Linux Mint

Ok, rebooted with the new live cd and had a few problems. It got to the main screen ok and I selected Start Linux Mint. From there, the screen went black followed by some scrolling white text. I did make something out about a microcode load problem. Does this sound like a problem with the disk? I tried it a second time with the same issues. From this point, I'm thinking I should try to burn another cd from a different source. Any suggestions?

Hi Cory. I found this information about installing dual boots interesting. Partitions and FSdrive When I finally get around to installing a dual boot linux distribution on my Dell, I will likely use some combination of these partitioning schemes. BTW, does anyone know if there is anything in these proprietary OEM installs from Dell and the like that creates errors when re-partitioning for a dual boot? BTW, I wish I could help you with some answer about the liveCD problem but you are talking to Mr. clueless.

Regards, Todd

Lynchmeister said:

What exactly does dual booting mean? In other words, every time I boot my computer, will I be given the option to use Windows or Linux? And Linux will be able to access files and programs from Windows?

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yes Linux will write a new boot manager on the harddrive which will give you a choice of windows or linux. To access the linux partition from windows you'll need something like fsdrive - see Phog Allen's post (and there was a recent thread on that). But you can't just run the windows programs from linux and vice versa - you'll be able to only see (and possibly modify your files).

It's important to install linux after windows, because windows doesn't like to acknowledge anything but itself, so it's generally much harder (not impossible) to make this menu selection, which linux creates as a last step.

Lynchmeister said:

Ok, rebooted with the new live cd and had a few problems. It got to the main screen ok and I selected Start Linux Mint. From there, the screen went black followed by some scrolling white text. I did make something out about a microcode load problem. Does this sound like a problem with the disk?

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not sure, could be a problem with the disk, but may be something else, like incompatible linux OS. When I looked at the LinuxMint dl page it wasn't clear which version was for what processors (or at least it wasn't as shouting clear as it should be). Let us know what you've downloaded and what processor do you have.

Phog Allen said:

BTW, does anyone know if there is anything in these proprietary OEM installs from Dell and the like that creates errors when re-partitioning for a dual boot?

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Not sure what you mean. As far as I remember from my thinkpads' install CDs there was no option to install on a specific partition. The only option is to essentially restore the whole harddrive to the factory status (several hidden partitions from which you can reinstall later and one main partition). Any partitioning scheme you may have set before that gets erased (if i'm correct).

I haven't found anything about the microcode problem you mentioned, or at least anything useful... I'm willing to go so far as to say that it likely isn't a problem with the disc, though. It could be that it ran into some trouble with some of your hardware. Next time it puts out that information hit Pause|Break and write it down. Then punch it into Google and see if anyone shares the problem.

Thanks for the tips, guys. I downloaded the "bad" disk from http://www.linuxmint.com/mirrors.php?id=15

It was HEAnet one...I think. I guess I didn't realize they were different.

Welcome to the world of Linux.

You don't even want to know the flaming hoops I'm jumping through to get the wireless adapter I got for my birthday to work...

hmm, all the mirrors should give you exactly the same thing and it seems you got the 'main one' judging from the size 688MB in your link

I am really confused - I thought ALPHA may refer to ALPHA processors, but I guess I'm wrong, these all seem to be for x86 processors and Alpha/Beta refers to the stages of development of the distribution. ARGHHHH

I'd say at this point get Ubuntu 7.10 as being more friendly and better supported, so that you'll get an idea about linux. It seems just asking for trouble starting with a distro that has problems installing on your computer. Not that they can't be solved in principle, but you don't want that steep of a curve when starting.

also, I'm not sure how you can check the md5 sum of the iso image you downloaded when you're on windows, but you can verify that that image is correct by comparing the md5 sum to the one that's on the webpage:
572a56ec165ef6ad8f785cc7f13a5a14
if that's correct, then the culprit is either the burning process (very unlikely) or the actual CD (99% likely).
The thing is that you were able to run the older version, so the LinuxMint people have certainly messed up something when compiling the linux kernel for the Daryna CD. Sounds like me LinuxMint isn't quite ready for prime time yet.

gugi said:

also, I'm not sure how you can check the md5 sum of the iso image you downloaded when you're on windows, but you can verify that that image is correct by comparing the md5 sum to the one that's on the webpage:
572a56ec165ef6ad8f785cc7f13a5a14
if that's correct, then the culprit is either the burning process (very unlikely) or the actual CD (99% likely).
The thing is that you were able to run the older version, so the LinuxMint people have certainly messed up something when compiling the linux kernel for the Daryna CD. Sounds like me LinuxMint isn't quite ready for prime time yet.

Click to expand...

Hashtab. Right-click on the downloaded file, go to Properties, click the "File Hashes" tab and paste it in. It'll let you know if there's a problem. Great if you download a lot of large files.

gugi said:

hmm, all the mirrors should give you exactly the same thing and it seems you got the 'main one' judging from the size 688MB in your link

I am really confused - I thought ALPHA may refer to ALPHA processors, but I guess I'm wrong, these all seem to be for x86 processors and Alpha/Beta refers to the stages of development of the distribution. ARGHHHH

I'd say at this point get Ubuntu 7.10 as being more friendly and better supported, so that you'll get an idea about linux. It seems just asking for trouble starting with a distro that has problems installing on your computer. Not that they can't be solved in principle, but you don't want that steep of a curve when starting.

Click to expand...

gugi said:

also, I'm not sure how you can check the md5 sum of the iso image you downloaded when you're on windows, but you can verify that that image is correct by comparing the md5 sum to the one that's on the webpage:
572a56ec165ef6ad8f785cc7f13a5a14
if that's correct, then the culprit is either the burning process (very unlikely) or the actual CD (99% likely).
The thing is that you were able to run the older version, so the LinuxMint people have certainly messed up something when compiling the linux kernel for the Daryna CD. Sounds like me LinuxMint isn't quite ready for prime time yet.

Click to expand...

Interesting ideas...I'm seriously going to consider Ubuntu. Would you call Ubuntu fairly user friendly for absolute beginners? My wife's patience is running thin tonight, so I think I'm going to call 'er quits for right now and pick it up again tomorrow. I will also take a look at the md5 sum tomorrow to see what the deal is there.

Appreciate your help.

rabidpotatochip said:

Welcome to the world of Linux.

You don't even want to know the flaming hoops I'm jumping through to get the wireless adapter I got for my birthday to work...

Click to expand...

Thanks for your words of encouragement.

Lynchmeister said:

Interesting ideas...I'm seriously going to consider Ubuntu. Would you call Ubuntu fairly user friendly for absolute beginners? My wife's patience is running thin tonight, so I think I'm going to call 'er quits for right now and pick it up again tomorrow. I will also take a look at the md5 sum tomorrow to see what the deal is there.

Appreciate your help.

Click to expand...

Ubuntu is extremely user-friendly; in some cases it'll make Windows look harsh. My favorite example is that it shows updates for all your software rather than just the operating system. Even as an absolute beginner you shouldn't have any trouble jumping right in.

Lynchmeister said:

Thanks for your words of encouragement.

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Yeah, I realize that probably didn't come across too well.

Yeah, I think I'd call ubuntu the most user friendly of the main distros, that's why i suggested that. they've put a considerable effort starting with a really solid base (debian) and improving the user interface and have put more money into that than anybody else.

There are a lot of projects that do the same, like linuxmint, knoppix, etc. (I'm out of date I know) but ubuntu is the one that has been backed by a lot of money. They even signed a deal with dell, so you can now purchase linux computers from dell and they'll run ubuntu. (That doesn't mean ubuntu is better, but the other big linux company, redhat, has been trying to get a contract like that for years.)

Yeah best to do it some other day. I remember the installation takes something like 20-30min, plus you have to download the CD (choose a mirror near you from the drop down menu).

Once you go to www.ubuntu.com it should be pretty straightforward what to do. I really like how they've been progressively going more and more intuitive apple style. (I just looked at their 'parent' distro debian and yeah, it's comprehensive, but the last thing it does is makes me want to try it - way too geeky for most people.)

Corey,

Wow, am I joining this thread late! Sorry about that. How did the install go?


I quickly skimmed the previous posts and I hope everything worked out. I've never seen a "microcode" error, so I have no idea what that means. But, don't worry about the scrolling white text when you boot; that's normal and inconsequential. Many distros cover this up with a cute splash screen, I guess Mint doesn't.

Did I get correctly that you're installing on a Dell? The installation should be no problem, but Dell proprietary hardware might be. Despite that Dell is on board (to a point) in supporting linux, some of their own hardware doesn't. (For ex., some of their all-in-one printer/fax/scanner). But, if it worked with the live cd, then you'll have no prob with the install.

If wireless networking continues to give you a problem, you have a few options... the surest one of working is to go with an ethernet/nic card (which can be wireless). Linux likes ethernet cards and should present no problem. USB wireless, however, in not always as well supported, but you may be able to work around it using "ndiswrapper" which allows you to use the win dirivers in a linux environment. I'm not sure of the dev stage at this point, but it may not be the easiest to set up depending on how Mint is set up (some distros come with ndiswrapper already set up).

-- Richard

Richard, I'm pretty sure Corey was unable to install the Daryna release (4.0).
Microcode error is a pretty serious error and is followed by a kernel panic, so you can't proceed. I'm pretty sure passing some kernel options (no idea how to find which unless Corey can catch more of the message) can get around the problem, but this is way way more than a newbie should have to tackle, esp when the main help is over the internet.

That's why I suggested switching to another distro that's likely to be much smoother. I think the major linux distros have advanced considerably with hardware probing and general user friendliness, but certainly there are a lot of variations. I think ubuntu is the safest bet of things going smoothly, but we'll have to see what happens. If Corey finds problems with it I'll significantly downgrade my opinion of linux friendliness.

gugi said:

Richard, I'm pretty sure Corey was unable to install the Daryna release (4.0).
Microcode error is a pretty serious error and is followed by a kernel panic, so you can't proceed. I'm pretty sure passing some kernel options (no idea how to find which unless Corey can catch more of the message) can get around the problem, but this is way way more than a newbie should have to tackle, esp when the main help is over the internet.

That's why I suggested switching to another distro that's likely to be much smoother. I think the major linux distros have advanced considerably with hardware probing and general user friendliness, but certainly there are a lot of variations. I think ubuntu is the safest bet of things going smoothly, but we'll have to see what happens. If Corey finds problems with it I'll significantly downgrade my opinion of linux friendliness.

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Thanks for the info! I learned something new & will have to research it in case I ever have the problem. Thankfully, all of my installs have gone smoothly (all RedHat or Fedora), but you're right the variations and possibilites are endless. Mint is a pretty new distro, maybe it doesn't have all the kinks worked out yet. I've never used Ubuntu beyond a quick playing with, but I think you're right that it'll be easier. I'm not a fan of gnome, but it's all what you get used to. Fedora, I think, is also easy enough at this point as well for him to try, but he will have to d/l proprietary codeces after install (fedora does offer a tool to do this for you now).

Hopefully, things will be looking up for Corey soon. It can be a very off-putting thing when installs go bad. Hopefully, he doesn't give up on linux all toghether.

That's right. I had no problems booting the live cd of Mint 2.2, however I did have the aforementioned issues with Mint 4.0. Weird. I mistakenly assumed that the latest would in fact be the greatest, i.e., fewer problems, but we all know that's not necessarily true.

Last night I did download Ubuntu from the link Gugi provided and let me just say that even that was a much easier and straightforward process that compared to getting Mint. I think you're right in saying that it's still just too new. I don't believe it's been out for a year yet.

Going forward, I will try Ubuntu. Thanks for your continued support, guys!

Just burned a live cd of ubuntu and tried to boot it up on my laptop. Basically the same story as with Mint, although I did not see any microcode and/or load errors. I'll try to retrace my steps for you guys.

1. Rebooted PC with live cd in drive.
2. Ubuntu main menu comes up with all of the various options.
3. With the first option highlighted (Start or Install Ubuntu), I pressed enter.
4. Progress bar came up indicating that the Ubuntu kernal was loading.
5. New screen with the Ubuntu logo and another progress bar with a block going from left to right, then repeating.
6. Screen briefly goes black, before I see what can only be described as multiple blue, white, and yellow barcode patterns fill the entire screen. It was at this point with both Mint and Ubuntu that I was forced to power the PC down and reboot in Windows to make my plea for help.

Also forgot to mention that I'm using a Dell Inspiron 1100 laptop.

Any ideas, guys?

Maybe the CD is corrupted? There should be an option while booting to check the CD. Also, when I was loading Mandriva, it didn't like my CD-ROM; it gave me the kernel panic. I had to use another external one for it to load up.

liege said:

Maybe the CD is corrupted? There should be an option while booting to check the CD. Also, when I was loading Mandriva, it didn't like my CD-ROM; it gave me the kernel panic. I had to use another external one for it to load up.

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Interesting. Ok, I'll try the check cd option and also different drives. I do have an external drive as well as the other computer, so I have a few options to look at.

Appreciate all the advice. Keep it coming!