RedHat 9 install boot hangs on cd-rom driver loading

[envirodug]

Hi All-

I am trying to install RH 9 and it hangs in the boot mode while initializing the cd-rom driver at this point:

Uniform CD-ROM driver Revision 3.12

I will add that I have the following disk devices: 1 DVD-ROM (trying to boot from), 1 CD-RW (would try to boot from, but for some reason my BIOS won't allow), 2 Hard Disks ... and 1 Hard Disk hooked up using a RAID plug on my mobo (setup as 1+0 stripe; just functional, not for performance/backup).

Many thanks for the input.

[envirodug]

update: i disabled the RAID drive, and still have the same problems.

[mdwatts]

See if any of those installation boot options help. The nodma & noapic you should try first.

http://www.redhat.com/docs/manuals/linux/RHL-8.0-Manual/install-guide/ch-bootopts.html

[envirodug]

thanks mdwatts ...

i tried the following flags, but any or a combination did not seem to work:

ide=nodma
noapic
apm=off
nousb

anyone have anymore clues? maybe i should unplug one of my cd-rom drives and give it a try (that will have to be a project for later)

[mdwatts]

Any bios settings that you can disable/enable/adjust that may help? Try disabling power management.

Are both the cdroms on the secondary channel as I've read here that some installations have problems if the cdrom is on primary/slave.

IF all else fails, you could try using the installation bootdisk of which you can find on Redhats ftp servers. They should have a readme to explain which to use.

<edit>

You could try searching the Installation forum for ?? 'redhat cdrom' or even 'mandrake cdrom' to see if you can find similiar posts that could possibly contain a solution.

[envirodug]

thanks again. i'll search the forums here in a few ... but in response to the hd/cd-rom layout ... here is mine (could this be causing the issue?)

ide0
- primary HD
- slave HD
ide1
- primary DVD-ROM (contains RH 9 install disk)
- slave CDRW

i have a HD hooked up to a RAID connection, but disabled it. i also disabled APM and APIC (which the second made it so i couldn't boot into WinXP).

maybe the issue is the drive layout? any suggestions on how to do it? swap the primary DVD-ROM (ide0) with the slave HD (ide1)?

[mdwatts]

Originally posted by envirodug
thanks again. i'll search the forums here in a few ... but in response to the hd/cd-rom layout ... here is mine (could this be causing the issue?)

ide0
- primary HD
- slave HD
ide1
- primary DVD-ROM (contains RH 9 install disk)
- slave CDRW

i have a HD hooked up to a RAID connection, but disabled it. i also disabled APM and APIC (which the second made it so i couldn't boot into WinXP).

maybe the issue is the drive layout? any suggestions on how to do it? swap the primary DVD-ROM (ide0) with the slave HD (ide1)?

You're quite welcome... Glad to at least try to help.

The drive layout is correct. If you have 2 HD's, they should be on the same channel (master) as they are the faster devices.

Slower devices should be on the secondary channel.

I don't know what else to suggest besides what I already have. Have you checked around Redhat's support/knowledgebase/usergroup area (if they have one) to see if others have had similar installation problems?

Did you try using the installation bootdisk?

I doubt the Raid HD could be the problem.

<edit>

Are the cdroms jumpered as master/slave instead of cable select? They should be jumpered as master and slave.

[envirodug]

i will open the box up and check later when i get home. if in the case of the jumper settings are off, would WinXP go crazy over that? or just linux?

maybe it's time to try a new distrubution? :) what do you use?

[mdwatts]

XP might not care if you are using cable select, but Linux sometimes does.

Before trying another distro, see if the bootdisk works.

I use mainly SCO Linux 4.0 Server (based on UnitedLinux 1.0 which is also mainly based on SuSE).

The SCO Linux iso images cannot be downloaded freely. I got my full retail copy for participating and contributing to their beta testing.

[envirodug]

update:

1. jumper settings: DVD reader is primary. CDRW is slave.

2. tried using bootdisk method and it still froze.

3. at the point of the freeze, i can hear the cdrom spin down (stop)

i'm going to search the forums some more, and upgrade my bios, but anymore suggestions?