ubuntu Installation Frustration

[jjm]

Every time I try to install ubuntu (from a disk I bought from ubuntu), I get this error:

4294670.756000 Kernel panic - not syncing: No init found. Try passing init= option to kernel.

And then the system just hangs in that spot.

The Live CD works just fine, but the installation CD always fails at this spot. I have tried two different installation CDs.

Any suggestions?

 

[SleepWalkerX]

Weird, is this Ubuntu 5.10 or are you experimenting with a version of dapper drake?

 

[jjm]

ubuntu 5.10

 

[jjm]

I get the same problem when I try to install kubuntu too.

 

[P0ldy]

Did you check the hashes? That's pretty unusual for a Ubuntu installation. You aren't compiling the kernel.

 

[cleverhandle]

Are you entering anything special at the first boot screen, or just pressing enter?

 

[jjm]

Just pressing enter. I have no idea how to compile a kernel. Mostly new components with nothing on the HD either. HD is only 20 GB.

 

[cleverhandle]

What do the 5 or 10 lines before the panic say?

 

[Cerb]

Have you tried DLing the CD again, and making another one?

 

[jjm]

I have several CDs that I bought by mail from the ubuntu site. And I have some that I burned at a very slow speed. The kubuntu is burned too.

Here are the last several lines:

incomplete distance tree
invalid compressed format (err=1)
VFS: Mounted root (ext filesystem).
Freeing unused kernel memory: 224k freed
Kernel panic - not syncing: No init found. Try passing init= option to kernel.

 

[Doh!]

Did the MD5 turn out ok for the cd?

 

[jjm]

The checksum was fine on each CD that I burned from an iso. But I am having the same problems from the CDs I bought commercially, so I don't think it's a CD problem.

 

[SleepWalkerX]

What type of motherboard is it?

 

[jjm]

Board is ECS nFORCE3-A with Sempron 3100. As I said before, the Live CD version of ubuntu works fine. The freeze happens when I try to use the install CD.

 

[jjm]

Well, I installed a brand new Maxtor HD, and I still have the exact same problem. I'm stumped. I guess Linux just isn't meant for me!

 

[Nothinman]

So it boots from the CD and installs, but the newly installed system won't boot?

 

[jjm]

ubuntu comes with 2 CDs. There is a Live CD that installs nothing on the PC. I am able to run that fine. It recognizes all my hardware and sends me into a "temporary" Linux session.

The second CD is designed for installation of ubuntu on to the HD. Every time I run any version of that CD, I get the kernel panic error. Linux never makes it to the installation. It was a long shot, but I thought the errors might have something to do with the HD. But even with a new HD, I get the exact same error.

Anyone have some more advice?

 

[daniel49]

are you using the same cd rom player for all attempts ? live , commercial install, and self burned?
I had some wierd issues on install a while back turned out the cdrom player was having problems with the cdr medium.
could read them but was getting a lot of errors in the process.
long shot ,but thought I would ask?
Once I changed out cdrom player my medium worked fine.

 

[jjm]

There is a chance it might be the CD drive, but I did try two different ones. And I have tried it with the CD drive on the same cable as the HD (CD drive set as slave) and with the CD drive on the secondary IDE (set as primary).

I just tried a different cable for the CD drive. Same problem.

Here is what's on the screen in full:

RAM disk driver initialized: 16 RAM disks of 16384K size 1024 blocksize
EISA: Probing bus 0 at eisa.0
Cannot allocate resource for EISA slot 4
EISA: Detected 0 cards.
Net: Registered protocol family 2
IP: routing cache hash table of 4096 buckets, 32Kbytes
TCP established hash table entries: 32768 (order: 5, 131072 bytes)
TCP: Hash tables configured (established 32768 bind 32768)
NET: Registered protocol family 8
NET: Registered protocol family 20
ACPI wakeup devices:
SLPB HUB0 HUB1 USB0 USB1 USB2 F139 MMAC MMCI VAR1
ACPI: (supports S0 S3 S4 S5)
RAMDISK: compressed image found at block 0
input: AT Translated Set 2 keyboard on isa0060/serio0
incomplete distance tree
invalid compressed format (err=1)
VFS: Mounted root (ext filesystem).
Freeing unused kernel memory: 224k freed
Kernel panic - not syncing: No init found. Try passing init= option to kernel.

I just tried a different CD drive again and got stuck again at the same place. But running a Live CD session is not a problem.

Is there some way to install from the Live CD session?

 

[cleverhandle]

Originally posted by: jjm
RAMDISK: compressed image found at block 0
input: AT Translated Set 2 keyboard on isa0060/serio0
incomplete distance tree
invalid compressed format (err=1)

Weird. It's finding the ramdisk image on the disc - so it's reading something off the CD. But it's not able to read the image properly. Sounds like some kind of problem with the drive cable or configuration, but it also sounds like you've already tried some different variations there. Strange. All I can say is to double-check the IDE configuration and jumpers. Maybe try another distro. Wish I could be more helpful.

 

[jjm]

Thanks. Any suggestions for other distros to try next?

 

[daniel49]

Originally posted by: jjm
Thanks. Any suggestions for other distros to try next?

I rreally like PC linux os...its got a lot of simplicity built into it if your new to linux .
there is an iso for nividia cards and iso for ati cards and a generic iso....take your pick according to your graphics needs.
Players, and plugins, and java work out of the box.
dvd capability is a one download away with synaptec (you need libdvdcss2)