PCLOS 2012 and ACER laptops - SOLVED

[semper-linux]

Hi Forum,

I recently came across PCLOS 2012, liked it ( the Live CD) and decided to install.

First candidate was my ageing HP Compaq where the installation ran like a dream - not a single hiccup - configured and set up no problems.

I then thought, "I'm going to replace my Kubuntu installation on the laptop" - an ACER Aspire 7740G with ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5470 graphics.

Sad to say this installation was the complete opposite - can't even run the Live CD.

All that happens is that the progress bar simply crawls along to the end and that's it - just sits there and stops.

I tried to load with no splash screen and got the verbose output - the attempt to run the live CD got as far as "1 client rule loaded" and then hung.

At a guess, I think it's a graphics problem but not at all sure.

I've tried to find if there are any compatibility issues with ACER laptops but nothing that was of any help.

Be glad to hear from anyone that might be able to give me some pointers on this.

Many thanks
Semper_linux

[sammy2fish]

Hi Forum,

I recently came across PCLOS 2012, liked it ( the Live CD) and decided to install.

First candidate was my ageing HP Compaq where the installation ran like a dream - not a single hiccup - configured and set up no problems.

I then thought, "I'm going to replace my Kubuntu installation on the laptop" - an ACER Aspire 7740G with ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5470 graphics.

Sad to say this installation was the complete opposite - can't even run the Live CD.

All that happens is that the progress bar simply crawls along to the end and that's it - just sits there and stops.

I tried to load with no splash screen and got the verbose output - the attempt to run the live CD got as far as "1 client rule loaded" and then hung.

At a guess, I think it's a graphics problem but not at all sure.

I've tried to find if there are any compatibility issues with ACER laptops but nothing that was of any help.

Be glad to hear from anyone that might be able to give me some pointers on this.

Many thanks
Semper_linux

Your ageing HP Compaq needs some specs for us to help you in detail....:-)

I have a MSI 163k laptop, and PCLOS-2012-kde installed on it flawlessly.

[semper-linux]

Hi there Sammy2fish,

Thanks for the reply but the problem isn't with the Compaq - PCLinuxOS 2012 installed onto that like a dream.

The problem is with the my 2 year old ACER Aspire laptop - PCLinuxOS 2012 (also tried 2012-2) just won't even look at it.

I currently run Kubuntu (Feisty fawn - fully updated dual-booted with XP) on the laptop but the PCLinuxOS CD just does nothing.

I have, in the past, tried a variety of Linux flavours on the laptop and it has indeed proved itself to be very awkward to even get LIve CD versions going - Linux Mint, Fedora and several others.

Ubuntu / Kubuntu both installed without too much difficulty although the graphics took a while to get running correctly.

I'd really like to solve this - I can bust the .iso and modify the contents but what to do, I've no idea.

Thanks for the input.

[nixus]

Hey there,

Just a thought:
I once had a Laptop with no internal CD/DVD drive, so I had to use an external USB one. It wouldn't boot the live-CD unless I burned it at lowest speed. Interestingly it didn't even work using a CD but only a DVD.
Don't ask why ;-) So you might try doing this, presuming you also did a Md5sum check.

regards,
nixus

[kjpetrie]

Acer Aspires are very fiddly to get started, but fine once you get past the first hurdle. Have you tried all the boot menu options? If you can get to a VESA screen or even to a text prompt you can set up the graphical driver. Mine has dual graphics, so I run on the integrated Intel and turn the Radeon off completely (you need to recompile the kernel to do that though) to save power.

[semper-linux]

Thanks for the input guys.

Nixus - I used the same CD to install PCLinuxOS on the Compaq - it ran perfectly so I doubt very much if there's anything wrong with the CD.

kjpetrie - you pretty close to the mark - this ACER machine can be a real swine to get a LIveCD version running. The only one that installed relatively easily was Kubuntu.

I've no idea how to set up the graphical server - startx is about the only graphics command I know. I'll have a look around and see what I can find.

many thanks

[Grandpa]

Try "kernel Options" and the choose "safe settings".  Then press enter 2 times to start.

[semper-linux]

Hi "Grandpa" !!

Gave that a try but it turned out to be even worse than normal - the 'load' failed when the installer tried to mount the loop filesystem.

The possible cause was given as a bad burn or media failure - told me to run the media check which I did.

Disc passed the media check 100% - I let it continue to re-try another 'load up' but that failed yet again at mounting the loop filesystem.


Would it be possible to contact the distro CD builders / testers to see if they could shed any light on why this is so difficult for certain machines ?

I really would like to get this installed on the laptop.

Many thanks.

[AS]

Hi "Grandpa" !!

Gave that a try but it turned out to be even worse than normal - the 'load' failed when the installer tried to mount the loop filesystem.

The possible cause was given as a bad burn or media failure - told me to run the media check which I did.

Disc passed the media check 100% - I let it continue to re-try another 'load up' but that failed yet again at mounting the loop filesystem.


Would it be possible to contact the distro CD builders / testers to see if they could shed any light on why this is so difficult for certain machines ?

I really would like to get this installed on the laptop.

Many thanks.

please try as follow:
insert the LiveCD and start up the system, at grub prompt press F6 (options), select default, remove the option quiet, change the option splash=silent to splash=verbose, add the option debug, press ENTER to boot the system.

Report back the exact output at time of failure, possibly use a camera and make a photo of the screen.

At boot time 2 things should occurs:
- mounting the ISO image (i.e. CDROM)
- mounting the liveimage.sqfs (i.e. the compressed live filesystem), apparently your boot failure occurs at this stage ... but I'm unsure because both are "loop mounted" ...

AS

[kjpetrie]

It's a couple of years since I did it, but I seem to remember I had to do a poor man's install to get it going, and then use safe settings to get to the screen.

I think I started by installing Kb, then using that to create a small partition (about 2GB) where I copied the files from my liveusb, and set grub to boot that as I would for a liveusb. It wouldn't get to a screen until I set safe settings, and then I used PCC to set up the video driver.

As to why, I think it's just a case of developers only being able to test booting on a machine they have access to, so if we have something unusual they haven't it gets hit and miss. It probably needs a driver in the initrd.img which isn't included in pclos by default.

[semper-linux]

Hi Forum,

Thanks AS and kjpetrie for your inputs - some feedback.

AS - I have managed to make a photo but not very good - I assume I have to upload it somewhere but being a forum novice, I can't find where to upload to.
However, some of the verbose output says it is mounting the union file system - not the loop system.
The boot up continues for a bit until the line "setting up the graphic system", outputs another couple of lines and then Black Screen Of Death - system completely dead.
There is a white cursor top left but steady not blinking - no keyboard response - no Power button response.

I've had to make a Boot USB and start using that as the DVD drive was going haywire. When I was able to use the DVD drive, I could see the "Boot Options" line after pressing F6 but it was  completely blank - there was nothing to edit. I tried every F (function !!) key on the board but I couldn't find any access to the options menu.


kjpetrie - I'd love to have a go at your proposal but it's a bit beyond my knowledge / capabilities I fear.
By Kb do you mean Kubuntu ? What is PCC ?

A couple of things I should mention - this machine is 64 bit and is dual-booted with a Win7 partition but uses grub as the boot menu

I'm quite prepared to obliterate the Win7 partition as I hate it and try booting up PCLOS from there - IF I can be a bit more confident of the procedure.


Thank you both very much for your input.

semper-linux

[kjpetrie]

If you get that far, forget what I said, you're failing at the video driver stage, way after the system has booted.

Press F6 and select default, but this time try adding the term "video=vesa" without the quotes. Does that get you to a graphical log-in? If so, you can then log in as guest, and open the Pclos Control Centre (PCC) from the crossed tools icon. Select Hardware-> Set up graphical, and choose your monitor  and graphics card. Do not reboot, as in a live system your settings will not survive that, but log out and back in again. Are things better. If so, that is the time to decide whether to install, as further progress would only make sense on an installed system. You might want to check other things work first.

If that doesn't work try just adding "3" without the quotes to the end of the boot line. Does that get you to a text log in? if so, log in as root and run XFDrake. This will bring up a menu to set up the monitor and graphics driver as before.

Once that is set you should be able to use "service dm restart" to get to a graphical log in.

[AS]

AS - I have managed to make a photo but not very good - I assume I have to upload it somewhere but being a forum novice, I can't find where to upload to.

Doesn't need to be good, only readable.    you can upload the photo to a service like this:  http://postimage.org/

then copy and paste "Hotlink for forum (1)"

I've had to make a Boot USB and start using that as the DVD drive was going haywire. When I was able to use the DVD drive, I could see the "Boot Options" line after pressing F6 but it was  completely blank - there was nothing to edit. I tried every F (function !!) key on the board but I couldn't find any access to the options menu.

Yes, I forgot about: then simply add the followings:  noquiet splash=verbose debug

[semper-linux]

Hi there,

Well, I think we're making some progress - unfortunately no pictures yet as the system is always crashing with BSOD - no keyboard i/p - nothing. Have to remove the power plug to re-start. Are there any partitions mounted at this stage that would let us echo the screen output to a file ?

I used the following boot parameters :-
noquiet splash=verbose debug video=vesa 3

The boot-up process ran for the longest it has and produced a localhost login - typed in root / root and got a terminal prompt.
Typed in XFDrake - command not recognised - same for xfdrake.

So I tried startx.
System ran for a bit - produced about a further 20 odd lines and crashed. I managed to catch the last line produced which was......
failed to load module dri
and that was it.

I had a look at the startx command to see if there were any "suitable" switches to try but nothing seemed appropriate.

Thank you very much for your input - any more ideas ?

semper-linux

[AS]

The boot-up process ran for the longest it has and produced a localhost login - typed in root / root and got a terminal prompt.
Typed in XFDrake - command not recognised - same for xfdrake.

try: XFdrake