Houston--We have a problem--I can't see ( solved )

[Xenaflux]

Yesterday, my wife bought a laptop.
Lenovo G470 - i3 2330M - 4Gb RAM - radeon graphics

First I tried of course was PCLinuxOS

The CD doesn't even make it through LiveCD mode.
I tried KDE4 full - KDE4 mini - FM - LXDE and XFCE. ( all 32 bit )
I also tried KDE4 test 4

All the same, as far I can see. They go 95 % of the way, then there is silence and it present a very ( nice ) grey screen.
No matter what I press or move,
When I tried FM, last I saw ( in verbose mode ) was : Starting HAL deamon.


So, just to make sure it's not faulty hardware I tried:
Mandriva 1 ( last years. I think ) ....Live CD OK.
ArtistX ( ..untu ) ....LiveCD mode....OK
DreamStudion ( ...untu ) ....OK
Pardus 2011. Both LiveCD and Install....OK
OpenSuse education ( 2010 I think ) Both LiveCD and install OK

I tried to install Pclos in non-graphics mode, but when using FXdrake, and trying diferent combinations, I gave up, as I got absolutely nowhere ( and it was very late at night anyway)

Question:
Can this be kernel related ?
If so, can I install KDE4 on my normal desktop, add a newer kernel ( if available ) and make a remaster?

Note: I don't have to have PClinuxOS, but I prefer it . ( It's my wife's lappie, but it's me who has to look after it , for now.
She fully intends to learn , as she intends to teach in a few years.( linux )

I went to the forum ( laptop hardware) but right now it's kind of hard to do my own thinking ( just lost 2 teeth too )

Any advice ?

Again, I can put another distro on it, but prefer ours.

Thanks

[DeBaas]

Tried VESA modus ?
Or Ctrl-Alt-F2 (root) drakxconf and VESA + corrected setting for your screen ? followed by startx.

[Old-Polack]

Yesterday, my wife bought a laptop.
Lenovo G470 - i3 2330M - 4Gb RAM - radeon graphics

First I tried of course was PCLinuxOS

The CD doesn't even make it through LiveCD mode.
I tried KDE4 full - KDE4 mini - FM - LXDE and XFCE. ( all 32 bit )
I also tried KDE4 test 4

All the same, as far I can see. They go 95 % of the way, then there is silence and it present a very ( nice ) grey screen.
No matter what I press or move,
When I tried FM, last I saw ( in verbose mode ) was : Starting HAL deamon.


So, just to make sure it's not faulty hardware I tried:
Mandriva 1 ( last years. I think ) ....Live CD OK.
ArtistX ( ..untu ) ....LiveCD mode....OK
DreamStudion ( ...untu ) ....OK
Pardus 2011. Both LiveCD and Install....OK
OpenSuse education ( 2010 I think ) Both LiveCD and install OK

I tried to install Pclos in non-graphics mode, but when using FXdrake, and trying diferent combinations, I gave up, as I got absolutely nowhere ( and it was very late at night anyway)

Question:
Can this be kernel related ?
If so, can I install KDE4 on my normal desktop, add a newer kernel ( if available ) and make a remaster?

Note: I don't have to have PClinuxOS, but I prefer it . ( It's my wife's lappie, but it's me who has to look after it , for now.
She fully intends to learn , as she intends to teach in a few years.( linux )

I went to the forum ( laptop hardware) but right now it's kind of hard to do my own thinking ( just lost 2 teeth too )

Any advice ?

Again, I can put another distro on it, but prefer ours.

Thanks

In testing, you will find a few kernel-3.2.12-pclos3 packages. You might try one of them... probably the .pae one to see all the available RAM.

Add testing to your Sections: line in Synaptic, Reload, install the kernel, then remove testing from the Sections: and Reload again.

Reboot to get all dkms drivers rebuilt, then do your remaster. Hopefully the new kernel will have whatever drivers are needed for the Lenovo.

I'm currently running that kernel, and doing my best to overload/break/crash/panic it, but so far it's proved tougher than my best efforts. 

Post your results.

[Xenaflux]

Tried VESA modus ?
Or Ctrl-Alt-F2 (root) drakxconf and VESA + corrected setting for your screen ? followed by startx.

Yes, I did yesterday evening a few things.
Above was one of those things.

@ OP

Thanks for the instructions. I am sure it's something like that, because ALL versions can not fail all at the same time, unless it's something common.

I let you know maybe tonight ( in about 4-5 hours if I get the free time) or latest tomorrow.

[pinoc]

this guy reports the same issues here on a Acer Aspire One 722 with 4GB RAM, 320GB hard disk and Radeon graphic card. In reply # 7 he reports which other Linux distress did not work either and which one finally did.  So, maybe the graphic card could be the same on the Acer and your Lenovo laptop, and that causes the issues. However, I don't think our driver is the problem here because even vesa didn't work, so maybe they use a Linux-unfriendly graphic card controller setup or a newer kernel may help..

[Ramchu]

After searching for Lenovo 470 laptop everything that I find says that the graphics are
Intel Integrated HD Graphics 3000 - so the Intel 810 and later would be the driver to use,
wouldn't it ?

[menotu]

The  i3 2330M CPU seems to be 64bit so you should be able to use a non .pae kernel and still see all the 4GB memory.

I'm using the 3.2.12-pclos3.bfs kernel and all my memory is seen.

Edit - Just thought - should of added this on a 64bit install of course

[Old-Polack]

The  i3 2330M CPU seems to be 64bit so you should be able to use a non .pae kernel and still see all the 4GB memory.

I'm using the 3.2.12-pclos3.bfs kernel and all my memory is seen.

A 64 bit CPU running a 32 bit OS needs a kernel that can see all the memory present, ie a .pae kernel. A 64 bit OS has that capability built into the 64 bit kernel.

[Xenaflux]

Guys, thanks for response

Didn't have time to do anything, but tomorrow I have the day free it seems.

See you

[Xenaflux]

OK, I am back.  Sorry for the delay.
@ Old-Polack : success
I made a remaster as per your instructions, changed permissions and burned it.
Put into the Lenovo and it booted up beautifully , right to the end.
Used it in liveCD mode. All OK
Did not install it, as I didn't see an install icon ( of course not ) and was to lazy to find out

@ debaas
Yesterday I read your post again, and decided that there was no reason why it should not work, one way or another.
Tried again. Instead of choosing thailand ( anything ) I stayed with british
I got then a picture on the left half of the screen.
I needed a magnifying glass , not to read, but decipher the text.
However, I got where I wanted to be and after trying different combinations I suddenly got a full screen. Then I was able to install. After that a little of messing with hardware settings and all was ok

@ menotu
I had to install the pae kernel to get the full 4 Gb available.

@ Ramchu

The Lenovo G470 gets presented/delivered in 6 different combinations,
with 6 very different prices , according to the brochure I have here on my desk.

@ pinoc
Thanks for rattling my brain with German
I think I will have to spend some 15 minutes a day with my books again.
Really.....thanks 

Anyone any questions before I move on ?

Xena

[DeBaas]

Anyone any questions before I move on ?

Don't dare anymore.........................................

[djohnston]

@ Old-Polack : success
I made a remaster as per your instructions, changed permissions and burned it.
Put into the Lenovo and it booted up beautifully , right to the end.
Used it in liveCD mode. All OK
Did not install it, as I didn't see an install icon ( of course not ) and was to lazy to find out

Does that mean you were able to boot, but just couldn't find the installer? If yes, go to More Applications > Configuration > Install PCLinuxOS in the main menu.

[Crow]

Used it in liveCD mode. All OK
Did not install it, as I didn't see an install icon ( of course not ) and was to lazy to find out Shocked Shocked

Probably is another thing but... did you installed draklive-install?

I had to ask   

[Xenaflux]

Does that mean you were able to boot, but just couldn't find the installer

The truth is more that I didn't try to find it, as I had enough for the day and I was very tired. So, I didn't look.

However, thanks for the info, Since today is today and yesterday is gone, I decided to install in a spare partition sda12.
I booted up the remaster ((with kernel-3.2.12-pae kernel )) in the Lenovo G470 and it boots up just fine, just like all other pclos liveCDs on my normal PCs.
I was able to do quick and painless install ( following your info ) .
Configured menu.lst in sda5 ( bootloader entry ).
I rebooted..................and now.......it hangs at about 1/3th of progress bar.
Message:
--------------------------------
1
cannot open file delete
--------------------------------
I waited 15 minutes.
Now abandon.

Please note:

I don't need this fixed as I have  working installation on sda5 ( see debaas info above )

But........If you want to know anything for your own experience/benefit feel free to ask anything anytime.
I don't mind dancing cha-cha-cha    

Just for information.
I tried the normal KDE4 CD and the LXDE CD again, and confirm they are not booting up to the end. No LiveCD desktop visible.
They both seem to stop at about 90 to 95 % of progress bar

Thanks

Xena

[Xenaflux]

Probably is another thing but... did you installed draklive-install?

If you mean , if I installed it before making the remaster, then < Yes >, as the script told me so.
Xx