This probably won't help, but check in the laptop's BIOS and make sure that Plug & Pray OS is turned off (if applicable). It sounds like it's having difficulty detecting your hardware. Turning this off should help.
On Friday 11 October 2002 02:07 pm, Jason Drushel wrote: > Hi guys, new to the list, and to Linux in general. (obviously, or I > wouldn't be posting here) > > I finally decided to take the plunge and get into Linux, but I'm playing it > safe and installing on an old (5 years or so) laptop I've had lying around > not doing much. I don't want to risk losing data on my desktop systems > just yet. > > Anyway, I was told Mandrake would be a good distro to start with since I > know nothing about Linux. Here are some problems I've run into trying to > install 9.0... > > First of all, system specs. It's a Dell Inspiron 3200, P2-233 with 32mb > RAM, 4gb HD, Neologic or somesuch video card. > > Ok onto the problems. When I first popped in the CD and booted from it I > got a menu to hit F1 or Enter to run setup. I hit Enter and it loaded > up. I saw a list of command lines, then it brought me to a grey pattern > screen with an X cursor. And there it sat. Perpetually. I was forced to > reboot after 10 minutes of that. So I'm thinking ok, maybe it was a fluke, > I'll just try running setup again. Same thing. > > I then tried other installation options. I tried vgalo first, no dice. I > then tried expert, and voila. The grey pattern screen came up, but this > time it was quickly followed by a blue screen. (I also tried text mode, but > not until later on) > > Here are where the real problems started. It asked me about third party > kernels, which I said no to, then it brought me into the installation > screen, or second stage install ,whatever you want to call it. It got > through PCMCIA detection just fine, but when it hit IDE detection I got an > error message. "An error has occurred insmod'ing module sr_mod failed." > > I clicked OK a few times and eventually it detected the hard drive. I was > now at the partitioning section. First attempt yielded a failure to format > after the partitions had been selected. Second attempt everything > worked. Great, now I got to pick my packages I wanted to install. Next > came copying files, I was finally on my way. Then halfway through it > kicked me out to the command prompt (or whatever it's called in Linux) with > some error messages that I didn't write down. > > At the time of this writing, it's a di-roll whether I can even get to the > sr_mod failed error message. Sometimes it locks before the grey pattern > screen, sometimes it locks at the grey-pattern screen, sometimes it gets to > the sr_mod failed error, sometimes I can even get to the partition > section. But never past that. > > I first thought there was something about this laptop's hard drive or > possibly IDE controller that Mandrake didn't like, but a quick Google > search showed that some people were successfully running Mandrake (version > 8.1, but still) on their Dell Inspiron 3200s. They didn't say if they had > to do anything special to get it working, but it was working. > > So what am I to do? I'm at my wit's end here and I'm almost ready to give > up and reinstall Windows 98. But not yet... > > Any suggestions?
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