[Shawneegal]

Hello,

I have unsuccessfully attempted to install PCLinuxOS 2010 or Ubuntu on a PC given to me by a friend of mine. I have found information on both PCLOS and Ubuntu Forums regarding the problem and fixes, but would appreciate if someone would put it in a step-by-step for someone who is not as computer and Linux savvy as many on the forums.

I have an ASUS A8V-MX motherboard, which has a VIA VT8251 SATA / AHCI controller. The problem apparently involves a change that needs to be made in the BIOS because the hard drive is not detected. I apparently need to change the BIOS to IDE and then pass the "pci=nomsi boot parameter to the kernel via GRUB".

It is apparently a common problem with this board. I found this information for the fixes, I just don't understand exactly how to do it. I have experience with building a system, with changing the BIOS, and with Linux, but apparently not enough to understand the procedure from the information I found between the two forums.

I went into my BIOS and could not find the setting mentioned. I also don't know exactly how to pass the boot parameter to the kernel using GRUB. I haven't used Linux since RedHat 8 was new. It's been awhile.

If someone would please write the list as if they were instructing a complete newbie, I would appreciate it. Not only would it help me, but would benefit others having this issue who have little to no experience.

Here is additional system info:
ASUS A8V-MS
BIOS: American Megatrends Inc. 0111 09/26/2005
AMD Athlon 64 Processor 3200+
Seagate ST3160812AS Barracuda 7200.9 SATA 160-GB Hard Drive
SONY DVD RW DW-Q120A

Here are links to the PCLOS and Ubuntu Forums that deal with the issue:

PCLinuxOS Forum Link

Ubuntu Forum Link

Thank you,
~S

Edited by Shawneegal, 18 August 2010 - 07:10 AM.

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If someone would please write the list as if they were instructing a complete newbie, I would appreciate it. Not only would it help me, but would benefit others having this issue who have little to no experience.

Ubuntu Forum Link

Boot from the Ubuntu CD or DVD.

Type the following at the terminal:

sudo gedit /boot/grub/grub.cfg

The will open the file in Gedit, which is a text editor, not unlike Notepad.

Now add the pci=nomsi entry twice as shown below:


### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/10_linux ###
menuentry "Ubuntu, Linux 2.6.31-9-rt" {
recordfail=1
if [ -n ${have_grubenv} ]; then save_env recordfail; fi
set quiet=1
insmod ext2
set root=(hd0,1)
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set bb1cd0ab-7955-48bc-bfac-4bf56970ec28
linux /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.31-9-rt root=UUID=bb1cd0ab-7955-48bc-bfac-4bf56970ec28 ro splash vga=795 pci=nomsi quiet splash
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.31-9-rt
}
menuentry "Ubuntu, Linux 2.6.31-9-rt (recovery mode)" {
recordfail=1
if [ -n ${have_grubenv} ]; then save_env recordfail; fi
insmod ext2
set root=(hd0,1)
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set bb1cd0ab-7955-48bc-bfac-4bf56970ec28
linux /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.31-9-rt root=UUID=bb1cd0ab-7955-48bc-bfac-4bf56970ec28 ro single splash vga=795 pci=nomsi
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.31-9-rt
}
### END /etc/grub.d/10_linux ###


Your grub.cfg should now look similar to the one above. Press Control + S to save your changes in Gedit. Close Gedit.

At the next line type the following to reboot:

sudo reboot


Remove the CD and try booting from the hard disk.

[DaffyKantReed]

If someone would please write the list as if they were instructing a complete newbie, I would appreciate it. Not only would it help me, but would benefit others having this issue who have little to no experience.

Ubuntu Forum Link

Boot from the Ubuntu CD or DVD.

Type the following at the terminal:

sudo gedit /boot/grub/grub.cfg

The will open the file in Gedit, which is a text editor, not unlike Notepad.

Now add the pci=nomsi entry twice as shown below:


### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/10_linux ###
menuentry "Ubuntu, Linux 2.6.31-9-rt" {
recordfail=1
if [ -n ${have_grubenv} ]; then save_env recordfail; fi
set quiet=1
insmod ext2
set root=(hd0,1)
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set bb1cd0ab-7955-48bc-bfac-4bf56970ec28
linux /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.31-9-rt root=UUID=bb1cd0ab-7955-48bc-bfac-4bf56970ec28 ro splash vga=795 pci=nomsi quiet splash
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.31-9-rt
}
menuentry "Ubuntu, Linux 2.6.31-9-rt (recovery mode)" {
recordfail=1
if [ -n ${have_grubenv} ]; then save_env recordfail; fi
insmod ext2
set root=(hd0,1)
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set bb1cd0ab-7955-48bc-bfac-4bf56970ec28
linux /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.31-9-rt root=UUID=bb1cd0ab-7955-48bc-bfac-4bf56970ec28 ro single splash vga=795 pci=nomsi
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.31-9-rt
}
### END /etc/grub.d/10_linux ###


Your grub.cfg should now look similar to the one above. Press Control + S to save your changes in Gedit. Close Gedit.

At the next line type the following to reboot:

sudo reboot


Remove the CD and try booting from the hard disk.