Trouble installing Linux on circa-1999 Compaq Presario

[gaf-mNDKBlG2WHs at public.gmane.org (Jerry Feldman)]

A couple of suggestions. First, we could do a hard disk install.
Using the a live CD such as GParted, create your partition table similar
to the way the release would:
The way I like to set things up is that the first physical partition is
an extended partition for the whole disk.
The remaining partitions will be numbered starting at 5:
Allocate the first (SDA5) as a /boot maybe 100MB (or 20MB if the disk is
small), the next make a swap partition (SDA6, maybe 2 or 3 times the RAM
memory size).
Allocate SDA7 as a large partition for / (at least 10GB). The last
partition would be enough to hold the .iso.
There are instructions for Ubuntu here:
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Installation/FromLinux

I've done this successfully with Fedora, SuSE, and other releases. The
reason I prefer setting up the last partition to hold the installation
files is that after you do the install, you can delete that partition
and coalesce it into the previous partition, or make it a /home or
something else.
The main thing is that you are going to eliminate the CD/DVD from the
picture.


On 01/13/2010 10:15 AM, edwardp-KK0ffGbhmjU at public.gmane.org wrote:
> Tom Metro wrote:
>  =20
>> Your hardware broke?
>>
>> When was the last time you tried installing the 2008 version?
>>
>>
>>    =20
>>> Why these errors do not occur with their 2008 Spring and earlier
>>> releases, I do not know.
>>>      =20
>> Maybe the 2008 version was distributed on a CD and the 2009 version=20
>> uses a DVD?
>>
>>
>>    =20
>>> ...the memory...was fine, no errors reported.
>>>
>>> It must be something on the motherboard then, that may be failing or =

>>> has failed.
>>>      =20
>> If you wanted to play around with it some more, the next logical thing=
=20
>> to try might be using USB storage to do the install, so that you=20
>> bypass the IDE controller. Either use a USB DVD drive, a small thumb=20
>> drive to boot a network installer, or setup an external HD to boot an =

>> installer.
>>
>> If the internal HD is using the same controller as the CD/DVD drive,=20
>> this may not help any.
>>
>>  -Tom=20
>>    =20
> I could plug everything in right now and get a failed install of=20
> Mandriva 2009/2010 and Ubuntu 8.04/9.04 (all CD's).  If I then insert=20
> the Mandriva 2008 Spring image (also on CD), -that- release will instal=
l=20
> perfectly.  I last tried all this yesterday.
>
> The 2009 version was the CD image burned to a CD.
>
>  =20

--=20
Jerry Feldman <gaf-mNDKBlG2WHs at public.gmane.org>
Boston Linux and Unix
PGP key id: 537C5846
PGP Key fingerprint: 3D1B 8377 A3C0 A5F2 ECBB  CA3B 4607 4319 537C 5846