations have gone well and I've never had hardware or graphics that caused major installation problems, so I haven't been to Text myself. However, if you follow the Installation Guide down through the details, you may find out some other options too.