8. Troubleshooting your Linux Installation
Q. My Linux CD does not
boot, it goes straight to Windows or I get an 'System' error.
A. There are few things that might be responsible for that. Possibly
booting from CD-ROM is disabled. Access your BIOS and enable your CD-ROM
as your primary boot device and then restart the computer with the CD
in the drive. If you get a System boot error it could be because your
Linux CD is not bootable or was not properly burned. Best way to fix
that is to Re-download the ISO and burn another copy of the CD. Make
sure your Distribution supports 'Booting from CD.' If it does not, you
will have to create a floppy disk that will start the installation for
you. Your Distros web site will tell you how to do so since all of them
have their own way.
Q. My installation starts
but hangs when loading the installation screen.
A. When this happens it is possible that there are problems loading
the graphical interface for your installation or a driver for one of
your devices. You will be able to start the install in 'safe mode' and
continue the install in an text based environment w/o mouse support
or any non vital drivers. If it still fails then you might want to check
the hardware capability list to make sure all your devices are supported
(http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/Hardware-HOWTO/) ...if everything checks
out fine then your media could be defective, in this case try re-downloading
your Linux CD, burn it, and try again.
Q. My Linux starts installing
but hangs in the middle of the installation or towards the end.
A. As mentioned above, try launching the installation in 'safe mode'
(instructions will be listed on the main screen) and proceed that way.
If the install still hangs check your media and make sure it is not
scratched up. If that is fine then you might have to re-download and
re-burn the CD …sometimes certain downloads might be full of errors.
Also, it would be wise to try another Linux Distribution and check if
same thing happens. If that all fails troubleshoot your hardware.
Q. Linux installs completely,
but on the final boot it gives me a 'kernel panic' error message.
A. Kernel Panic error occurs when the kernel receives certain instructions
of an unexpected format, it can't handle it properly and therefore kernel
panic occurs. It's probably the hardest error to troubleshoot; that
is why if you're new to Linux it might be best to reinstall it. If the
problem reoccurs after the reinstallation it could be a hardware conflict.
Individually troubleshoot your hardware devices and contact your Distributor
with the exact message. It might be also wise to try other Linux Distributions;
some might be better configuring certain devices then others.
Q. When Linux loads it hangs
on 'eth0' and then fails, but it Linux does finish loading.
A. You need to disable NIC activation at boot. You can do that from
the network settings window located in your desktop manager. For detailed
configuration for your particular distro visit their official site.
Q. Linux boots fine boot
X Window does not load, gives me 'server crash' error or similar to
such.
A. This can be a few things. First your monitor might not be setup correctly
or possibly your video card was not detected properly. Try to rerun
X setup, for example for Red Hat run 'Xconfigurator' or for SuSE 'yast2.'
Your distros web site will tell you how to do so in more detail. If
you rerun X setup and don't have the exact choices for your video card
check you manufacturers site to see if they offer Linux drivers like
Nvidia.com ... also check out http://lhd.zdnet.com for more driver's
info. Your X driver info is stored in /etc/XF86Config-4 and you can
manually mess with it as to monitor refresh rates or the resolution
you want to start X in. Also, your video card might not be supported
by the kernel, therefore it is important to investigate that.
Q. Sound does not work.
A. Make sure the sound card you have is supported by your kernel. Usually
the sounds cards that come built in motherboards are the worst to get
running, but cards by SB like Live or Audigy should be no sweat. If
some difficulty shall appear, visit the Advanced Linux Sound Driver
site www.alsa-project.org and download the newest ALSA drivers, instructions
how to install them are on the site.
9. Additional Info
That is the basic troubleshooting,
if you're still having some major problems remember that there is a
lot of help available on the internet. Browse some of the message boards
out there, good chance somebody had a similar problem, resolved it,
and posted the fix for it. If your having a problem feel free to post
a message on our forum... click
here to get there. The forum is a new addition so try to utilize
it. Please be descriptive and paste a copy of the error. I check it
periodically and will be happy to help anybody
Enjoy,
Macie D.