Fresh install of Ubuntu 10.04.3 not booting

[Red Squirrel]

I just installed Ubuntu Server on an old AMD based machine, fresh install, after it was done, it wont even boot. I don't even get as far as the grub screen, it just sits doing nothing at the "verifying DMI Pool Data ............" (which is a bios message which follows the OS loading). When I google it, it seems there is an issue with that version of Ubuntu where it does not have a xorg.conf file so I did a rescue and copied one from another machine, but then I realized, this is not a video issue, I should at least be getting the grub screen but I'm not.

I can't see how a clean install would do anything... it IS a clean install. Anyone know what would cause this?

 

[AnonymouseUser]

This error is not specific to Ubuntu or Linux, it means the computer cannot find a bootable drive. Reasons for that are varied, from corrupt or missing boot files to misconfigured hard drive settings. Make sure the hard drive master/slave settings are correct (assuming old PC = PATA hdd).

When you installed grub, did you install to the master boot record or the partition where Ubuntu was installed? If the latter, then that may be your issue.

If neither of those, try disabling ACPI in the BIOS.

 

[Red Squirrel]

I just did a standard install, so it never asked anything about grub.

I reinstalled grub for what it's worth, and now it boots, but only in text mode, so I'll try to figure out why it wont go in graphical mode. Getting somewhere, at least. There also does not seem to be an inittab in ubuntu. I'm used to RH based distros. Is there another place they put it?

 

[AnonymouseUser]

I don't think X is installed with Ubuntu Server, so text mode is all you've got.

If you must have X:

sudo aptitude install --without-recommends ubuntu-desktop

 

[Red Squirrel]

Oh, just realized what all my issues are (had others with other distros I tried). The PC has an ATI video card. I forgot that Linux does not do well with ATI cards so I'll have to order a non ATI one. Guessing NVidia will do better.

 

[Red Squirrel]

I don't think X is installed with Ubuntu Server, so text mode is all you've got.

If you must have X:

sudo aptitude install --without-recommends ubuntu-desktop

Just realized the nic is not detected. omg my luck sucks latetly. Guess I may be better off using an older distro given the age of the machine, that may be part of my problems too.

 

[AnonymouseUser]

As long as you aren't gaming or using a compositing desktop, ATI should be fine.

As for distro, there's no reason the Ubu Server shouldn't work, depending on what you are planning to do of course. What do you plan to use it for?

 

[Red Squirrel]

It will mostly be a storage box at a church, so mdadm raid array for files with samba/apache, but it will also be used (temporarily) to record audio, so it will need a GUI audio tool (something easy to use for a non computer person).

I managed to get FC7 to work, graphics, network and all, no hassles, so guess I'll just stick with that. I feel like I'm in 2002 again, but hey, it works! This machine wont have internet access so I'm not too worried about security. At most it may have HTTP open through wifi but I can't think of any major HTTP security exploits that would give full access to the system. This kernel probably has that huge bug in it that was found years back where someone can become root, but pretty sure that still required SSH and a valid user account being logged in.

Previously I had tried CentOS 6, but I just got a screen full of dots right at the installer, there was a work around, but after the install, the screen resolution was so weird, it was out of range to the monitor, and the fonts were all messed up as well when I VNCed in, then I tried Ubuntu and had the issues I posted, so decided to give this old FC a try and it went in fine. That's the nice thing with Linux, if something does not work you can always try another distro.

 

[AnonymouseUser]

Yeah, you should be fine with FC7. Glad you got it working!