booting problems

[rockinrodent]

I'm having problems booting knoppix. I've downloaded the iso file and the md5 file. It checks out. I burned the cd with my benQ miniRW burner. This is an external USB 2.0 unit. I put the cd into my cd-rom (not a benQ, and it's an internal) and start booting. Get several cloop errors, other errors, and finally a kernel panic error I think. I try using some of the cheat codes, but I'm not sure if I'm using them right. I tried testcd by typing "knoppix testcd" and then pressing enter, and it goes through the same boot process with all the errors. I tried the dma cheat, and the -b cheat.

Help?

[UnderScore]

cloop errors usually means the CD ISO image is corrupt (you said it checked OK). Or the CDR is a bad physical media, or the CDR was burned at too fast a speed (4x or 8x preferred) or the CDROM drive is too sensitive and can't read it. If you want to solve this then you will need to burn more CDRs and experiment with different drives or media or speeds.

[rockinrodent]

Well, I tried burning another copy of knoppix, this time at 4x.
Much less errors. testcd worked this time, and I did get some errors. 3 to be exact.
They were located in knoppix/images. They were a .jpg, .gif, and a .png file.

I also got a fread magic input/output error, and modprobe fatal error inster soundcore.
And it froze after automounter.

[rockinrodent]

I tried burning on different media this time. A memorex cf-rw. Did a test cd. After it did it, it gave me a read error on the md5sum, then said everything looked ok. Still have a few cloop errors. And it just sits at the autoconfig command.

Help?

[Harry Kuhman]

Did a test cd. After it did it, it gave me a read error on the md5sum, then said everything looked ok. Still have a few cloop errors. And it just sits at the autoconfig command.

I'm not clear on what actually happened above, but it sure seems that you know you are having read errors. These sometimes are a result of not using dma on a drive that seems to need dma, but are usually due to a high speed burn, a bad burn. bad media, a bad iso download to start with, or a bad drive (often dirt on the lense).

[rockinrodent]

Did a test cd. After it did it, it gave me a read error on the md5sum, then said everything looked ok. Still have a few cloop errors. And it just sits at the autoconfig command.

I'm not clear on what actually happened above, but it sure seems that you know you are having read errors. These sometimes are a result of not using dma on a drive that seems to need dma, but are usually due to a high speed burn, a bad burn. bad media, a bad iso download to start with, or a bad drive (often dirt on the lense).

I'm buring as slow as I can. I've burned several times now on different brands of cd's. The download checks out with the checksum. You say dirt on the lens...do you mean on the lens of the drive doing the burning, or reading?

[Harry Kuhman]

I'm buring as slow as I can. I've burned several times now on different brands of cd's. The download checks out with the checksum. You say dirt on the lens...do you mean on the lens of the drive doing the burning, or reading?

It does sound like you are doing the right things. I'm still confused on how you could have errors during the test and then say everything looked OK. As to which drive, I didn't know they were different drives, but it could be either. If there is an optics problem with the writer then maybe you are writing a bad or marginal disc. If you try booting with the writer than you may have read issues with the drive even if the disc is written properly. If the boot drive is not the writer but it has optics issues then it might experience marginal reads (I've had to retire several CD drives over the years because they become marginal this way).

If you have multiple drives and maybe multiple systems then I would certainly try the disc in other drives. But don't get caught in the "this disc worked in one drive so it must be good" trap. We see many cases of a marginal disc that works in some drives but not others. In order to convince myself I have a bad drive rather than a bad disk I have to see marginal operation on the drive and only that drive with multiple discs, preferably even some that worked before.

It's not usually too hard to spot a bad drive. what burning software are you using and does it do a verification pass? Nero 6, for example, has an option that will go back and reread the disc and tell you if it could verify what it just wrote. This option should be enable and allowed to do a test read. This is not proof of a good burn or that the burn will not be marginal on another drive, as a high speed burn that has problems booting may still pass the verfication test; but a failure to pass the verification test indicates that it is extremely likely that you have a bad burn.

[rockinrodent]

After playing with it, I've managed to burn a copy that will only run on my daughter's computer. It does seem to have some problems though. It did have a few cloop errors, but still booted. It won't play any windows media player files that are on websites, just plays sound.

I am using Nero 5, is there a way to verify the burn with it? It is what came with my burner.

[Harry Kuhman]

I am using Nero 5, is there a way to verify the burn with it? It is what came with my burner.

Nero 5 has no option to verify an ISO burn (although it will verify some other types of burns. You can, of course, use testcd or testdvd at bioot time. You could also download a trial of Nero 6 and use it for a month free. But be sure you still have your licensed copy of Nero 5, Nero 6 will insist on removing it when it installs, your want to reinstall it when your free month is up.

[rockinrodent]

I am using Nero 5, is there a way to verify the burn with it? It is what came with my burner.

Nero 5 has no option to verify an ISO burn (although it will verify some other types of burns. You can, of course, use testcd or testdvd at bioot time. You could also download a trial of Nero 6 and use it for a month free. But be sure you still have your licensed copy of Nero 5, Nero 6 will insist on removing it when it installs, your want to reinstall it when your free month is up.

I dloaded nero 6, it made me unistall nero 5, and 6 won't work for me. It asks for the reg code, when I hit the demo button, it closes.

Any other burning software you can recommend that I can try for free that verifies a burn?

I'm really suspecting my burner is bad, which sucks. I've had it 2 years now, but this is the first time I used it. It's been sitting in a box of hardware I don't use. Any suggestions perhaps as to how to clean it (if dirt's a problem) or anything else I can do?