Arch Linux

blakeyed

Member

Registered: 2013-03-28

Posts: 6

Booting the kernel freezes

Hello,

I'm trying to install Arch Linux on an old computer (AMD Athlon 900MHz) but the system freezes at boot. All I can see on screen is:

------------
Loading boot/i686/vmlinuz.......
Loading boot/i686/archiso.img.....................................ready

Probing EDD (edd=off to disable)... ok

Decompressing Linux... Parsing ELF... done.
Booting the kernel
------------

and then freezes. I've tried adding "nomodeset noacpi noapic nolapic acpi=off loglevel=7 debug" with no success and no debug information.

This computer is running a Linux 2.6.32 kernel right now and I wanted to update it.

Any ideas?

Thanks in advance

teckk

Member

Registered: 2013-02-21

Posts: 525

Re: Booting the kernel freezes

Kinda lacking in any detail.

The machine already has Arch on it? Are you trying to boot from the install DVD?
If it's Arch with kernel 2.6.32, easier to re-install.

https://wiki.archlinux.org/
https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Installation_Guide
https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Beginners%27_Guide

blakeyed

Member

Registered: 2013-03-28

Posts: 6

Re: Booting the kernel freezes

Hi,

How can I give you more details?

Thanks

blakeyed

Member

Registered: 2013-03-28

Posts: 6

Re: Booting the kernel freezes

I've tried some other distros with no luck I think it's caused by kernel 3, is there any option I can test, or legacy option or anything. I don't know what to do

Thanks

s1ln7m4s7r

Member

Registered: 2013-02-22

Posts: 262

Re: Booting the kernel freezes

You can try "linux-lts" from repositories

Long term support (LTS) Linux kernel and modules from the [core] repository

But it's more likely that it isn't the kernel itself, but its setup files. If after installing "lts" your problems remain. You can post your mkinitcpio.conf MODULES and HOOKS, FSTAB file and bootloader entry.

blakeyed

Member

Registered: 2013-03-28

Posts: 6

Re: Booting the kernel freezes

Thanks s1ln7m4s7r,

But the problem is I can't boot with the installation CD. I'm thinking about some kernel options, and I'm trying another distros with the same results. It freezes just when it says: "Booting the kernel"

blakeyed

Member

Registered: 2013-03-28

Posts: 6

Re: Booting the kernel freezes

I've got new messages, I've tried adding earlyprintk=vga to the kernel, and I got a panic with the message "Kernel panic - not syncing: Cannot allocate trampoline"

Any ideas?

Thanks

s1ln7m4s7r

Member

Registered: 2013-02-22

Posts: 262

Re: Booting the kernel freezes

Can you post the full specs of the PC? It may give someone a hint on what may be happening. (It may be hardware related)

blakeyed

Member

Registered: 2013-03-28

Posts: 6

Re: Booting the kernel freezes

AMD Athlon 900MHz
384Mb RAM
Nvidia GeForce 2
VIA  VT82 motherboard
20Gb IDE HDD

Maybe the ramdisk is too big? Should I try net install or anything like that?

Thanks

s1ln7m4s7r

Member

Registered: 2013-02-22

Posts: 262

Re: Booting the kernel freezes

Should I try net install or anything like that?

Are you using latest install iso?

If so, it is already net install, it only allows you to install if you have an internet connection and will install all packages from arch servers.

The specs are more than the minimum requirements, at lest for what i've been reading arrond. The only problem i see is the PATA hdd, because latest arch kernel's don't support it anymore, there is a workarround for it at least

pcie_aspm=force

The other thing i don't know is if your VIA chipset is still supported in new kernels!

Last edited by s1ln7m4s7r (2013-03-29 16:58:10)