Nothing at all on minimal disc

NathanZachary · Moderator Joined: 30 Jan 2007 Posts: 2605

Hello all,

I'm trying to install Gentoo on the last of my computers, and I can't seem to get much of anything on the display. I'm using the x86 minimal installation CD and it starts up and gives me the option of loading the kernel. After that, I can't see anything. I would imagine that it has something to do with either my graphics card or monitor not being supported.

Here's the pertinent information regarding the system:

1. ASUS P4P800-E Deluxe mobo
2. Intel Pentium 4 HTT procesorr at 3.20GHz
3. BFGtech nVidia 256MB GeForce 6800GT OC graphics card
4a. Dell 2407WFP 24" LCD (hooked up via DVI connection)
4b. Both the USB keyboard and mouse are hooked up through the monitor's USB ports

If anyone has any ideas, please kindly let me know. Also, if you need further information about the system, please don't hesitate to ask.

Regards,
Zach
_________________
“Truth, like infinity, is to be forever approached but never reached.” --Jean Ayres (1972)
---avatar cropped from =AimanStudio---

John R. Graham · Posted: Wed Jul 18, 2007 1:02 am Post subject:

First, try loading the gentoo-nofb kernel. If it's a video card issue, that should solve it. Also, there are a whole list of options you can pass to the kernel in this chapter of the Handbook.

- John

NathanZachary · Moderator Joined: 30 Jan 2007 Posts: 2605

Okay then, I will try to nofb option, and then play around with some of the other options as well. I would guess it has to be something related to the minimal installation disc preconfigured kernel, considering it will load the initial screen, but won't display anything after I choose my kernel.
_________________
“Truth, like infinity, is to be forever approached but never reached.” --Jean Ayres (1972)
---avatar cropped from =AimanStudio---

John R. Graham · Posted: Wed Jul 18, 2007 1:13 am Post subject:

Well, we'll see, I guess. I think you're stating it correctly.

- John

NathanZachary · Moderator Joined: 30 Jan 2007 Posts: 2605

Hmmmmmm, I can already tell that this computer is going to be lots of fun (sarcasm ever prevalent)! After trying the gentoo-nofb kernel instead, I at least get some activity on the screen, but it stalls right after it detects and tests the processor (which it identifies as being 2 CPUs).
_________________
“Truth, like infinity, is to be forever approached but never reached.” --Jean Ayres (1972)
---avatar cropped from =AimanStudio---

magowiz · Posted: Wed Jul 18, 2007 5:21 pm Post subject:

It tells you about 2 cpus because of HTT support, I don't know if there is a way to disable HTT passing some opts to kernel but I think it should be that the problem. Infact I also have an HTT processor and if I enable HTT support into the kernel the system became instable and it stalls.
Another solution should be to disable HTT support directly from the BIOS.

NathanZachary · Moderator Joined: 30 Jan 2007 Posts: 2605

During the initial boot, it looks like it loads tries to load the kernel, but stops at:

bblount · Tux's lil' helper Joined: 08 Nov 2004 Posts: 80

Yes many people do use linux with Hyperthreading (the kernel name is Symetric Multi Processing I believe). I haven't had any problem with livecds or any of my gentoo boxes that have hyperthreading CPUs.

magowiz · Posted: Tue Aug 07, 2007 9:31 pm Post subject:

NathanZachary · Moderator Joined: 30 Jan 2007 Posts: 2605

Then are there any suggestions to get it past that screen where it says that it brought up 2 CPUs? It will just sit there forever.
_________________
“Truth, like infinity, is to be forever approached but never reached.” --Jean Ayres (1972)
---avatar cropped from =AimanStudio---

NathanZachary · Moderator Joined: 30 Jan 2007 Posts: 2605

It's been about a week, and I just wondered if anyone had an idea of what I could do. I'm really wanting to put Gentoo on my last computer, but maybe I should try another flavour for this computer. Any suggestions on getting Gentoo to work?
_________________
“Truth, like infinity, is to be forever approached but never reached.” --Jean Ayres (1972)
---avatar cropped from =AimanStudio---

AgentMat · Apprentice Joined: 03 Apr 2007 Posts: 161

Have you tried a knoppix liveCD ? It's actually a better liveCD and you can install gentoo exactly the same way than with the gentoo liveCD.

NathanZachary · Moderator Joined: 30 Jan 2007 Posts: 2605

Hmmmmm, I didn't think about that. I also didn't think about putting in the LiveCD (with the GUI) and just trying to install manually through the terminal. Are there any problems doing it that way?
_________________
“Truth, like infinity, is to be forever approached but never reached.” --Jean Ayres (1972)
---avatar cropped from =AimanStudio---

John R. Graham · Posted: Thu Aug 16, 2007 1:45 pm Post subject:

Shouldn't be. Go for it. Use the on-line handbook, though. The one on the LiveCD is oriented towards the installed method.

- John

NathanZachary · Moderator Joined: 30 Jan 2007 Posts: 2605

Cool, thanks for the advice. I've always used the minimal installation because I can't stand how the installer chooses things for you. For instance, I absolutely abhor the idea of genkernel. I'll give it a go and post back.
_________________
“Truth, like infinity, is to be forever approached but never reached.” --Jean Ayres (1972)
---avatar cropped from =AimanStudio---

NathanZachary · Moderator Joined: 30 Jan 2007 Posts: 2605

Actually, neither the Gentoo LiveCD nor Knoppix boot either.

What the hell is wrong with this setup?
_________________
“Truth, like infinity, is to be forever approached but never reached.” --Jean Ayres (1972)
---avatar cropped from =AimanStudio---

mdeininger · Posted: Fri Aug 17, 2007 11:26 am Post subject:

you could try to use a non-smp kernel to boot. isn't there one on the minimal install cd? that should get things right since iirc it should completel disable hyper-threading support, right?
or, do disable it in the bios if it lets you.
_________________
"Confident, lazy, cocky, dead." -- Felix Jongleur, Otherland

( Twitter | Blog | GitHub )

NathanZachary · Moderator Joined: 30 Jan 2007 Posts: 2605

Just to test, I tried disabling HTT in the BIOS. However, this didn't work either. It said "bringing up 1 CPU...ok," and then had one additional line, but froze there. I believe that line was about checking to see if something was initramfs...it is. Something just doesn't seem right about this situation because it isn't just Gentoo. Any other flavour I put in fails to boot as well. Any troubleshooting tips?
_________________
“Truth, like infinity, is to be forever approached but never reached.” --Jean Ayres (1972)
---avatar cropped from =AimanStudio---

mdeininger · Posted: Fri Aug 17, 2007 6:23 pm Post subject:

NathanZachary · Moderator Joined: 30 Jan 2007 Posts: 2605

The memory is fine. This box has run Window$ for years and I ran memtest86 for two full loops. I wonder what could be causing the problem. Is there anyway to find out exactly what is causing the hangup? For instance, is there documentation on what tasks are run in order from when you put the installation disc in?
_________________
“Truth, like infinity, is to be forever approached but never reached.” --Jean Ayres (1972)
---avatar cropped from =AimanStudio---

NathanZachary · Moderator Joined: 30 Jan 2007 Posts: 2605

I just noticed that I lose control of the keyboard when it locks up as well. One other interesting thing is that there is serious lag from when I hit a key on the keyboard and when it shows up on the screen. I would probably attribute that to how I have the keyboard hooked up: running to the monitor (via USB) and the the monitor's downstream USB to the computer.
_________________
“Truth, like infinity, is to be forever approached but never reached.” --Jean Ayres (1972)
---avatar cropped from =AimanStudio---

NathanZachary · Moderator Joined: 30 Jan 2007 Posts: 2605

UPDATE: I tried booting PCLinuxOS 2007, and it didn't work at first. However, when I booted it using "safeboot," it actually worked. The only things that I noticed were being passed as options were:

didymos · Posted: Sun Aug 19, 2007 4:56 am Post subject:

Sounds like the DSDT is buggy, and usually these bugs are what you'd call "Windows-compatible". It's likely that it's "acpi=off" which is allowing you to boot. This is probably what you see before it locks:

NathanZachary · Moderator Joined: 30 Jan 2007 Posts: 2605

Thanks for all the information. I updated the BIOS to 1009 and tried again. No go. Then I tried booting it with:

didymos · Posted: Sun Aug 19, 2007 8:21 am Post subject:

Then disable acpi entirely with "acpi=off".
_________________
Thomas S. Howard