When booting - receive 'Input not supported'

[Hummingbird]

I have a Knoppix CD V5.1.1 which I used very successfully on my previous computer. I am now trying to use it on my new computer.
When trying to boot up, all seems to be going well as the multicoloured steps appear, until suddenly I get a moving 'Input not supported' message.
In my efforts to find an answer within the forum I found a contributor who had had the same trouble and came back with the information that to write "knoppix xmodule=fbdev" in the first boot screen would solve the problem.
So I tried this and EUREKA it worked.
However my troubles were not entirely over. Yes it did boot up but the only drive identified on my desktop was a floppy drive - no sign of my C: or D: drive that I need to work on.
In the knowing Knoppix beginners guide, using 'Window Maker' seemed a good idea but putting 'knoppix desktop=wmaker' at the boot prompt produced the 'Input not supported' response.
Any light you can throw on this problem will be most gratefully received.
P.S. I am only a beginner at this so please treat me gently.

Regards Hummingbird

[johnrw]

Hi,
Just so you know... you can add cheatcodes like so... knoppix desktop=wmaker xmodule=fbdev
But it sounds like you are using an older knoppix with a new computer. Not a good combination. If you can burn a dvd, I would suggest getting the latest knoppix. That would be 5.3.1 but don't let the similar number mislead. It's barely 2 weeks old, and that would be the best chance you have with a new computer.

You can choose the best way to get a new knoppix here... http://www.knoppix.net/get.php and I would say be sure to get the 5.3.1 EN version. Then you or someone else who may know about such things... burn a new dvd. I would recommend to burn it at 2.4x or even slower... just not at the MAX or AUTO setting that is usually the default in dvd burner programs to make sure no errors are made.

The "input not supported" floating on your screen is where the autodetection is not quite right for your new hardware. It generally happens if you try and use a higher resolution than your monitor can handle. Without knowing what hardware you have... and seeing the hard disks do not show up... I'd try the new one.

If you want to try and get 5.1.1 working... a few questions...

1. Do you have internet when you boot 5.1.1 on the new machine? You can boot the cd with
knoppix 2 and then type
ping google.comto see. Then type reboot or poweroff.

2. What model is the new pc?

[Hummingbird]

Firstly thanks for your help and understanding johnrw.
As I was unsure of how to comply with the last half of your reply I decided to download Knoppix V5.3.1 as you suggested, it seemed the best option.
This I did and now I have the following:-
KNOPPIX_V5.3.1DVD-2008-03-26-EN.iso
.iso.md5
.iso.md5.asc
.iso.sha1
.iso.sha1.asc
knoppix-cheatcodes.txt
Delighted with these I burned them to disk and tried booting. Regrettably my PC did not identify it as a boot disk and I went straight into Windows. (I do have BIOS set to DVD 1st).
On checking my earlier V5.1.1 disk, it contains 5 folders (books/ boot/KNOPPIX/qemu-0.8.2/and software) in addition to files:-
autorun.bat
autorun.inf
autorun
cdrom.ico
index.html.
This old copy to my inexperienced eyes does look like a bootable disk. But have you any ideas how my new one can be made to be bootable? Perhaps I have made a silly error or missed the point entirely

[Harry Kuhman]

...Delighted with these I burned them to disk and tried booting. Regrettably my PC did not...
Please see answer #1 (http://www.knoppix.net/wiki/User:Harry_Kuhman).

[johnrw]

Firstly thanks for your help and understanding johnrw.
As I was unsure of how to comply with the last half of your reply I decided to download Knoppix V5.3.1 as you suggested, it seemed the best option.
This I did and now I have the following:-
KNOPPIX_V5.3.1DVD-2008-03-26-EN.iso
.iso.md5
.iso.md5.asc
.iso.sha1
.iso.sha1.asc
knoppix-cheatcodes.txt
Delighted with these I burned them to disk and tried booting. Regrettably my PC did not identify it as a boot disk and I went straight into Windows. (I do have BIOS set to DVD 1st).
On checking my earlier V5.1.1 disk, it contains 5 folders (books/ boot/KNOPPIX/qemu-0.8.2/and software) in addition to files:-
autorun.bat
autorun.inf
autorun
cdrom.ico
index.html.
This old copy to my inexperienced eyes does look like a bootable disk. But have you any ideas how my new one can be made to be bootable? Perhaps I have made a silly error or missed the point entirely

I did say you might need to find someone who knows about such things... but in short... you don't copy the iso file to the dvd, but use a program that knows how to reconstruct an exact image to the new dvd. In windows... the program Imgburn is great for such tasks, http://www.imgburn.com. You install that... then open Imgburn with KNOPPIX_V5.3.1DVD-2008-03-26-EN.iso. The other files you got are mostly to make sure the iso file downloaded correctly. After installing Imgburn, you should be able to right click the iso file... and select Open With Imgburn or something close. In Knoppix, the program would be K3b... in case you want to burn it from your old pc on Knoppix 5.1.1.

More information on this...
http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=mozclient&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&q=how+to+burn+an+iso+image

Try again.

[Hummingbird]

Once again, my thanks for your efforts.
Using WinAce I have been able to extract the following from V5.3.1:-
Folders - Books/Boot/Knoppix/QEMU_0_9.0
and files - Autorun.bat/autorun.inf/autorun/cdrom.ico/index.html
Eureka thinks I, and using Windows I burn these to yet another DVD.
With great anticipation I boot up with the new disk but STILL it gets bypassed and i'm back in Windows.
To double check I try again with my V5.1.1 and at least the Knoppix disk takes over until my earlier reported problem.

Hummingbird

PS. I have just noticed the V5.3.1 DVD is only half burned whereas the V5.1.1 is nearly fully burned!!!
PPS. Investigating what is on both disks - V5.1.1 in Knoppix folder is KNOPPIX = 2Gb and KNOPPIX2 = 1.9Gb.
In V5.3.1 KNOPPIX = 0GB KNOPPIX2 = 1.6GB.
This must be the reason for it not working but I don't know how to get 'full files'.

[Harry Kuhman]

.... I have been able to extract the following from V5.3.1:-
...s I burn these to yet another DVD.
With great anticipation I boot up with the new disk but STILL it gets bypassed
Please read the FAQ that I tried to point you to in my previous post. It tries to make it clear that you should not extract anything (you're not the first person to make that mistake). It explains that there is one file that needs to be burnt and it needs to be burnt in a special way. It explains how to do this with several popular burning programs. And it mentions other important things, like the speed at which the burn occurs greatly affecting your chances of success and how to confirm that the file you have is good (since you used BitTorrent I expect that it is, but it is well worth confirming). If you don't read the FAQ I expect that you will make other errors though, like not using the proper burn speed. If there are questions about the FAQ, just ask, but the important information should all be there.

[johnrw]

Hummingbird,

You should not be extracting the KNOPPIX_V5.3.1DVD-2008-03-26-EN.iso file with winace... but using that file with Imgburn.
Imgburn is a free and single purpose ustility for doing the one thing you need to do. In effect you are making an exact copy of Klaus Knopper's dvd. This involves making it bootable as well as putting files on the dvd. Trust Harry on this... as he is the most staunch advocate for running from cd/dvd rom drives... he has probably burned more disk's and helped more people than anyone here. I don't know if he runs Windows, but I still have to, and Imgburn is what you need. When in windows... I don't use anything but Imgburn.

After installing Imgburn... in a new Explorer window... you should be able to right click the KNOPPIX_V5.3.1DVD-2008-03-26-EN.iso file and select "Burn using Imgburn" if you let Imgburn associate files with the "iso" extension to itself when you install. Setting the burn speed to whatever it allows below 4.x is recommended by me and Harry for sure... My little AMD 2400+ cpu can't do 4.x speeds, in DVD burning terms... but my lovely wife and her lovely new machine can do 8.x DVD burns without a hitch. If that is too hard for you then you may need to ask someone who knows about burning bootable DVD's.

Good Luck.

[Harry Kuhman]

... but using that file with Imgburn. Imgburn is a free and single purpose ustility for doing the one thing you need to do......
To be a bit more clear on this, XP by itself is too limited to burn an ISO file properly. But many burning programs know how to burn an ISO file. In fact, if you already have a copy of Knoppix, it should be able to burn the ISO for you (of course, this assumes that you have two optical drives, or enough memory to run Knoppix with the "toram" option, and neither of these may be valid assumptions if Klaus stops releasing CD versions of Knoppix). For windows users, two of the most popular burning programs that come with CD drives are Nero and Roxio (I've come to dislike Roxio, but it should be able to burn the ISO file properly). I use NERO to burn ISO files. There is plenty of information in the downloading faq on just how to properly burn the ISO as an image, so that the file will boot correctly into Linux (and not into DR-DOS). I see no reason to retype all of that information here.

I prefer one program that will do all or almost all of my CD/DVD burning, rather than have lots of little programs that just do one thing each, like burning images, copying, burning bin and que files, making audio CDs, making VCD or SVCD discs and so on. That's why I generally focus on pointing new users towards Nero. A free 30 trial is available if someone wants to try it, and if one uses the 30 day trial to make a good copy of Knoppix, they could use Knoppix to burn ISO files after the 30 days expire. That is not intended as a put down of Imgburn, just the reason that I avoid talking about it. johnrw: you might want to consider adding imgburn to the list of burning software in the downloading faq in the wiki if it isn't already there (been a while since I actually looked at the FAQ). No reason why people shouldn't have other options, even if I personally think Nero is a better choice.


.. My little AMD 2400+ cpu can't do 4.x speeds, in DVD burning terms... but my lovely wife and her lovely new machine can do 8.x DVD burns without a hitch...
That's pretty strange. I burn DVDs just fine on my old Athlon 1.0 ghz system w/ Benq Dv1620 drive at 4x, in fact I find that most of the DVD media I have tends to burn a bit better at 4x than at 2.4x. There is a big difference between different DVD media though, and more expensive or brand name do not assure you that it's better media. I think I can do 8x on my Athlon 1.0 gig, but have never wanted to. I'm a firm believer in not doing fast burns.

I have also burned DVDs at 4x with no problem on my 1.8 ghz Athlon mobile HP notebook with whatever drive HP used in the DV6000. So I'm hard pressed to understand why your 2400+ system would have problems.

Actually, I put together a 5200+ dual core system last year, but with two other computers with DVD burners, I just couldn't justify springing for another DVD burner. Put a CDRW that I already had in the new system. Just haven't bothered to move the Benq DVD burner to the new computer yet, as I saw little need for it (although a few times I've wished I had a way to boot the new Knoppix DVD on the new system).

[Hummingbird]

Thank you John and Harry.
Reading the downloading FAQ makes it sound so simple. I downloaded Nero and failed in four attempts to get it to produce the bootable disk required. Then I read John's suggestion for ImgBurn and downloaded that - it went without a hitch.
I now am the proud owner of a Knoppix V5.3.1 which BOOTS UP PERFECTLY.
Thanks again

Hummingbird

[Harry Kuhman]

...I downloaded Nero and failed in four attempts to get it to produce the bootable disk required. Then I read John's suggestion for ImgBurn and downloaded that - it went without a hitch.
Glad you got it working. Sorry to hear you had a problem with Nero, but you don't give enough information for me to understand what went wrong. But I've used several versions of Nero on many different computers and they all worked fine for me. Key concept is to be sure to use a "burn image" option and not a "make bootable" option or not just drag the ISO file onto the file space (which would make a disc with a copy of the ISO file on it, not a full bootable file system). If you want I'll try to help you work out why Nero didn't work for you, but it sounds like you have worked around this problem.

I hoping that the new version has resolved your original problem.

[johnrw]

Thank you John and Harry.
Reading the downloading FAQ makes it sound so simple. I downloaded Nero and failed in four attempts to get it to produce the bootable disk required. Then I read John's suggestion for ImgBurn and downloaded that - it went without a hitch.
I now am the proud owner of a Knoppix V5.3.1 which BOOTS UP PERFECTLY.
Thanks again

Hummingbird

Glad to hear you got it working, and can boot knoppix on your new machine.

When you get tired of running from the DVD... pm me and I'll whip up a 5.3.1 version of a script that sets up knoppix to run from the iso file... and uses your windows boot menu to give you the choice. Maybe I'll do that tonight. Running Knoppix that way is so much faster and doesn't beat up your dvd drive. (Now where did I put those files...? lol.)