Some progress... On Sun, Oct 28, 2007 at 03:55:24PM +0000, Digby Tarvin wrote: > > > > > It seems that the kernel used during the initial install was stable, > > > > > but the kernel it installed on the hard disk is not. > > > > > > > Model: Dell Precision Workstation 410 MT > > > > > BIOS revision A08 > > > > > CPU: 2xPIII 450MHz > > > > > Video card: 3DLabs Oxygen GVX1 > > > > > Ram: 1024MB > > > > > Adaptec AIC-7890 BIOS DELL-V2.01.05 > > > > > SCSI ID 0 COMPAQ DDRS-34560W ULTRA2-SE > > > > > SCSI ID 1 SEAGATE ST173404LW ULTRA2-SE > > > > > Adaptec AIC-7880 BIOS DELL-V2.01.05 > > > > > SCSI ID 1 MATSHITA DVD-RAM LF-200 > > > > > Primary IDE1 ZIP drive
snip.. > Try aptitude there (thus with the installer's kernel). If > > > > that works, do a uname -a there and notice any difference. > > Ok, that seemed to work ok. Here is what uname -a produces: > > Linux precision 2.6.18-5-486 #1 Fri Jun 1 00:07:22 UTC 2007 i686 GNU/Linux > > vs the kernel on the hard drive, which is: > > Linux precision 2.6.18-5-686 #1 SMP Fri Jun 1 00:47:00 UTC 2007 i686 GNU/Linux > > The only difference I see is the SMP - which as mentioned, I have tried > disabling with a 'nosmp' argument. Oops - overlooked the 486/686 difference initially.. When I spotted that, I tried installing the 486 kernel from the chrooted rescue media... Bingo - It booted all the way and I now seem to have a working (though at reduced functionality) system... X comes up fully and everything seems to work, except that I only have a uni-processor system now, which is a bit of a bummer... But this is progress, and hopefully a clue as to the problem... So now I wonder what kernel difference could be causing a problem on this particular system. Could it be a SMP problem, even though running the 686 kernel with 'nosmp' option still exibits the instability? Or does that mean it is some other difference between 686/486 kernel?? Any idea where I can go from here? I really would hate to have to settle for 50% of my processing power... I suppose I could try to lay my hands on an IDE drive and do a test install on that with the 7890 disabled. That would determine if the SCSI controller really is complicit in my problem. Regards, DigbyT -- Digby R. S. Tarvin digbyt(at)digbyt.com http://www.digbyt.com -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
