Kernel Panic booting Knoppix 3.8.1/4.02 on Pentium II system

[robertch]

Hi,

I have an old Pentium II system running Windows 98. I'm trying to boot up into Knoppix on it. I have a 3.8.1 disc I burned a year ago which I have used in many other systems (I'm going to download and burn the latest to give that a go as well).

When I boot with no cheat codes, it loads the kernel then gets as far as the screen where Tux appears then there is an error message which disappears too quickly for me to read and the machine reboots.

I tried the mem=128M code which produced the same result.

I tried failsafe which produced a kernel panic:

Kernel Panic - not syncing: Fatal Exception in interrupt
Call stack:
update_process_times
timer_interrupt
handle_IRQ_event
__do_IRQ
do_IRQ
common_interrupt
default_idle
default_idle
cpu_idle
start_kernel


My machine details:

Intel Pentium II 266
128 MB RAM
Intel i440 motherboard
ATI rage II AGP graphics
Yamaha OPL3 sound
Realtek RT8139 NIC

Any other details needed?

Thanks

Rob

[robertch]

Tried 4.02 - gets to Tux, then screen blanks and machine reboots. It's a Viglen desktop by the way, with an Award BIOS.

Tried using the 'workaround for broken bios' cheat code, but had no effect.

[robertch]

The PC is a Viglen Contender II - specs are still available online:
Your system Specifications:
CONT 2/266 DESKTOP


1.44M FLOPPY DISK DRIVE
2.5GB IDE HARD DISK
2x INTERNAL IDE CD DRIVE
3COM 3C905 10/100 PCI
ADDONICS 16BIT+WAVETABLE
ATi 3D Charger 4MB AGP gr
ATX v2.01 COMPLIANT PSU
CONT 2/266 DESKTOP
CONT ATX DESKTOP W/FP
Envy 15DS 15 FST Monitor
GENIE & CONT. SUNDRIES
INTEL PENTIUM II 266/512
MB RAM
Microsoft PS/2
Microsoft Windows '95 CD
VIG 67M MOTHERBOARD

Some of the components have been changed - HD, NIC etc, but the rest is original.

I updated to the latest bios - still doing the same, got a different kernel panic.

[nad]

All I can suggest is that you continue trying different boot parameters, especially the pci, acpi and apic arguments. Many of these older propreitary machines can be tricky. For a list of available boot arguments, see:

http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/text/BootPrompt-HOWTO

[robertch]

Tried what I think is a good number of permutations of cheat codes, including failsafe, expert and debug as well as the pci, acpi and apic options on/off etc. I've also tried changing the BIOS settings in a number of areas.

Every live CD I've tried (including OpenBSD!) has failed just after the kernel loads.

I'll keep trying but am thinking I might need to find a new mobo.

[nad]

Maybe try reseating or swapping out the ram chip(s).

[Harry Kuhman]

Maybe try reseating or swapping out the ram chip(s).
Actually, it would be far better to just type in memtest at the Knoppix boot prompt than to do the above. It could be a memory issue, but I don't think that is very likely.

[robertch]

Memtest86 completed 1 pass with no errors.

I tried booting with "failsafe debug -b 3" but that either reboots after loading the kernel or stops with an Ooops- fatal exception in interrupt.

[nad]

I've had systems with hardware conflicts that just couldn't be resolved.

As a matter of fact, I have one server I installed about about a year ago that I had to turn off all USB support in the bios because it conflicted with ACPI functions that I could not turn off. This was a then current motherboard from AOpen. I attribute the problem to a buggy bios and/or firmware from a low end manufacturer and will not use their products any more.

To expect that all hardware will comply 100% with all standards is preposterous. The pressure on a manufacturer to keep up with the Jones' as it were will invariably result in some non-working implementations.

The only thing that open source coders can do is try to comply with known existing standards and implementations and note necessary workarounds and problems. The number of and closed source nature of most BIOSs and firmware will prevent some problems from being solved.

Additionally, older hardware is not targeted for new support precisely because of the need to move forward. Another similar issue: I recently fought to install debian to an old delledge server. The rebranded percraid card installed in the system required the use of an old driver in order to function. Research showed that the original manufacturer was no longer in business and the new owner had dropped support. This is not the end of the story however, as these servers are now being replaced with newer machines in corporate centers and they are being given second lives, the new owner of the technology has recently begun to support the older harware on GNU/Linux platforms, albeit with a properly named driver, megaraid_legacy.

[robertch]

Hi Nad,

I'm not expecting anything, just doing what it suggests on the Knoppix FAQ - report booting problems in this forum after trying certain cheat codes.

I agree it is an uphill struggle to get old proprietary hardware to boot linux.

Cheers for your help,