[redoak]

I tried to install "SuSE 9.1" and had no success. The first time the installation proceeded to 31% and stalled. There was no error message. The second time the install only went to 15%. When I tried a third time an error message came up that the install could not find "CD 1." The CD was in the CD-ROM tray! The only odd thing to happen, and it happened with two other Linux 'OS' CDs, is the CD-ROM became very noisy; stopped and started; and there was a clicking noise at times. Thinking there was possibly a hardware problem, I ran an installation of a 37MB program from a CD into Windows XP; there was no noise and no problems. Also, the Ws' “Device Manager” indicates that the drive is working properly.

Advice much needed. Thanks, {redoak}
p.s. Is there a free program that I could use to check the integrity of the CDs?

[saikee]

It pays to do a MD5SUM check on the CD in your case.

The majority of Distros supplies a long number for checking the transmission corruption of each CD image. A MD5SUM check program is widely available for free download. Just run the free software on the iso image to generate its own number to check against the supplied number.

A mismatch of the two indicates a dodggy transmission or faulty burner.

[lynch]

Originally Posted by saikee

It pays to do a MD5SUM check on the CD in your case...
..A mismatch of the two indicates a dodggy transmission or faulty burner.

How does a bad checksum indicate a faulty burner?
If the md5sum for the iso image does'nt match the supplied md5sum, it indicates a corrupted download of the iso image, not a faulty burner.
lynch

[redoak]

"Lynch": I appreciate your response, because when I cked out the previous advice I found just what you say: It doesn't apply to my problem.

I have "CDCheck," but apparently it does not work for a Linux CD. Are you aware of such a program for Linux CDs? I am more and more convinced my CD ROM drive is OK, for I have used it several times since the trouble with the Linux CDs. All went well.
{redoak}

[saikee]

lynch,

You are right.

The iso would have been expanded when installed into the CD and MD5SUM is irrelevant.

Thanks for pointing it out.

[redoak]

I have been perusing info related to CDs and CD-ROM drives. I note that Linux stresses hardware more than Ws. I don't understand this phenomenon, but could it be that my drive just can't handle Linux?
[redoak}

[JohnWill]

Don't the SUSE disks prompt you to check the media when you boot the first one? SUSE 10.0 disks have the check program as part of the boot menu.

[redoak]

I only have one SUSE CD. That is all that was sent to me by the provider some months ago. The version is 9.1 with "Personal CD" also appearing on the face of the CD.

[saikee]

I just notice that you have a laptop.

I believe many laptops do not have a well-written or standardised Bios and that can have a problem with some distros. This is based on my limited experience after trying only two laptops quickly in a previous occasion.

I would not consider it realistic to expect a laptop to behave identically to a desktop.

It wouldn't surprise me that the kernel may have to be loaded with different parameters in oder overcome the booting difficulties, if such difficulties can be overcome.

It probably would help if you have a more recent Suse (say 10.1) with a more up to date kernel.

[redoak]

I can easily access the BIOS and change the boot order so that the CD drive is accessed. My problem is not booting up but the stalling of the loading, along with the noises I described earlier. {redoak}

[saikee]

I didn't mean the BIOS booting order of the devices. This is not an issue if you can make the machine to boot the CD drive as stated. There may be parameters needed to pass onto the kernel during the boot up to recognise the PCMCIA devices, power save software, battery check features etc.

My point is that one has to take account of the smooth Linux installations reported in the Forum may be based on desktop machines and same installation could be "rough" if the machine is a laptop. This is the impression I have in reading posts in the forums.

Linux provides generic drivers and they work satisfactorily on standardised hardware. Laptops have more deviations and hence more difficult to cope with.

In your case I would try more versions of the current distros and avoid the older kernels.

[redoak]

"s": Thanks for the prompt reply. I now have a clear understanding of the points you make.
{redoak}

[redoak]

"Puppy Unleashed" loading began AOK, although I became lost along the way. I will have to "put my mind to it" again. Out-of-date distros, or something akin, apparently were the problem. Thanks for the advice along the way.
{redoak}

[saikee]

I have to go away for a 3-week holiday so I prepare the laptop for the trip as I need it for Sat Nav while travelling, play DVD in the evening for the kids and use it as a giant storage for downloading photos/movies that we shoot everyday. I thought I might as well loading a few distros into it since I recently exchanged mine with the daughters.

I didn't try very hard but the laptop, a crap-out Advent 7003, couldn't take Puppy, RR4, Mandriva but I managed to install Slax, Suse 10.0 and Kanotix inside. The interesting thing is Suse also failed initially but I read from a forum that there could be an error in the KDE side and gnome was OK so that was what I did.

The Suse gave me a 3/4 display with a crippled screen so I took a look at Kanotix and Slax and found each distro was using its own scanning frequencies and two set of video drivers in xorg.conf. I adopt the settings from Kanntix as it was the best and now have all screen working as perfect as I want.

So in conclusion one needs more user intervention to get a Linux in working order with a laptop and loading more than one distro some time has its own advantage.