Accidental Hard Shutoff During Install-- Now "Error Loading OS"

orangetrousers4669 · 2012-05-13 22:50:57

So apparently computers use some type of sorcery called electricity and if they don't have enough they shutdown unexpectedly... haha.

On a more serious note I was just attempting to install Arch on an ancient Dell pp07l. As I was selecting packages, my comp unexpectedly turned off-- I absent mindedly did not think to plug it in during the install. (Stupid I know but what can I say a man gets excited when he gets a new computer.) I had done everything up until the by the book (or the unoffical beginners guide I should say).

I turned it back on, get the standard dell hardware boot loader... and then "error loading operating system". I hit about every key on the keyboard with no response. Most of the make a nasty sounding beeping noise. I still can get in to bios fine-- I tried switching the boot order to internal HD and then back to CD. No joy. I tried a couple different boot sticks with no avail.

I think I may be completely screwed... motherboard and optical drive could no longer be on speaking terms.

Anyone ever came back from something like this? Any suggestions? Any input would be appreciated.

PS-- I'm a beginner at linux and absolute beginner with Arch.

Trilby · 2012-05-13 23:07:35

Nothing in the installer, even if interupted at the most inopportune time, would change what your system was capable of booting.

If the laptop can boot from usb or cd, then go with that. It's possible a screw up during installation might have damaged the iso image on your boot/install media - I'm not sure how frankly, but this is at least possible.

Have you tried other bootable media and/or verified that the boot media works on other systems?

orangetrousers4669 · 2012-05-13 23:41:07

Yea, I tried reburning an arch core dual iso cd, an ubuntu boot stick, and an ubuntu live cd. Exact same thing. Makes no since... I'm starting to think there is foul play involved with one of my idiot roommates.

Could they have typed anything that could cause such drastic damage? One of them is acting like a guilty puppy dog.

nomorewindows · 2012-05-14 00:26:09

orangetrousers4669 wrote:

So apparently computers use some type of sorcery called electricity and if they don't have enough they shutdown unexpectedly... haha.
On a more serious note I was just attempting to install Arch on an ancient Dell pp07l. As I was selecting packages, my comp unexpectedly turned off-- I absent mindedly did not think to plug it in during the install. (Stupid I know but what can I say a man gets excited when he gets a new computer.) I had done everything up until the by the book (or the unoffical beginners guide I should say).
I turned it back on, get the standard dell hardware boot loader... and then "error loading operating system". I hit about every key on the keyboard with no response. Most of the make a nasty sounding beeping noise. I still can get in to bios fine-- I tried switching the boot order to internal HD and then back to CD. No joy. I tried a couple different boot sticks with no avail.
I think I may be completely screwed... motherboard and optical drive could no longer be on speaking terms.
Anyone ever came back from something like this? Any suggestions? Any input would be appreciated.
PS-- I'm a beginner at linux and absolute beginner with Arch.

Did you have an operating system on the hard drive when you were installing?
"Error loading operating system" is a standard message when there are partitions and the possibility of something on the disk but the boot loader is not present. If you can boot from the same media you were using to start the install will it go back and start the install process all over again?

orangetrousers4669 · 2012-05-14 00:45:57

Yes-- a very clunky old windows XP was on it before.

I tried that... same error message. I'm bout to try a windows xp boot cd just for the hell of it. Can't think of much else to do.

orangetrousers4669 · 2012-05-14 04:17:52

Fixing computers 101:

1) Reboot
2) Reboot in safe mode
3) Reboot in all possible modes
4) Yell at computer
5) Put computer in fridge

The last one worked... evidently it was just overheated. Should have thought of this before, even much newer Dell studio 15 overheats relatively easy, no surprise a 10 year older dell won't even boot period in 80 degree weather. Sorry I wasted peoples time with such a stupid issue.

headkase · 2012-05-14 04:30:05

If cooling it caused the computer to be able to boot from the CD-ROM then I would check to make sure that the interface cable is solidly plugged on both ends: the drive and the mainboard. Also, that would be an opportune time to check for dust build-up inside the machine and perhaps replace any and all fans.

orangetrousers4669 · 2012-05-14 16:25:43

headkase wrote:

If cooling it caused the computer to be able to boot from the CD-ROM then I would check to make sure that the interface cable is solidly plugged on both ends: the drive and the mainboard. Also, that would be an opportune time to check for dust build-up inside the machine and perhaps replace any and all fans.

Right before it started working I had undone some screws in the bottom and sured up some cables, also did the n64 controller trick and blew some dust out. I felt as if I was spinning my wheels-- every thing looked alright. Maybe it did the trick though-- who knows, the laptop is archaic.

Pres · 2012-05-15 18:26:31

Laptops will build up dust on the heatsink over time, especially if it has been running most of it's life (and desktops too for that matter, but it affects laptops a lot more since the heat sink is much smaller). Once it gets to the point where there is nearly full blockage and no air can move over the heatsink fins, you'll notice the laptop will either poweroff randomly or operate very slowly.

May not be your problem, but worth checking since it will come up again if there is a lot of dust buildup inside.

Arch Linux

#1 2012-05-13 22:50:57

Accidental Hard Shutoff During Install-- Now "Error Loading OS"

#2 2012-05-13 23:07:35

Re: Accidental Hard Shutoff During Install-- Now "Error Loading OS"

#3 2012-05-13 23:41:07

Re: Accidental Hard Shutoff During Install-- Now "Error Loading OS"

#4 2012-05-14 00:26:09

Re: Accidental Hard Shutoff During Install-- Now "Error Loading OS"

#5 2012-05-14 00:45:57

Re: Accidental Hard Shutoff During Install-- Now "Error Loading OS"

#6 2012-05-14 04:17:52

Re: Accidental Hard Shutoff During Install-- Now "Error Loading OS"

#7 2012-05-14 04:30:05

Re: Accidental Hard Shutoff During Install-- Now "Error Loading OS"

#8 2012-05-14 16:25:43

Re: Accidental Hard Shutoff During Install-- Now "Error Loading OS"

#9 2012-05-15 18:26:31

Re: Accidental Hard Shutoff During Install-- Now "Error Loading OS"

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