Linux install

wrboblis

I tried several months ago to install Ubuntu on my HP Compaq when my Windows OS suffered a virus meltdown. I went so far as to buy a refurberished HD from a reputable dealer. I tried to install Windows XP Pro first, but the install stalled at the agreement to the licencing terms. Fed up with Windows I decided to try Linux Ubuntu. I had the same problem, it stalled. I gave up the whole affair. Today I decided to try again. The Ubuntu distribution stalls at step #5. It says it is checking the partions (there is only one) and scanning the discs. Its been hours. A 250 GB hard drive shouldn"t take that long I don"t think. This a clean install. I can"t figurre out what the problem might be. The distribution is a live CD. I bought the Linux Ubuntu Bible and it came with the CD. Any help would be appreciated

mfillpot

It sounds like a hardware issue is preventing any installation from completing, have you attempted to use a live cd to run a cpu or memory test on the computer?

gomer

Matt is right. It sounds like a hardware issue. In fact, I would venture to guess that the problem is in fact that hard drive of yours. If your drives are SMART capable, then you should enable that in the BIOS of your machine, and then boot into Linux from the LiveCD. From the CLI, use the smartctl command to test the drive:

smartctl -i /dev/sdb
smartctl -s on -d ata /dev/sdb
smartctl -d ata -H /dev/sdb
smartctl -d ata -t long /dev/sdb
smartctl --attributes --log=selftest /dev/sda

If your disk / bios does not support SMART, then a great resource if you have access to another machine to burn another disk is the "Ultimate Boot CD" which has resources and tools for / from just about every company who's ever made a hard disk.

http://www.ultimatebootcd.com/

Vandal

I faced a similar problem with a toshiba, and the solution was to change something related to the HDD on the BIOS menu..

The problem was with the SATA choice, I had to choose the "compatibility" instead of "AHCI"

http://www.techsupportforum.com/hardware-support/laptop-support/416216-toshiba-a300-how-revert-xp-sp2-vista.html

I am not familiar with the HP menu, but if you are suffering from the same problem, I don't think tech expressions would differ a lot...

Good luck..