Problem booting install media on new(-ish) laptop
by pchristy from LinuxQuestions.org on (#4XCM8)
Laptop: Clevo N141ZU (Insyde BIOS) Install media: Slackware-current on USBkey created with usbimg2disk.sh
The USBkey boots fine on every machine I have tried it on EXCEPT the Clevo - and to be fair, I've had problems with Insyde BIOS's before, refusing to boot!
However AlienBob's LiveSlak boots fine, as do Mageia 6 and 7, so there is something about the Slackware install boot process that is causing this machine to hang.
Symptoms: Insert the key, and select "Boot from USB". Kernel loads correctly (as far as I can tell) and initrd unpacks - then everything just stops and can only be recovered by a hard power down.
I'm guessing that there is something in the initrd that it doesn't like, but I haven't been able to open or mount it to see what is in the .img file (anyone know how to do this?).
Alternatively, it may be that I need to feed some parameter to the kernel at boot time, but since I never get any error messages, I have no idea what!
When I got the laptop at first, I tried for ages to get Slackware installed on it and was about to give up when AlienBob suggested installing LiveSlak to the hard disk, and then pointing Slackpkg+ at the -current repository and doing an update. This worked (Cheers, Eric!), but has resulted in one or two configuration funnies that don't happen in a "bare bones" install. (eg: If I plug it into a TV via HDMI, I have to reconfigure the sound to output via HDMI. On my old laptop, this just happened automatically, without need for user intervention.)
Also, with Slak-15 on the horizon, I'd like to do a full, clean install when it finally arrives, and won't be able to unless I figure out the problem here. I guess that there may be others either having the same problem or who may have found a fix or workaround.
I'm reasonably computer literate, and have been using Slackware since about 7.0, but I am NOT a programmer, and this has me stumped. I can't even see how to diagnose the problem.
So, over to the experts! All suggestions gratefully received! ;)
--
Pete
The USBkey boots fine on every machine I have tried it on EXCEPT the Clevo - and to be fair, I've had problems with Insyde BIOS's before, refusing to boot!
However AlienBob's LiveSlak boots fine, as do Mageia 6 and 7, so there is something about the Slackware install boot process that is causing this machine to hang.
Symptoms: Insert the key, and select "Boot from USB". Kernel loads correctly (as far as I can tell) and initrd unpacks - then everything just stops and can only be recovered by a hard power down.
I'm guessing that there is something in the initrd that it doesn't like, but I haven't been able to open or mount it to see what is in the .img file (anyone know how to do this?).
Alternatively, it may be that I need to feed some parameter to the kernel at boot time, but since I never get any error messages, I have no idea what!
When I got the laptop at first, I tried for ages to get Slackware installed on it and was about to give up when AlienBob suggested installing LiveSlak to the hard disk, and then pointing Slackpkg+ at the -current repository and doing an update. This worked (Cheers, Eric!), but has resulted in one or two configuration funnies that don't happen in a "bare bones" install. (eg: If I plug it into a TV via HDMI, I have to reconfigure the sound to output via HDMI. On my old laptop, this just happened automatically, without need for user intervention.)
Also, with Slak-15 on the horizon, I'd like to do a full, clean install when it finally arrives, and won't be able to unless I figure out the problem here. I guess that there may be others either having the same problem or who may have found a fix or workaround.
I'm reasonably computer literate, and have been using Slackware since about 7.0, but I am NOT a programmer, and this has me stumped. I can't even see how to diagnose the problem.
So, over to the experts! All suggestions gratefully received! ;)
--
Pete