opensuse 11.1 won't start installation

[Catimimi]

Hi,
I try to install opensuse 11.1 ans the installation freezes on the first
screen at : "loading basic drivers ..."
This happens either with the 32 bits DVD or the 64 bits DVD !

opensuse 11.0 32 bits and 64 bits installed with no problem.
opensuse 11.1 liveCD runs too !
I tried all the choices for the kernel.

I need help, is there as earlier a "manual installation" where I can
choose my modules : ata_piix and ahci ?
Thanks in advance for your help.
Michel.

[Amedee Van Gasse]

Post by Catimimi
Hi,
I try to install opensuse 11.1 ans the installation freezes on the first
screen at : "loading basic drivers ..."
This happens either with the 32 bits DVD or the 64 bits DVD !
opensuse 11.0 32 bits and 64 bits installed with no problem.
opensuse 11.1 liveCD runs too !
I tried all the choices for the kernel.
I need help, is there as earlier a "manual installation" where I can
choose my modules : ata_piix and ahci ?
Thanks in advance for your help.
Michel.

Hi,

Please don't hijack my topic.

Thank you.

[Rajko M.]

...
I would like to try 64bit Linux in a multiboot configuration, while
still keeping my 32bit installation. I would make another LVM partition
and share /boot, /home and swap. I could also run various other Linux
distributions (Debian, Ubuntu and Gentoo are on my list).

This is what I would do.

Main boot partition: grub and openSUSE boot files, basic text mode
installation for the rescue actions.

Other systems use their own /boot and you tell them not to install bootloader.
After that, edit main grub menu.lst in md0 manually and add new installation.

The advantage is that symlinks vmlinuz and initrd are not changed to last
installed kernel and initrd. Disadvantage is that you would not see any bugs
in bootloader installation, except those that ignore "do not install boot
loader".

[Felix Miata]

Currently I'm running OpenSuse 11.1 ...
I would like to try 64bit Linux in a multiboot configuration, while
still keeping my 32bit installation. I would make another LVM partition
and share /boot, /home and swap. I could also run various other Linux
distributions (Debian, Ubuntu and Gentoo are on my list).
I think I won't have a lot of troble seting this up, but there is one
thing that worries me a bit: the /boot partition with the kernels and
the grub config. 1 GiB is room enough for a lot of different kernels,
but I'm worried that different Linux distributions have different ways
of "automagically" configuring grub.
What are the pitfalls that I should watch out for?

I get around automagic disruption by starting with a DFSee CD, then a Knoppix
CD, before any OS CD or DVD. With DFSee & Knoppix, I completely partition,
and install Knoppix's Grub on the first primary. Only then do I install an
OS. On my most recent installs, that was 11.0. I mount the real boot
partition (hd0,0) on /disks/boot, leaving OS /boot as a part of each
configured /, and manually configure menu.lst on (hd0,0) to either chainload
to the installed OS's Grub, or directly load its kernel and initrd from its
installed location, or copy from its installed location to (hd0,0) to boot
them. You can see from https://bugzilla.novell.com/show_bug.cgi?id=463033
that had I not first installed Grub how and where I did that I probably
wouldn't be booting anything at all.
http://fm.no-ip.com/tmp/Linux/big31L03.txt shows the partitioning I did to
support shared swap, home and others, and separate / partitions for 11.0,
11.1 and Factory.

More on multiboot: http://fm.no-ip.com/partitioningindex.html
--
"Train a child in the way he should go, and when he
is old he will not turn from it." Proverbs 22:6 NIV

Team OS/2 ** Reg. Linux User #211409

Felix Miata *** http://fm.no-ip.com/

[Felix Miata]

Post by Catimimi
I try to install opensuse 11.1 ans the installation freezes on the first
screen at : "loading basic drivers ..."
This happens either with the 32 bits DVD or the 64 bits DVD !
opensuse 11.0 32 bits and 64 bits installed with no problem.
opensuse 11.1 liveCD runs too !
I tried all the choices for the kernel.
I need help, is there as earlier a "manual installation" where I can
choose my modules : ata_piix and ahci ?

Maybe something on http://en.opensuse.org/Linuxrc will get you going. What
chipset is on your motherboard? What HD controller(s)?
--
"Train a child in the way he should go, and when he
is old he will not turn from it." Proverbs 22:6 NIV

Team OS/2 ** Reg. Linux User #211409

Felix Miata *** http://fm.no-ip.com/

[Catimimi]

Post by Felix Miata

Post by Catimimi
I try to install opensuse 11.1 ans the installation freezes on the first
screen at : "loading basic drivers ..."
This happens either with the 32 bits DVD or the 64 bits DVD !
opensuse 11.0 32 bits and 64 bits installed with no problem.
opensuse 11.1 liveCD runs too !
I tried all the choices for the kernel.
I need help, is there as earlier a "manual installation" where I can
choose my modules : ata_piix and ahci ?

Maybe something on http://en.opensuse.org/Linuxrc will get you going. What
chipset is on your motherboard? What HD controller(s)?

Thanks for reply,
My motherboard is an ASUS P5WD2 Premium, Northbridge Intel 955X
Southbridge ICH7R which supports 4 SATA disks
There is too a Silicon image 3132 SATA controller and a ITE IDE
controller which is
disabled in the bios.
My disks are installed on the ICH7R controller.

Michel.

[Joe(theWordy)Philbrook]

Hello,
Currently I'm running OpenSuse 11.1 32bit on an 2GHz AMD Athlon64 with 3
GiB RAM.
I have 3 SATA disks: 112 GiB + 112 GiB + 186 GiB.
sda1, sdb1 and sdc1 are 1 GiB and form md0 (RAID1) where /boot lives.
/dev/system/root = / = 50 GiB
/dev/system/home = /home = 100 GiB
/dev/system/swap = swap = 6 GiB
That leaves me with 251 GiB unpartitioned in LVM.
I would like to try 64bit Linux in a multiboot configuration, while
still keeping my 32bit installation. I would make another LVM partition
and share /boot, /home and swap. I could also run various other Linux
distributions (Debian, Ubuntu and Gentoo are on my list).
I think I won't have a lot of troble seting this up, but there is one
thing that worries me a bit: the /boot partition with the kernels and
the grub config. 1 GiB is room enough for a lot of different kernels,
but I'm worried that different Linux distributions have different ways
of "automagically" configuring grub.
What are the pitfalls that I should watch out for?

Hi. Multiboot linux is what I do...

Currently I've got Sabayon 3.5, Kubuntu 8.10, & OpenSuSE 11.0 on this
old athalon.

About pitfalls, I'd recommend being real careful about sharing /home
between different distributions. As different distros, and sometimes
different releases of the same distro, often feature different releases
of various applications. Many of which needs to find it's rc files in
$HOME. This matters when an upgraded application from one uses an rc
file that is no longer compatible with the older version of the
application still in the other distro's installation.

As to the /boot I'd have to suggest choosing one distro to manage the
bootloader. You should be able to manually copy the vmlinuz and initrd
files from the other distro's /boot to the one you let install to the
mbr. Then manually add appropriate boot instructions to it's menu.lst,
grub.conf, or lilo.conf so that it can boot the other distros.

I don't know squat about LVM or raid. I simply use fdisk or cfdisk to
partition my hard drives. I created a /boot partition that none of the
distro's automatically update by copying one of the /boot directories to
a separate partition (hd0,1) aka /dev/sda2 editing the root lines in
it's grub.conf to point at (hd0,1), and then temporarily mounting it
on /boot long enough to reinstall grub to the mbr... After that any
time I install a linux I always poke around the advanced bootloader
settings in the installer menu until I find a way to either install
the bootstrap to floppy /dev/fd0 or to the distro's / partition. That
way when a distribution update changes the kernel, it will update the
files in it's /boot making it easy to copy the necessary changes to
the files in my boot partition. Another advantage of a distro
installing it's boot loader to it's / partition is that then I can add
a choice to my boot's grub that chainloads the bootloader in that
distro's /partition which will usually continue to work without manual
intervention even after the said distro automatically changes it's boot
configuration.

Hope this helps.

[Amedee Van Gasse]

Post by Joe(theWordy)Philbrook
About pitfalls, I'd recommend being real careful about sharing /home
between different distributions. As different distros, and sometimes
different releases of the same distro, often feature different releases
of various applications. Many of which needs to find it's rc files in
$HOME. This matters when an upgraded application from one uses an rc
file that is no longer compatible with the older version of the
application still in the other distro's installation.

Thanks!
So I should make sure that the apps are all the same version in all
distros, or another solution is to make a separate data partition.

Post by Joe(theWordy)Philbrook
As to the /boot I'd have to suggest choosing one distro to manage the
bootloader. You should be able to manually copy the vmlinuz and initrd
files from the other distro's /boot to the one you let install to the
mbr. Then manually add appropriate boot instructions to it's menu.lst,
grub.conf, or lilo.conf so that it can boot the other distros.

OK, good idea. I think I'll use a special "bootloader" distribution.
Felix Miata mentioned DFSee & Knoppix. I know Knoppix as a livecd/rescue
cd distro. I don't know DFSee but I'll check it out.

Post by Joe(theWordy)Philbrook
I don't know squat about LVM or raid. I simply use fdisk or cfdisk to
partition my hard drives. I created a /boot partition that none of the
distro's automatically update by copying one of the /boot directories to
a separate partition (hd0,1) aka /dev/sda2 editing the root lines in
it's grub.conf to point at (hd0,1), and then temporarily mounting it
on /boot long enough to reinstall grub to the mbr... After that any
time I install a linux I always poke around the advanced bootloader
settings in the installer menu until I find a way to either install
the bootstrap to floppy /dev/fd0 or to the distro's / partition. That
way when a distribution update changes the kernel, it will update the
files in it's /boot making it easy to copy the necessary changes to
the files in my boot partition. Another advantage of a distro
installing it's boot loader to it's / partition is that then I can add
a choice to my boot's grub that chainloads the bootloader in that
distro's /partition which will usually continue to work without manual
intervention even after the said distro automatically changes it's boot
configuration.

Grub doesn't know squat about LVM and raid either, except raid1
(mirroring). That's why I can't put /boot in LVM. I think it won't be
possible for me to chainload a bootloader on an LVM partition.

I like your idea about having more than one /boot. I also like the idea
about fooling the automagic bootstrap thingies with a floppy bootloader.

I will try a few things and report back to the list.

[Joe(theWordy)Philbrook]

Post by Amedee Van Gasse

Post by Joe(theWordy)Philbrook
About pitfalls, I'd recommend being real careful about sharing /home
between different distributions. As different distros, and sometimes
different releases of the same distro, often feature different releases
of various applications. Many of which needs to find it's rc files in
$HOME. This matters when an upgraded application from one uses an rc
file that is no longer compatible with the older version of the
application still in the other distro's installation.

Thanks!
So I should make sure that the apps are all the same version in all
distros, or another solution is to make a separate data partition.

If this shared data is all for *_ONE_* user account. Then by using the
same username and more importantly the same user id for all of the
distros, you can mount a private data partition below $HOME say maybe
something like $HOME/mySTUFF.

Then you could for instance move existing document folders to it.
Such as moving ~/Documents to ~/mySTUFF/Documents. Then cd to your
home directory and make a symlink... (in each of the distributions
sharing this data partition. moving any aditional files to it as
needed so that you can rmdir ~/Documents to make room for the symlink
of the same name...)IE:

$ cd
$ ln -s ~/mySTUFF/Documents Documents

Then any application that expects to find your files in ~/Documents
can find the same datafiles (complete with the latest changes) No
mater which distro you used last time...

Of course your mileage may vary...

Good luck!
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