System reboots trying to load LiveCD kernel [Solved]

[Mekoryuk]

I don't think this is Gentoo-specifc either, as I've tried Debian, Slackware, etc.

I've been tasked at my University to set up a computer for CCD use in an observatory. I was given several computers with the goal of cobbling together the best parts from each of them. I've ended up with: Two 30GB hard drives (one WD, one Maxtor), one nVidia TNT2 64MB AGP card, one 3Com 10/100 ethernet card, a Pentium 3 1GHz processor, 384MB of CAS3 PC-133 SD-RAM, one floppy drive, one internal Zip-100 drive, and an internal HP CD-Writer Plus 8x4x32. The motherboard is unknown, but appears to have a VIA chipset (VIA VT82C694X).

The machine turns on, and appears to run great. All BIOS settings are correct as far as my knowledge goes. The system detects all RAM and drives properly.

However, it won't boot Linux. It will load the kernel from the CD-ROM, but seconds later as the kernel does its thing, the machine reboots (it appears to get as far as recognizing the drives as hda, hdb, etc., but it scrolls by so fast, and reboots before I can really read anything). I've tried a number of things to see if I could uncover the problem, but nothing is working. At first I thought it might be faulty RAM, so I ran memtest86 for a few hours, and it returned no errors. Still not trusting the RAM (since I had used modules of differing brands and sizes), I tested each RAM module individually, and no module brought about any differing behavior. Then I thought it might be the CD-RW drive, since I've recalled that I've had trouble with booting from CD-RW drives in the past. I swapped the HP out for a regular CD-ROM drive, but the results were the same. Then I tried unplugging all the drives except for the CD-ROM, thinking that maybe some quirky set-up was causing the kernel to goof. No go.

Searching around on the Internet isn't turning up anything useful, and the signal/noise ratio is horrid (use "reboot" in a search, and nothing comes up but dual-boot how-tos). So as my last resort, I finally decided to post here. What is causing this system to reboot?

[NeddySeagoon]

Mekoryuk,

It sounds like the kernel you have is for another (later) CPU. The symptoms you describe match what happens when the CPU is presented with an instruction it cannot execute.
It gets an illegal instruction exception and starts to reboot.

If its going wrong in the hardware detect (it sounds like it does not get that far) try the various no<options>.
e.g. noscsi noapic nofb. The boot message tells you how to view them.

Your VIA VT82C694X is a South Bridge chip, so you probably do have a VIA board of sorts.
I'm surprised to find it in a P3 motherboard though.

How do you set the front side bus speed?
Many P2 motherbaords (which will also accept a P3) have jumpers for 66MHz up to 100MHz, however very few ever worked at 100MHz, since 100MHz P2s were the end of the line. Your P3 will expect 100MHz front side bus. Set it to 66MHz and try again. You may well be overclocking the motherboard and not know it.

Another thing to check is the Vcore power supply capacitors on the montherboard. (Tubular Devices with plastic sleeving and metal tops) They must not have domed tops or be leaking onto the motherboard. If they are faulty like this, Vcore will go out of limits and the CPU will not operate properly. They can be replaced but do the whole set, not just those thjat have already failed.
_________________
Regards,

NeddySeagoon

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

[Mekoryuk]

Well, bugger. Thanks for pointing out the capacitor thing. Now that I look more closely, those things are bulging an abnormal amount, and one is slightly crusty at the top. Guess it's a trip to the electronics shop for me.