Linux OS install

wrboblis

I am trying to install Linux Ubuntu for the first time. I have a live CD acquire with the purchase of a book (Linux Ubuntu Bible). Everything went well untill the actual installation on the hard drive. The install is taking hours to complete. I thought the computer froze because it did freeze when I tried to reformat and install Windows XP Pro. I have purchased two hard drives, one NEW and the latest one, a refurburished HD. When it came to actual loading of the OS, Linux Ubuntu, it seemed to freeze. I just let it alone and after two hours I saw a change on the screen. Then it was formatting the swap drive for partition #5. That took all night (10 pm to 8 am) Now it is creating file system ext3 to partion #1. It's been three hours with no progress evident. The hard drive is one large partition. I did not make any partitions. I can't imagine that this is normal so I must have some other problems. I have no clue what they might be though, corrupted CPU maybe? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks WRBoblis A call might b e easier to answer if anyone is so inclined. {removed to protect the poster's privacy}

pogson

How huge is that hard drive?

The bigger the drive, the longer it may take, but this is seeming silly. Can you give the specs on the machine and the drives?

Freezing suggests there is a hardware fault or the needed drivers have a fault. Most of the popular distros are tested on so many millions of machine that I find it hard to understand what the problem may be. About the only thing that could cause such hesitation is APIC. You should be able to start the installer with a noapic option. You can also see what the installer is doing by typing ctrl-alt-F3 or F4 in Debian. I think Ubuntu may be similar.

wrboblis

Computer is HP w/AMD 3800 processor - upgraded ram to 2GB - HD is 250GB -- standard cd/dvd RW lightrscribe optical drive also installed a generic card reader

wrboblis

New problem - creating ext3 file system in partition FAILED. I'm stumped

mfillpot

I have never seen a file-system creation fail. I recommend running the hard drive manufacturer's utility disk to check the drive for errors, if you do not have the disk then you can use the utilities on the Ultimate Boot CD (http://www.ultimatebootcd.com/).

Edit: I am removing you phone number from your original post, this is not to be rude, but to protect your privacy. With how many search spiders hit this site, in a very short time many people can scrape your number from the web and add you to spam and solicitation lists, I am trying to prevent that.

altNull

I would first try installing ubuntu on Virtual Box so that you can see and feel what it is like to do an install. Also if you make a mistake, you can easily take a screen shot and upload it to ImageShack so that people like us can help you.

langerak

wrboblis wrote:

New problem - creating ext3 file system in partition FAILED. I'm stumped

Mostly due to a faulty harddrive, had that problem a while ago as well with a drive which was working ok with Windows, except when formatting it to ext3, it failed.

You could also try installing it on a SD card, a 4 Gb (or bigger) card should do well enough for a regular desktop and some testing. Make sure your computer can boot from USB . It might not be as fast as a normal harddisk, but you can play around and if you're done with it, you can reformat the card and use it for other purposes .
When installing on the card, keep in mind which device the SD card is. I.e. internal HD is SDA etc. You need to remember that to install a bootloader on the SD card, place it on the root of that drive.

Good luck!