Ubuntu Edgy 64 Desktop CD Crash

I have had problems w/ some of the newer HPs and ACPI issues due to a newer version of the kernel. I am a little confused from the support request, but did you have Dapper running on the HP 4200?
I passed the command -noacpi to the Dual Core machine that I was testing something on and it booted into the Desktop CD w/o any problems.

Dapper would boot up and run just fine. The problem with Dapper was that it would not recognize my network adapter so I could not get on the net with the Dapper version of the OS.

The new issue is that the Edgy distribution CD will not boot up. The kernel doesn't appear to fully load. I never even get to the splash screen. I was hoping that installing Edgy64 would solve my Linksys hardware issue. I need to get Edgy to install first though!

Have you had success installing Edgy64 on a HP 4200 machine? If so, what can I do to force the install. All I have been able to do so far is click the "Start or Install Ubuntu" option and watch some text scroll before the screen freezes.

I'm trying to remember I didn't have a chance to install Edgy, just boot to the Desktop CD and I passed a -noacpi command to get it to work, but I dont remember what it was. I have reported a bug that the new HP DC7700s won't boot either Dapper or Edgy, but haven't heard anything follow up wise on that

Maybe someone else has similar hardware with better luck. I can't even boot the Edgy CD to try the -noacpi command. Thanks for your input. Please let me know if you get any response or a workaround.

Just a question, but at what command does your kernel load freeze up at? How long do you let it wait before you do a hard restart?

I have let it sit, frozen, for over an hour before. It always freezes at the same spot for all beta version and now the rc version of Edgy 64. I just tried again and wrote down the last line on the screen. Here it is:

 [ 33.532592 io scheduler cfq registered (default)

Hope that helps. Thanks.

The next command following that one should be to scan for PnP devices...do you have a USB mouse or any other USB connected devices on your initial install? This is a frequent problem with some systems; locking up when you have something connected externally.
If you do, try unplugging all your external devices and try installing a PS/2 mouse or just the keyboard. Let me know if that helps or works.
(crosses fingers for even a slight change)

Thank you, aaronbsmith, for the insight. I do have a Logitech wireless keyboard and mouse that are connected through a USB receiver. I did dig up my old PS/2 mouse and keyboard and upon restart I did get a little further.

I now load to an Ubuntu splash screen. I don't get any farther than this screen though. It doesn't appear that the outline for the progress bar fully loads. All I have is a series of vertical lines under the Ubuntu graphic. No box around the lines. Anyway there is never any progress along the bar. It never even starts loading the "filling" graphic as the bar would usually load from left to right.

Is there another piece of hardware that could be hindering the boot up of the OS? I don't have any other external devices.

Just a note.. I wonder why the change from Dapper to Edgy? I was able to load Dapper just fine on this hardware, including the wireless keyboard and mouse.

Thanks again for your help. Any other suggestions are greatly appreciated. I am looking forward to having Ubuntu up and running on this machine (and connect to the net with my Linksys wireless adapter) so I can finally completely dump Windows. My older machine is already converted!!

Sorry for the late update, but if when you boot the Dapper Desktop CD and hit I think its f6 for more options, remove the quiet so you see the error messages and then also add in linux pci = nommconf does it boot?

Just to clarify, Dapper loads just fine. Edgy is the problem.

So, I used the F6 option and this is the last command:
root=/dev/ram rw quiet splash --

To see the commands scrolling I had to remove the "quiet" and the "splash" options. I tried 3 different ways. Only removing quiet & splash, removing Q&S with the pci=nommconf command after the rw, and removing Q&S with the pci=nommconf command before the "root=..." command. All three methods failed to boot. They all stopped at the same command on the screen. Here is the last command to report to the screen:

 [ 71.417712 ] ata2: SATA max UDMA/133 cmd 0x970 ctl 0xB72 bmdma 0xF808 irq 201

Thanks again for the advice. I hope we are making progress!

Definately making progress!

Err...this might be a problem though...I've got a possible fix for you. Most Linux kernals don't incorporate SATA suppport...check out this web link for some clarification...might help. Just follow along and do what you feel most comfortable with. Hope it works!!

http://linuxmafia.com/faq/Hardware/sata.html

Thanks, I will give this a try tonight when I get home.

I am a little puzzled when you stated that the Linux kernels don't support SATA. I thought that was incorporated some time ago. As I stated previously Dapper never had a problem installing and running on this hardware. I have not changed my system since trying Edgy.

I will give it a go tonight. Thanks again.

I read through the article you linked. I thought that Edgy was using a newer kernel. The article mentioned (option 2):

Rebuild your installer using kernel 2.4.27 or later

I thought Edgy was using 2.6.##??

Maybe I am mistaken. This is a big step back though if Dapper had SATA support and now Edgy doesn't.

I'm pretty sure that only specific SATA drivers are recognized by the Linux kernel.
If you're running an nVidia chipset on your board, then that's the problem it seems with the new kernel (doesn't seem to recognize nforce drivers).

Check this out for users with the same problem. Hopefully the driver can be installed and you can get up and running. Let me know if this works!!

http://www.amdzone.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=PNphpBB2&file=viewtopic&p=29775

I have read the last link that aaronbsmith posted. This link seems to explain the problem the best. It appears that there was a problem with the new kernel. Support for the nVidia SATA was dropped. They are tracking it as kernel bug. My question now is, does this mean that I am out of luck for this Ubuntu release? Will an installation disk be made that adds support for these devices once again?

I don't know if I should tag this as resolved or not. It appears that I now know the problem, but I still can't install Edgy!

Thanks for the help.

If you can get another network access on your computer than the one is not supported on Dapper, you can :

- Install Dapper on your computer
- Update it (but not upgrade it to Edgy at this step)
- Keep only the last kernel
- Upgrade it with "gksu 'update-manager -c -d'" to Edgy
- Test the Dapper's (which is still on your computer) and new Edgy's kernels with your full install.

Keep the Dapper's kernel able you to start the machine even though the Edgy's one will not work.

I had the exact same problem - halt on something very similar to
 [ 71.417712 ] ata2: SATA max UDMA/133 cmd 0x970 ctl 0xB72 bmdma 0xF808 irq 201

when upgrading to edgy. Turned out that "noapic" (NOT "noacpi"!) made it boot, and then a BIOS upgrade made it possible to boot in the normal way (without noapic).

Just to clarify, I should use a "-noapic" as an added boot command after invoking F6 when the CD loads?

Also what BIOS upgrade are you referring to?

Thanks for the help.

As far as a BIOS upgrade is concerned, I don't think you'll have this specific problem. You may want to check your current BIOS version and see if there's a newer version available, but with your given specs...you should be up to date. Hopefully the next kernel patch will add your SATA and you'll be able to install/upgrade.

I don't know much about the CD boot, what I did was with an installed (and upgraded) system. Just make sure that the kernel gets "noapic" (no hyphen) as an extra parameter (I think typing "linux noapic" or "default noapic" or similar on the CD boot prompt will do it, but if not you should search around).

The BIOS upgrade I am referring to is the BIOS (integrated boot-time software) of my own motherboard. Since your motherboard is not the same as mine I don't know whether there is one for you or whether it will help - I'm just saying that upgrading my BIOS helped for me, and perhaps upgrading your BIOS will help for you (go to hp.com and search for "Downloads and drivers" for your machine). Hmm, unfortunately it looks like you might only be able to do BIOS upgrades from Window (depending on which exact HP model you have). *shrug*

aaronbsmith might very well be right, I just commented here because of the striking parallells (using same architecture, kernel halted at the same spot, and works with Dapper but not with Edgy).

Some more things: The default kernel definitely does recognize nForce SATA (at least some) because that's what I have and it works with no messing about. (And since the device is printed to screen, it is discovered and it is not a case of missing drivers, no?)

(My system is brand new though, I actually think BIOS upgrades are more relevant with new systems than with older ones in this case - many bugs can be ironed out during the first few months of a product.)

Thank you for the comments. I will give your suggestions a try later on when I get home. Hopefully I will have some good news to report tomorrow.

Hi,

I just purchased HP Pavilion m7640n AMD (64x2 Dual core) and have experienced that exact problem with the edgy (6.10-alternate-amd64.iso downloaded yesterday). After booting off the disk the machine locks up at:
[1349.100797] input: Imps/2 Generic Wheel Mouse as /class/input/..

If I disconnect the mouse the boot freezes at the line above [1348.446342] ueee 1394 initilized config ... 1394

I tried the F6 then -noapic , but still locked up at the mouse.

Has there been any way to get things working with these HP AMD machines?

Thanks

My post above is in error. The 6.10 iso did work fine ie rescue mode mem test etc, with the noapic option but omitting the the '-'.

John,

To answer your original post, NO. I have not successfully been able to get the install to work. I have tried all sorts of workarounds to no avail. I had since thrown up my arms and conceded that I will just have to wait until the Linux Kernal is fixed and SATA support is put back in.

In regards to your second post, are you saying you got the install to work? If you did I would be interested in a more detailed explanation of how you proceeded through the install to obtain a successful boot.

Thanks

Steelspyder, I have maybe a solution for you. Burn a edgy amd64 alternate CD and insert it in your drive after starting your session in Dapper. It should propose you to update or to add it to your sources, not ?