Kernel nightmare on a Compaq Celeron system

MadOtis

I surely hope someone can help me out here... I'm trying to install Gentoo on a Compaq SR1010NX computer. The specs of the machine are: Intel Celeron 2.7Ghz (sse2, so P4 based), 512Mb ram, 40Gig hd, Intel on-board sound & video, Realtek on-board network.

The problem is this: I cannot get a kernel to load successfully from a Gentoo disk. I tried building the machine from the 2004.0 live cd and it reboots immediately after loading 'gentoo.igz'. No log messages, no kernel panic, just reboots. I have submitted a Gentoo bug for this(https://bugs.gentoo.org/show_bug.cgi?id=47285). I got it booted up on a Gentoo 1.4.1rc1 cd and built the system that way, but no matter what I try in the kernel settings (even tried genkernel), when grub loads the kernel, it either just spontaneously reboots, or it loads the kernel, decompresses it (I get to the 'Uncompressing Linux... Ok, booting the kernel' messge), then the entire computer locks up.

I know it's capable of running Linux, I have successfully installed Slack 9.1 on it, but since all 3 of my other machines are running Gentoo, I wanted to stay consistent with them.

In building the kernel, I've tried these options:
with and without SMP
with and without ACPI
with and without APM
cpu types of: x86/4x86/5x86/6x86, Pentium II/Celeron (pre-Coppermine), Pentium III/Celeron (Coppermine), and P4/Celeron
and as a last resort - genkernel - yech... shiver.

Anyone have any clue where I should look or try next?

Thanks in advance,
Randy

Goatking · Posted: Sat Apr 10, 2004 8:31 pm Post subject:

Look in the kernel again for your processor. If you don't have support for your processor built into the kernel, it will always reboot as soon as it starts booting. That's the only thing I can think of, hope it helps.

MadOtis · Posted: Sat Apr 10, 2004 10:13 pm Post subject:

I've double and tripple checked the CPU type. Right now it's set at 386. I figure once I get a kernel to compile and boot, I can start moving up the list.

MadOtis · Posted: Mon Apr 12, 2004 2:46 pm Post subject:

ok, if anyone is interested, here is what I did to get this machine working:

I installed Slackware on the machine with just enough support to be able to view the kernel configuration. I wrote down EVERY SETTING (which to forever) that the kernel used. I then re-installed Gentoo and set up the kernel based on settings that were set in the Slackware kernel. Viola! It finally booted. Since just about everything in the world was enabled and built into the kernel, it's huge and slow. So, now I have the task of stripping out all the junk I have no need for, but, I have a working Gentoo system finally.

I still can't seem to get the 2004.0 CD to boot in this machine though.