Having real trouble getting Ubuntu Live CD to work

Borden · 23 Jul 2006 at 19:34

Hi guys,

I'm really warming to the idea of dual booting with Ubuntu but wanted to try it from the Live CD first.

I downloaded the 64bit Dapper ISO and burnt it to disk. After booting to the cd i select to install it and then the kernel is loaded and a black screen comes up with a white underscore in the top left. The underscore blinks for a few seconds and then stays on and nothing happens. I tried the 32bit version and the same thing happened.

I then downloaded the Alternate 64bit install cd and booted from that. I tried installing in text mode and came to a point where i was told something along the lines of 'This CD does not have the appropriate files to install Ubuntu. Please insert a CD with the necessary files'.

That same thing happened when i tried installing in the non text mode (can't remember what it was called) and also when i tried installing the previous version of Ubuntu (5.10 or whatever).

Any help would be great. I presume it's a problem with my hardware that's causing it as my friend managed to install it with the same CD.

Thanks

Borden · 24 Jul 2006 at 10:22

EKsparky said:
may be try a couple of differnt live cd Distro's just to see what happens on the install
Ive tried quite a few and Knopppix was amongst one of the best (for me anyway) for sorting out hardware on boot.
And puppy is quite fun with verysmall download.
puppy
Knoppix
Kate OS

Thanks for the reply, i'll try that

I'm just itching to try Linux though

Borden · 24 Jul 2006 at 10:24

leezer3 said:
Yep, sounds like a hardware problem but we really need the details of your hardware to say anything constructive
The best I can suggest off the top of my head is to when you get the CD boot menu (GRUB), highlight the first entry & press E. Then scroll to the bottom line & press N to start a new line. Type noapic here & press enter. Then press B.

What this does is to disable the ACPI power management features, & can help with more generic type problems.

-Leezer-

I'll try that as well

My specs are:

AMD 64 3500
Gigabyte K8nXP-SLi mobo
SLi 6600GT's
1GB ram
Raptor 36GB
Seagate 200GB

Borden · 24 Jul 2006 at 16:49

I managed to install Ubuntu with the 64bit alternate install cd. I first wanted to try it out live but it went straight to the installer so i just went ahead with it.

The problem i have now is that i boot up into GRUB and select to boot Linux but once the Ubuntu screen has finished loading files i get a black screen with the same underscore problem i had before.

Should i try the Alternate 32bit version and re-install it?

Thanks guys

Borden · 24 Jul 2006 at 17:52

mortals said:
Not sure if it's true but found this on a linux benchmark post

NICE!

Borden · 26 Jul 2006 at 09:30

So i installed the Alternate 32bit install which went fine with no errors. I get to grub and boot up but the same thing happens with the underscore. It even happens when i add the boot line 'noapic'.

What do i need to enter to get it working in safe graphics mode?

Thanks