[GRLUG] Choice of MB - Trouble Installing

Wed Jun 4 01:15:01 EDT 2008

 -------------- Original message ----------------------
From: Tim <tim at izzyig.com>
> rh90p at comcast.net wrote:
> > I only have one DVD burner on the A8V but the media verification checks OK 
> when I boot the CD.  The DVD reader on the CUX4X-DLS also passes the media 
> verification.  I think I also tried CD's on Fedora 8 burned on the CUX4V-DLS.
> >
> > Here's the whole scoop which I reran last night to be sure:  
> >   1) Knoppix 5.2 boots and runs on both machines (caveat) but the partitioning 
> seems odd on the A8V (Deluxe) 
> >   2) Fedora 9 Live burned on CD burner on the CUV4X-DLS starts booting and 
> goes a while in graphics mode but then goes black screen a little before the bot 
> completes. 
> >   3) Fedora 9 install from DVD hangs someplace past choosing the keyboard type 
> in graphics mode.  In text mode I get a kernel panic a little ways in.
> >   4) openSuSE 10.3 DVD install gets past all the setup and package selection 
> using the default package selection but then a package fails to install and it 
> quits.  If I deselect that then another package fails to install, and so forth 
> until I've deselected 20-30 packages.  It then completes an install but is 
> somewhat unstable.  Then when I try and add some of the packages that I want it 
> goes tits up.
> >   5) SuSE 9.3 installs and runs on both (caveat) and I am still using it on 
> the CUV4X-DLS
> >   6) Windows XP64 runs on the A8V, Windows 2K runs on the CUV4X-DLS.  Monitor, 
> Graphics Cards,  disks, CD's/DVDs etc all seem fine. If it matters the video on 
> the A8V is an ATI Radeon 7200, the CUV4X-DLS has an older ATI which I think is a 
> Rage 128.
> >
> > (caveat) There seems to be an issue with the RAID capable Promise and VIA SATA 
> controllers.  If I plug in more than one SATA HD the SuSE 9.3 install says that 
> its part of a RAID and not supported. The original Linux on the machine was 
> installed and running on RAID 0 but later kernels dropped support for RAID and 
> I've been trying to tell the board NOT to enable RAID. There are supposed to be 
> RAID menus triggered by special keys at POST but I cant get in to either menu.  
> Currently, the Promise with a matched set of small but very fast drives is 
> disabled in the BIOS and there is a single 250G on the VIA. 
> >
> >  -------------- Original message ----------------------
> > From: Greg Folkert <greg at gregfolkert.net>
> >   
> >> On Sat, 2008-05-31 at 20:20 +0000, rh90p at comcast.net wrote:
> >>     
> >>> What Motherboards do you run Linux on?  I have 3 ASUS machines that I
> >>> have been unable to install any flavor of Linux on since SuSE 9.3.
> >>> People I know from work are saying that they have been unable to
> >>> install on their machines also.  
> >>>
> >>> I have an ASUS A8V Deluxe 64bit dual core 3800+AMD w/ 3GB ram.  On
> >>> that one Fedora 9 installer goes black screen just after I pick the
> >>> keyboard type (in graphic mode).  In ran the installer in text mode
> >>> and got a kernel panic in about the same place.
> >>>
> >>> I also have an ASUS CUV4X-DLS 32bit dual processor 1000 Intel w750MB
> >>> and an ASUS P3V4X 32bit 600 Intel w/ 512MB ram.  The behavior varies
> >>> but the result is that I can't install on anything I have using
> >>> openSuSE 10.1 to 10.3, Fedora 8 to 9, Ubunto, etc.
> >>>
> >>> I am no newbie.  I've been running Linux at home since Redhat 6.2 (the
> >>> first version that looed serious) and I was the Linux guru for an
> >>> entire division of a large company.
> >>>       
> >> Okay, quick question:
> >>
> >> Have you used the same Optical reader and/or the Video Card for them
> >> all?
> >>
> >> I dealt with a man that said Linux would not load at all on any setups.
> >> Turns out he was using the same Optical Reader (which had a sticky read
> >> head in some places) and the same ATI Video card PCI card he took out of
> >> his Windows machine that had issues in Windows as well.
> >>
> >> Lesson here: Make sure you are using usable hardware.
> >> -- 
> >> greg at gregfolkert.net
> >> PGP key 1024D/B524687C 2003-08-05
> >> Fingerprint: E1D3 E3D7 5850 957E FED0  2B3A ED66 6971 B524 687C
> >> Alternate Fingerprint: 09F9 1102 9D74  E35B D841 56C5 6356 88C0
> >> Alternate Fingerprint: 455F E104 22CA  29C4 933F 9505 2B79 2AB2
> >>
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> >>     
> >
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> >   
> If you disabled raid in the bios those menu's won't work in POST. Try 
> resetting the bios to default. Make sure you have the latest firmware 
> for your motherboard also. I've been running Ubuntu on multiple asus 
> boards one was an A7V400-MX and the other is an A8N-VM CSM. Had no 
> propblems with either but I also wasn't running either with sata drives 
> nor raid.
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I removed the battery and shorted the reset pin, then reinstalled the battery.  It didn't change anything.  I suspect that the VIA and Promise SATA (RAID capable) controllers keep their setting on chip and the reset pin only resets the mainboard.  The reason I suspect the controllers is because when I try and reinstall from the SuSE 9.3 which was working, it says that everything is part of a RAID array and the feature is not supported.  Note that that would mean it is joining drives on two different controllers.  Or maybe 3 since I think the IDE is effectively separate.