Won't Boot

[mmware.it]

Hi

I have the same problem as above:
boot screen -> loading vmzlinux.... -> loading miniroot.gz....
and then the system hangs with no cd activity !

On the same pc I can boot successfully LindowsCD and Debian Woody 3.0
The Knoppix cd works fine on other machines..

The machine is a very new and powerful LCD PC, assembled by Enface (half way between desktop and laptop)

Any Idea on howto solve the problem or understanding what is going on ? (there are no error messages ...???)

Thanks
massimo

PS: The company i work for just bought 4 of these machine and i'd like to let users try and maybe love linux....(and i hear knoppix is a good choice for desktop users...)

[bigfatass]

Are we talking about machines made by Clevo ?
(they are sold under many different brands but the sticker on
the bottom of the machine usually reveals the "real" maker)

Yep, clevo laptop (www.clevo.com.tw) are resold by a load of uk companies.
Pico
AJP
Rock
MESH

The one i'm having a problem with is the D470W (http://www.clevo.com.tw/products/D470W.asp)

[windos_no_thanks]

In another thread someone described similar symptoms and claimed
that it works with Mandrake 8.1 with kernel 2.4.8 (which is very old)
I happened to have a set of Mandrake 8.0 disks and that also seems
to work, at least the installer gets started.
I guess we will have to try a 2.4.8 kernel without any Mandrake patches
next....

[windos_no_thanks]

Hmm, CoolLinux 1.34a also works, with kernel 2.4.18 + some RedHat patches.
(CoolLinux is a RedHat based live CD a bit like Knoppix but it's not quite
as cool no on-the-fly decompression and less efficient hardware autodetection)

[tealeaf]

have you tried knoppix vsync=60 on boot? I think the default resolution is too high for some screens

[windos_no_thanks]

Still no luck with knoppix but I did get the latest slackware (9.1 with kernel 2.4.22)
installed and it boots form the hard drive if I give "nohotplug" as a parameter to
the kernel at the boot prompt. No sound, PCMCIA , ethernet or ACPI yet
(and probably several other things I haven't checked)
but at least the X-server runs nicely.

[windos_no_thanks]

Status report:
Got ACPI, ethernet, PCMCIA and sound working in slackware 9.1
Recompiling the kernel with the configuration file from knoppix,
if it locks up the same way after that it shouldn't be impossible
even for a dork like me to cook up a knoppix kernel that boots... ;-D

[windos_no_thanks]

I think I've found the problem. The default knoppix kernel has support
for SMP compiled in and that seems to cause my machine to freeze.
A kernel without the SMP code on the other hand runs just fine.
I'm going to try to make a new ISO image as soon as I have time for
it unless someone else does it first
BTW, the default knoppix kernel also only supports APM, not ACPI.
Since many laptops are crippled without ACPI support I'll probably
switch that in too while I'm at it....

[ep0d]

that kernel would solve a lot of the compatibility problems on other laptops i'm thinking.

my own experience with nearly every flavour of linux trying to get my sh1tbag compaq evo n1015v working is similar to the other frustrated posts on the site. i will probably never buy another compaq anything in my life because of it. redhat can be got to work with an initial boot turning nearly everything off and then having to recompile the kernels using third party patches.

safe to say that on my first attempt with knoppix it failed, then i gave a 'nousb' option because i know the usb controller is spectacularly sh1t. from then on i've been amazed by knoppix-installed debian. first thing i did was play a divx5 video in full sound without any problems at all without having to scr3w around with anything!!!

knoppix rocks! death to winbloze!

[windos_no_thanks]

Almost there now, I get the kernel to start but now
it gets to "Accessing KNOPPIX CDROM at /dev/scd0... "
where it stops and flashes the caps-lock and scroll-lock leds.
I guess I did something wrong when generating the ISO
image. I'll look into it again tomorrow...