Will Fedora Core 6 work with my new computer?

Alfred · #1 5th October 2006, 06:53 PM

I have just assembled a new computer for use as a home server; however I haven't had any luck installing any linux distros on it. FC 5 installation locks up with an unhandled exception. SuSE 10 and 10.1 refuse to install. Kubuntu 6.06 locks up in installation. The computer has a Asus M2N-MX mb with a Seagate 250GB SATA2 HD.

Is the SATA2 HD the problem? and if it is will FC6 install correctly when it is released?

alfred

ppesci · #2 5th October 2006, 07:01 PM

If you can run Kubuntu live cd, the problem can be the HD.

add "hda=noautotune" as kernel parammeter to try to solve problems with HD.

HTH

Pietro Pesci Feltri

Alfred · #3 5th October 2006, 07:34 PM

Okay, I tried that kernel parameter with FC5 but I still get a "unhandled exception" (details are too long to describe) as soon as the installation of packages starts. When I started the FC5 installation I saw the message saying that an nvdia sata driver was loaded which I guess is good.

As a test, I successfully installed Windows XP on the machine and I was able to get a Knoppix 4 live CD to run no problem.

ppesci · #4 5th October 2006, 07:48 PM

I think nvidia sata driver has no sense, but mb the text scrolls too fast.
you can try ide0=noautotune or ide1=noautotune as parammeters
When you run the live CD, can you mount HD partitions?

And how it looks? /dev/hda or /dev/hdb.
If you assebled the machine, there are another socket for the drive in the board or in cable and have you tryed to use it?

Pietro Pesci Feltri

Seve · #5 5th October 2006, 07:52 PM

Hello:
A couple of other suggestions, if you have not already done so.
See if there is a newer BIOS for your board
and
see if there is firmware update for your optical drive as well.
The SATA2 drive really shouldn't cause you an issue as far as I am aware.
At least, it hasn't here.
Seve

Alfred · #6 5th October 2006, 11:24 PM

Seve, I confirmed that the motherboard (Asus M2N-MX) and optical drive (LG GDR-8164B) already have the latest bios and firmware. Windows XP installed fine.

ppesci, There is only one HD in the machine. Ergo it is /dev/hda. I have tried the kernel params "ide0=noautotune" and "hda=noautotune" but I still get an unhandled exception. My Knoppix 4 Live CD worked but I don't know how to mount the hard-drive once in it. There are four SATA ports on the mb, but I doubt changing them will make any difference, given that the hd works in WinXP.

I'm stumped. Even the Kbuntu 6.06 Live CD hangs before it starts (must be rebooted by CTRL-ALT-DEL). Any more suggestions?

Seve · #7 5th October 2006, 11:31 PM

Hello:
It could be the kernel 2054 which was the default with FC5 ?
You could try downloading the first iso of FC6T3 and see if the behaviour is different.

Seve

ppesci · #8 6th October 2006, 12:34 AM

What seve says is one alternative but:

Your case is not usual. You said you assembled your machine. I think you must check jumpers in your HD to verify is a master HD, and the connections in the cable and mother board.

Use Kubuntu 6.06 for fast check to changes you made in the hardware.

Pietro Pesci Feltri

jcliburn · #9 6th October 2006, 02:16 AM

The poster has said he has only a SATA drive installed, so any suggestions of jumpers or ide kernel parameters won't help.

Alfred, you're going to have a hard time installing FC5 on the machine, because the kernel is too old and probably won't recognize your SATA controller. I'd recommend FC6T3, but the installer is broken and won't create a proper initrd. You can make your own initrd if you're so inclined. See https://bugzilla.redhat.com/bugzilla....cgi?id=206453 .

An FC6 prerelease version was announced a few days ago, and it allegedly fixes the installer mess that afflicted T3, but it was (and still may be) only available via bittorrent. See here: https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedo.../msg00915.html

Basically, you need a 2.6.18 kernel. Try FC6pre or roll your own initrd for FC6T3 or wait for FC6 general availability.

Alfred · #10 6th October 2006, 05:40 AM

Thanks. I hope it is as simple as that. I will try and wait for the final release of FC6. It must be only about a week away. The need for a 2.6.18 kernel sounds logical as a number of distributions with a 2.6.16 kernel have failed to install (Kbuntu 6.06, Suse Linux 10, Suse Linux 10.1, and Fedora Core 5).

steve941 · #11 6th October 2006, 07:15 AM

thats wierd .. FC5 somewhat worked on my M2N-E .. I think you have to do acpi=off or something like that

.. SATA2 shouldnt be problem ..
and I definately know Nforce5 is supported in latest kernel (2.6.18) but it may lack super full support and may require no acpi or something .. but it should work.

Knudson · #12 6th October 2006, 03:16 PM

i had similar problemùs with an asus m2n. Not too happy with these mobos. Anyway the only thing that worked was the sata controller. Anyway, if you think sata-ii it's the problem , check your hard disk: there's a jumper which enables sata-ii or sata-i mode, try the last one and see if you have problems.

On the mobo i mentioned before, i had to boot with acpi=off or disable cpuspeed.

I'm keeping a list of the mobos that works out of the box with linux, i think i should start a wiki some day ^^'

steve941 · #13 6th October 2006, 04:24 PM

i don't know
the motherboard are some of the issue -- eg like i needed a bios update to use FC5
but ultimately the kernel need to have drivers which takes time on new hardware becuase the drivers have to be devolped.

Alfred · #14 6th October 2006, 05:41 PM

I just tried installing FC5 again with "acpi=off" and no joy. Same unhandled exception in anaconda occurs. I suspect that the exception details would help diagnose the problem but I have no way of saving the data to a USB drive (the machine does not have a floppy). Does anyone know how to do this?

jcliburn · #15 7th October 2006, 01:23 AM

Do you have a null modem cable? If so, you can connect another machine via the serial port (Windows or Linux) and fire up hyperterminal (win) or minicom (linux) to capture the console output.