Live CD won't boot

[Maligogo]

I downloaded an iso file from knoppix.org mirrors and I burned it as an image. Then I changed my boot order to:

1. Floppy
2. CD
3. Hard Drive

The thing is, the CD spins up when my computer restarts, but the CD won't boot. Instead, the XP load screen comes up. The CD works since the FAQ showed up, but it's not booting it at all when I restart my computer. I have a Dell Dimension 4600 with 256MB RAM and XP Home

[Harry Kuhman]

I downloaded an iso file from knoppix.org mirrors and I burned it as an image. .... The CD works since the FAQ showed up, ....
It sounds like the CD was made properly, but something is clearly wrong. Did you confirm that the download was not corrupt by checking the md5 sum? Downloads from the mirrors are often bad, I estimate that about half the downloads I got were corrupt before I started using Bittorrent rather than the mirrors. If the md5 sum is good then you might try using SBM (http://btmgr.webframe.org/) to boot the CD, on that chance that it's a BIOS issue. In this case I would start by making a SBM floppy until I knew if that were the issue or not, and if it turns out that you do need to use SBM than I would go back and install it to the hard disk MBR and not have to fool with a floppy (or you could install XOSL (http://www2.arnes.si/~fkomar/xosl.org/) to the hard disk for a cleaner and more powerful boot manager, but I would start with a SBM floppy before doing either hard disk install).

[Maligogo]

Uhh, that sounds complicated. I don't know what would be wrong with the BIOS, the computer only a year old. Also, what do you mean by "check the md5 sum"?

[Harry Kuhman]

Uhh, that sounds complicated......
It's far far less complicated than actually using Linux. It may look complicated until you actually do it, but the website give good details and it is actually quite clear and easy, just follow the instructions. The hardest part may be selecting which installer to download, since they offer several (including one for apple, I think). But look and think, it should be easy, you likely want the one for MS systems.


..... Also, what do you mean by "check the md5 sum"?
Well, I think we have the souce of the problem right here. See the documentation link at the top of this page and then read the downloading faq. If you need more details after that, search knoppix.net by the search feature at the top of the page for md5 and you'll get plenty of discussion of it, (http://www.google.com/custom?domains=www.knoppix.net&q=md5&sitesearch=www.knoppix.net&sa=Search&client=pub-3822347126027973&forid=1&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&cof=GALT%3A%23E9382F%3BGL%3A1%3BDIV%3A%23CCCCCC%3B VLC%3A7E3939%3BAH%3Acenter%3BBGC%3AFFFFFF%3BLBGC%3 AFF3333%3BALC%3AE9382F%3BLC%3AE9382F%3BT%3A000000% 3BGFNT%3A7E3939%3BGIMP%3A7E3939%3BFORID%3A1%3B&hl=en) or even search the web with Google and you'll learn a lot.

[pureone]

checking the md5 is rather easy. its as simple as comparing 2 words.
ftp://ftp.gwdg.de/linux/debian/debian/tools/md5sum-w32.zip
download this use it to compare the iso to the md5 on the mirrors.


when loading the computer does it say

BOOT CD FROM CDROM and then fail or does it just simply boot to windows?


try setting your bios to boot from cd first if that dont work then try make it only boot from cd.

[Maligogo]

Well, I think we have the souce of the problem right here. See the documentation link at the top of this page and then read the downloading faq. If you need more details after that, search knoppix.net by the search feature at the top of the page for md5 and you'll get plenty of discussion of it, or even search the web with Google and you'll learn a lot.
I absolutely didnt understand one word of that FAQ


BOOT CD FROM CDROM and then fail or does it just simply boot to windows?I did


EDIT: I already deleted the iso file. You know what, screw this. Nothing EVER works when I try to do it. If the files dont work, then why are they on the web to download then? I'm just gonna get rid of the CD. This is too much of a hassle

[Harry Kuhman]

I absolutely didnt understand one word of that FAQ
I find it very hard to believe that anyone who can write in English could not "understand one word of that FAQ".

Lets assume for a minute that your statement is true (maybe someone has completely changed it into a different language since the last time I looked at it). I also even gave you a link to the search on md5 because I guessed that you were not going to do the search yourself. Follow the link and read some of the other discussion on md5, it's be discussed in great detail many many many times before. I do not have the time to repeat all of this information. If you have specific questions ask them, but I doubt that anyone can read the faq or other information and just quess why you think you can't understand one word of it yourself and find words you would find more to your liking.

[Maligogo]

I was exaggerating to make a point that there are way too many technical procedures and directions that it's telling me to take and I don't really understand what to do exactly

[Harry Kuhman]

....Nothing EVER works when I try to do it. ...Many of us had problems too. The files are fine, although the distribution system may not be perfect. The Get Knoppix link suggested a far better way to get the fies before it listed the mirrors, Bittorrent, which has checking mechanism built in to make sure that the file you receive isn't corrupt. But you likely read right past that too, thinking I don't know what that is and I don't want to learn.

You have demonstraited a lot of bad choices in just this one task: Ignoring the Bittorrent link, not reading the downloading faq, insisting that you can't even understand one word of the downloading faq (which I take to mean you just don't want to think about things), ignoring links others tried to give you to help you, even deleting the iso before you got the CD to boot (and maybe even after you knew it wasn't booting). You indicate that this is not the only time you find yourself in such a situation with the "Nothing EVER works when I try to do it" statement. Perhaps you should consider if there is not something that you can change to make a difference.

[Maligogo]

Actually, I think it's my computer. 1. My friend in NC downloaded Knoppix from the same mirror and it worked on his Windows ME machine and 2. Ubuntu live didnt work either when I rebooted

[Harry Kuhman]

Actually, I think it's my computer. 1. My friend in NC downloaded Knoppix from the same mirror and it worked on his Windows ME machine and 2. Ubuntu live didnt work either when I rebooted
It could be your computer. But it still could be the download. I've seen (and documented in other threads) a problem where the combination of software used on your end and the software on the mirror together fail to do the transfer as a binary transfer the way it should be done and instead do a Linux new line to MS CR/LF translation, in the manner that should be done for a text file transfer but not a binary transfer. The md5 will catch that and any other corruption that might happen to the iso during transfer. You can speculate all day about what the problem might be, or you can do a simple md5 checksun calculation and know for certain if you have a good download or not. Ubuntu might have corrupted in the same way, or your system might indeed have a booting issue. Personally, I like to know what he problem is and then resolve it, rather than trying to fix something that might not really be the problem.


I was exaggerating to make a point that there are way too many technical procedures and directions that it's telling me to take and I don't really understand what to do exactly
That doesn't seemed to have served you well. If you had asked specific questions about things in the faq that were not clear people would have responded to help you. If the faq was really confusing we likely would have even been able to improve it based on your input (or you could have decided to make the improvements to it yourself). But when you just say that you don't understand a word of a faq when several of us have worked to see that it contains good information, it's difficult to give you more information.

[pureone]

Well, I think we have the souce of the problem right here. See the documentation link at the top of this page and then read the downloading faq. If you need more details after that, search knoppix.net by the search feature at the top of the page for md5 and you'll get plenty of discussion of it, or even search the web with Google and you'll learn a lot.
I absolutely didnt understand one word of that FAQ


BOOT CD FROM CDROM and then fail or does it just simply boot to windows?I did


EDIT: I already deleted the iso file. You know what, screw this. Nothing EVER works when I try to do it. If the files dont work, then why are they on the web to download then? I'm just gonna get rid of the CD. This is too much of a hassle

i said


when turning on the computer does it say

BOOT CD FROM CDROM ::

and then fail
or does it just simply boot to windows?
with out saying anything else.


your response "i did" doesnt make and sense for the question i asked.

can you say what is in the contents of the burned cd?

if burned correctly there should be a index.html file a autoexec.bat file and some folders and others.
if you find that in the cd then it means you burned the cd correctly.
if you did burn the cd correctly then it is a bios issue more then likly.
set your bios to boot from cd first. if that does not work then try set it to only boot from cd rom.

[Harry Kuhman]

..if you find that in the cd then it means you burned the cd correctly.
if you did burn the cd correctly then it is a bios issue more then likly....
If he finds that it does mean that he likely used the right burning command, but since he started the entire thread by saying he burnt it as an image, then he likely did use the correct burning command. But he could still have the file you mention (and all the others) but have corrupt files. I would not call that burning it correctly if he used a way to download that is known to frequently corrupt the files and not check if the file is good. It's the md5 check that will tell him that. Messing with the BIOS or SBM or any other way around it is a fools game until he does the simple test.

And yes, his response to your question that he even quoted makes one wonder and lowers expectations somewhat.