On Sat, Oct 27, 2007 at 07:40:27PM -0400, Douglas A. Tutty wrote: > On Sat, Oct 27, 2007 at 05:30:49PM +0100, Digby Tarvin wrote: > > I hope there are some experts out there that can offer some suggestions > > regarding a problem I am having installing Debian Etch (40r1-386-netinst > > downloaded on 23/10/07) on a Dell Precision 410 MT... > > > > Everything goes fine through the initial install, up to the point > > where I have to reboot using the freshly installed kernel on the > > hard drive. > > > > I can log in after the reboot, and everything looks ok, but when I > > then proceed to try and complete the install by adding other packages > > like 'xorg', things start going wrong... > > > > Either the package transfer fails after a few minutes with messages like > > E: Method http has died unexpectedly! > > segmentation fault > > or dpkg falls over during the installation of the package, eg > > /bin/sh: line 1: 2284 Segmentation fault /usr/bin/dpkg_preconfigure... > > > > I tried doing an 'apt-get update; apt-get upgrade' but the system did > > not survive long enough to get the updated kernel installed. > > > > It seems that the kernel used during the initial install was stable, > > but the kernel it installed on the hard disk is not. > > > > I tried adding 'nosmp' to the command line in case there were problems > > with that, but it made no difference. > > > > For anyone who has read this far - here are some more details about > > the target hardware: > > Model: Dell Precision Workstation 410 MT > > BIOS revision A08 > > CPU: 2xPIII 450MHz > > Video card: 3DLabs Oxygen GVX1 > > Ram: 1024MB > > Adaptec AIC-7890 BIOS DELL-V2.01.05 > > SCSI ID 0 COMPAQ DDRS-34560W ULTRA2-SE > > SCSI ID 1 SEAGATE ST173404LW ULTRA2-SE > > Adaptec AIC-7880 BIOS DELL-V2.01.05 > > SCSI ID 1 MATSHITA DVD-RAM LF-200 > > Primary IDE1 ZIP drive > > What kernel was installed? > > As soon as you login, type > $ uname -a > > If the system is still up, send us: > > cat /etc/apt/sources.list > > You could use the install CD as a rescue system, choose "run a command > on the rootfs" (or whatever it says); it runs your command chrooted to > the system. Try aptitude there (thus with the installer's kernel). If > that works, do a uname -a there and notice any difference. > > Needless to say, what you're experiencing shouldn't happen under any > circumstances with Etch (stable). > > Doug.
Hi Doug, Thanks for responding. Here are some more details I forgot to mention in my initial post: The initial install seems to require the 'aic7xxx.aic7xxx=no_probe' to complete properly. If I omit that then I get no error but the install completes much sooner and I assume was truncated by an unreported error, as much less software ends up being installed. After rebooting the system comes up with initd.rc aborting at some random place with a 'segmentation fault'. But I usually end up with a login prompt and can log in and execute commands. Errors are sporadic and unpredictable, and usually involve a command failing with a segmentation fault. But eventually I get a system lockup that requires a hard reset to recover from (CTL-ALT-DEL ignored, no key echo etc). Uname -a returns: Linux precision 2.6.18-5-686 #1 SMP Fri Jun 1 00:47:00 UTC 2007 i686 GNU/Linux and /etc/apt/sources.list contains: # # deb cdrom:[Debian GNU/Linux 4.0 r1 _Etch_ - Official i386 NETINST Binary-1 20070820-20:21]/ etch contrib main deb cdrom:[Debian GNU/Linux 4.0 r1 _Etch_ - Official i386 NETINST Binary-1 20070820-20:21]/ etch contrib main deb http://ftp.uk.debian.org/debian/ etch main deb-src http://ftp.uk.debian.org/debian/ etch main deb http://security.debian.org/ etch/updates main contrib deb-src http://security.debian.org/ etch/updates main contrib I have also tried adding the aic7xxx.aic7xxx=no_probe kernel option to /boot/grub/menu.lst as follows: title Debian GNU/Linux, kernel 2.6.18-5-686 root (hd1,0) kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.18-5-686 root=/dev/sdb1 ro aic7xxx.aic7xxx=no_probe initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.18-5-686 savedefault But that produced no appreciable change. Is there anything wrong with the way I am doing it? I should also add that the Windows 2000 which was already installed when I got he system seems to run reliably, as does the obsolete Ubuntu 5.04. Newer versions of Ubuntu wont install - some giving me a blank screen after trying to boot the install media, others (including the latest 7.10 release) freeze if the adaptec AIC-7890 is not disabled in the BIOS (which prevents the install getting very far. Regards, DigbyT p.s. ignore the reference to "7.10" in the subject line. I meant "Etch". I was getting confused with the most recent Ubuntu which I had also tried. -- Digby R. S. Tarvin digbyt(at)digbyt.com http://www.digbyt.com -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
