PC denies any attempt to install

[Member pikewerfer]

This is driving me nuts!! Help… sniff…

I inherited an old PC here that used to run Windows XP 32bit. It was not used for years. When I turned it on again, it would not boot. I checked the hard drives on another computer, and they are fine. So I decided to install Linux. However, my beloved Debian would not install – I got to the installation screen, then got a black page with a blinking cursor. So I tried Ubuntu, Puppy, and Slitaz – all run into the same issue.

So I went hardcore and got myself the latest 386 iso of Antix. Got to the install screen, chose the standard install – black screen with white cursor! ÄRX! I tried Failsafe, Safe Video mode, etc. All options failed.

I looked at the FAQs and tried adjusting the boot options by adding verb=7 and bp=3 to see if that gets me anywhere. Nope. Black screen, white cursor. I removed “quiet” and added “text” instead. Nothing. I went to “failsafe xorg=safe nomodeset pci=apci” … still nothing.

This PC has a Medion MD5000 v1.0 motherboard, which is basically just an MSI board. The CPU is Intel Pentium 4 2.40GHZ. It had a really fancy graphics card, but I swapped it to a standard PCI VGA card, to make sure it is not the card. The BIOS is Phoenix Award BIOS v6.00pg.

If anyone has any idea before I THROW this thing out of the window, I would be thrilled 🙂

[Forum Admin anticapitalista]

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Hi!
Just because the hard drives work doesn’t mean everything else does.
Since you have tried various distros and none work, I would assume that the hardware is faulty.

Philosophers have interpreted the world in many ways; the point is to change it.

antiX with runit - leaner and meaner.

[Forum Admin rokytnji]

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Can you supply a spec link to this mystery XP gear.

Like I used to do with my Military laptops trying to run antiX.

Wondering if we are dealing with via or savage graphics chips?
Or bad ram.
Capacitors blown.

When I turned it on again, it would not boot.

That don’t sound good. Maybe try installing linux on ide drive on another computer since you say drive is good.
Insert it and try the fancy graphics card also.

I use the mobo chip for vga on this motorcycle shop box instead of pci add on.

harry@shop:~
$ inxi -b
System:
  Host: shop Kernel: 5.10.153-antix.1-amd64-smp arch: x86_64 bits: 64
    Desktop: IceWM v: 3.3.1 Distro: antiX-21_x64-full Grup Yorum 31 October 2021
Machine:
  Type: Desktop System: LENOVO product: 6075BHU v: ThinkCentre M57
    serial: <superuser required>
  Mobo: LENOVO model: LENOVO serial: <superuser required> BIOS: LENOVO
    v: 2RKT41AUS date: 03/20/2008
CPU:
  Info: dual core Intel Pentium Dual E2160 [MCP] speed (MHz): avg: 1517
    min/max: 1200/1800
Graphics:
  Device-1: Intel 82Q35 Express Integrated Graphics driver: i915 v: kernel
  Display: x11 server: X.Org v: 1.20.11 driver: X: loaded: intel
    unloaded: fbdev,modesetting,vesa dri: i915 gpu: i915
    resolution: 1280x1024~60Hz
  API: OpenGL v: 1.4 Mesa 20.3.5 renderer: Mesa DRI Intel Q35
Network:
  Device-1: Intel 82566DM-2 Gigabit Network driver: e1000e
  Device-2: Realtek RTL8191SU 802.11n WLAN Adapter type: USB driver: r8712u
Drives:
  Local Storage: total: 298.09 GiB used: 30.76 GiB (10.3%)
Info:
  Processes: 142 Uptime: 25m Memory: 3.58 GiB used: 1.21 GiB (33.7%)
  Shell: Bash inxi: 3.3.25
harry@shop:~
$ 

Does that medion board have a vga port attached?
Lastly. F keys are boot cheat codes supplied on live boot screen. Your computer might be 64 bit also like this old IBM M57.
Good luck. Don’t toss it yet.

Sometimes I drive a crooked road to get my mind straight.
Not all who Wander are Lost.
I'm not outa place. I'm from outer space.

Linux Registered User # 475019
How to Search for AntiX solutions to your problems

[Member Robin]

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Before throwing the thing out of the window… Try running it live first instead of installing. Does antiX come up properly?

pikewerfer wrote:

got myself the latest 386 iso of Antix

Which antiX version? full or a different flavour? if you didn’t, try full, since it comes with all the drivers needed.

If it fails immediately after the antiX boot screen, there might be a chance your hardware isn’t compatible to modern linux kernels. Try boot to the legacy kernel instead, and check out antiX 17.x ISO series (just for testing, whether this comes up this way)

It’s not necessarily a faulty hardware. There may be set some wrong settings in BIOS. Try to hard reset the BIOS, there should be a jumper on your mainboard, and a specific procedure to observe for a complete BIOS hard reset. Check the board battery.

Windows is like a submarine. Open a window and serious problems will start.

[Member RJP]

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Try with VGA option in grub line.

https://cromwell-intl.com/open-source/grub-vga-modes.html

Attachments:

1. 

   Available-VGA-Modes.jpg
   

[Moderator BobC]

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Post the output of inxi -Fxxxrz

Swap in a video card that works fine from another PC.

Assuming you have an old video card, try downloading an old version of antiX like https://sourceforge.net/projects/antix-linux/files/Final/antiX-17.5/antiX-17.5_386-full.iso/download

[Member marcelocripe]

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Hello pikewerfer.

Welcome to antiX Linux and the forum.

I don’t know how to write in English and I send my texts translated by the internet translator. I hope you can understand everything, if your native language is not English, please translate my original Brazilian Portuguese text directly into your language with the help of internet translators.

When you get antiX working on your computer, I recommend you read my real welcome.

I believe you should test the RAM memory cards with the “memory test” program which is available in the antiX boot menu.

If you have two RAM memory cards, test one memory piece at a time.

marcelocripe
(Original text in Brazilian Portuguese language)

– – – – –

Olá pikewerfer.

Seja bem-vindo(a) ao antiX Linux e ao fórum.

Eu não sei escrever em idioma Inglês e envio os meus textos traduzidos pelo tradutor da internet. Eu espero que você consiga compreender tudo, caso o seu idioma nativo não seja o Inglês, por favor, traduza o meu texto original em idioma Português do Brasil diretamente para o seu idioma com a ajuda dos tradutores da internet.

Quando você conseguir fazer o antiX funcionar no seu computador, eu recomendo você ler a minha verdadeira boas-vindas.

Eu acredito que você deveria testar as placas de memórias RAM com o programa de “teste de memória” que está disponível no menu de inicialização do antiX.

Se você tiver duas placas de memórias RAM, teste uma pĺaca de memória de cada vez.

marcelocripe
(Texto original em idioma Português do Brasil)

[Moderator christophe]

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Lots of good suggestions here.
Try them out & post back your results, then maybe we can make further suggestions. You seem knowledgeable, so anything you discover will potentially be helpful to others, down the line.

Will anything boot – such as an old DOS disk (or FreeDOS)?

confirmed antiX frugaler, since 2019

[Member RJP]

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I got the same thing (grub in left corner and blinking cursor) with ancient Fujitsu Amilo. The reason was bios boot limit, so it started to work, when I made small enought (16 GB) partition for antiX in the beginning the disk and then antiX started to boot fine.

[Member stevix]

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Oh the infamous black screen with flashing cursor. I get that whenever I install antiX to an external hard drive. I’ve tried a few different hard drives and it doesn’t make any difference as to which PC I plug the drive into, I’ve never yet got antiX to boot from an external drive.

Yet whenever I’ve installed to an internal drive boots up fine and runs without any issue. So I will be following this thread with great interest.

[Author]

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