Minimal Install CD shell arbitrarily crashing

mtangy · n00b Joined: 08 Dec 2016 Posts: 10

Whenever I attempt to install via the x86 minimal install CD on my old 32-bit Lenovo T60 laptop the install crashes anywhere from a minute to 30 minutes after starting. The installation typically makes it past the boot option/kernal selection screen but usually freezes on the boot sequence after running the gentoo boot command. The installation will sometimes make it to the main shell and then freeze while i'm trying to configure my network interfaces. I burned a number of new copies of the disc thinking maybe it was corrupted or scratched with no luck. I also tried running the installation with out a frame buffer and that seemed to help a bit but still crashes after 20mins or so. Has anybody else had this issue? Would it be better to use a flash drive instead of CD? Any input would be much appreciated. thanks

Hu · Administrator Joined: 06 Mar 2007 Posts: 21709

Please explain what you mean by the install crashes. Does the machine hang? Does it spontaneously reboot? Does it remain up, but the display become blank? Do specific processes die, but the machine as a whole remains up? If processes die, what does the machine print when they die?

NeddySeagoon · Posted: Tue Dec 13, 2016 2:21 pm Post subject:

mtangy,

That sounds like a hardware issue. Run memtest and tell us the results.
If its not on the liveCD, use SystemRescueCD.
That's easy to put on a USB stick too.

Its Gentoo based, so it justworks for installing from.
_________________
Regards,

NeddySeagoon

Computer users fall into two groups:-
those that do backups
those that have never had a hard drive fail.

mtangy · n00b Joined: 08 Dec 2016 Posts: 10

NeddySeagoon · Posted: Wed Dec 14, 2016 3:33 pm Post subject:

mtangy,

Boot it, get back into the chroot, if you got that far, then carry on as if nothing had happened.
_________________
Regards,

NeddySeagoon

Computer users fall into two groups:-
those that do backups
those that have never had a hard drive fail.

mtangy · n00b Joined: 08 Dec 2016 Posts: 10

Roman_Gruber · Posted: Fri Jan 13, 2017 8:35 am Post subject:

i usually chroot from a binary distro, or from a binary distro live-cd.

Does it freeze with a live-cd, like linux-mint, knoppix, sysrescue-cd?

Notebooks needs a lot of love. e.g. i regularly clean the fans, apply new thermal paste for the cpu / gpu. clean the screen and the keyboard, connectors.

You should rule out a hardware defect in the first place.
Than you should rule out some bios bug, maybe your box needs some special parameters.
those ibm boxes are common ones, check what other guys needed on the net to use gnu linux on them. special boot parameters for example!

--

you can chroot from anything that boots up and is the correct architecture => x86 for x86; amd64 for amd64.

cwr · Veteran Joined: 17 Dec 2005 Posts: 1969

I'd reseat the memory sticks as the first thing; they are easy to get at,
under the palm rest. Gentoo runs without problems on Thnkpad T60/61s.

Will