hard disk installation problem

Sorry if the first sentince was misworded. I meant i am installing linux on a hard disk, not from it.

Please verify the Ubuntu cd and/or the downloaded iso image... below there is howto

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Ubuntu 8.10 some suggestions and tips and check steps to solve install issue

- Minimum system requirements to install Ubuntu 8.10 https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Installation/SystemRequirements

- if you have more than 4gigabytes of ram and you want run 32 bits Ubuntu release please read:
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=853678

Download the standard Ubuntu 8.10 32 bits iso image from here:
http://releases.ubuntu.com/releases/8.10/ubuntu-8.10-desktop-i386.iso
or better using a torrent file:
http://releases.ubuntu.com/releases/8.10/ubuntu-8.10-desktop-i386.iso.torrent

- Please check the md5sum of your downloaded Ubuntu .iso image file, here the https://help.ubuntu.com/community/HowToMD5SUM howto, and compare with http://releases.ubuntu.com/8.10/MD5SUMS

- Burn it on a cd rom, be sure to burn your cd at lower speed you can do usually 4x here an howto https://help.ubuntu.com/community/BurningIsoHowto

- Please also check the md5sum of your self burned cd. https://help.ubuntu.com/community/HowToMD5SUM

- Boot your pc from self-burned cdrom, if it don't start from cd please modify your pc BIOS settings by accessing to it usually pressing CANC or F2 or other keys (check into your motherboard paper documentation or watch carefully the screen, usually there are tips to access BIOS, when you switch your computer on)

- then to be sure your ram is ok, boot from Ubuntu live cd main menu and at first showed menu, select the item "Memory test" to test your pc ram memory

- Here the steps to install Ubuntu 8.04.1 https://help.ubuntu.com/community/GraphicalInstall

- Watch this video that show howto install Ubuntu on a pc with Windows: http://screencasts.ubuntu.com/Installing_Ubuntu_with_Windows_Dual-Boot

- if something go wrong at startup of Ubuntu live installation when you see the first cd menu like this http://i18.tinypic.com/6tzzndc.jpg pressing F6 you can put useful startup kernel boot parameters as showed here https://help.ubuntu.com/community/BootOptions

Try to perform the "Memory test" and the "Check cd for defects" to be sure the cd is read without errors by the destination pc cdrom driver

- Booting from Ubuntu live install cd:
 * if you are in trouble with screen graphic user interface
   (usually the screen is black with a blinking cursor or screen out of range message):
- first try to dynamically change screen resolution please the press CTRL + ALT + "+" and/or CTRL + ALT + "-"
- Try to restart the graphic layer press CTRL + ALT + BACKSPACE
- Here the basic step required during install process http://www.howtoforge.com/the-perfect-desktop-ubuntu-8.04-lts-hardy-heron

If you are still in trouble... please reboot your pc and starting with Ubuntu live cd please try to put some common Ubuntu kernel live cd options you can find the boot options howto here: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/BootOptions

Remove the "splash" and "quiet" options to see more boot infos message and/or errors.
Then try some commons parameters by putting them one by one or together:
noacpi nolapic nodma all_generic_ide pnpbios=off pci=noacpi

If this don't work i suggest you to download and burn on a cd at lower speed you can do (4x), here an howto https://help.ubuntu.com/community/BurningIsoHowto, the Ubuntu alternate install cd iso image ( ubuntu-8.10-alternate-i386.iso ) you can download this cd from here: http://releases.ubuntu.com/8.10/

Sometimes is useful to change, if you have 40-pin IDE cable for the CDROM, to an 80-pin IDE cable.

If you are in trouble to download you can try to install and use a torrent client Deluge http://www.deluge-torrent.org/downloads.php to get your desired Ubuntu iso image http://releases.ubuntu.com/releases/8.10/ please select a .torrent file

*** if you are installing in dual boot mode Windows + Ubuntu

Please make sure you Windows partition have no errors on it.

Booting in Windows force an a complete hard disk check.
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/315265
Then reboot again in Windows and make a clean shutdown.
Be sure to boot in Windows twice and to get a clear Windows shutdown.

***

Always useful is the online Ubuntu doc https://help.ubuntu.com/8.10/

Hope this helps

Actually I already knew about these steps before they were posted. Half of these solutions were not even relevent to my problem so I can tell you had not looked at my problem correctly or just decided to post it randomly. I can even tell that half of the steps look like repetitions. I am not gonna keep burning cds for just linux. Like I mentioned before the cd works, I even tried it on another computer and it works fine. There has to be a hardware conflict involved. I am not dual booting. I used all common codes and nothing. Ram is fine.

Please reboot your pc and starting with Ubuntu live cd,
please try to put some common Ubuntu kernel live cd options :

Remove the "splash" and "quiet" options to see more boot infos message and/or errors.

Then try some commons parameters by putting them one by one or together:
noacpi nolapic noapic noapm nodma all_generic_ide pnpbios=off pci=noacpi

the fact of the CD is working on other PC not means it is not corrupted.

I can't even do Ubuntu live cd. I am telling you there is nothing wrong with the cd. I even did a MD5 check on the cd and on the iso file. I even downloaded two isos from two different resources. I tried those parameters already. Since I keep on getting the same solutions, I might as well explain the error message. "init:Unable to execute "/bin/sh" for rc-default : permission denied init: rc-default main process (5253) terminated with status 255. I know it has to be my computer because in tried not only installing Ubuntu, but I also tried Fedora, Debian, and openSuse. None of them works.

I just found out that it was my nVidia video card that isnt making the computer boot. I had to take it out of my computer and use the integrated Intel chip. thanks for your guys help............not.

Thanks for reporting this issue. It's the first time i've heard of such a serious issue with an nVidea graphics card (that you didn't anywhere mention btw lol) usually the concerns are about tweaking it to higher or lower resolution.

It's good to hear you got into Ubuntu in the end :)
Thanks again and welcome in,
Regards from
Tom :)

Actually, he did mention that Nvidia card (sort of). The thing to look for is "GeForce" and he mentioned that in his original post.

This may be the first time _you_ ran across such a problem, I have seen others. It is unfortunate that Nvidia chips work so well (with their proprietary drivers) and seem to be cheap.

In my own case, I had to repeatedly manually discard the X.config file and force failsafe mode. Part of the problem is that I wound up w/ two kernel images, each with its own initrd image and far too much stuff is in the initrd. This means that anything to do w/ loading drivers for one kernel image can break the other which doesn't know about the change.

Anyway, he managed to fix the problem himself (sort of). And at least that dingbat juancarlospaco didn't get credit for the fix.

== Buz :)

Sorry that I got the two companies mixed up. I should've mentioned nVidia at the beginning. They are the same companies though. PNY makes all nVidia graphics and memory cards.

Buz: Are you saying that to get a graphics chip to work with linux, you might have to discard the X.config file and force failsafe mode? Is that the only solution?

Tom and Buz: You two can fully understand my problem!!!! brownie points off to you!!! =)

Thanks but i am clueless about nVidea and so i was just plain wrong. At least i now know how Geforce fits into the picture. Thanks guys. :)

I think Buz was saying that's what he had to do 1 time to force a particular nVidea/GeForce card to work in a specific system but it sounds like you've got yours working already now?

My ati card work straight away in a "plug&play" way but since then i've found even better drivers in Hardware Drivers (just off the System menu on the top taskbaar). Ati have at last been kind enough to supply information to Linux developers so they can write OpenSource Drivers but it'll be a couple years before drivers appear that fully utilise my card (except that i'll be keen to alpha-test the drivers and thus get the advantages sooner). NVidea need to be encouraged to likewise release useful info about their cards too i think. If you click on my name above this post then look at some of my past answers you'll see i've ranted about this tooo much already!

lol

Good luck and regards o both of you
Welcome in Michael :)
Tom :)

Hey guys,

What I said was that I had to _temporarily_ force fail-safe mode while I trouble-shot the problem. I had no alternative on my laptop but to use the built-in video. The actual solution was to get the *_proprietary_* nVidia driver installed from the "restricted" list.

== Buz :)

PS: The variety of brand names these companies use just compounds the confusion.
PPS to Michael: Using this info, you *might* be able to get your GeForce card working. I have no idea of what has to be done in such a case while keeping ur system running the whole while.