Blinking cursor on boot (toshiba satellite a15) (alt+f1 does not work)

[acidque]

I have downloaded the kubuntu-6.06.1-alternate-i386.iso (intel x86 dapper drake release of kubuntu), burned to a cd booted into it then chose the install option. After installation and rebooting i only get a blinking cursor upon bootup. (at the end of installation there were two small grey box's on screen)

I have tried many key combinations which are not bringing up a command prompt.....The keyboard does beep when trying these.

Note, the hard drive was previously formatted ntfs with winxp and I have used boot and nuke to wipe. Below is the cpuz output from the toshiba laptop i am trying this installation on.

Number of processors 1
Number of cores 1 per processor
Number of threads 1 (max 1) per processor
Name Intel Celeron
Code Name Northwood
Specification Mobile Intel(R) Celeron(R) CPU 2.00GHz
Package Socket 478 mPGA
Family/Model/Stepping F.2.9
Extended Family/Model F.2
Brand ID 15
Core Stepping D1
Technology 0.13 um
Core Speed 1995.0 MHz
Multiplier x Bus speed 20.0 x 99.7 MHz
Rated Bus speed 399.0 MHz
Stock frequency 2000 MHz
Instruction sets MMX, SSE, SSE2
L1 Data cache (per processor) 8 KBytes, 4-way set associative, 64-byte line size
Trace cache (per processor) 12 Kuops, 8-way set associative
L2 cache (per processor) 256 KBytes, 4-way set associative, 64-byte line size

Chipset & Memory

Northbridge Intel i852GM rev. A1
Southbridge Intel 82801DB (ICH4-M) rev. 03
Memory Type DDR
Memory Size 256 MBytes
Memory Frequency 133.0 MHz (3:4)
CAS# Latency (tCL) 2.5 clocks
RAS# to CAS# (tRCD) 3 clocks
RAS# Precharge (tRP) 3 clocks
Cycle Time (tRAS) 6 clocks

System

System Manufacturer TOSHIBA
System Name Satellite A15
System S/N 83066786H
Mainboard Vendor TOSHIBA
Mainboard Model Portable PC
BIOS Vendor TOSHIBA
BIOS Version Version 1.30
BIOS Date 09/02/2003

Memory SPD

Module 1 DDR, PC2100 (133 MHz), 256 MBytes, Hyundai Electronics

Note this question is also posted here http://www.experts-exchange.com/OS/L..._22876131.html

[Snowhog]

Re: Blinking cursor on boot (toshiba satellite a15) (alt+f1 does not work)

First, the obvious question: when you booted from the LiveCD, did you get to the desktop, i.e., did the LiveCd fully boot up?

[acidque]

Re: Blinking cursor on boot (toshiba satellite a15) (alt+f1 does not work)

Yes, when booting to the live cd it was very nice. Everything worked including my pcmcia network card.

[Snowhog]

Re: Blinking cursor on boot (toshiba satellite a15) (alt+f1 does not work)

...including my pcmcia network card.

Do you remember if you had working sound when you booted from the LiveCD?

You loose nothing by trying this: remove your network card and reboot to see if you get to the desktop. If this works, insert the network card and see if it gets recognized and you are able to surf the Net. Please post the results of this test.

[acidque]

Re: Blinking cursor on boot (toshiba satellite a15) (alt+f1 does not work)

The dapper drake live cd does the same. (blinking cursor in upper right on boot) keyboard beeps but no key combination will allow a command prompt. I had used the Feisty Fawn live cd which worked but did not install correctly. (after installation the two small grey box's appeared on boot)

[integr8e]

Re: Blinking cursor on boot (toshiba satellite a15) (alt+f1 does not work)

It sounds to me as though you have the wrong graphics driver enabled (correct if I'm wrong Snowhog, I'm always learning); what graphics card do you have?

[acidque]

Re: Blinking cursor on boot (toshiba satellite a15) (alt+f1 does not work)

The toshiba website spec for my specific laptop is (Intel 852 GM 32mb integrated graphics controller) W/32mb internal shared video memory.

[integr8e]

Re: Blinking cursor on boot (toshiba satellite a15) (alt+f1 does not work)

Do you know which driver you have enabled?

[acidque]

Re: Blinking cursor on boot (toshiba satellite a15) (alt+f1 does not work)

No, How do i determine the driver used for the dapper drake live cd on boot? I cannot get to a command prompt when the live cd loads.

[integr8e]

Re: Blinking cursor on boot (toshiba satellite a15) (alt+f1 does not work)

If you don't know, let's skip that step for now. Reboot your computer and press the "Esc" key when prompted to cancel the normal boot process (this should be right after BIOS finishes loading everything it does); choose the option to start Kubuntu in recovery mode (if there are multiple options for this, it doesn't really matter which you choose). This should open up a command prompt. Type "dpkg-reconfigure -phigh xserver-xorg"; just choose the default options for everything except what driver you want to use. Choose "vesa" as the graphics driver. Then once you finish everything, type "reboot" - this command will "reboot" your computer.

Let it boot normally, and let me know if you get anything different.

Oh, in case you don't know, ignore the " " marks, they are only for reference and clarification purposes and not to be included with the commands.

[acidque]

Re: Blinking cursor on boot (toshiba satellite a15) (alt+f1 does not work)

ok Tried to press exc key using the live dapper cd but no response. Keyboard beep'd.

Also tried using the dapper alt install cd. After entering the command i get back (could not find kernel image: dpkg-reconfigure
boot:

[integr8e]

Re: Blinking cursor on boot (toshiba satellite a15) (alt+f1 does not work)

So are you getting the blinking cursor on the Live CD or after you've installed Kubuntu and rebooted your computer (i.e. booted from your hard drive and "not" the Live CD)?

[acidque]

Re: Blinking cursor on boot (toshiba satellite a15) (alt+f1 does not work)

both.

1) with the live dapper drake cd i get the blinking cursor on boot

2) after installing using the alternate(x86) install cd i get the blinking cursor on boot

[integr8e]

Re: Blinking cursor on boot (toshiba satellite a15) (alt+f1 does not work)

Alright, try my instructions without the Live CD, just booting from your hard drive. Immediately after your BIOS finishes loading, without the Live CD in your computer, you should see the prompt to press the "Esc" button and given 2-3 seconds to do so.

[acidque]

Re: Blinking cursor on boot (toshiba satellite a15) (alt+f1 does not work)

I allowed the bios to load then immediately afterward i pressed the esc key....nothing...I did not get the command prompt after pressing the esc key after bios POST.