AMD64 install fails

[Jim Sansing]

K. Spearel wrote:

>On Tue, 2004-06-15 at 07:09, Dr J Austin wrote:
>  
>
>>Hi KAS and List
>>	I have now managed to install FC2
>>I tried 6 more times, finally re-partitioning the hard disk
>>and having
>>sda1 	/boot	100MB
>>sda2 	/	75GB
>>sda3	swap	3GB
>>
>>Did a full install ie ticking every box but NOT the Everything box
>>about 4.2GB not 6.7GB
>>
>>No boot loader installed on sda
>>
>>The POST INSTALL did not fall over but I am sure this is because
>>for some reason it no longer has to open /dev/null.
>>
>>!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
>>The /dev directory is still corrupt !!!!
>>!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
>>
>>I feel sure there is still a problem with accessing over the end of /dev/ram0
>>during install, it is just that some (most) install sequences don't need to use
>>the address space that has been corrupted.
>>
>>Cheers
>>
>>John A
>>
>>    
>>
>I would try another install making absolutely sure that the installer is
>not making any attempt to use hda for anything...particularly taking a
>look at advanced boot loader options making sure that it knows that you
>want the kernel installed on /dev/sda1.  Make sure that the installer
>isn't trying to include swap on /dev/hda to eliminate another possible
>point of failure.  Sounds like something is still tripping up
>post-install.  I would prolly do an "install everything" to ensure that
>nothing vital has been left out.
>
>I wonder if part of the problem is with BIOS reporting the physical
>mapping of memory incorrectly...look at the very top of the kernel
>startup log for clues...or perhaps APCI is b0rked in that BIOS...have
>you tried booting the installer with "noapci" and/or "noapic"
>(iirc...syntax may be wrong) and I guess I would check to see if your
>BIOS is reasonably up to date.  With a machine that shows any flakiness,
>I approach reflashing with a certain amount of trepidation but sometimes
>it is the only choice.  I would make sure the system is stone cold
>before starting the reflash to make sure that if there are any heat
>issues, they are minimized.
>
>KAS
>
>
>  
>
I second the ACPI possibility.  A couple of my co-workers and I have 
built AMD64
boxes using the Tyan motherboard and discovered that their ACPI is 
unusable.  They
have since come out with a flash update which removes it from the BIOS 
menus.
Our workaround was to disable ACPI in the BIOS.  It caused problems with 
X in
our case, but conceivably could cause other problems as well.