[TriLUG] help with install

[Jon Carnes]

On Mon, 2003-09-22 at 09:37, Scott Thomas wrote:

> I’m trying to install RH 9.0 on a Compaq Presario (with Cyrix MII
> processor).  Since my kids also use this machine to play educational
> games, I’ve added a 2nd disk to install RH on, and will keep WindowsXP
> on the 1st drive.   The installation went smoothly.  However, after I
> rebooted, the machine just hangs.  It reads the boot floppy, and
> starts to load the kernel, but after about a screen full of messages,
> it just stops.  When I tried to boot Windows, GRUB starts, but then it
> too just hangs.  All I get is a black screen with “GRUB” at the top
> 
>  
> 
> so can any of the more seasoned RH gurus out there please give me a
> hint what’s going wrong? 
> 
> thanks,
> 
> --
> Scott Thomas

What's the exact model number of the Compaq Presario?  I've read of
folks having a *lot* of problems trying to get Linux on these boxen.

Grub allows you to edit and look at each of the boot commands for each
choice.  If you could post those, it would help us help you.

In a worse case scenario you should be able to get the XP install
booting again by booting with a Windows Disk and then re-writing the
Master Boot Record
  fdisk -mbr

(you might have to blank the mbr first - there are some nice write-ups
of this on the net).

When done with that make sure the Partition with the Windows install is
still marked as active.

Good Luck - Jon Carnes