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Thread: Mandrake installation problems

  1. #1
    Senior Member
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    Question Mandrake installation problems

    hi everyone!

    i recently finished putting together a new machine and am having problems installing the operating system (mandrake 8.1). i'll tell you about the computer first before i get into the installation problems:

    athlon xp 1700
    msi k7n420 pro (nforce chipset) motherboard
    onboard video/audio
    256M ddr ram
    30gig hdd

    now when i try to install the os, i get as far as the first setup screen. it asks me for install or advanced options. when i click install, either the screen goes blurry and i have to reboot, or it tells me i don't have enough memory to install kernal version. when i tell linux mem=256M it just repeats the same message. when i try to use an advanced option, the screen just goes fuzzy.

    i've installed linux on other computers on the network in our labs using the same disks and it went smoothly every time, so i know the disks are ok; i put win98se onto my computer to make sure all the hardware was working, and it works perfectly. i've tried formatting the hard drive and i've used two different boot disks and nothing seems to work. mandrake's website doesn't say anything about my hardware not being supported.

    thanks in advance, any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!!
    U suk at teh intuhnet1!!1!1one

  2. #2
    AO Curmudgeon rcgreen's Avatar
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    Thumbs up

    Do you have a different distribution, just to try something different?
    I came in to the world with nothing. I still have most of it.

  3. #3
    Senior Member
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    1,255

    Re: Mandrake installation problems

    Originally posted by Jabberwocky
    hi everyone!

    i recently finished putting together a new machine and am having problems installing the operating system (mandrake 8.1). i'll tell you about the computer first before i get into the installation problems:

    athlon xp 1700
    msi k7n420 pro (nforce chipset) motherboard
    onboard video/audio
    256M ddr ram
    30gig hdd

    now when i try to install the os, i get as far as the first setup screen. it asks me for install or advanced options. when i click install, either the screen goes blurry and i have to reboot, or it tells me i don't have enough memory to install kernal version. when i tell linux mem=256M it just repeats the same message. when i try to use an advanced option, the screen just goes fuzzy.
    My guess would be that it's trying to initialize the video card to do a GUI-install, but is running into problems (nForce comes with an integrated GeForce2 MX, doesn't it?). It possible that you could do this in text mode, if Mandrake gives you that option (I'm not familiar with Mandrake).

    i've installed linux on other computers on the network in our labs using the same disks and it went smoothly every time, so i know the disks are ok; i put win98se onto my computer to make sure all the hardware was working, and it works perfectly. i've tried formatting the hard drive and i've used two different boot disks and nothing seems to work. mandrake's website doesn't say anything about my hardware not being supported.

    thanks in advance, any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!!
    More importantly, does Mandrake's website say anything about your hardware *BEING* supported. More often than not, if it's not on the HCL, it's not supported and may or may not work.

    After checking through though, I can see that it is not listed. I have no reason to believe that this chipset could not run linux, however there may be a problem with the installer that can't properly identify and use the nForce.

    I searched on google and turned up very little useful information, other than the fact that there are people running Mandrake 8.1 with your motherboard and processor combo.
    Chris Shepherd
    The Nelson-Shepherd cutoff: The point at which you realise someone is an idiot while trying to help them.
    \"Well as far as the spelling, I speak fluently both your native languages. Do you even can try spell mine ?\" -- Failed Insult
    Is your whole family retarded, or did they just catch it from you?

  4. #4
    Senior Member
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    Hello Jabberwocky, Im not a linux expert, but I have indeed installed Mandrake linux 8.1 several times before. My suggestion to you is for you to do a text based install. I believe that your built in video card on your system board may not be supported. I had a similar problem when I tried to install linux in a system with a geforce2 video card. Of course you will not have the gui after the install, and since you are a newbie this will suck. The only other reccommendation I can make is to try a different distribution.
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