CDROM 'Locks' during install

[blingbling!!]

Hello again.

I've been trying to install a couple of different distros over the last couple of days, and both of them have failed. First I tried Slackware 9.1 from an official CD (waste of money!!?!) and that initially failed because it was picking up 'bad' packages from the CD (i.e. I went through the partition, package selectection, then went to install and it came up with 'corrupt install media'). After failing this a couple of times I decided to go back to trusty old RedHat 8, which i have managed to install before, and this time the CD drive seemed to 'hang' during the install. During the redhat episode the CD drive started making some very strange noises, like a 'chuckerchuckerchucker.......(5 second pause) chuckerchuckerchucker.......(5 second pause) .....etc'.
Are there any known issues with CDROM drivers in Linux installs - Is there a way to use a different one? The drives are OK I think, and this has happened to me lots of times on different drives.
Also - the slackware intaller program started behaving weird - using the up-down arrows and the carage return key in the main menu wasn't working, i.e. i'd go down to 'select install media', hit enter, and the main menu screen would pop up again instead of the 'select media screen'. I'm guessing this is something to do with the CD drive faults, and the fact the the program runs from the CD???

Any Ideas here?

Cheers
Robin.

p.s. - I had a little poke round the bios, and discovered that my 2 drives are down as 'secondary master' and 'secondary slave'. Does this make any difference????

[klackenfus]

Secondary Master and Secondary Slave are ok if you have primary devices connected on the same controller. If you have a free controller, I'd try moving the CD drive you're attempting installation from to that one and set the device to be the Primary Master on that controller. This is somehow bios/hardware related and I know this due to the fact that the device is bombing on multiple CDs, regardless of distro.

[blingbling!!]

...move the CD drive you're attempting installation from to that one and set the device to be the Primary Master on that controller.
Does this invole monkeying around inside the box?? I've still got the hand-book for my motherboard, so maybe this could help me? I've never done any hardware realted stuff before - too busy with software!
Cheers

Robin

[klackenfus]

Yes it does but it's not hard at all. Just open the box, find the back of your CD drive, find the big, flat, grey cable and follow it down to where it connects on the motherboard. Do you see the socket it's plugged in to? Is there and empty one right next to it that is identical? If there is just unplug it from the socket it's in and move it to the empty one. Be careful! Don't bend the pins on the socket! You'll also need to change the jumpers on the back of the drive to make it the Primary Master.

If this all sounds like a daunting task, you might want to leave it to someone else. If you feel like learning, not only about Linux but hardware as well, give it a try! Maybe someone else will come up with something better but I'd bet on it being something to do with the hardware configuration. Good luck!

[blingbling!!]

Ok, i'll give that a try. One problem is that it's my home PC, and i can't reach the internet whilst it's down, so i'm on my own! I understand what you mean about the cables and jumpers (i think), so i'll give it a shot tonight.
Many thanks for your help!

Robin

[klackenfus]

Just remember to look and remember where everything is connected before you disconnect and move anything. This isn't really hard but the first time for any task is always a bit scary.

[Hayl]

see if the distros you are attempting to install have a boot option on the CD for disabling DMA.

sometimes DMA can really mess up with CD-ROMS.

[blingbling!!]

DMA.......

I think there was a DMA option in the BIOS when i was looking at it last night. Could I alter this value in the bios???
Also - what is DMA?!?

Cheers
Robin

[Hayl]

A type of IDE I/O

the BIOS won't matter, it is the Linux kernel option you want to disable. Most installers allow you to enter something like ide=nodma to disable it.

you can try disabling it on the CD-ROM if you want in the BIOS but it will likely not make a difference. Linux ignores many BIOS settings.

[blingbling!!]

OK, I understand that.

I think i'll give that a try before re-wiring my PC!

Cheers for the help.

Robin

[mdwatts]

Try

ide-nodma

first and possibly other install/boot options that you can find in the Additional Boot Option link at the bottom of the Installation help sticky thread (top of this forum).

[blingbling!!]

Hello From Slackware!!!!

MDWatts - You did it again!! The ide-nodma worked a treat, slackware installed itself without a hitch and i am now Wind-Blows free once more.

Many thanks to all of you for your help.

Robin

[mdwatts]

Glad we could help.... Enjoy!!!