trouble installing CentOS 5.3 (after failing with Fedora 8)

[john maclean]

2009/9/14 Bob McClure Jr <bob at bobcatos.com>:
> On Mon, Sep 14, 2009 at 03:07:37PM -0400, Buz Davis wrote:
>> I wasn't sure whether or not to use the old thread about trouble
>> installing Fedora 8 or not, but decided to open a new thread.  As the
>> matters are loosely related let me briefly recapitulate the previous:
>>
>> ---background---
>> I have a small fixed ip network at home, running red hat 9 on two
>> amd k6 500 Mhz boxes.  One has 256 M memory and the other 320 M.  They
>> pretty much meet my needs, but lately I have detected that the internet
>> sites
>> I frequent are requiring some more modern software than I can run. At
>> the time this started I had no way to write a CD, so ordered a set of
>> Fedora 8 disks.  I picked an older version in recognition of my older,
>> limited hardware.  It turned out that F8 had a problem with amd
>> processors, which was fixed in a respin but the set I had was the
>> original release and the respins don't seem to be available.  During
>> the process of attempting to get the install to work I bought yet
>> another old system, but this one running an intel processor and with a
>> drive capable of burning CD's.  (I had to replace a broken Win XP with
>> RH9 to get to it, but it did give me capacity to burn CDs).  F8 wouldn't
>> install on that box because of hard disk problems.  At this point I
>> determined to abandon attempts with F8 and ordered a copy of CentOS 5.3,
>> the i386 version.
>>
>> --- end background ---
>>
>> The problem:
>> The CentOS failed also.  I could get the first screen up, offering
>> choices of how to boot,  and if I asked for memtest86 that would start.
>> However, any other choice resulted in a reboot (generally during loading
>> of vmlinux).  Sometimes the disk wouldn't be recognized as bootable.
>> I have convinced myself that the disks are OK and that I must need
>> either better hardware or more memory (but this is the i386 version of
>> CentOS 5.3) or some parameter on the install that I haven't tried
>> (and I've tried about all I have found or remember).  I would appreciate
>> any help.
>
> Your K6 machines are classified as i586 architecture.  They are a
> "super Pentium", but not enough to be classed as i686.  I know.  I
> still have one of those in retirement.
>
> I had the same problem on my antique IBM Thinkpad with a Pentium MMX
> 233 (remember those?).  It also is classed as i586.  Though I couldn't
> verify it in the docs or READMEs, I suspect that CentOS works only on
> i686 or better.  Happily, Fedora 9 loaded just fine on it.  Real Soon
> Now I need to upgrade it to F10 or F11.
>
>> Would it be considered bad behavior to also post this on the CentOS
>> mailing list ?
>
> Not at all.  Go for it.
>
>> What I've done so far:
>> At first I thought that the disk must be bad (couldn't even run a
>> mediacheck) and emailed the vendor.  Then it occurred to me that I could
>> perhaps download and burn disk 1of6 and use that to get the install
>> started.  I reaized that the process would be a bit "iffy" on a box with
>> hard-disk problems, and also I had never burned a cd, but googled around
>> for instructions and plunged in.  I downloaded an ios, checked it with
>> md5sum and it was OK.  I copied it to the "new" computer via NFS and
>> checked it again: OK.  I burned a CD using cdrecord, and that appeared
>> to work.  The result behaved much like the original had.  I tried two
>> more times, varying stuff that I thought might affect the burn, and
>> always got the same sort of behavior.  Finally I tried mounting each of
>> the four disks 1of6 I now had and copied (from /dev/cdrom rather than
>> /mnt/cdrom, so as to avoid separating out the files) each to a separate
>> directory and compared them.  All three that I burned were identical.
>> The "store bought" disk was a little larger, but compared OK up to EOF
>> (and I recall reading that mass-produced disks might be different in
>> their padding).  So I am convinced now that there is nothing wrong with
>> either the original or recently burned disks 1of6
>> and the problem must either be requiring better/more hardware (but this
>> is the i386 version of cent OS) or some parameter on the install I have
>> never heard of.
>
> Cheers,
> --
> Bob McClure, Jr.             Bobcat Open Systems, Inc.
> bob at bobcatos.com             http://www.bobcatos.com
> After this, Jesus went out and saw a tax collector by the name of Levi
> sitting at his tax booth. "Follow me," Jesus said to him, and Levi got
> up, left everything and followed him.  Luke 5:27-28 (NIV)
>
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You may want to consider a distro more suited to older hardware of
boxes with lower specs. There are a few that come to mind but I'd
start with http://distrowatch.com as there's bound to be "something"
that's right for you.


-- 
John Maclean
07739 171 531
MSc (DIC)

Timezone: GMT