LinuxMCE Forums

Hi all,

I've been wrestling with my first install of Linux MCE (have some prior Myth TV experience but thats about it).  I've come up against a problem and have no solution other than changing the motherboard, which I really would like to avoid.

I have the following hardware:-

Celeron 2.66
Asus Motherboard P5P800-MX (http://uk.asus.com/products.aspx?l1=3&l2=11&l3=145&l4=0&model=372&modelmenu=1)
Avermedia 771 TV capture card
512mb ram
Nvidia FX5200 PCI card
80gb IDE HDD


In the BIOS (Ami) of this board there is no option to disable the internal graphics card.  It does have a VGA priority option.  When I install using the internal "Intel Extreme Graphics 2" card as the priority I can install fine.  Everything seems to be working accept the level 2 and 3 UI - as I just get the open GL not found error.  I have read on here that its due to the Intel graphics driver not being found.  This is ok as I want to use my PCI nvdia FX5200 as the card of choice.

My problem is when I tell the bios to use the Nvdia card as the primary I cannot get past the initial Kubuntu spash screen.  It simply freezes after a minute or two.

If I install using the onboard graphics and then switch the bios to the external card it freezes on boot at the same Kubuntu splash screen.  It doesn't seem to lock the keyboard, just sits there doing nothing.

I have tried both DVD 0704 and 0710 beta.

Any ideas before I change the motherboard would be appreciated.

Nice one.

Bob

This sounds kind of like a problem I vaguely remember on those slightly older boards.  In the bios should be options for assigning IRQ to VGA and/or USB.  Make sure you ARE assigning an irq to the video adapter.

Since playing with the bios/video combination has an affect for you, I recommend flashing your bios to the latest release also.

Other than that... i'm not too sure.  I'm not even too sure about my previous suggestions, but only the second suggestion can hurt... so be cautious.

rob_cod, what version of LMCE are you using? What is the longest amount of time you waited to see if you could get past the splash screen. 0710 of Kubuntu caused the splash screen to display for over 5 mins before proceeeding for some people. There is a fix posted somewhere on this site if that is indeed your problem.

lon22

what peripheral are plugged into the machine? Anything USB? Mine would hang as well and then go into a prompt if I had any usb devices plugged in, including the mouse and keyboard.

Many thanks orionsune, lon22 and JimmyGosling for your thoughts.

I found the settings in the Bios for assigning a specific IRQ to the PCI card but they don't appear to have any effect.  I flashed the Bios to the latest version (nothing of note in the fix list) but that hasn't helped either.

I'm using the DVD auto install disk (ver 0710 beta) as I had problems with the Avermedia card not being picked up on version 0704.

I've tried leaving the splash screen to see if it was just being slow but after about 5 hours it was still stuck.  I can't seem to be able to drop to a console with any key combinations, although the caplocks lights etc still respond.

I don't have any usb equipment connected at the moment, but I did forget to mention that I have a standard 3com 10/100 network card in addition to the onboard one.

Revised hardware list at the moment:-

Celeron 2.66
Asus Motherboard P5P800-MX (http://uk.asus.com/products.aspx?l1=3&l2=11&l3=145&l4=0&model=372&modelmenu=1)
Avermedia 771 TV capture card
512mb ram
Nvidia FX5200 PCI card
80gb IDE HDD
DVD RW IDE
3com 10/100 network card


So my three pci slots are:-

1 - nvdia fx5200
2 - 3com network card
3 - Avermedia 771 tv capture card

No agp slot on this motherboard.

Keyboard and mouse standard Ps/2 connections.

I've tried flipping the battery out of the cmos to reset things but no luck there either. 

I've got another pc (this one) that I may demote to the role of Linux Mce but I'm so close with this one its got me hooked! 



Nice one,

Bob

:)

Sorry I can't help you any further.  But there is one thing I should point out, I would lean towards your video card.  The reason I say this, is most of the lmce users out here, most likely are using either an AGP or PCI-E card, and I really don't think much thought had every been put into PCI based video cards (don't take offense now) since they are considered very obsolete.

i'm really not sure though...

That card is a PCI-E card if my google is correct (http://www.nvidia.com/page/fx_5200.html). 

Since you say it simply sits at the splash screen I would have to say this is different than my situation as well.

LOL DUDE That is a PCI card. according to this http://uk.asus.com/products.aspx?l1=3&l2=11&l3=145&l4=0&model=372&modelmenu=1 (http://uk.asus.com/products.aspx?l1=3&l2=11&l3=145&l4=0&model=372&modelmenu=1) his motherboard he's using doesn't even have a  PCI-E slot dude.  So explain to me how he's got a PCI-E card working on a non-pci-e board.  In fact, did they even make socket 775 boards with PCI-E?

According to my searching, I only see there is an AGP, PCI, and PCI-E version of this card.
http://search.ebay.com/search/search.dll?sofocus=bs&sbrftog=1&dfsp=32&catref=C6&from=R10&_trksid=m37&satitle=nvidia+5200+pci&sacat=-1%26catref%3DC6&sargn=-1%26saslc%3D2&sadis=200&fpos=27520&sabfmts=1&saobfmts=insif&ftrt=1&ftrv=1&saprclo=&saprchi=&fsop=32&fsoo=2 (http://search.ebay.com/search/search.dll?sofocus=bs&sbrftog=1&dfsp=32&catref=C6&from=R10&_trksid=m37&satitle=nvidia+5200+pci&sacat=-1%26catref%3DC6&sargn=-1%26saslc%3D2&sadis=200&fpos=27520&sabfmts=1&saobfmts=insif&ftrt=1&ftrv=1&saprclo=&saprchi=&fsop=32&fsoo=2)


but logic dictates that is not what he's using.  He provided a link to his motherboard's model.  Did we miss the socket 775 part?

If you're right your right, I should not be so quick to comment  :)

I honestly think a new motherboard will solve you problem.  I'm not sure the developers spent a whole log of time debugging lmce to work with PCI video cards and obsolete chipsets... so it's not going to surprise me when problems like yours arise.

I don't see why that setup wouldn't work. 

Press [Esc] when booting to get to the grub menu and edit the "kernel" line, remove "quiet splash" from the end and boot.  You should be able to see what's going on now.

Many, many thanks for all your help it is sincerely appreciated.

I'll try removing the silent spash screen switch tonight and let you know what I find.

Nice one,

Rob.

:)

Quote from: Zaerc on March 08, 2008, 03:12:11 PM
I don't see why that setup wouldn't work. 

Press [Esc] when booting to get to the grub menu and edit the "kernel" line, remove "quiet splash" from the end and boot.  You should be able to see what's going on now.

hi there,

I have edited the quiet splash line and here are the results:-


Seems like its the same errors repeated again and again?

Any thoughts?

Nice one,

Bob

That screenshot tells me just about nothing.  I'd need to see where the errors start.

Another thing to try is to boot in "recovery mode" and starting X manually with "startx".

I suspect there are a couple of problems with that setup, not really specific to lmce, they could be fixed but in all honesty that will take a lot of effort.

creative though :)

Hello again,

I thank you for your honesty, I must admit I'm about ready to set fire to this Asus mainboard and put it out of its (and mine) considerable misery.  I initially bought this board as I was trying to be clever and create a small form MCE from Myth (mini ATX) to sit under my TV.  Probably one of my worst IT related decisions!

I tried the 'Recovery mode' but I just ended up with a near identical list of errors within 30 seconds.  So I'm ready to quit while I'm behind now.  I'm tempted to go into how long I've wasted my time on trying to get this hunk of junk working under linux but I'd only embarrass myself further!

So, my next option is to transplant my other PC into a Linux MCE install.

I have an Intel D875PBZ (http://www.intel.com/design/motherbd/bz/index.htm) which from what I google seemed to be usable under Kubuntu (with some reports of hyper threading issues).

Is there anyway I can confirm that this board will work? (its not listed on the wiki - http://wiki.linuxmce.org/index.php/Category:Mainboards)

My final option would be to buy a new motherboard that definitely works with LMCE, but then I'm forced into investing in a new CPU and new RAM - and if at that stage it still didn't work I can imagine I'd be more than a little upset, 'postal' might be a better phrase!

I've looked at the pre-built cores for sale such as the Fiire box and others but they seem awful expensive for what you get.

Finally should I document my struggles with the Asus board on the wiki so that other people can avoid?  or will other people fair better than a linux newbie?

Thanks again for your help.

Nice one,

Bob.

Bob, you're certainly not alone on this.  There seem to be more than a few incompatible mainboards out there unfortunately.  I think it would be helpful to others to post your findings in the wiki if that's allowed.  I think a lot of people search these forums too and will find this thread if not in the wiki.

I went through something of the same when I started.  Trying to recycle some old or cheap hardware for this project.  And for a while I also considered the Fiire products.  Reviews are less than stellar for them however.  I finally resolved to build a fresh core and md with all new hardware.  All said and done I was probably around $1k(US).  For some that might seem steep up front, but for me, getting past frustrations like these were well worth the investment.  (not to mention of course the great system I can now use).

So I would say not to lose hope on this.  Try out the other PC you were talking about, but also consider building your own as well (save yourself a heart attack).

Also don't beat yourself up as a linux noob.  We were all asking questions at some time.  And personally I get a good feeling answering those "dumb" questions that fly low enough for me to answer.

I must say i have similar issues with hanging screens...mouse/Keyboard didnt respond after using Kubuntu for a while. Now using PS2 for mouse and keyboard and it seems to go fine now. Also enabled PS/2 support in Bios.

Continueing on this type of Mainboard, i have myself a Asus P5P800, sofar so good Kubuntu 7.04 works, but there is a but....

The situation is that the Nic and Sound are integrated, further im using a MSI Geforce 6800/128Mb
- Sound works
- Nic doesnt work....

No matter what i try, disable onboard nic and insert a 3com nic or disable onboard sound and using an old SB Live! 5.1. Even disable both onboard..makes no sense..Nic refuse to work aslong there is a soundboard working

I found out when i disable my Sound the Nic start to work..so an IRQ issue. No sound on a MD is like a car without wheels!
Then in the Bios I disabled some unneccessary things to free up IRQ's...Parallel port, Floppydisk, SerialPort 2. Dont know if there is a better option? Still the Eth0 gets paired always with some other device on a particular IRQ, something i dont want...

-- Not yet tried to disable all USB as i dont use any on this MD device *yet*. Maybe i should just give up and buy a 45 dollar working Mobo, but its a challenge to get things working though... it might even work, as the Eth0 is paired now with USB devices.

So...to be continued.. ;)

Is the onboard 'Intel Extreme2' video card installed ok for you or do you get the 'open gl' error when choosing UI2?

Or perhaps you have an external card working?   I'd be interested to read your complete setup.

Nice one,

Rob.