Download problem.

[caz747]

Hi all, I'm Caz from England and I've got a problem with downloading Pclinuxos. I guess the answer's staring me in the face but for the life of me I can't see it.
I'm currently running Linux Mint 14 but fancied giving PCLinux a go via the live CD. I went to Distro watch and downloaded from one of the recommended sites - I downloaded twice as I thought there was something wrong with the first copy, the sites were Ireland 1 and Ireland 2.
The files was downloaded to archive manger, i extracted them from there to the desktop - for some reason there was a hard drive icon on the desktop with the pclinux name. I tried to run chksum, spent several hours trying every way I could think of, using commands in terminal and running GTKHash but there was no file to check. The output from terminal was something like 'No such file or directory' when I entered the full path. I checked all my spelling on several occasions but kept getting the same message.
Eventually I burned the files to disk to see if I could find the chksum file that way but still nothing. I also tried to boot from the disk - maybe not a good idea - but it didn't work. So I'm stuck.
Any thoughts on this gratefully received as I haven't got a clue what to try next.

[µT6]

hello and welcome to the forum!

we rarely use distrowatch for something now

maybe you could download the iso file again from this link(download links on the bottom of that page)

http://www.pclinuxos.com/?page_id=180

it is for pclinux 32 bit 2013.02

you can find there the md5sum too, just open a console on the folder where you have downloaded the pclinux2013.02 iso file and write md5sum theexactnameofthe.iso

after some seconds(30 or more, depends on your machine) it will give you the number of the checksum, if it matches the one in the link i posted, it should be ok to burn or put on a usb device

after downloaded, run the checksum and then use your preferred burner app to put it on a dvd or if you like, put it on a usb flash drive

[The Chief]

The files was downloaded to archive manger, i extracted them from there to the desktop - for some reason there was a hard drive icon on the desktop with the pclinux name.

There should be no extracting needed - normally it comes as an iso file, ready to burn to a CD/DVD.

You'll probably have much better luck getting from here:
http://www.pclinuxos.com/?page_id=10
At least you'll know no one has hacked around with it.

Any thoughts on this gratefully received as I haven't got a clue what to try next.

I just went to DistroWatch and it is terribly, terribly slow.  Perhaps that was the problem - a bad download.

[johnmart]

Yup, like T6 said;
I recommend this Ireland d/l site.
http://ftp.heanet.ie/pub/pclinuxos/pclinuxos/live-cd/
From a terminal do a checksum:
burn iso file to a dvd.
Boot it up.
Your distro should have a utility to make a bootable USB.
That would save you a dvd.

[agmg]

I will refer you to the following articles published in our Magazine
They were written with users migrating from Windows in mind, but I'm sure they'll provide valuable information to you, also.

Download, Verify, and Create A LiveCD or USB
Live Session & Installation

When at the download page, select the .iso you want and save it to your disk (don't open it with your archive manager).
Then you can use a disk burning software to burn this iso to a DVD and create a LiveCD.
Or, use a usb creation tool (such as Unetbootin) to create a Live USB.

[menotu]

The files was downloaded to archive manger, i extracted them from there to the desktop - for some reason there was a hard drive icon on the desktop with the pclinux name.

There should be no extracting needed - normally it comes as an iso file, ready to burn to a CD/DVD.

You'll probably have much better luck getting from here:
http://www.pclinuxos.com/?page_id=10
At least you'll know no one has hacked around with it.

Any thoughts on this gratefully received as I haven't got a clue what to try next.

I just went to DistroWatch and it is terribly, terribly slow.  Perhaps that was the problem - a bad download.

+1

[caz747]

Thanks guys for all the advice. I downloaded the iso file again - from the ireland site, it's the closest to me - and this time saved the file to the downloads folder instead of having it open with archive manager and that solved the problem. I knew it would be something obvious that I just hadn't seen.
I burnt it to disc with brasero. The disk started to load but after about a minute froze, the keyboard locked up as well. I always check this if there's a problem by hitting the caps lock button to see in the light goes on and off, and it didn't. I tried twice more with that disk,including a media check, but no luck.
Next I installed the K3b disc writer, as this was highly recommended, and burnt a new copy at times 4 speed, but the same problem occurred again, disc freezing, keyboard locking up.When the disc freezes I'm left at a blank screen.
The md5sum check worked okay, so no problems there, and I waited for about 15 minutes to see if the install would move on from the lock-up. Also I'm running a dual boot with Windows Vista and Linux Mint 14. There's four GBs of memory and the processor is a dual core Pentium 3.00GHz, also there is a Radeon HD 5670 graphics card.
I'm out of ideas again so if anyone knows what's going on I'd be grateful for any tips on how to fix the lock-up. Cheers.

[agmg]

Do you have a spare USB drive?
You could try the Live USB option using Unetbootin.
I don't know if Linux Mint provides other USB creation software...

[Just17]

Thanks guys for all the advice. I downloaded the iso file again - from the ireland site, it's the closest to me - and this time saved the file to the downloads folder instead of having it open with archive manager and that solved the problem. I knew it would be something obvious that I just hadn't seen.
I burnt it to disc with brasero. The disk started to load but after about a minute froze, the keyboard locked up as well. I always check this if there's a problem by hitting the caps lock button to see in the light goes on and off, and it didn't. I tried twice more with that disk,including a media check, but no luck.
Next I installed the K3b disc writer, as this was highly recommended, and burnt a new copy at times 4 speed, but the same problem occurred again, disc freezing, keyboard locking up.When the disc freezes I'm left at a blank screen.
The md5sum check worked okay, so no problems there, and I waited for about 15 minutes to see if the install would move on from the lock-up. Also I'm running a dual boot with Windows Vista and Linux Mint 14. There's four GBs of memory and the processor is a dual core Pentium 3.00GHz, also there is a Radeon HD 5670 graphics card.
I'm out of ideas again so if anyone knows what's going on I'd be grateful for any tips on how to fix the lock-up. Cheers.

Did you try any of the alternative boot options?

Please do if not done so already 

[caz747]

I did try a few of the other boot options. I ran the media check and that was okay, then I ran the boot option with no splash but there was no change and the install froze at the same place, this would be when the loading bar - if that's the right name - is at about half way. Then I tried safe boot and everything went fine with all OKs for all the stuff that was loading, but then came a point when a message saying "Localhost Login" stopped the install again. This time the keyboard did not freeze so I was able to type at name at the localhost login prompt, and at the password prompt that followed. Alas, the user name for Mint and Vista were both rejected and I hit a wall again as I've no idea what name and password are required.
I didn't try any other options as they look as if they will try to format the hard drive - not a road I which to travel at the moment as I still use Vista on the odd occasion for windows specific software - a rare occurrence but it does happen - and Mint works fine. So I'm stuck again.
I'll give the USB a try out, just need to work out how to do it first. Any further ideas on the live cd install lock- up gratefully received and thank you all for the help so far.     

[luikki]

passwords:

user       password

guest     guest

root        root

[caz747]

Tried the USB by writing the iso file to a usb stick by using Mintstick - it's the default usb writer that comes with Mint. Then I had a look in the BIOS and changed the boot order so that the first in the list to boot from was a removable device - there was no boot from usb option. Started the pc up again and it totally ignored the usb stick, though it was flashing and so I guess being read.
Next I tried safe mode again and when requested entered the passwords that luikki has posted, thanks for those. They worked but only as far as to take me to a "user@localhost" prompt, and then I had no idea what to do after that. I've only been using Linux since the start of the year so I'm not that clued up on the command line stuff, though I have learnt a few and am surprised that some of the old DOS commands work. My favourite ones being at the moment cd and cd\, I can usually get to where I want to be by using a variation of them.
Anyway, that's me done for tonight, and it's back to work tomorrow now that the snow's cleared, worse luck. I'll have a look again at this tomorrow night. Cheers for all the help so far. 

[luikki]

after user@localhost
use "startx" (without the quotes")...
probably it will throw up an error...
try XFdrake and configure your video card from there...

back to work tomorrow now that the snow's cleared

never experienced that...  had to go to work...
even under heavy snow, wind and -25 celcius...
 

[Phil]

Hi Caz,

Welcome and keep going.

Have you tried the safe graphics option?

[caz747]

Have you tried the safe graphics option?

And that solved the problem. Thanks, Phil.
So the first think I saw was "The KDE Crash Handler" telling me that "KDE Daemon Closed Unexpectedly." Not sure what any of that was about but I did try to report it as requested, no luck there as the info I provided wasn't adequate - it asked what I was doing before the crash and I said nothing, no surprise that my info wasn't up to spec.
Then I tried to alter the screen resolution, it's stuck on something like 1024 by 768 which in all honesty looks awful, but after re-booting as requested it stayed the same. Tried to change the graphics card settings, but my one, a Radeon HD 5670, isn't listed so I had no luck there either.
The OS itself looks pretty good but I need to be sure that I will be able to set up the graphics card and screen resolution before I think about using it as a replacement for Mint. The main reason for wanting to make the switch is I read that PCLinux can be customised to a greater extent than some of the other Linux OSs. I'm a big time Gimp user and so design and the way things look is something I spend a lot of time doing. Also I can't stop messing around with the desktop settings - which I think I've reached the limit of with Mint - and having a general rummage around with and changing conky files - great fun that is.
I think the big problem with all the Linux systems is that they offer so much. After moving over from windows I feel like I've stumbled on an Aladdin's cave of possibilities, and I'm not sure if I'll ever be content to stick with what I've been given again, but it's good to feel that way.
Anyways I'll have to see if I can solve the resolution problems before moving on.

never experienced that...  had to go to work...
even under heavy snow, wind and -25 celcius...
 

   

I don't envy you that, it sounds painfully cold.
I'm in the building trade so once the temperature drops we have to stop, the materials we use start to freeze. No hardship there though, I haven't got a problem with staying in the warm.