I am trying to boot the live cd in an old toshiba satellite 1800 (256 ram, dvd rom, 20G hard drive, intel celeron 995 Mhrz)...the setup starts but after giving me the option to choose the graphics vertion the setup stalls at "probing video hardware, please wait". I have tried both graphic options and nothing happens...
I previously ran the setup for Ubuntu 7.01 without success (that was very foolish given the hardware configuration of my laptop)....aparently the Ubuntu setup wasn't complete and the partitions seem to be screwed.
I decided to run Puppy but it is not working.....
The fan remains on but the CD drive doesn't seem to be active....
I have waited several minutes but nothing happens.....
I was wondering if perhaps I deleted something important during the attempted instalation of Ubuntu....
Can anyone guide me? What should I do next? thanks
Ok I just tried repartitioning the hard drive but the same problem came up....it takes a huge amount of time .....what am I doing wrong? is my computer even able to run Puppy? thanks...
problem booting puppy in old laptop
macolinux,
I just had a quick google & I think your puppy problems could be related to your graphics. Do you know whether it's trident-cyber based? If it is, search the forum, as others have gotten this graphic card working in the past. To search back beyond one year, try entering trident AND cyber, as search terms in:
http://www.wellminded.com/puppy/pupsearch.html
Other resources for you to look at are:
http://newsletter.toshiba-tro.de/main/index.html
http://www.linux-on-laptops.com/toshiba.html
Both of these sites have plenty of entries for toshiba 1800s.
I just had a quick google & I think your puppy problems could be related to your graphics. Do you know whether it's trident-cyber based? If it is, search the forum, as others have gotten this graphic card working in the past. To search back beyond one year, try entering trident AND cyber, as search terms in:
http://www.wellminded.com/puppy/pupsearch.html
Other resources for you to look at are:
http://newsletter.toshiba-tro.de/main/index.html
http://www.linux-on-laptops.com/toshiba.html
Both of these sites have plenty of entries for toshiba 1800s.
-
Bruce B
Re: problem booting puppy in old laptop
Welcome!macolinux wrote: I previously ran the setup for Ubuntu 7.01 without success (that was very foolish given the hardware configuration of my laptop)....aparently the Ubuntu setup wasn't complete and the partitions seem to be screwed.
I don't see anything foolish about it.
Even IF you messed up the hard drive partitioning or something of that nature, it shouldn't stop the CD Disc from booting. (maybe in some rare case, but I don't think so in your case.)macolinux wrote:I decided to run Puppy but it is not working.....
The fan remains on but the CD drive doesn't seem to be active....
I have waited several minutes but nothing happens.....
What could delete? Software? Partitions? The hard disk's partition table? Even IF, a Linux Live CD should boot.macolinux wrote:I was wondering if perhaps I deleted something important during the attempted instalation of Ubuntu....
Try and get it booted with a Live CD, if not Puppy another Live CD - just get it booted.macolinux wrote:Can anyone guide me? What should I do next?
If there's a video card incompatibility - then boot Puppy using only the text user interface mode.
When the CD starts type in puppy pfix=nox
Thanks for the confusion. Now my question, with what did you boot and how did you partition?? For the rarsa's sake and my own. Please explain in considerable detail.macolinux wrote:Ok I just tried repartitioning the hard drive but the same problem came up....it takes a huge amount of time .....what am I doing wrong? is my computer even able to run Puppy? thanks...
If you want help, we need to be able to create a reasonable facsimile of your computer and hard drive partitioning in our imaginations. The better the facsimile - the better chances you have of getting exacting help.
Bruce
Sorry about the confusion.....thank you for the responses......
Well, I found the specifications and the video is Trident Cyber Aladine controller, so I looked for previous issues with this configuration and found some people with the exact same problem......
http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=14140
http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=27499
I attempted to follow their instructions but the part about "comenting out" really confuses me. I do not what it means and I do not see the difference between the codes...I did all the other stuff about answering all the question of the xorgconfig menu. Nothing happened....same stuff....I know what happened I do not know how the comment-out stuff works.
I downloaded GPARTER and burnt a bootable cd...I used the application to fix the hard drive. there where 3 different partitions before (none of which was working properly)...I deleted them all and created ONE partition (20G) ext2 flagged as boot. Then tried to run the progarm again.....after this the initial setup worked fine (not error messages this time, I used to get a couple of error messages at the begining because the application could not make the drive Usable, I guess the ext was the work one for a linux program) but I ended up with the same problem..the program gets stucked in the graphic detection phase.....
I found another thread on how to install puppy on the HD...
http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=25702
from which I got the info on how to partition the hard drive. However the instructions are to install the program using the Puppy Universal Installer...which does not apply to my case (I can't ever run the program). So I decided to download Gparter and run it from outside puppy. it worked
I tried to boot it in command mode only but after it loads and you end up with th # sign I do not know what to do next....I am totally ignorant in this matter but I'm trying.
I guess I have to "comment-out" on those codes and see what happens(whatever that means...)....but how do you do that? I found a bunch of codes (see above) that don't make a lot of sense to me....
Thank you so much for the prompt response....
Well, I found the specifications and the video is Trident Cyber Aladine controller, so I looked for previous issues with this configuration and found some people with the exact same problem......
http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=14140
http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=27499
I attempted to follow their instructions but the part about "comenting out" really confuses me. I do not what it means and I do not see the difference between the codes...I did all the other stuff about answering all the question of the xorgconfig menu. Nothing happened....same stuff....I know what happened I do not know how the comment-out stuff works.
I downloaded GPARTER and burnt a bootable cd...I used the application to fix the hard drive. there where 3 different partitions before (none of which was working properly)...I deleted them all and created ONE partition (20G) ext2 flagged as boot. Then tried to run the progarm again.....after this the initial setup worked fine (not error messages this time, I used to get a couple of error messages at the begining because the application could not make the drive Usable, I guess the ext was the work one for a linux program) but I ended up with the same problem..the program gets stucked in the graphic detection phase.....
I found another thread on how to install puppy on the HD...
http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=25702
from which I got the info on how to partition the hard drive. However the instructions are to install the program using the Puppy Universal Installer...which does not apply to my case (I can't ever run the program). So I decided to download Gparter and run it from outside puppy. it worked
I tried to boot it in command mode only but after it loads and you end up with th # sign I do not know what to do next....I am totally ignorant in this matter but I'm trying.
I guess I have to "comment-out" on those codes and see what happens(whatever that means...)....but how do you do that? I found a bunch of codes (see above) that don't make a lot of sense to me....
Thank you so much for the prompt response....
-
Bruce B
'commenting out'
suppose a line looks like this in a script
echo hello there
it will display hello there on the console
if you 'comment that line out' like this:
# echo hello there
nothing happens
----------------------------
for the other question if you can boot to the # (prompt) not to be confused with the commenting out above, you have successfully booted Puppy in the TUI (text user interface), next thing is see if you can run the GUI (graphic user interface)
to do this type xwin (then enter key)
the video setup will start - you have a choice of xorg or xvesa - trying the xvesa may give better results on a troublesome card - but feel free to experiment, because you have no 'save' file to worry about at this point.
suppose a line looks like this in a script
echo hello there
it will display hello there on the console
if you 'comment that line out' like this:
# echo hello there
nothing happens
----------------------------
for the other question if you can boot to the # (prompt) not to be confused with the commenting out above, you have successfully booted Puppy in the TUI (text user interface), next thing is see if you can run the GUI (graphic user interface)
to do this type xwin (then enter key)
the video setup will start - you have a choice of xorg or xvesa - trying the xvesa may give better results on a troublesome card - but feel free to experiment, because you have no 'save' file to worry about at this point.
Yes the file looks like it's changed somewhat. But I think, going on the post you mentioned, you need to comment out the lines, in /usr/X11R7/bin/xwin, from line 168 to line 189. So it should look like this:
You can use the commandline editor, mp, to edit this file.
When you start mp, press Control-A, to see the functions available to you, like save etc.
Then, after you've changed /usr/X11R7/bin/xwin, run xorgwizard.
Code: Select all
#Puppy Xorg Video Wizard...
if [ -f /usr/X11R7/bin/Xorg ];then
# if [ -f /etc/X11/xorg.conf ];then
# if [ "`readlink /usr/X11R7/bin/X`" = "Xorg" ];then
#v2.13 video hardware profile (must be same as in xorgwizard)...
# DDCPROBE="`ddcprobe`"
#v2.17 patch from Nightflyer... as in xwin, may have to run ddcprobe twice...
# case "`echo "$DDCPROBE"`" in
# *edidfail*)
# sleep 1
# DDCPROBE="`ddcprobe`"
# ;;
# esac
# PROFILECHIP="`echo "$DDCPROBE" | grep '^oem: ' | head -n 1 | cut -f 2-4 -d ' ' | tr ' ' '_' | sed -e 's/[^0-9a-zA-Z]/_/g'`"
# PROFILEMONITOR="`echo "$DDCPROBE" | grep --extended-regexp '^monitorrange: |^monitorid: |^eisa: ' | head -n 1 | cut -f 2 -d ':' | sed -e 's/ //g' | sed -e 's/[^0-9a-zA-Z]/_/g'`"
# HARDWAREPROFILE="${PROFILECHIP}${PROFILEMONITOR}"
#find out if current xorg.conf matches this profile...
# CURRENTPROFILE="`cat /etc/X11/xorg.conf | grep '^#PuppyHardwareProfile' | cut -f 2 -d '=' | cut -f 1 -d ' '`"
# if [ ! "$CURRENTPROFILE" = "$HARDWAREPROFILE" ];then
#video hardware has changed. either changed monitor or booting different PC.
#same current xorg.conf as a profiled filename...
# mv -f /etc/X11/xorg.conf /etc/X11/xorg.conf.${CURRENTPROFILE}
#if a previous profiled filename for new hardware, use that...
# [ -f /etc/X11/xorg.conf.${HARDWAREPROFILE} ] && cp -af /etc/X11/xorg.conf.${HARDWAREPROFILE} /etc/X11/xorg.conf
fi
fi
fiCode: Select all
mp /usr/X11R7/bin/xwinThen, after you've changed /usr/X11R7/bin/xwin, run xorgwizard.
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n1n31nchn41l5
- Posts: 107
- Joined: Fri 21 Mar 2008, 07:53
I thought the purpose of commenting out, those sections of xwin, was to avoid vid probing! Maybe you can pm Oblivion, and see if there are any diffs between your xwin file, & Oblivion's. (as Oblivion got a trident cyber working with pup301).the computer hangs at the probing video hardware step.....
as to whether anything wrong with the hardware...have you booted, successfully other systems? Maybe you should try dloading, and booting, DSL linux, (50Mbytes), as it has a framebuffer graphics mode that should work straight away with your cyber graphics.
The commenting out part doesn't seem to be yielding any significant results. I thought that it was supposed to stop the vid probing but well I don't know what's going on.
I have tried with Ubuntu which loaded the graphical interface without a problem but hangs during instalation. I also tried Suse last night but it hangs as well....
I looks like the cd room suddenly stops working.....I do not know how to boot from a usb because the bios in my computer doesn't give that option. I know there is a way around using a floppy but there's no way I can make a floppy disk. I will try to find using the cd rom tonight.
I will oot DSL ....
Thanks....
I have tried with Ubuntu which loaded the graphical interface without a problem but hangs during instalation. I also tried Suse last night but it hangs as well....
I looks like the cd room suddenly stops working.....I do not know how to boot from a usb because the bios in my computer doesn't give that option. I know there is a way around using a floppy but there's no way I can make a floppy disk. I will try to find using the cd rom tonight.
I will oot DSL ....
Thanks....
Ok...I tried Suse (hangs..), DSL (hangs at the hardrive recog phase), Ubuntu (doesn't recog the hard drive either during instalation, but it does load), Puppy well you already know.....I guess that's it for the old laptop...
I do not know what to do next!!!
If you have any ideas please let me know I really need to fix that old piece of plastic....
Thanks....
I do not know what to do next!!!
If you have any ideas please let me know I really need to fix that old piece of plastic....
Thanks....
-
Bruce B
I don't even know if the hard drive is good.
On older computers, but no laptops, I turn of the DMA if possible and the APM (advanced power management) in the BIOS setup program.
Then on the Linux command line add the following parameters:
ide=nodma apm=off acpi=off
When GRUB is installed you can add these as needed to your kernel line.
From the puppy boot disk you can experiment like this:
puppy ide=nodma
if it still fails then add the others:
puppy ide=nodma apm=off acpi=off
and of course another options you are using.
On older computers, but no laptops, I turn of the DMA if possible and the APM (advanced power management) in the BIOS setup program.
Then on the Linux command line add the following parameters:
ide=nodma apm=off acpi=off
When GRUB is installed you can add these as needed to your kernel line.
From the puppy boot disk you can experiment like this:
puppy ide=nodma
if it still fails then add the others:
puppy ide=nodma apm=off acpi=off
and of course another options you are using.
Hello. I've got a Toshiba Satellite 4060XCDT with 128MB RAM, and it won't load Puppy either. The one and only distro that was successful was AntiX, a Mepis derivative. Wouldn't mind getting the dog on there, but this will do for now. Wireless was a breeze also. Setup the whole shebang in 10 minutes or so. Just thought I'd add my 2 cents worth, for what it's worth! 
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cherriepuppy
- Posts: 74
- Joined: Sun 11 Dec 2005, 20:27
- Location: uk
hi macolinux
when you have commented out the lines in xwin and saved it do not run the xorgwizard but run xorgconfig instead, it's a question and answer script and when you've entered the correct details it creates a xorg conf file, then start the x server by typing "xwin jwm". if you do a search on my name you will find several post on this problem
hope this helps
cherriepuppy
when you have commented out the lines in xwin and saved it do not run the xorgwizard but run xorgconfig instead, it's a question and answer script and when you've entered the correct details it creates a xorg conf file, then start the x server by typing "xwin jwm". if you do a search on my name you will find several post on this problem
hope this helps
cherriepuppy
Thanks. to all.....I have tried xorgconfig and then xwin jwm after commenting out but still hangs.....
What I do not understand is why the program keeps on probing for video hardware afetr I comment out the part of Xorg that is in charge of that?!!
This is a problem...I would really like to run puppy but it is so difficult to set up.
I have been trying woth other distros and as wpurcell said...nothing runs on this garbage.....I have been trying to run ubuntu (alternate) but apparently there is an error with the files in the cd....
I will keep on trying and will let you know what happens as soon as I finnish.
If you have any new ideas please let me know....
Thanks..
What I do not understand is why the program keeps on probing for video hardware afetr I comment out the part of Xorg that is in charge of that?!!
This is a problem...I would really like to run puppy but it is so difficult to set up.
I have been trying woth other distros and as wpurcell said...nothing runs on this garbage.....I have been trying to run ubuntu (alternate) but apparently there is an error with the files in the cd....
I will keep on trying and will let you know what happens as soon as I finnish.
If you have any new ideas please let me know....
Thanks..
Hi macolinux
I've seen this before & believe this was a fix, - a new xorg wizard ;-
http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewto ... 110#154110
I had a similar problem with an old IBM lappy but got it sorted by experimenting with acpi & apm settings in bios
try alternately when booting;
acpi=off, acpi=noirq, or, acpi=force
as a last resort try
puppy pfix=ram
to ignore any accumulated rubbish
lastly, try using puppy 214R, instead, as I'm sure many earlier laptops 'tweaks' were added
aitch
I've seen this before & believe this was a fix, - a new xorg wizard ;-
http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewto ... 110#154110
I had a similar problem with an old IBM lappy but got it sorted by experimenting with acpi & apm settings in bios
try alternately when booting;
acpi=off, acpi=noirq, or, acpi=force
as a last resort try
puppy pfix=ram
to ignore any accumulated rubbish
lastly, try using puppy 214R, instead, as I'm sure many earlier laptops 'tweaks' were added
aitch
"Probing hang" problem should be fixed in Puppy 4
macolinux,
I am distressed to see you guys hassling with the old workarounds for the hang. I have solved that in Puppy 4 for many Toshiba laptops and beta 2 should add support for any that I don't know about. Please try the betas before giving up.
I expect that fix will be back-ported to 3.02 eventually.
If the betas do not solve your problem, please report that so I can look into a further fix.
EDIT: I have now verified that the beta2 fix also works in Puppy 3.01. But you may need to remaster 3.01 with the fix to try it on a previously unusable laptop. The fix is here:
http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewto ... 522#188522
Extract only the /etc and /usr directory portions of that archive to /, to get the three files into their correct locations. When remastering, be sure to copy (when prompted) /etc/xorgoverrides into /tmp/etc/, although the fix will work without it.
You can disregard two error messages from xwin about the missing "dmidecode" function. They relate only to the Classmate and EeePC laptops, which are not supported by 3.01.
Richard
I am distressed to see you guys hassling with the old workarounds for the hang. I have solved that in Puppy 4 for many Toshiba laptops and beta 2 should add support for any that I don't know about. Please try the betas before giving up.
I expect that fix will be back-ported to 3.02 eventually.
If the betas do not solve your problem, please report that so I can look into a further fix.
EDIT: I have now verified that the beta2 fix also works in Puppy 3.01. But you may need to remaster 3.01 with the fix to try it on a previously unusable laptop. The fix is here:
http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewto ... 522#188522
Extract only the /etc and /usr directory portions of that archive to /, to get the three files into their correct locations. When remastering, be sure to copy (when prompted) /etc/xorgoverrides into /tmp/etc/, although the fix will work without it.
You can disregard two error messages from xwin about the missing "dmidecode" function. They relate only to the Classmate and EeePC laptops, which are not supported by 3.01.
Richard
