Linux Mandrake 10.1 installation problem

[Delboy1965 0]

I'm trying to install mandrake 10.1 however after USB detection it reports an error telling me It can't access the Mandrake installation disc. The computer is an Athlon 850 with 256mb ram, 20gb hard drive and a brand new BTC DVD rom on second IDE channel as a master. This last bit is irrelevant as I have tried it with other CD drives and also as a slave on the primary IDE channel. The iso's were downloaded from sunsite.org and their md5 signatures verified. The media is good quality and burnt as low as 2 speed. Looking at the log it reports 'mounting /dev/hdc on sysroot/tmp/image as type iso9660', then 'mount failed: no such device or address'

 

So whats the problem? Does the hard drive require a particular file structure before installation?

 

All help much appreciated

[danleff 0]

The Mandrake install is having trouble with the dvd drive, not the hard drive. Is this by chance a combo dvd/cdrw drive? My install fusses with this combo drive and has trouble reading cdr disks as well.

[Delboy1965 0]

The rom drive is just a plain BTC DVD drive. I have also tried an older liteon CD drive and an HP CDRW drive. All with the same results. I also tried disc 1 of Mandrake 9.2 which I had used to install in a different machine a while ago. It also failed at the same place!!. I have tried switching off DMA with no success and also a text only install. The text only resulted in fatal errors at approximately the same place in the install.

 

Any other thoughts?

[danleff 0]

Try booting with Mandrake #2 disk. When it gives you an error about not being an install disk, switch the cd to #1, hit enter, and see if the install continues.

 

Are you using cdrw or cdr media?

[Delboy1965 0]

I'll give that a try later. I have tried both CDR and RW, dosen't make any difference. Is it possible to install from a second hard drive?

[danleff 0]

Yes, it is possible to install from a second hard drive. Let us know how you make out with the cd install first.

 

The other solution to try is to pass the acpi=off option during the install. So, when you get the Mandrake boot screen, type in acpi=off and see if the installation continues without error.

[Delboy1965 0]

Found a solution this morning.

 

I reset the Bios back to fail safe defaults, then just changed setting which obviously needed changed. Left PNP OS to no and hey presto the install started using the same hardware and discs as before. Still installing and so far so good.

 

Thanks for all the help and suggestions.

 

I'm sure I'll be back for more as I intend to get it to talk to a windows 2003 server.

 

Again thanks

 

Rodger

 

 

[vassalle 0]

Rodger,

Im having the same problem as you. something like no cdrom detected. I tried to find the pnp-os option in my bios but i cant seem to find it.. Im using Abit's Ic7-max3 with bios revision 17. Some help pls..

[vassalle 0]

i've tried restoring the bios to fail safe defaults but still has the error of no cdrom detected.. im using an LG dvd rom and a MSI cdrw drive, which works well in windows and detected by bios.. why cant mandrake installation cd detects it ?

 

Some help!!!

[danleff 0]

What version of Mandrake are you trying to install?

 

What speed did you burn the cd disks at? Or are they official release cd disks?