Failsafe causes reboot

[letso]

Hi people, I have trouble booting Knoppix on my PC. Here is some info about my hardware:
AMD X2 (dual core 64bit CPUs) 3600+
Maxtor stm325031 250 GB 7200 rpm
2 GB Dual Channel RAM DDR2-400
Geforce 7900 GTO
AMD 690G chipset
Realtek ALC883 8-Kanal HD Audio
Realtek RTL8110SC Giga LAN Anschluss
USB mouse and keyboard

I have tried Knoppix 5.1.1 and Knoppix 4 with the same outcome: when I try to boot with the default auto-detecting behavior, it hangs on detecting USB devices or on starting udev. I have tried failsafe, it starts working ok but after a while it reboots my computer without any input from my side. I also tried expert mode, but my USB keyboard is not working then:)
I am currently trying to burn Knoppix 5.3.1 and I'll let you know how it behaves as well, if you need to.

Any ideas? Any tips on how to proceed with troubleshooting?
Thanks in advance.

EDIT: I've tried Knoppix 5.3.1 and the default boot still hangs on "detecting USB/firewire devices". However, failsafe boots now, but my USB mouse and keyboard aren't working...
Can you help me narrow down on the cause of the problem so that the hardware module can be avoided, and I can avoid complete failsafe mode?

[letso]

Update:
After much trial and error (read: 20-30 reboots:), the minimal command with which I can boot Knoppix 5.3.1 is
knoppix acpi=off nousb

Without any of these 2 flags, Knoppix hangs (on Scanning for USB/Firewire devices, when nousb is not included, and even before that when acpi=off is not included).

While I don't care much about acpi, but I really don't feel like buying a PS2 keyboard :)
So I've got this far, and I have no idea how to debug usb support. I'm sure that there are more knowledgeable people than me on this forum, and I would appreciate their help :)

[nalini]

I am also stuck with similar problem will try to trouble shoot and post the result. Meanwhile if somebody gets thew solution pls. let me know

[letso]

I am also stuck with similar problem will try to trouble shoot and post the result. Meanwhile if somebody gets thew solution pls. let me know
What kind of hardware you're using? I'm pretty sure it is a general kernel incompatibility with the AMD690GM mainboard. I'm trying to narrow it down as well so I can submit the problem to the kernel people. USB support worked by default in Puppylinux, and in safemode with the GParted live CD, but didn't work with Opensuse 10.3/11b1, so I'll check the kernel versions where it works and where it doesn't.

[nalini]

I am using AMD Athlon 64 X2 5600+ Will check for kernel compatibilities (GA-MA69VM-S2 F8 HI gigabyte)

[Harry Kuhman]

What kind of hardware you're using?

I am using AMD Athlon 64 X2 5600+ ... (GA-MA69VM-S2 F8 HI gigabyte)
You might want to give a more detailed list of hardware. I have multiple AMD 64 bit dual core systems and have not had any trouble booting Knoppix (I did need a cheat code for video on my AMD 5200+ with Nvidia 8500 graphics, but that was pretty obvious the first time that I tried to boot it).

[nalini]

I could boot the amd system system finally with just acpi=off option. Actually we need a CD version so I had upgraded the 5.1.1 CD with 5.3.1's kernel and other required packages.

As of now everything seems to be ok. We will do more testing of various AMD systems. Will post the results.

thanks for all the help

[Bernard]

Hello,
My booting of the Knoppix DVD also stalled at the "Scanning for USB/Firewire devices...".
Was able to boot and run, with seemingly no problems, when "ACPI=off" at the Prompt.
This,BTW, is the latest Knoppix DVD.

My system is as follows;
CPU; AMD Athlon64x2 6000 series, socket AM2.
MOBO; Asus H2A-VM HDMI.
Memory; @Gig DDR2 667Mhz.
Video; Nvidia GeForce8600GT.
Storage; SEAGATE 160gigs IDE Sata2
WD 250gigs IDE ATA
WD 320gigs USB
DVD IDE ATAPI.

Bernard