Trouble booting with Live CD

[idemockle]

Hi everyone. I downloaded and burned a Kubuntu 7 CD but every time I try to boot from the CD it gets stuck at the Kubuntu loading screen (the second time it shows the blue Kubuntu logo). It flashes the logo for a second without the bar filling up at all and then goes to a black screen with a blinking text cursor. Anyone have any ideas what might be wrong? I'm using a somewhat old Dell computer with a 2.53 GHz Celeron D and 1 gig of DDR ram. The Dell motherboard has an onboard graphics controller but I have a graphics card plugged into a PCI slot, and I use that. Anyway, any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

[dibl]

Re: Trouble booting with Live CD

Try Alt-F1 or Ctrl-Alt-F1 at that blinking cursor. Let us know if you get a text login prompt.

[idemockle]

Re: Trouble booting with Live CD

K I'll try it thanks, be back in a few mins (hopefully from Kubuntu)

[dibl]

Re: Trouble booting with Live CD

It's not autodetecting your video card correctly.

If you're hoping to install Kubuntu, I would advise downloading and burning the "Alternate Install" CD, and then running it in "VGA" or "Safe Graphics" or whatever they call the 640x480 graphics mode.

Once booted, you'll use the text mode to install. The initial GUI will be set up in "VESA" mode, and then we'll help you figure out the best graphics driver for whatever graphics chip you're actually using.

[idemockle]

Re: Trouble booting with Live CD

alright i'm back... thought the video card might be the problem. Anyways, when i pressed Alt-F1 a command line showed up under a bunch of disclaimers about Kubuntu being freeware. Not sure what to do from there i'm afraid, I've never used linux for any length of time. I'm not planning to install at the time; I just want to get it to run from the CD for now and I'll tackle installing later. Should I run it in the safe graphics mode?

[dibl]

Re: Trouble booting with Live CD

Yes, you'll have to run in "Safe Graphics" mode for the moment.

When you decide to actually install it, it will be possible to work out the best graphics driver for your particular graphics chip. The Live CD obviously is not detecting it correctly.

[idemockle]

Re: Trouble booting with Live CD

Alright thanks a lot, I'll try it now

[dibl]

Re: Trouble booting with Live CD

When you next have to Alt-F1 to get to the login prompt, here is what you want to do (after you log in):

sudo dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xorg

This starts the X server configuration script. On the first screen, answer "NO" to the autodetect question, and on the second screen choose "VESA" as your display type. Then you can accept the defaults until you get to the "monitor" section. On that screen, put an "x" only in one resolution that you can comfortably use, like 1024 x 768. Then enter refresh rates appropriate for you monitor or CRT. When completed, it will dump you back to the text prompt. At that point you can enter

startx

and you should get a reasonable GUI, in which to continue your excellent adventure.

8)

[idemockle]

Re: Trouble booting with Live CD

Thanks again, you are teh awesome. I'm on Konqueror right now.

[dibl]

Re: Trouble booting with Live CD

Heh heh heh -- yep, you're coming along just fine!

[vsprabhu2]

Re: Trouble booting with Live CD

Just after the installation starts all the icons appear on the quick launch toolbar.
Then after it shows "initializing system services, it says "Error-KDesktop"
"the process for the file died unexpectedly".
When I tried to install under the option "Safe Graphical Installation"
it showed new error "The application sound server(artsd) crashed and caused
signal 11(SIGSEGV)
I want to know whether Kubuntu 7.04 works with Widows XP Professional ?
Is there any special Linux partition to be made ?
My mouse cursor freezes & does not move during installation process is on.
Why it is so ?
My machine is P 4 2.66 GHZ dual core(Original Pentium Motherboard) 256 MB Memory.
Should I remove the Windows xp O/S before installing Kubuntu 7.04 ?
I have received only "LIVE CD" of Kubuntu 7.04.
Why "Install Cd" was not sent to me ?
Why the installation process is not interactive to show the user what is being installed
and how much time it will take ( just like what is shown when any "windows o/s" is installed)
I have done the "CD CHECK" but it is perfectly o.k.

[vsprabhu2]

Re: Trouble booting with Live CD


Even after a dozen attempts I was not able to install
Kubuntu 7.04 from the live CD.Every time it throwsup some
new error the most common being "The KDE process died unexpectedly".
I tried memory test and everything else suggested by my friends.
The maximum I could go is up to the stage "Select Your Language".
But it did not show any list of languages at all I waited for half an hour, but when the cd rom was not showing any flickering light for about 35 minutes,
I threw up my hands.I made 4 more attempts after that but without
success.Should I install "Ubuntu 5.1" and then "Kubuntu 7.04" ?
Windows XP Professional is already there on my machine.How partitioning is to be done ?
C20 GB) No O/S but my data files only
D10 GB) EMPTY
E: (9 GB)XP PROF O/S

[dibl]

Re: Trouble booting with Live CD

Every time it throwsup some new error

@vsprabhu2 -- This kind of suggests to me that there is something wrong with either the hardware or the installation CD. If it was the same error every time, we could dig into a specific issue, but with variability in the errors, it's hard to know where to focus.

Does the Kubuntu Live CD run stably on your hardware? Sounds like you should let it run as a Live CD and do some experiments -- surf the web a little, play some games, stuff like that -- make sure that your hardware is happy running it that way.

Running the "memtest86" memory test routine for 30 minutes or an hour is also a confidence-builder if you're concerned about the possibility of a hardware issue.

Then, if you are fully confident that the hardware is fine, I would suggest downloading and burning the "Alternate" Kubuntu installation CD -- it uses a text installation script, and provides you more control and visibility during the installation process.

Finally for partitioning and dual booting guidance, here is what you need to review:

http://www.psychocats.net/ubuntu/partitioning

Good luck with it!