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etch cd install reboots at start

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I was given an old computer, and to bring it somewhat up into the modern age decided Linux would be a good idea. First off, some specs (either taken from Compaq's website, or directly from the parts themselves):

    Compaq Presario 7360 (Jan. 2000)

    500MHz AMD-K6-2 (w/ 3DNow! Technology)
    100MHz system bus / 512KB L2 Pipeline Burst Cache

    192MB RAM:
    -128MB Apacer PC133
    -64MB PC100 SynchDRAM DDR DIMM
    -8MB of total dedicated as VRAM

    Western Digital Caviar 100AA 10GB UltraDMA (hda)
    Quantum ProDrive LPS 170AT 170MB (hdb)

    Compaq CD-ROM LTN-403-ST2 40x (hdc)

    Compaq 161697-802 3.5" 1.44MB diskette drive

    ViaChipset Integrated Graphics:
    -Trident Graphics
    -2X AGP 3D Graphics
    -64-bit hardware accelerated 3D graphics
    -MPEG full-motion video playback
    -1600x1200 max non-interlaced resolution (when supported by monitor)

    ESS Allegro PCI Audio (integrated):
    -FM Synthesis

    HP Pavilion MX50 15" Monitor

    Apple USB Keyboard M2452 (yoinked from my Blueberry iMac 333MHz)

    Logitech Optical Mouse M-BD58 (3-button USB w/ wheel)

The computer's currently running Windows 2000 Pro SP4. I plan on keeping that and splitting the drive into two roughly equivalent partitions, with possibly using the small drive as Linux swap space.

It didn't come with a keyboard or mouse, so I'm utilizing mine from an old iMac. Rather then having the mouse attached through the keyboard, I have them both directly plugged in via USB (thought this might help avoid errors).

So I downloaded the first two ISOs from the Debian site (http://cdimage.debian.org/debian-cd/4.0_r2/i386/iso-cd/), stuck the first CD in the drive, and rebooted. A nice Debian splash screen pops up. Type "installgui", two commands start going, then the computer reboots. Back to the Debian splash. Trying it with the basic install (just hitting enter) yields the same results. Sometimes it doesn't even get to attempt to execute the second command. They go by too fast to read, or I'd tell you what they were. I assume the have to do with loading the install program.

Any ideas on how to get this thing going?

(x-posted from http://forums.debian.net/viewtopic.php?t=23505)

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etch cd install reboots at

Submitted by dmbruley on Thu, 2008-01-31 04:21.

You might have a---get ready for this---bad CD. I had the exact some issue, it would say "loading somethinginit.gz................." and then freeze. I couldn't figure out WHAT it was. try burning the CD as a disk image. A pretty good program for that is Infrarecorder...plain, simple, and free.

Also my Etch distro hangs whenever I have any type of USB devices like a flash drive plugged in. Keep that in mind. My flash drive is from CA, and is only half the size of my thumb, and about a 1/16" thick..talk about small, I forget it's there all the time

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etch cd install reboots at

Submitted by rpb3000 on Thu, 2008-01-31 11:26.

I tried redownloading, verified the checksum, burned on a much slower speed, and it still does the same thing. As fas as USB, both ports are used up by keyboard and mouse. I could attempt to borrow the PS/2 variety from a friend, but at the moment it's all I have.

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etch cd install reboots at

Submitted by dmbruley on Thu, 2008-01-31 18:39.

OK, seems like you might know more than I do....but did you reburn the iso file as a disk-image instead of just burning it as-is? If you get a popup from Windows asking you what to do with it, it should be properly created. I doubt you'll have any issues with the USB mouse and keyboard. I myself am using a wireless set and haven't haven't had any problems since I just installed Gutsy and Etch last weekend.

Also, having only 192 megs of RAM is mighty small these days. That might could affect it.

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etch cd install reboots at

Submitted by rpb3000 on Fri, 2008-02-01 13:52.

I've been using the iso as a disk image from the beginning, booting straight off the disk. I hadn't thought of trying to install from within Windows.

As far as RAM, I successfully managed to install Debian first-try on another old computer of mine that has even less RAM (152mb), so I don't think that's the problem...

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etch cd install reboots at

Submitted by pinniped on Fri, 2008-02-01 16:16.

It could also be:

- bad CD drive - did you try to borrow a CD drive from another machine? (I hope it's not one of those weird Compaq things that needs a special Compaq shape and connector)

- bad power supply - all Compaq machines I've known from 1994 until they were bought by HP have had inadequate power supplies. Try installing with that other HD disconnected. Of course if it IS the power supply then I have no idea what to do - they are definitely a Compaq special and incompatible with anything else on the planet.

- bad BIOS - and Compaq was famous for crappy BIOSes which deliberately limited the amount of RAM you could have etc. Perhaps there is a BIOS problem with accessing the HD and you need a small partition to boot Linux from?

Other things to try are to add Linux command line parameters like:
noapic noacpi noapm
One other (seemingly trivial) thing which has caused problems for me before was the "video mode" at boot. Many buggy video chips cause all sorts of problems. Try booting with a parameter like:

vga=ask (select video mode - if the boot process doesn't die first)
When you get the prompt to select, try entering 'scan' and if everything works you will get a list of video modes.

or:
vga=3841 (text, 80 columns x 50 rows)

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