smithy

Hey, ive tried to install PCLOS tonight and when i boot it up it just boots as it would normally (grub opens so i can choose between ubuntu and XP-HE). Ive tried to burn it as a "Bootable Disk" and just a "Data Disk" using Nero.
All help would be great, Thanks in advance :D

Bartender

My first guess is that you've failed to instruct your BIOS to try booting from the optical drive first, instead of the hard drive.

smithy

Done that, still doesn't work, thanks though

Bartender

If you're getting to a GRUB menu that means your PC flew right past the optical drive. Did you at least hear it spin up for a second and/or see the light flash?

I have a home-brew PC running all good quality parts. It would sample a Ubuntu CD then move on to the hard drive. That was Breezy. Then with Dapper it would almost load. Now, with Feisty, it'll give me a desktop if I type "irqpoll" as a boot option. Sheesh

If the PC isn't even looking at the optical drive your BIOS wasn't changed. If it is looking at the CD but moving on I'd suggest burning at a lower speed. Or maybe you copied the data instead of making a bootable CD? Explore the CD in Windows. If it sees one big file you didn't burn it correctly. Windows Explorer should see several folders and a handful of files.

smithy

Well when i explore the disk in Windows i get 2 folders and 1 big file. They are:

• boot
• isolinux
• livecd.sfqs

I downloaded it from the PCLinuxOS site so i expected that it was the right files needed.
EDIT: When i start the computer up the light flashes on the disk drive and sounds as if it spins but not very fast.
Thanks.

Bartender

smithy -
We'd have to have someone else verify but it sounds like you correctly converted the .iso to a bootable disc. Otherwise Windows Explorer would report one big folder.

OK, has this optical drive worked fine in the past? It's not fussy about the discs you toss in?

Did you use good quality media? I always buy Verbatim or Memorex or some other name brand. Have read lots of posts with problems that were caused by using cheal generic discs.

What speed did you burn the CD? If you just let your burning software rip, try again at 2X to 4X. My P4 3GHz burns reliably at 8X. I can't set the NTI software that came with the Sony DVD any lower so it's a good thing!

carsey

What smithy did was go into Nero Burning ROM and try both CDROM (boot) and CDROM (UDF/ISO)

Both of these seem to have failed.

Actually, the download off PCLOS seems to be already a .iso so converting it to a ISO should not affect anything, whether is was burned as a bootable CD or a data disc.

justo

Ok. You need to download the ISO but I guess you have that on the desktop.As you have copied the ISO on a CD then you are close to victory.When you got the list of choices up on NERO to copy then you need to look to the right rather than choose copy data. With no CD in the tray you can get NERO up and practice looking for the BURN icon. .It shows a lit match when you find it.You click there and must search for your ISO.The search block comes up but you may not find the ISO on the desktop list.Below is a window to choose file types.Scroll it around until you see it has ISO included.Then your ISO shows.Do it with a blank CD after that.Cut the speed to 16 X when you see the speed rated on a window.Also you can check varify so it reads the written CD after it is burned. The key to it all is BURN an ISO ,Not copy it. >> LOOKIE> http://www.wizardskeep.org/mainhall/tutor/neroiso.html

Bartender

Hi, carsey -
Sure does help to have someone look over a shoulder. I'd missed what the OP wrote in his first post. D'oh!
smithy, tell you what - toss that CD in someone else's PC. Check their BIOS so that it'll boot from the optical. What happens?
If exactly the same as yours we can assume the burn or the download was bad.

justo

Try booting on your XP disk.

smithy

Bartender, When i try one of the 2 disks that i made in my laptop it didnt even read the disk, just normally booted into windows. I will try the other solutions posted tommorrow because its getting late now, Thanks.

justo

Here is from his first post >> Ive tried to burn it as a "Bootable Disk" and just a "Data Disk" using Nero.
All help would be great, Thanks in advance :D <><<<<<<<<<<< I think he is not aware of what burning an ISO consist of. As for checking to see if his bios is set to boot on CD all he has to do is put his Windows CD in and turn on the switch.

carsey

Well, if you dont make the disc as a ISO or a bootable disc, then how is the computer going to realise that there is a program that needs to be loaded off the disc. Better still, how are you going to get the Linux file onto the disc if you cant burn it to a disc???

Where did we get a windows CD from here??? This is about installing PCLOS not windows.

justo

The Windows CD. We all know it can boot up IF the BIOS is set to boot from CD . The sure way to know if the BIOS is set to boot from CD is to stick the Windows CD in and see if it boots.If it does.One problem is solved. Then go to the next.A Burned ISO on a CD has a boot loader built in.You need not attempt to add one on yourself.So the next question is how to BURN the ISO. Not copy,Not add boot up features ,Just burn the ISO. Assuming you have a (FULL) ISO. You can click to see how many mbytes the ISO contains.

smithy

Well i used MagicISO to burn and it booted fully until i get the options window and i clicked the LiveCD(?) button and it does all the stuff but then it says something about "aufs.ko" missing. Anyone else had this problem?

justo

You need to do one again to know how to do an ISO burn.This is Damn Small Linux. About 50 MBYTES . Look from the top down to find the first one that reads >> current ISO << Click it and save to desktop. http://distro.ibiblio.org/pub/linux/...small/current/ In a short time it will finish the download. Then use NERO to burn the ISO. Look for BURN ISO .If you do that you will have a Linux that boots up and goes on to desktop. Then you will know how to make a CD of your favorite Linux. I do this about two or three times a week. A bad signal will cause a bad ISO sometimes.----------------- Look at this.You see the pictures.Scroll down to the one where you see the burning match? This is how you burn the ISO on NERO.Click the burning match icon. http://www.pclinuxonline.com/wiki/BurningNero

Bartender

smithy -
I apologize for my poor communications ability. I've read and written about burning bootable Linux CD's a hundred times and still don't have the correct terminology down. I don't really know what an .iso is, or the correct description for the process of turning the downloaded .iso file into a bootable disc. All I know is that if you copy the .iso data directly to a CD it won't work (done that). And I know that if you use your burning software properly, it changes the .iso data to make a bootable disc that will - or should as long as everything worked correctly - boot your PC.

If the download was perfect.
If the bootable disc you made is perfect. Not one bit of data out of place.
If the optical drive is working perfectly, and is not particularly fussy about the quality of the disc. Some are.

If if if.

So, you're making progress. You got yourself a program that's designed to correctly convert .iso's. Good job. The fact that the resulting disc came up with errors tells us that either the download is bad, or the CD was not burned correctly.

Did you run the download thru an md5 check utility and compare it to the md5 at the download website? That's the best way to see if the download is OK. If it is you can try burning again with the same download. If it's not you gotta start over.

justo and I have both asked what speed you burned at and I haven't seen an answer. We need that because burn speed is a very common issue.

smithy

Im burning at 4x because thats the max speed this CD-RW disk will allow(im using a CD-RW until i get it working and then il use a normal CD-R as a permenant copy.) Im downloading the version that justo posted and its officially going slow! at a record speed of 24kb/s, whats the point of 8mb connections

justo

Bartender,You can do this real easy.It is not geekwork.You have K3B on a Linux . Get the Damn Small Linux ISO I showed him up there.Even on dialup it will download OK.It is only 54 MBYTES. When it is all downloaded you get a notice.The SINGLE ISO will be on the desktop then and ready.Put a blank CD in and turn on K3B.Look up to TOOLS.Mid top of K3B ,Click TOOLS.Look for BURN CD.Click that and browse desktop for the ISO so you can direct K3B to burn it. You can cut speed to 16 X.(Or it does on its own anyway)But click the VARIFY box.This checks the disk after the burn to see if the ISO was all there..After you have done one or two it becomes very easy to do.<> OH YES<> If you wait until night when you are through with the PC.Then set it on an ISO download you can just let it be doing the long download while you sleep.Check it the next morning.The download card will say completed.Or the progress bar will not be all the way across> Incomplete <

justo

I am on XP now.Click the ISO,See properties ,Click it. you get this card (if it shows) It lets you know how many mbytes you got in the ISO. PC Linux needs 689.So,The whole ISO made it in because it is showing 689 on the properties read out. >> http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v4...nt=ISOREAD.png