Re: Anaconda problem with Athlon

[Jean Francois Ortolo <ortolojf free fr>]

>Hello people
>
>    Here´s the setup:
>
>    Athlon Thunderbird 1GHz
>    Motherboard Asus A7V133 ATX/ATA100RAID/AGPPro/4USB
>    HD 40GB ATA100
>    Soundblaster 128
>    Video Nvidia TNT2 AGP 4X 32 Mb. M64 TV Out
>    Mouse and Keyboard PS2
>
>    Anaconda dies with lots of hexa numbers on screen while installing >packages
>    (it seems that's just after installation of XFree4 packages, but >I'm not
>    100% sure).
>    The CDs are OK (installed fine on another box).
>    I suppose that ATA100 can be the culprit.
>    Any suggestions?
>
>    Thank you in advance and best regards
>
>    Miguel Dilaj
>
Hi gentlemen
  Same problem, with this configuration:
  A7V133-C motherboard with Bios 1004 included
  Athlon Thunderbird 1Ghz
  SDRAM 128 MB 133 Mhz ( Memory OK from Bios checking )
  HD IBM DESKSTAR60GXP 40GB UDMA100 primary master
  CDRW TRAXDATA 12/10/32 IDE. secondary slave
  Video S3 Trio 64V+ PCI card on PCI slot 1.
  simple serial mouse on com1, and
  102 keys azerty keyboard ps2.
  All times, system speed set to 'normal' instead of 'optimal'.
  PIO mode set to 4 while all RH7.1 installing attempts.
  The partition sheme was always the same, that is:
  /boot on /dev/hda1 35 MB Linux Native
  / on /dev/hda5 extended 39 GB, Linux Native
  /dev/hda6 extended swap remaining space.
  Same symptoms entirely that those described above.

  1. UDMA HD set to 0 in the Bios, I enter text mode, then
     anaconda dies while I'm scrolling the monitor type list, with
plenty of hexa numbers on the screen.
  2. UDMA disabled in the Bios, anaconda dies while I attempt using
fdisk manual partition.
  3. UDMA HD set to 1, expert mode, I go up to the mouse screen, then
the screen is becoming blocked.
  4. UDMA disabled, text mode, then anaconda dies while the packages are
being installed, with hexa numbers.

  Then I tried installing RH7.0 in text mode. I was awaiting a long time
while the HD blocks errors checking was being processed, then, after
about 45mn, the process died with hexa numbers. Before proceeding, I had
set the PIO mode to 3, and disabled UDMA.

  After all that, the CPU Temperature is: 50 degrees centigrad.

  I believe there are two available explanations:
  1. Either the Bios needs  to be upgraded... Yes, the actual Bios is
1004 (March 2001), and yes, there is a more recent Bios, the 1005a(June
2001), on the asus site, but... Although it's probably correct for an
A7V133 mobo, is it correct too, for an A7V133-C, that is, without the
Raid capabilities?

  2. Or... Less probable, an ATA100 problem. However, the 1. crash
apparently doesn't involves the HD.

  All suggestions welcome.
  Jean Francois Ortolo