16 replies to this topic

[onederer]

Well I downloaded Foresight Linux, and checked out the Sha1 hash to see if it compared to the one in the web site.  Both hashes matched, so the downloaded OS was not the problem.  The download was correct.  So I installed it on my external 320GB hard drive and used the alternative bootloader, instead of the Grub loader.  When I rebooted, the screen showed two choices to boot. "Foresight Linux", and "Other" (Windows Vista).  Windows Vista still booted ok, so I rebooted to gain access to Linux.  When Foresight Linux booted up, it did not go to the graphics GUI.  Instead, it stayed in text mode, and the next thing that I saw was:nash version 6.0.52 starting                           ^^ (is this a typo? Is it "bash" or "ash"?)stabilized: Stat /proc/bus/usb/devices:  No such files or directory.sd 4:0:0:0 [sdb] Assuming drive cache: write through."    " "  "  "    "            "         "        "         "       ""   7:"   "  "    [sdc] Assuming drive cache: write through."   "  "   "  "       "           "          "       "         "        " And then it stays like that for the longest time.  Then an error message comes up: Unable to access resume device (/dev/sdc3)Then it starts printing "INIT: Id "x" respawning too fast: disabled for 5 minutes"This nagging, repeating action spoils any attempt to download or run Lynx to gain access to Internet. I thought that perhaps I could install KDE to see if the problems would still exist, but wasn't successful.  I can't proceed any further.. I checked to see if xorg.conf has the "nv" screen driver listed, and it did.  This matches my Nvidia card.  Also, the installation application offered no application to setup laptop wireless.  I was forced to use a CAT-5 cable instead. So this make the installation application right off the bat, not laptop friendly.  I find it too difficult to get wireless running in text mode, as compared to the very helpful GUI mode.  But since I was stuck in text mode, nothing much could be done with that.  I was not able to do a full Internet upgrade because of the "respawning" problem.  It kept on interrupting the download process every time that it tried to repeatedly start the GUI application.So anyone have any solution to this problem, or should I dump this one also?  And no, I didn't try the 32 bit version.Cheers!  

[securitybreach]

Sorry I do not have any input as to why you got the errors but could please change the color from yellow on the error code. It was almost impossible to see and I had to highlight it just to able to see it. Although, now that I think about it, some distros have problem when you have their partitions on usb drives. The reason being is because sometimes the usb modules get loaded after the kernel loads. For instance, in Archlinux, I had a hard time getting my /home partition mounted on a sdhc card. I ended up having to create a sys link (ln -s) in my /home directory pointing to the sdhc card. Thanks

[V.T. Eric Layton]

My guess is because you are on an external drive, your boot loader is NOT understanding the changing dynamic nomenclature of the drive each time you reboot, therefore it cannot find your root partition. You're probably going to have to use UUID in the boot loader (and fstab, once you get booted) to identify the external drive.

[securitybreach]

Ok Eric's answer sounds better . That may have been my issue before when I tried with a SDHC. Thanks for the info Eric.

[V.T. Eric Layton]

I actually ran across a similar issue with Arch because of my hybrid system (EIDE + SATA).

[onederer]

Maybe I don't understand it right, but the bootloader is on the external USB hard drive.  The OS is on the external hard drive. The initial bootup messages originate from the external hard drive. The external hard drive is setup to start first, the same as if it was an internal hard drive.  The OS runs after bootup, but only in text mode (YUK!), however, it can't start the GUI portion. The GUI has that "respawn" problem (I've seen that before, but never have been able to cope with it, I think that it has something to do with the screen resolution).  If I disconnect the USB hard drive, then Windows will bootup normally without the help of any bootloader. The bootloader was not installed on the internal hard drive.That "respawn" problem makes it impossible to do any work in text mode, since it breaks any work being done when it starts to try to generate the GUI.  According to the writeup for this version of OS, it is supposed to go directly into GUI mode, and to the login prompt, but it doesn't. I'll probably have to go back to Desktop-BSD, where that problem was non-existant, and it was so easy to setup wireless laptop networking. The only thing that worries me about Desktop-BSD is that it possibly had sympathy pains while I was in the hospital, since it self-destructed when no one touched the machine.  At least that's my wife's claim!  But that OS also was on the outboard hard drive, and the same parameters as now, existed, and it worked fine.  I made sure that there was nothing of the external hard drive, to be on the internal hard drive, including the bootloader.Cheers!  Thanks for your comeback.

[mlangdn]

This from a quick Google search:

Quote

"init: Id "x" respawning too fast: disabled for 5 minutes."In most distributions this means that the system is booting by defaultinto runlevel 5, which is supposed to respawn (re-start again afterit's been exited) a graphical login via xdm, kdm, gdm, or whatever,and the system can't locate the program.However, "Id" can also indicate the absence or misconfiguration ofanother program, like mingetty, if init tries to respawn itself morethan 10 times in 2 minutes.Id "x" is the number in the leftmost column of the /etc/inittab file:# Run gettys in standard runlevels1:2345:respawn:/sbin/mingetty tty12:2345:respawn:/sbin/mingetty tty23:2345:respawn:/sbin/mingetty tty34:2345:respawn:/sbin/mingetty tty45:2345:respawn:/sbin/mingetty tty56:2345:respawn:/sbin/mingetty tty6Commenting the offending line out and then fixing the errant programand testing on the command line will allow you to see any errormessages that go to standard error output (console) if the errors arenot going to the system log file. Uncomment the line and restart initwith "kill -SIGHUP 1" or "telinit q" to cause init to reinitialize andreread the /etc/inittab file.Some systems, however, rewrite /etc/inittab when booting. In thatcase, refer to the init man page, and/or the settings in/etc/sysconfig/init.Refer to the init and /etc/inittab man pages for detailed information.

At boot, change the run level to init 4 per the instructions for your bootloader.

[V.T. Eric Layton]

I see what you're saying now, Onederer. In that case, I'd say... corrupted install. Don't bang your head against the wall too long on this current install. Nuke it and reinstall.

[onederer]

I understand what you are writing, but don't know how to follow through, and where to do what needs to be done. Also, because the respawning every 5 minutes, anything that I'm working on in the text mode, will be destroyed by that action. I need to know where to look for the location of the things that need changing.  I can only change things in text mode, and cannot get on the Internet because of the fast spawning, using Lynx (Internet works with CAT-5 cable.  No wireless.).  I can't make the changes on the DVD disk, so that narrows it only to text mode, somehow.  And perhaps, I'll have to try again to re-install that OS again.Cheers!

mlangdn, on Feb 23 2010, 03:14 PM, said:

This from a quick Google search:At boot, change the run level to init 4 per the instructions for your bootloader.

[V.T. Eric Layton]

The file you want to edit is /etc/inittab. You can edit it using Vi/Vim or Emacs from the command line.

 # vim /etc/inittab

Change the default run level from :5: to :4:This is Slackware, of course, but yours will be similar:

Quote

## inittab This file describes how the INIT process should set up# the system in a certain run-level.## Version: @(#)inittab 2.04 17/05/93 MvS#                                       2.10    02/10/95        PV#                                       3.00    02/06/1999      PV#                                       4.00    04/10/2002      PV## Author: Miquel van Smoorenburg, <miquels@drinkel.nl.mugnet.org># Modified by: Patrick J. Volkerding, <volkerdi@slackware.com>## These are the default runlevels in Slackware:#   0 = halt#   1 = single user mode#   2 = unused (but configured the same as runlevel 3)#   3 = multiuser mode (default Slackware runlevel)#   4 = X11 with KDM/GDM/XDM (session managers)#   5 = unused (but configured the same as runlevel 3)#   6 = reboot# Default runlevel. (Do not set to 0 or 6)id:3:initdefault: <--- this is what you need to change... make it :4:

I don't know if this will solve your issue, but it only takes a minute to try it. After making the inittab edit, reboot and see what happens.

[onederer]

Thanks, I'll try that and get back to you on how it turned out.Cheers!

V.T. Eric Layton, on Feb 24 2010, 01:06 AM, said:

The file you want to edit is /etc/inittab. You can edit it using Vi/Vim or Emacs from the command line.

 # vim /etc/inittab

Change the default run level from :5: to :4:This is Slackware, of course, but yours will be similar:I don't know if this will solve your issue, but it only takes a minute to try it. After making the inittab edit, reboot and see what happens.

[onederer]

Well I tried what you suggested, and also used a "Live" PCLinuxOS to edit the inittab, and tried all the numbers there.  Nothing but error messages.  It looks like a lost cause.  I need to start looking elsewhere.  How many people here, use laptops?  How many run wireless?  Don't they have problems with setting up wireless?  Most Linux distros that I've dealth with are not laptop wireless friendly.  Have those people with laptops just given up and simply anchored themselves to a CAT-5 cable?  As far as Desktop-BSD, that's a fine OS and very easy to setup and operate in graphics mode.  The only thing that bothers me is why should it scramble it's USB hard drive with long term idling?  That opens questions  to it's long term reliability.  

onederer, on Feb 24 2010, 05:47 PM, said:

Thanks, I'll try that and get back to you on how it turned out.Cheers!

[jodef]

onederer, on Feb 25 2010, 10:32 PM, said:

How many people here, use laptops?  How many run wireless?  Don't they have problems with setting up wireless?  Most Linux distros that I've dealth with are not laptop wireless friendly.  Have those people with laptops just given up and simply anchored themselves to a CAT-5 cable?  As far as Desktop-BSD, that's a fine OS and very easy to setup and operate in graphics mode.  The only thing that bothers me is why should it scramble it's USB hard drive with long term idling?  That opens questions  to it's long term reliability.

I have a Dell Inspiron to be honest never really had much problem getting wireless to work; never had to use ndiswrapper Linux usually had the necessary drivers built in. I think the problem is that wireless detection not always automatic like a wired connection.Today I ran Mandrake 2010 LiveCD, first time I have used Linux in about 8 months again wireless not autodetected but when I ran through wireless setup wizard got it up and working. I would suggest trying Mandriva it has a nice GUI for getting wireless up and running. Once it works there it will probably work it most other distros just a matter of being able to figure out how.

[V.T. Eric Layton]

http://forums.scotsn...h...st&p=211339

[securitybreach]

Well you can never go wrong with Intel and linksys wireless cards. I use both of those and they work out of the box with no problems at all. Actually most wireless card should be supported with the 2.6.27 and above kernel since most of the wireless drivers are now built into the kernel. If yours is not supported, ndiswrapper will allow you to use the windows driver for your card in Linux. Look here for how to do this on Foresight: http://wiki.foresigh...iswrapper setup

[zlim]

Because I had no hope of getting my two laptops working wirelessly in linux, I simply bought an eeepc with linux and it worked out of the box. That was my easy solution.I fired up another distro from a USB stick and had no wireless. I've since gotten instructions as to what I need to do but haven't tested it yet.onederer, if you have a distro in mind, read the forums for that distro and your model and see if anyone got it working. If your searching turns up empty or no one has a solution, start looking at a USB wifi dongle. See which brands and models work with each distro. Use that instead of the inbuilt chip if you want to run linux and be cableless.

[onederer]

In most distros, I have found that the recognition of the wireless card is not a problem, especially when the card is an Nvidia type.  The problem is the setup application in the GUI, and how well it is supported by the OS.  Some of them are half-a.. .  I found many that just don't work, and others, the developer just didn't pay attention to details.  I can tell the difference between a good supporting application, and a lousy one.  The good ones just work without your having to apply a pound of grief to get it to run.  One example was "Freespire".  It was a charm to get secure wireless working, but as I've stated before, the developer started neglecting the repositories in favor of selling their own brand of Linux.  I had success (somewhat) with PCLinuxOS.  The problem there was the aggravation to get the security key to be permanently remembered.  It kept on forgetting it.  And the one that worked best, was DesktopBSD.  But it is now a defuct OS.  I had installed the last version in Sept. of last year. What makes me nervous about this BSD is that it mysteriously ate up it's hard drive during my extended absence from using it.  No one had used it during that period of time.So I'd like to clarify that it is not the wireless card that gives me problems, but the quality and the thoroughness of the GUI application that assists the user for setting up the wireless application.Cheers!