note: not sure if there is really a bug involved here or if i'm just missing something. target host: ibm thinkpad 600e (laptop, 397mhz pii, neomagic video, single point pcmia fast ethernet, not running from battery.) install media: x86 livecd 2006 burned from downloaded iso image. (cd burner cleaned and checked.) scenario: -- system boots from cd ok and provides boot prompt. -- i boot with "gentoo dopcimia" -- installer seems to be working ok. produces gui when expected, verbose mode works as expected. only long delays seem to occur at reasonable points in the process like unpacking compressed files, etc. -- toward the end of the process the screen is filled with text with no indication of how to stop the program. text pauses briefly but not nearly long enough for me to read it all, then quickly rolls up and off the screen. -- then the screen goes blank. not entirely black. just gray. -- function keys and/or function keys combined with alt and/or ctrl in various ways have no effect. ctrl-m, ctrl-c, ctrl-d, ctrl-z have no effect. the only thing to do is shut off the machine. more notes: -- will try booting with nox in the mean time. -- it's really a seperate issue but the installer didn't recognize my single point pcmcia ethernet card (m/n CNF401). is there a driver for this?)
This is a problem with the LiveCD, not the installer itself.
ok. can you expand on that a bit? do mean that the problem is the particular copy i'm using (like a media problem), or a more general problem ? (i forgot to check the checksum after the initial iso image download, but as i've never hit a snag with this before decided to give it a try, but this could be the first time.)
(In reply to comment #1) > This is a problem with the LiveCD, not the installer itself. > (accidently added a comment instead of replying and don't want to clutter things up too much by reinserting it as a reply. please see comment #2. thanx.)
booted again with nox. worked. tried the suggested startx which resulted in blank screen again. also noted during boot that installer is loading lots of modules for hardware the target host doesn't have. a few questions: -- is the blank screen problem idicitive of lack of driver support for my rig? -- am i likely to have different results using the minimal install iso?
OK, so the actual Installer is running, correct? I guess I'm just trying to find at exactly what point the machine stops responding. Do you get into the GUI? Do you see the desktop icons? It sounds to me more like you are never making it into X. As for the Minimal InstallCD, you'll have *very* different results, since it doesn't have the Installer on it and requires you to perform a manual installation.
(In reply to comment #5) > OK, so the actual Installer is running, correct? > > I guess I'm just trying to find at exactly what point the machine stops > responding. Do you get into the GUI? Do you see the desktop icons? > > It sounds to me more like you are never making it into X. As for the Minimal > InstallCD, you'll have *very* different results, since it doesn't have the > Installer on it and requires you to perform a manual installation. > yup! the actual installer is indeed running and produces a nice (presumably X-based) gentoo logo in center screen and bar down the right hand side while it runs. just when it seems to have finished up successfully, the screen goes blank. if i boot with nox this doesn't happen. i get a prompt at the end of the process and can navigate around the filesystem. however, if i type startx at that point, the screen goes blank again. so either: -- those nice grapics i see during install are not rendered by X, or -- X works during install, but not after it's done. just as more background: i'm installing on a thinkpad that is currently sort of usable (if you consider win 98 usable) and which does ocassionally get used, so i'd like to be reasonably confident that if i wipe the drive and install a new os i'm going to have something usefull not too long afterward. i expect to do a bunch of fiddling to get certain things working like my pcmia network card, but the prospect of getting an inexplicable blank screen if i try to run X is a bit off-putting. so getting this figured out before i commit would be reassuring. i'd also like to figure out why the installer seems to be loading up drivers for lots of hardware this box doesn't have, but isn't supporting my network card. this is intended to be a very lightweight configuration, mostly a portable note-taker. think: "tandy model 100 on steroids." just text-processing, communications and some contacts info. no heavy apps except emacs and groff. just want X for multiple termial sessions and printing to the screen. would like to keep the kernel small. quick booting matters more than featues this time. if X takes time to come up, may default to emacs in character mode and just run X when needed. just wanted to give you a basic idea of where i'm trying to go. thanx.
(In reply to comment #6) > yup! the actual installer is indeed running and produces a nice (presumably > X-based) gentoo logo in center screen and bar down the right hand side while it > runs. just when it seems to have finished up successfully, the screen goes > blank. That's not the installer. That's the CD booting.
It appears that you don't have enough Video RAM available to launch X at 1024x768@16 (which is the default). You have a few options: * boot with 'nox' and use the dialog-based installer * boot with 'nox', change DefaultDepth to 8 in xorg.conf, and 'startx' * boot with 'nox' and do an old fashioned "manual" install
(In reply to comment #8) > It appears that you don't have enough Video RAM available to launch X at > 1024x768@16 (which is the default). You have a few options: > > * boot with 'nox' and use the dialog-based installer > * boot with 'nox', change DefaultDepth to 8 in xorg.conf, and 'startx' > * boot with 'nox' and do an old fashioned "manual" install > sorry. i've been describing the problem incorrectly. thanx for getting me back on track. the 8 bit depth sounds like a good option, but how about tweaking the resolution? will the installer work ok at 800x600 ? or does it need that whole 1024x768 to work properly? (as a side benefit, the lower res might be easier to read.) btw: how are the graphics displayed during boot?
Eh, the installer window is forced to 800x600, so the gnome stuff that loads up will cover part of the installer window. The bootup graphics are displayed using the framebuffer. X is not involved.
(In reply to comment #10) > Eh, the installer window is forced to 800x600, so the gnome stuff that loads up > will cover part of the installer window. The bootup graphics are displayed > using the framebuffer. X is not involved. > thanx. i think this is enough info to get me started. before i go further i need to ftp some real data files to another box and create a fat16 partition that the thinkpad needs for hibernation and it's hardware config utils. as i have some appointments, etc. it may be a couple of days before i get to this. can we just let this ticket float and i'll update a soon as i've tried to install?
Sure. Also, you could try something a bit different. Don't use startx, at all. Instead, configure the machine for 800x600 @ 8-bit, then run this: xinit /usr/bin/installer-gtk Once it tells you the install is complete, use "Control + Alt + Backspace" to exit X.
Any word on this?
There's not a lot we can do to resolve this just yet. If you want to look at bug #104153 as that would be a possible avanue for this ever being resolved. Unfotunately, we don't have a way (currently) to detect the amount of video memory on the card before building the X configuration. Plus, we want the CD to be a "LiveCD" not just an "Installer CD" so it's likely we won't fix this completely. I am planning on figuring out some way to work on machines with low video memory, but right now, we're somewhat stuck.
