Upgrading or installing Suse Linux

[JustKIDn]

Hi all,

I tried and tried to install Suse 8.2 from CD's.
I even tried to do the install from the floppies.

I have a Compaq Prosignia with SCSI drives and SCSI CD drive and 160MB RAM.

I could almost get it to work on the floppies using the manual install. But when it comes time to load the modules disk 1, it say's there's not enough memory to load the image so it wants to know what disk to use for a swap drive.

I try to tell it /dev/sdb2 but of course since I can't load the modules disk, it can't see the SCSI drives.

I finally gave up and installed Suse 6.2. (It let's you tell it in the begining how much memory you have and what type hard drives you have.)

Now 6.2 is installed and working good. I tried going into Yast to do the upgrade; Update System but it says The installation media is older than your installed system

8.2 is obviously newer than 6.2 but for some reason it has its wires crossed.

So how can I upgrade the system?

I don't care if I lose everything on the system, I'm just trying to get it to 8.2.

Is it possible to make a boot floppy with the fstab file and the right drivers on it?

Or is it possible to tell the install what my memory is and load the SCSI drivers? (is there a HOW-TO or web page that lists all the possible parameters in the initial install screen?)

Is there a console command to start the upgrade without using Yast 1.01.4?

tgus

____________________________
Families can be together forever...

 

[jsauce]

Not sure about this problem as I have never encountered it before. What happens when you boot with the cds exactly? Also have you tried using a later version of suse but any earlier version than 8.2? I use 7.2 and its perfect. I didn't go higher because they removed yast and left only yast2, which I like to use only in KDE.

You say you have the cds, and floppies? Did you by chance purchase this from suse? because I'm sure they provide support if you did. You should be able to call them or email them any questions you have about your problem.

John D. Saucier
jsauce@magicguild.com
Certified Technician
Network Administrator

 

[JustKIDn]

If I try to boot from the CD, I get different failures.

I either get a 'Kernel Panic'. Or it goes so far and then just stops. I think it's a memory thing. Because it stops at a point where it says something about finding an image at 0 or something.

It might be that it's not allocating enough space for RAM drive space? So I was thinking if I could just tell it how much memory I have, that might help.

But if I enter " mem=160M " like I've seen suggested. That's when I get a 'Kernel Panic'. I've tried different variations of memory like 128M or 64M but I get the same results.

I've noticed that lilo.conf has a line like
append "mem=0ax0000" or something like that.

I haven't tried that at the installation screen yet.

I thought if I made a boot disk, then maybe that would help. But all that does is boot like normal. It just starts the process from a boot floppy.

No, I can't call or write to Suse because I bought the CD's, but not the originals. Suse's site recommends this support forum:

http://www.suseforums.com/support

I tried asking my question there (a couple of weeks ago). But I can't get anyone to respond. I guess there's just not enough user support on that forum yet.

So do you know any tricks to get the install to work? Or to get the upgrade to work? Can I enter that append line into the config file on the floppy disk?

Do you have the answer to any of the questions I haven't thought of yet?

tgus

____________________________
Families can be together forever...

 

[JustKIDn]

O.K. Let me rephrase this;

I want to install Suse Linux version 8.2 on my computer.

The computer has SCSI drives and 160 MB memory.

How can I get the install to recognize that there are SCSI drives?

And how can I get the install to recognize the correct amount of memory?

Or, in other words;

How can I get Suse Linux 8.2 installed on my computer with the CD?

Thanks!

tgus

____________________________
Families can be together forever...

 

[JustKIDn]

Is anybody there?


tgus

____________________________
Families can be together forever...

 

[jsauce]

Your problem is kind of curious. The default kernel should recognize your SCSI drives just fine. When your computer boots it detects the amount of memory which is then passed to the operating system. Usually a kernel panic notes a serious problem, but you aren't really providing enough info to make a guess what the problem is. Linux runs fine on very little ram so ram shouldn't be much of an issue anyway. Have you tried installing with an IDE drive?

John D. Saucier
jsauce@magicguild.com
Certified Technician
Network Administrator

 

[lullysing]

They modified the standard SUSE kernel to make use of a LOT of modules. Seriously, they even load IDE from modules nowadays.

There was something about it on some random SUSE support page which i really, really can't remember right now. But i do find it strange that it won't boot on the bootdisks, hell, i was able to install a minimal suse 8.1 system on a pI 175 frankenputer with 32 megs of memory.



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[mattjurado]

I suspect a memory problem... Try swapping the ram as a quick test.

Matt J.