Jump to content

Which Linux distro


siebkens

Recommended Posts

Ryan,I don't think that I got that far. Chose language, set up mouse, next question is Which disk/scsi driver should I try? I am still under the license setup, but it said after a couple of screens asking to set up disk:An error occurred - no valid devices were found on which to create new file systems. Please check your hardware for the cause of this problem. 2nd hard drive is still formatted with FAT 32 as a primary windows drive (set as slave so it's not trying to boot). This was an old hard drive that a friend no longer needed & hadn't been repartitioned or even wiped out by reformatting. --------------Will keep reading the LINUX forums for answers! :lol:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 185
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

  • Bruno

    76

  • siebkens

    48

  • teacher

    24

  • quint

    8

Top Posters In This Topic

Ryan,I don't think that I got that far.  Chose language, set up mouse, next question is Which disk/scsi driver should I try?  I am still under the license setup, but it said after a couple of screens asking to set up disk:An error occurred - no valid devices were found on which to create new file systems.  Please check your hardware for the cause of this problem.  2nd hard drive is still formatted with FAT 32 as a primary windows drive (set as slave so it's not trying to boot).  This was an old hard drive that a friend no longer needed & hadn't been repartitioned or even wiped out by reformatting.  --------------Will keep reading the LINUX forums for answers!  :lol:
Siebkens,Can you tell us how you connected the disks and CD-ROM, i.e., which Primary/Secondary Master/Slave position each of them are on. There's definitely something not kosher if the setup can't find your disks. Just for good measure, double-check your jumper settings while you're at it... I sometimes find that if I'm quite excited about getting started on a computer install I tend to forget that ATA drives need their jumpers set properly.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

An error occurred - no valid devices were found on which to create new file systems.  Please check your hardware for the cause of this problem.
This means not only your HD2 is invisible but also HD1 on which windows lives ( because it would have suggested to reformat that one ) A HD from 1999 is not an ¨old¨ HD, its perfectly fine. Does the computer still boot in windows ? :
Can you tell us how you connected the disks and CD-ROM, i.e., which Primary/Secondary Master/Slave position each of them are on. There's definitely something not kosher if the setup can't find your disks. Just for good measure, double-check your jumper settings while you're at it... I sometimes find that if I'm quite excited about getting started on a computer install I tend to forget that ATA drives need their jumpers set properly.
IMO here lies the mistake, if no disk is recognised ( 1 or 2 ) check the cables ( also on the board ) and the jumpers ( on both HD ):lol: Bruno* woke up and hoped it was installed.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Had another DUH moment - forgot to disable PnP. Back to that in a moment. Both hd's were working fine in windows before I did this so I know it's all connected correctly, but hd's are not detected anymore. I'll try to restart in windows & see what happens. I don't see any way to just turn off Pnp in the BIOS. Do you mean that I should disable autodetect for my IDE drives & set them up manually? This is the only reference that I can find to PnP in my BIOS:PNP/PCI configuration (this is the title of the page & not something that I can turn off & on)Onchip VGA Frame Buffer: 32MBVGA boot from: AGPPCI slot 1 IRQ Priority: AutoPCI slot 2 IRQ Priority: AutoPCI slot 3 IRQ Priority: AutoRealtek LAN ROM initial: YesI apologize if you've covered this in Julia's thread - do I need to go read some more there first?----------------------The embarrassed but still moving forward Sieb :lol:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi Sieb,

Onchip VGA Frame Buffer: 32MBVGA boot from: AGPPCI slot 1 IRQ Priority: AutoPCI slot 2 IRQ Priority: AutoPCI slot 3 IRQ Priority: AutoRealtek LAN ROM initial: Yes
Leave that as it is, if there is not entry fro PnP aware software forget about it.Just lets try again then. first boot in windows see if all HDs are recognised, if they are, reboot. and put the 1st CD in, and keep me posted.:lol: Bruno
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On the welcome screen you press ¨enter¨, then you get the language screen, next. At the selection of the mounting points just go for the defaults and choose ¨hdb¨.If your past that point all should be straightforward.:lol: Bruno

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Tried to restart Windows - first without boot disk, then with. Even with a boot disk, can't find any fixed drives. Wow, I've never seen that before. :lol: Have to go poke around at the hardware now.--------------------Still at it!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Nothing on there that can't be reloaded - this is my secondary computer, which is the main reason that I chose it to experiment on. I've messed my computers enough to know the importance of backing up!! :lol: People ask me if my kids mess stuff up on my computers, but I can tell you that the stuff that I mess up is LOTS more difficult to fix than what they do! :D ---------------The leaving the cover off Sieb!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Anyway don´t worry the data will still be on HD1 Is the cable still good connected to the board ? We will connect only HD1 for the moment, have you got it on the middle or the end of the flat cable ?:lol: Bruno

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sieb,Does the BIOS show both harddrives correctly? If not, it's probably a connection issue (IDE cables and such)... Or maybe a jumper issue...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My plan is: just get the 1st HD back going, then replace HD1 by HD2 ( as master ) and install Mandrake, Then put HD1 back in as master and HD2 as slave and do the install again ( Mandrake will then recognise the linux partition on HD2, so HD1 will be untouched ):lol: Bruno

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We just will have to get one of those HDs back recognised, Sieb check all the connections, on the board, the power cable in the HD, the ¨flat¨"cable, check if HD1 is still jumpered as master . . . check the lot !:lol: Bruno

Link to comment
Share on other sites

SiebI did not mess with the PnP thing either. Not all are configured that way. Here's to a quick fix in locating the hard drives. Here - I have a couple of extra cables for you to try...... Give it a go!By the way, my husband gets fearful every time he sees the cover off! Don't know why? I like my daughter's computer since it has no screws to hold the cover on. Just two levers to pop and away we go! Why did they make covers? To keep the children out!______________________________Covers are not for geeks (no matter what you scored)!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sieb,Does the BIOS show both harddrives correctly?  If not, it's probably a connection issue (IDE cables and such)...  Or maybe a jumper issue...
No. My cd-rom shows up as secondary slave. I removed the jumpers this morning to force it to secondary master, but it still shows up as slave. Tried switching cables, different hd. Nothing is showing up on the primary cable. :oOh my!----------------cover still off!
Link to comment
Share on other sites

How do you have it cabled? Do you have both hard drives on the same cable? And your CD drive, DVD, etc. on another cable? Or are you lucky enough to have separate cables for each drive. Make sure (assuming you have to share cables) both Hard Drives are on the same cable, with one set as master and one set as slave. If you are using older drives/cables, make sure teh #1 pins are lined up correctly. Red stripe on ribbon to the #1 pin on motherboard and each computer. Of course, you know all this already. B) I would not even worry about the floppy yet. Good luck!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

That´s right Julia, always take your covers off, better cooling too ! ;)B) Bruno
I think I will just ignore that remark. I don't even want to know what covers you were referring to in that post. ;)
Link to comment
Share on other sites

OK, I'm closer - ran autodetect IDE HDD in BIOS with only 1st hd connected. 1st HD is detected, but getting BSOD on startup. I know that I can at least revive it from here.--------------------Not Julia - you've got your curly headed girls mixed up! B)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I would not even worry about the floppy yet.  Good luck!
Well I kind of do worry about that floppy, with all the stories earlier in this thread . . . B) BrunoThe PC covers Julia . . . what were you thinking ! Where else would you need cooling, your head ? Can take that off too ! ;) ;)
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Back into Windows - both hd's working, working cd-rom & floppy. Deja Vu!----------------------Trying out my extensive knowledge of French! B)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

SiebDid you set HD1 as master ?? If you did, flip in the CD and boot, go through the menu´s and:At the point: ¨Selecting the Mount Points¨ we will choose : ¨Erase entire disk¨. I hope we can choose then between ¨hda¨ and ¨hdb¨ we erase only ¨hdb¨ ! If we can´t choose STOP !B) Bruno

Link to comment
Share on other sites

So what did fix it Sieb ?????? Tell us your secret !B) Bruno
Somewhere in the connecting, reconnecting, my BIOS lost the hd's & lost Auto detect. I didn't turn it off in the BIOS, but when hd's were not detected, auto detect must have gone away. Ran separate utility in BIOS to autodetect IDE HDD & it found my hd. Once I knew the BIOS would autodetect it, I reset both primary drives & secondary master to autodetect in first BIOS screen, reconnected everything & Voila! ;) My cd-rom is still secondary slave (with no master) which is kind of weird, but it works right now & I'm not messing with it!---------------Cover back on & trying Mandrake again.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Go Ahaid Sieb, start the install !

At the point: ¨Selecting the Mount Points¨ we will choose : ¨Erase entire disk¨. I hope we can choose then between ¨hda¨ and ¨hdb¨ we erase only ¨hdb¨ ! If we can´t choose STOP !
Crossing my fingers !B) Bruno
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Got the install started. B) Partition table is:2 GB /6.4 GB /home500MB /swapI tried to put a /usr partition in too, but couldn't quite figure it out.Picked out a whole bunch of cool sounding stuff to install & it's humming away!-------------The very much relieved Sieb - I was a bit worried there for a little while! ;)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The other thing that gave me a real clue as to what was going on with my hd's was Ryan's question about whether they were detected in the BIOS. I pulled an old hd off the shelf & tried to install it & it still wasn't detected, so I started trying different stuff.I'm fortunate to have an extra PC to continue connecting to the internet & some extra stuff lying around to troubleshoot with. If necessary, I'll also open up one of my working computers to check cabling (like for my floppy). I don't know how anyone troubleshoots with only 1 computer!!-------------Appreciate everyone's help so far!! B)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.


×
×
  • Create New...