A Boot Comparison

What works, and doesn't, for you. Be specific, and please include Puppy version.
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r_e_h
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Joined: Thu 16 Dec 2010, 16:20
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A Boot Comparison

#1 Post by r_e_h »

I thought that those who develop the kernel for the canonical pups might find this worth looking into. I'm not looking to get something done; this is only a place to look if you care to go looking.

I just tried installing Puppy 511 with the Universal Installer. Both full and frugal gave Grub Error 18.

So to ensure it was Puppy and not the box, I tried some installs from other live CDs. Antix yielded another Grub Error 18. But Debris worked peachy. So I knew it wasn't the box or its BIOS or my bad karma. Now I eventually got around Puppy's problem with grub4dos thanks to micko on the forum.

BUT -- if I were a kernel developer for Puppy, I might go look and see what Debris is doing that others are not. A lot of Debian/Ubuntu installs lead to Error 18, including Puppy, as a quick Google will tell you. But they don't have to; the Debris install being the counterexample..

Just a friendly heads up.

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Flash
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Joined: Wed 04 May 2005, 16:04
Location: Arizona USA

Re: A Boot Comparison

#2 Post by Flash »

r_e_h wrote:... I eventually got around Puppy's problem with grub4dos thanks to micko on the forum....
It is customary to give a link to a thread that solved a problem for you. :)

2lss
Posts: 225
Joined: Sun 20 Sep 2009, 23:54

Re: A Boot Comparison

#3 Post by 2lss »

r_e_h wrote:BUT -- if I were a kernel developer for Puppy, I might go look and see what Debris is doing that others are not. A lot of Debian/Ubuntu installs lead to Error 18, including Puppy, as a quick Google will tell you. But they don't have to; the Debris install being the counterexample..
I don't think kernel configurations will make a difference in the problem your describing. From my experience with grub and booting different linux distros the problem usually boils down to:

partition table/filesystem/inode size
bios of the machine
bad grub.cfg

It sounds like in your case that the error comes before the kernel gets a chance to load, so its probably an installer issue rather than a kernel issue. Check your bios options and grub versions for the different distros. Maybe there is a common denominator.

But I'm not an expert, and could be way off. Just something else to think about.

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rcrsn51
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Location: Stratford, Ontario

#4 Post by rcrsn51 »

18 : Selected cylinder exceeds maximum supported by BIOS
This error is returned when a read is attempted at a linear block address beyond the end of the BIOS translated area. This generally happens if your disk is larger than the BIOS can handle (512MB for (E)IDE disks on older machines or larger than 8GB in general).
How old is this machine?

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