ASUS P5N7A-VM - Install Issues BusyBox Prompt

[tjwib29]

Let me first start by saying that I new to the Linux world, but very excited to get this stuff working.  I am a windows guy for now and pretty competent in that arena.  I grew up using Xenix, Unix and Aix, but it has been about 10 years.

So I am on my second attempt at getting a machine to load correctly.  I have an Asus P5N7A-VM, Core 2 Quad 2.5, 2x2GB Corsair, LG Blu Ray Drive, and a Samsung 1TB HD.  I started out getting errors about the fd0, but I disabled the floppy in the BIOS and that went away.  Now when I boot off the i386 710 DVD download and select Install Linux MCE, I see the splash screen and then the BusyBox message with (initramfs) prompt.  I have tried disabled and reconfiging the BIOS with no luck.  Now I am back to defaults in the BIOS with the floppy change.  Can anyone help me PLEEEEASE!!  And please keep in mind I might not know all the obvious stuff yet.

Thanks

TJ

[tkmedia]

Are you sure the dvd is good did you run mdsum against it  did you use torrent to download




HTH

Tim

[nite_man]

Not sure but maybe the problem is related with blu-ray drive. Try to use some IDE or USB DVD drive and see if it'll be ok.

[tkmedia]

No need for a Blu-Ray Drive in linuxmce box right now any way.





Tim

[stampeder]

tjwib:

Problem is RAM. This goes back to Kubuntu and Ubuntu. Very funny about ram. Note your message says 'initramfs'. It's not liking the ram you have when its trying to start setting things up for the Live Kubuntu to start up.
As I said before Linux is very funny about the quality of ram. Windows on the other hand will use just about any junk out there. In fact Windows actually gets blamed for a lot of problems that are really just bad ram.
Note that even though your ram test will show your ram as good, this is not a good indicator of GOOD linux ram.
Sucks I know. I had the same problem and after much searching this was the fix. I'm very, very cautious about the type of ram I buy now when I want to run Linux.
This is probably why we see such better up times with Linux than with Windows.

Get yourself some new ram (Linux recommended and advertized as linux approved) and I think you'll find your DVD is good.

Best of Luck.
Glenn.

[King]

What you need to do is go into the bios and change SATA mode select under Storage Configuration to AHCI mode. Then when the installer comes up, before hitting 1 to start installation, hit F6 and type "all_generic_ide" (without quotes). That should do it. Now if you can get HDMI sound to work let me know.

[garg_art2002]

What you need to do is go into the bios and change SATA mode select under Storage Configuration to AHCI mode. Then when the installer comes up, before hitting 1 to start installation, hit F6 and type "all_generic_ide" (without quotes). That should do it. Now if you can get HDMI sound to work let me know.

Hi there
I am using ASUS M3N78 board and was getting the same error initramfs prompt. since I am not using any sata drive, I have left the sata operations to IDE on the bios and did the F6 all_generic_ide

And it appears to have worked.

[thibaudeaua]

I have the same MB and this has been very helpful.  My current problem after the initial reboot my screen just toggles between resolutions.  I reboot again and end up at the Launch Manager which then begins to download some updates.  It then freezes and I can hear a woman saying something about "If you can see and hear me...." over and over again.

[colinjones]

tjwib:

Problem is RAM. This goes back to Kubuntu and Ubuntu. Very funny about ram. Note your message says 'initramfs'. It's not liking the ram you have when its trying to start setting things up for the Live Kubuntu to start up.
As I said before Linux is very funny about the quality of ram. Windows on the other hand will use just about any junk out there. In fact Windows actually gets blamed for a lot of problems that are really just bad ram.
Note that even though your ram test will show your ram as good, this is not a good indicator of GOOD linux ram.
Sucks I know. I had the same problem and after much searching this was the fix. I'm very, very cautious about the type of ram I buy now when I want to run Linux.
This is probably why we see such better up times with Linux than with Windows.

Get yourself some new ram (Linux recommended and advertized as linux approved) and I think you'll find your DVD is good.

Best of Luck.
Glenn.

Where on earth did you get this idea?! RAM is hardware, and either it works or it doesn't work, the OS is irrelevant. RAM maybe incompatible with a motherboard or chipset, or simply too slow, but if it works and your RAM test confirms it is working, then that IS a good test. It will work with Linux just as it will with Windows or any other OS. Memory is abstracted as far as the OS is concerned, it doesn't actually talk to, or read/change the memory subsystem at all, that's the BIOS's job and only during start up. If the BIOS fails to determine the RAM's parameters accurately or cannot set the memory subsystem's parameters based on them, then the RAM test will fail and the PC will not even attempt to boot any OS (again, irrespective of which OS, it simply doesn't get that far!)

If, however, you have faulty RAM with a memory cell damaged, then it is highly dependant on where that cell is, and whether/what the OS attempts to use it for as to whether it will eventuate in stability issues. These faults sometimes do not show up on memory tests unless they are run very extensively over a period of time. Either heating, or the particular failure data pattern can influence this. In some cases it is entirely conceivable that Windows under normal use never/rarely ends up useing that cell whereas Linux happens to place a critical data structure or piece of code in that spot quiet frequently. But this is hardly an indication that either OS is more or less tollerant of memory types... it is just an indication that you have faulty memory!

[thibaudeaua]

Is there anyone out there who can help with my issue before I try the CD installation instead of the DVD install?

[nite_man]

Is there anyone out there who can help with my issue before I try the CD installation instead of the DVD install?

Have you install nVidia drivers? You should boot in rescue mode, download the latest nVidia drivers and install them. After that AVWizard runs correctly.

[thibaudeaua]

I didn't since I read that it works out of the box.  I will try that now.  Thanks for the help.

[Elf]

I have an Asus P5N7A-VM

I have the Asus P5N7A-VM mobo and was able to install LinuxMCE and go through the A/V Wizard.  I am still learning/configuring, but the two things I had to do were to change the BIOS SATA to ACHI (using the all_generic_ide to boot) and install the latest nVidia drivers.  I am also using a second NIC (Intel) to connect to the internet, and have not setup my internal network (need to fix the Realtek NIC).  So far I have been able to setup a hybrid core/md and rip a DVD (linux friendly format) to my core.  Right now I am connected to a 720 TV via HDMI (with no audio).  I am not a linux guru, but  I get around reading and trying.  Here is where I am going to be documenting what I am doing and my results: http://wiki.linuxmce.org/index.php/User:Elf

[thibaudeaua]

Has anyone gotten HDMI Audio working yet?  I followed this thread: http://ubuntu-ky.ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?p=6714092, but I don't see the HDMI device when I when I do 'aplay -l'.  I only see the analog and spdif devices.  I think this is my main hurdle.  Any thoughts?

[nite_man]

I spent a lot of time to configure audio over HDMI but without success. As I understand it isn't possible with 0710. I upgrade the kernel up to 2.6.27.2 and ALSA up to 1.0.19 but the card wasn't recognized as HD Audio. As result there wasn't HDMI device in the aplay -L output (but it existed in the aplay -l output).

I also tried to configure audio over HDMI under Kubuntu 8.10 with ALSA 1.0.19. The card was recognized correctly, HDMI device existed in the both aplay -L and -l but still no audio. I started an article in the wiki. So, feel free to add your experience here.