I am having trouble with Linux and FreeBSD on my computer

[Inspector Jihad]

I have tried many different distros to install on my computer, but I''m getting errors with both Linux and FreeBSD. I tried PCBSD and DesktopBSD and both give me an error:

Cannot Dump. No dump device defined.
Automatic reboot in 15 seconds.

With Linux, I tried Ubuntu and Fedora. I even tried a burnt iso of ubuntu as well as their copy that they send. With all three, I got an error:

kernel panic - not syncing: VFS: Unable to mount root fs on unknown-block(x,y).

x,y differs in ubuntu and fedora.

What could the problem be?

 

[Brazen]

sounds like a problem with the drive controller. What is the chipset make and model for your drive controller (sata or ide controller)? You might try googling for that and see if there are any known problems or workarounds using it with linux.

Also the x,y should be the device number and partition number of your root ( / ) partition. Keep in mind, grub numbers start with 0, so first partition on first device would be 0,0.

 

[Inspector Jihad]

i believe its 0,1 in ubuntu and 9,1 in fedora.

 

[n0cmonkey]

SATA? What SATA chipset?

Is the cdrom plugged into SATA port or PATA?

Have you tested the memory with memtest?

PCBSD and DesktopBSD are FreeBSD basically.

 

[Inspector Jihad]

its pata. the hd and cd-rom are both connected thru ide

 

[SleepWalkerX]

hmm that's weird. is this edgy (6.10)?

 

[n0cmonkey]

Run memtest86, double check md5s for the ISOs you burned.

 

[Brazen]

hmm, yeah if it's pata I would rule out driver issues. Try what n0c said.

 

[Inspector Jihad]

I ran memtest86. It found 1800 errors before the 4th test was complete

I guess i need some new pc133 memory

 

[n0cmonkey]

I hate trying to find pc133 these days. I've got a dual p3 with only 256, it makes me sad..

 

[drag]

Most memory errors turn up as small amount of errors over a specific range of memory addresses, or they turn up as sporatic memory errors that seem to come and go.

Memory errors were you get massive amounts of problems is usually a misconfiguration or something.

so check the settings in the bios for ram speeds if that is possible. If the PCI buss is overclocked or anything like that then tone it down.

Also if that doesn't work remove the ram and maybe clean out the dust some. If you have more then one slot then try moving it around.

There is a decent chance you can make these problems go away.

 

[Inspector Jihad]

i moved the memory from one slot to the other. i'll try some of the other suggestions and let you know how it turns out.