Arch Linux

Thme

Member

From: Raleigh NC

Registered: 2012-01-22

Posts: 105

Toshiba A135 hangs at auto login prompt(install cd)

Unfortunately I've yet to get any linux distrobutions to boot on this Laptop. It's an old Toshiba a135 with 1.6Ghz celeron M and ati integrated gfx, 512mb ram. Now the Arch  install cd however gets to the root prompt but freezes completely there. No tty's avaliable. Nothing just this text and no prompt:

Arch Linux 3.6.8-1-ARCH (tty1)

archiso login: root (automatic login)

it doesn't seem to show any errors or failures at startup with systemd. Is there by chance an early debug shell accessable during startup configured in the installation media before reaching this point (booting to rescue.target froze as well)? I may be able to get more info if I can get a working shell.
As I have said I tested other boot disks to try and troubleshoot it(I'll list them below) and all of them froze earlier on. Arch seems to be the only thing getting close to functional so I ask this here for that reason.
other disks that failed:

parted-magic
linux mint 13, 14 and LMDE
archbang(december release)

This has already wasted a few of my blank cds/dvds and I have nothing to go off of... I'm riding blind
I'm stuck trying to debug this from grub but still freezes each time I try to get to a shell...

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"Hidden are the ways for those who pass by, for light is perished and darkness comes into being." Nephthys:
Ancient Egyptian Coffin Texts

lagagnon

Member

From: an Island in the Pacific...

Registered: 2009-12-10

Posts: 1,087

Website

Re: Toshiba A135 hangs at auto login prompt(install cd)

Freezing, especially with a number of different distros is more symptomatic of a hardware fault. I would suspect RAM or a faulty CDROM drive or faulty hard drive. Run "memtest" first from any Linux CD to see if you have RAM errors, then check your hard drive with Ultimate Boot CD.

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Philosophy is looking for a black cat in a dark room. Metaphysics is looking for a black cat in a dark room that isn't there. Religion is looking for a black cat in a dark room that isn't there and shouting "I found it!". Science is looking for a black cat in a dark room with a flashlight.

Thme

Member

From: Raleigh NC

Registered: 2012-01-22

Posts: 105

Re: Toshiba A135 hangs at auto login prompt(install cd)

Freezing, especially with a number of different distros is more symptomatic of a hardware fault. I would suspect RAM or a faulty CDROM drive or faulty hard drive. Run "memtest" first from any Linux CD to see if you have RAM errors, then check your hard drive with Ultimate Boot CD.

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I thought that too but I've booted a win xp install disk just fine and installed xp. Ran some memory tests for 3 hours with no errors... so cd rom and the ram seems fine. Nothing turned up wrong with the HDD either I pulled it and ran a few checks from my other netbook. Thats what bothers me about what's wrong with it. It may be some other hardware but there's not much I can pull to get to the source of the issue. I hoping maybe someone may have had experience with this in particular and diagnosed the problem correctly. I'd be fine juct knowing what's going wrong or what needs replacement.

Last edited by Thme (2012-12-17 17:51:43)

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"Hidden are the ways for those who pass by, for light is perished and darkness comes into being." Nephthys:
Ancient Egyptian Coffin Texts

Thme

Member

From: Raleigh NC

Registered: 2012-01-22

Posts: 105

Re: Toshiba A135 hangs at auto login prompt(install cd)

OK.. so here's where I believe the problem originates. Not entirely sure but it's very likely resposible for the linux installers that can't boot. It is a hardware issue but a very odd/uncommon one. The laptop supports ddr2 and has two slots but only one stick can be recognized whether in the 1st or 2nd slot... Here's how I came to this observation. At first I thought it was bad ram. Of which I as right partially. One stick out of two 512mb sticks was completely dead. but removing the bad one didn't fix the issue. Which leads me to suspect it's a controller malfunction. Here's what I did after popping in a good 1gb ddr2 to replace the 512mb bad one.
all of the following booted windows...

1st slot + 1gb
2nd slot + 512mb(good stick)... works... only 1gb recognized.

1st slot + 512mb
2nd slot + 1gb... works ... only 512mb recognized.

1st slot + 1gb
2nd slot empty... works...

1st slot empty
2nd slot + 1gb... works...

1st slot + 512mb
2nd slot empty... works...

1st slot empty
2nd slot + 512mb... works...

I'm a bit confused with this but, I'll mark this one solved after a little input over the next few days...
Also on the side of the arch linux disk I booted with "init=/bin/bash" and got shell but very little was usable and also led to lockups later on when trying to start some different processes(haven't tested this on the other boot disks I have but I doubt it will matter either way... "init=/bin/bash was about as close to functional as I could get. It's pretty much a dead end with my current knowledge... Any last thoughts I'd love to hear them.

Last edited by Thme (2012-12-25 01:35:30)

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"Hidden are the ways for those who pass by, for light is perished and darkness comes into being." Nephthys:
Ancient Egyptian Coffin Texts