New arch user, very impressed BUT.... (sorry for long post)

Jefg60 · 2006-01-07 01:24:57

Hi all. Lovely forum you have here, and WOW how great is arch linux? (the but comes later)

A brief introduction:
I am a qualified MCP (Microsoft certified professional) and have about 10 years experience using / installing / configuring windows. Theres not a lot I cant do with windows. Have been messing with linux for about 3 years, but it wasnt until I found fedora core 4 in 2005 that I started using it all the time instead of windows on my main PC. Prior to that I had tried SUSE (too graphical and limiting), Ubuntu (I just didnt like the whole debian style thing) and Mandrake 9.2 (endless problems on my PC). I found arch because I had started to realise that despite fedora being a good fit for my skills, it wasnt any faster / more stable than windows really (bear in mind I'm MS certified and I am from the camp that believes windows CAN be a reliable OS IF you know what you're doing, which is how I see linux too).

Please dont flame me for going on about windows, its just that I get tired of the windows bashing that goes on on linux forums! (and yes I DO know of its limitations technically, but I also know how to get around them )

Anyway, I digress.

After finding arch on distrowatch, I downloaded wombat about a month ago. I had major issues getting it to update what with the kernel / initrd stuff, and much tearing out of hair ensued. Thats not a problem any more though, lots of reading and trying to understand linux properly (one of the reasons I installed arch ) got me there in the end.

SO after getting arch set up how I like it, and marvelling at its speed on my p4 3.0 with 1gb ram (its noticeably faster, just what i wanted after fedora!) I decided it would be perfect for that old pentium 3 450mhz with 64mb ram i had lying about, to use as a small server (if you count 240gb as small).

While installing the server I noticed the latest kernel I was installing due to the update was 2.6.15-2 and thought hey ill give that a go on my PC. The server works great despite its crappy spec and I love it! What could go wrong I thought?

Well, since i updated my PCs kernel from 2.6.14 to 2.6.15-2, it hangs on bootup while detecting USB devices. Something to do with EHCI, which I believe means its the controller it doesnt like. I have tried unplugging nearly everything USB and it makes no difference.

So far I have tried reinstalling the wombat kernel and putting all the initrd / udev stuff back, but the usb mouse and keyboard dont work anymore. Every time I update it using pacman (with a ps2 keyboard) i go back to square 1!

I am sure this can be sorted out, I damn well hope so because I was loving arch up until this point! I'm writing this from a knoppix live cd which is being used to back up my pc to the arch server - the server is running great on 2.6.15-2 lol.

So, what can I do? I cant work out a way to install my old kernel - last time I tried it from the pacman cache in /var/cache/pacman/pkg I got the same error as I did with the new kernel :!:

rayjgu3 · 2006-01-07 02:57:34

yes with knowldge windows aint all that bad but linux is more fun

as far as "ehci_hcd" i believe is what your talkin bout which is the module/driver for usb
you could black list it

/etc/hotplug/blacklist

but i would recommend grabbing kernel26.2.6.14 drop it in a directory then run

pacman -R kernel26

pacman -U /dir/kernel26.2.6.14.pkg/tra/zg

i know i miss spelled above but i think you get the idea
dont go all the way back to wombat stuff thats ancient
you could go to http://www.archlinux.org/download.php
grab a more current .iso but unnecessary since you got it installed
already just gotta fix what you got
its a good idea to keep a working kernel stored somewhere before upgrading it so if you need to boot off cd then reinstall previous working kernel til the next kernel comes out then try it

tpowa · 2006-01-07 07:06:15

try "load_modules=off init s" option on boot
go to rc.conf
add ehci_hcd to MOD_BLACKLIST=()
reboot and all should be fine.
to get usb2 working you could try to load the modules in an other order,
hwdetect loads ehci first then uhci,ohci, try loading them manually to see what fits best for you.

Jefg60 · 2006-01-07 09:39:11

thanks ill give that a try. how does one uninstall/install a kernel using pacman? boot from the cd? infact how do i run pacman from the 0.7 base cd?

FUBAR · 2006-01-07 10:23:25

I suppose you could remove the kernel while the system is running: it's loaded into memory so the system will keep running until you reboot.
You could run just the "pacman -U <newkernel>.pkg.tar.gz" command too: it upgrades (and replaces) the kernel.

You can run pacman from the install CD (run
"find / -name 'pacman'" to find out where it's at). It's easier to chroot into your existing Arch install and then run pacman: that way you'll have access to your pacman db and such:

mount /dev/<your_arch_root_partition> /mnt
chroot /mnt /bin/bash
pacman -U <kernelpkg>
reboot

Something like that.

rayjgu3 · 2006-01-07 12:10:35

aahhh i see after running pacman -Syu we no longer use hotplug so my previous post is wrong
bout /etc/hotplug/blacklist
i also see kernel2.6.14 is no longer on ftp sites

try pacman --help
or
man pacman
it will give you a nice tutorial for PACkage MANagement

Jefg60 · 2006-01-07 16:34:00

hmmm this isnt going well at all.

adding ehci_hcd to the MOD_BLACKLIST cures the start up problem. but my mouse still doesnt work.

ive ended up biting the bullet and reformatting, because there was a problem with an odd partitioning scheme also not helping - I had an extended partition sda2 on the disk after sda3.

after reformatting about 20 times :!: trying various methods. I got my system to run by doing a 0.7 install from cd, updating everything bar the kernel, and installing 2.6.14 kernel from my backup server which had my pacman cache on it. That worked, but still no mouse! lshwd hangs on startup, presumably because the version of that is also a problem on my system. I was using hwd to detect my mouse. Of course i was able to remove the MOD_BLACKLIST option from rc.conf but hwd still hangs with the 2.6.14 kernel.

I've spent a week trying to get my system running again after the upgrade to 2.6.15 went awry. Its soured my arch experience to be honest. I really loved arch, everything was working well, I liked the arch way, and all was good until this upgrade, and now it seems there isnt a way for me to install arch successfully on my system.

the only thing I havent tried is the 0.71 ISO, but after doing numerous FTP installs, and various combinations of the 0.7 CD install and upgrading selectively, I dont hold out much hope for it!

I'm still going to run arch on my server, but I think its time for me to find another desktop OS. is there another that's as fast and simple as arch? My only problem with arch is that the current versions of things dont like my system!

I'll keep an eye on arch and try it again when theres another update.

Jefg60 · 2006-01-07 17:18:24

errr im struggling to find any distro that sounds as good as arch
any ideas how i can make arch work again?

theres always a way, right?

perhaps I can modprobe something for my usb mouse? im not changing my mouse, its the best thing about my pc :twisted:

Lone_Wolf · 2006-01-08 00:38:21

Try posting this is in the hardware section, along with info about your Motherboard and chipset

Cotton · 2006-01-08 00:48:26

Once you've got an older kernel to boot, you could always install the archck kernel from AUR (then modify /boot/grub/menu.lst, or its lilo equivalent accordingly). Assuming that boots successfully (since its 2.6.14 based), you'll have an alternative boot method while you are experimenting with more recent kernels.

errr im struggling to find any distro that sounds as good as arch

You won't.

iphitus · 2006-01-08 05:52:34

For mouse support ensure the uhci-hcd ohci-hcd and usbhid modules are loaded.

The ohci-hcd and uhci-hcd provide support for the various usb1.x controllers out there. usbhid is for usb human interface devices, which is a fancy way of saying keyboards and mice

iphitus

Jefg60 · 2006-01-08 14:28:38

whoohoo! I am happy again!

just reinstalled arch using the 0.7 cd with an ftp install (0.71 cd I downloaded this morning hangs on boot up!) and blacklisted echi_hcd. added the uhci-hcd ohci-hcd and usbhid modules to rc.conf and my mouse works. using 2.6.15-2 kernel as well!

I don't know what I was worrying about, it all seemed so complicated a couple of days ago, this morning I just started again from scratch and with the helpful advice in this thread was able to do it all first time (that and the experience I've gained from numerous reinstalls)

The only annoying thing is, I could have probably got it all working without reinstalling if I knew what I was doing.. reminds me a lot of the days when I didnt know what i was doing with windows and reinstalled it a lot because I just didnt know how to fix it :oops: Hey at least i've got a sensible partitioning scheme too.

Many thanks all!

rayjgu3 · 2006-01-08 16:35:23

yeah you probably could have fixed it without reinstall but take it as a learning lesson
ive reinstalled it several times when i first started hell i just did a clean install as a refresher &
work a few bugs out like sound & X lockups even with the clean install the latest pacman -Syu has left me without sound again see
http://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?t=17755
ive been fighting it for a day and a half im bout to scrap it for a clean ftp install im so
frustrated either that or go buy a new soundblaster live card
thinking bout it i am gonna get me a new soundcard a few bucks vs a battle every few weeks
for sound

Arch Linux

#1 2006-01-07 01:24:57

New arch user, very impressed BUT.... (sorry for long post)

#2 2006-01-07 02:57:34

Re: New arch user, very impressed BUT.... (sorry for long post)

#3 2006-01-07 07:06:15

Re: New arch user, very impressed BUT.... (sorry for long post)

#4 2006-01-07 09:39:11

Re: New arch user, very impressed BUT.... (sorry for long post)

#5 2006-01-07 10:23:25

Re: New arch user, very impressed BUT.... (sorry for long post)

#6 2006-01-07 12:10:35

Re: New arch user, very impressed BUT.... (sorry for long post)

#7 2006-01-07 16:34:00

Re: New arch user, very impressed BUT.... (sorry for long post)

#8 2006-01-07 17:18:24

Re: New arch user, very impressed BUT.... (sorry for long post)

#9 2006-01-08 00:38:21

Re: New arch user, very impressed BUT.... (sorry for long post)

#10 2006-01-08 00:48:26

Re: New arch user, very impressed BUT.... (sorry for long post)

#11 2006-01-08 05:52:34

Re: New arch user, very impressed BUT.... (sorry for long post)

#12 2006-01-08 14:28:38

Re: New arch user, very impressed BUT.... (sorry for long post)

#13 2006-01-08 16:35:23

Re: New arch user, very impressed BUT.... (sorry for long post)

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