Knoppix 3.4 freezes hangs won't boot. Gateway BIOS problem?

I am the newest of newbies when it comes to Linux, but I have managed to stump some of my programmer friends with this one. Sorry for the length, but this starts as a Win / Mandrake problem and becomes a Knoppix problem:

I am attempting to run a dual boot Win XP / Mandrake 10.0 on a Gateway Solo 1450 laptop with 256mb of RAM. Using Partition Magic inside Win XP I attempted to create the appropriate partitions on my 20 gig HD. I don’t remember exactly, but I think in the end I used Mandrake’s partition maker to create the appropriate swap, boot, root, and whatever partitions. Mandrake is installed, but here’s where the problems begin.

When the computer boots, the first screen I see is the Gateway BIOS screen. Then I am sent to the Windows safe mode picker. If I attempt to start Windows normally, I go to the Windows XP Home loading screen, where it quickly messes up, flashes a blue screen with some grayish text, and gets caught in an endless loop of reboots. I don’t know why Mandrake does not start at load up. Does Gateway’s BIOS get in the way, trying to start Windows from a partition where there is no Windows? I feel like I have to change the Master Boot Record, so I attempt to use Knoppix…more problems.

In attempting to use Knoppix 3.4, I have tried passing numerous things at boot, but have only successfully gotten “inside” Knoppix once. If I start Knoppix without passing anything the first thing I encounter is the phrase “You passed an undefined mode number.” It gives me the option of pressing <return> to see video modes. There are 6, arranged with different numbers of columns and rows. I pick one, then it starts to uncompress Linux, and boot the kernel. The next phrase I get after the colored Welcome to Knoppix is “Probing SCSI….aic7xxx.o” From there it will hang indefinitely.

If I pass knoppix26, using the experimental 2.6 kernel, I see a lot more text load. It checks all sorts of things before the Welcome to Knoppix (hda, mice, serio, input, etc. etc.). Then it will hang at “Probing SCSI….advansys.o”

Obviously I have tried to boot while passing knoppix noscsi and knoppix26 noscsi. That results in a unique bunch of text passing, but eventually it hangs at a black screen. Passing expert or failsafe at boot, I feel like I get slightly “closer” to getting inside the Knoppix OS. Passing expert I see that INIT and a kernel version 2.78 are close to the last lines of text before the screen goes black. When I pass failsafe the kernel begins decompressing again, there is a loading bar when it auto configures devices…all sorts of fun stuff happens. Then the screen goes black again. Interestingly, it is not the same black as when I pass expert or noscsi. It is the black where the monitor is on, but there is no visual data to display. Kind of a “white” black. When I pass expert and noscsi, it looks as though the monitor is simply turned off, it is blackly black.

I have been inside Knoppix once before, I just don’t know how I did it! I left Knoppix hanging for a very long time once, but I don’t know what I passed at boot. When I returned I had a desktop that took up a very small portion of the screen. There was probably a 2 inch black buffer around the desktop of monitor space that wasn’t being used, but Knoppix was fully loaded. I think my only option right now is to let it hang with various things passed until I finally get back inside Knoppix and can hope to change the MBR or do whatever I need to do. But this is a terrible way to go about booting what should be a live CD. So what do I do? Thanks a lot people…

I'm a newer newbie than you! just burned Knoppix onto a cd, booted it. left the screen while it was running to do something else, went back and the monitor was black like it was turned off, not like when it's on but the computer is off.

if you've found an answer, please post back and I'll do the same.

Hmmmm,

From what I know, the black screen is probably where the XServer is trying to take "control" of the system / monitor / video card -=- Having an old Gateway, I could never get past the "black screen", or worse, would get the "Out of Sync" message pop-up on my monitor -=- in either case - the system was actually booted - I found this out by, waiting till all activity ceased on the CD-ROM drive, and pressing CTRL + ALT + F1 - and I was "transported" to text "login" screen, with all the boot messages on it...

You might try the following boot: cheatcodes: ( this one worked for my old system )

boot: knoppix screen=1024x768 vrefresh=60 noscsi

for the experimental kernel, use this replacement:

boot: linux26 screen=1024x768 vrefresh=60 noscsi

Usually, when you get the "black" screen, or the "Out of Sync" message, and no boot, it is probably a problem where Knoppix has detected what video card you have, and what its capabilities are, and is trying to use the "optimal" for it - but the monitor can't handle it ( the Out of Sync message - which is resolved with the "vrefresh" cheatcode ), or, the video card / monitor can't handle the resolution that it "thinks" it can handle ( just the black screen - which is resolved with the "screen" cheatcode )

You can press the F2 on the boot: prompt to see other cheatcodes, fbuffer, I think is another usefull cheatcode, never used it though, the above cheatcodes always worked for me...

Hope this helps,
Ms. Cuddles