[EMCguy]

Hi all

Downloaded an Unbuntu Live cd distro. Burned it to a CD. Now what? I assume it is supposed to be a boot CD. It wont boot at all from the DVD/CD combodrive.
In the CD Rom drive it appears to try and boot and I get a flashing cursor on a black screen for about 15 seconds. Then it goes right into normal windows boot.

Any suggestions would be appreaciated. TIA

PS. My bios is configured to boot from either media drive; eg MemTest works from them.

EMCGuy

[Advertisements]

Hi EMCGuy!

Looks on the surface to be a media issue. You should at the very least get a kernel boot prompt since not much is really loading at this point. Have you ran any other Debian based live cd's on that machine? What happens if you turn off booting from any other media other than CD?

ttysoon, SD

[SoccerDad]

Hi EMCGuy!

Looks on the surface to be a media issue. You should at the very least get a kernel boot prompt since not much is really loading at this point. Have you ran any other Debian based live cd's on that machine? What happens if you turn off booting from any other media other than CD?

ttysoon, SD

[EMCguy]

Hi EMCGuy!

Looks on the surface to be a media issue.

I think you are right.

Have you ran any other Debian based live cd's on that machine?

No I havent.

What happens if you turn off booting from any other media other than CD?

I tried it on two different machines and with two different CD's. Both machines indicate a media failure.

On a hunch, I'm going to try burning it as a DVD. If that doesnt work I think I'll try a different live distro. What would you recommend?

PS The smaller the better as my ISP is being difficult.

EMCguy

[gust0208]

Knoppix is a popular live linux distro, but hopefully some media will fix your problem because I am a huge fan of Ubuntu and I think you will like it as well.

Cheers,
Tom

I think you are right.
No I havent.
I tried it on two different machines and with two different CD's.  Both machines indicate a media failure.

On a hunch, I'm going to try burning it as a DVD.  If that doesnt work I think I'll try a different live distro.  What would you recommend? 

PS The smaller the better as my ISP is being difficult.

EMCguy

[SoccerDad]

Hi EMCguy!

I am a real fan of SimplyMepis (3.3.1 is current). It is Debian based and includes all the kewl toys one would need for a FULLY functioning desktop linux environment. It also has a nice easy installer if you decide to go that route. Consider this one a complete solution, but having said that, the download will be larger (650MB or so). Mepis features KDE as your window manager.

I also like the Ubuntu family, primarily because they are a little ahead of Debian core, whereas Mepis likes to be right in line with Debian releases (Debian is not known for speedy releases/updates). Ubuntu itself features X.org for Xwindows which is positioning itself to replace XFreee86. In the long run, X.org will outperform XFree IMHO. I don't use Ubuntu as I'm not a huge fan of Gnome simply because there is not enough customization available. That will change in the future I'm sure. The default setup does look VERY nice however. I use Kubuntu from this family, which is basically the same distro, but using KDE (3.4 currently). KDE has lots of bells and whistles and tweaks, but some will argue that it is alittle bloated and slower. It boils down to your own personal opinions. The Ubuntu distro is missing a few items that Mepis is not, but if you are sticking with live cd only, this should not slow you down.

We can't forget the grand daddy: Knoppix. Another Debian based distro, live cd, lots of stuff.

Best of luck and lemme know if I can be of more assistance!
Be well, SD

Edited by SoccerDad, 26 July 2005 - 11:39 AM.

[dsenette]

EMCguy you said you burned the files to a cd....did you set this as a bootable cd during the burn process? what software did you burn it with?

[SoccerDad]

Thanx for filling in there Dave. I have this nasty habit of not explaining myself fully and making assumptions which I need to work on.

"Media Issue" to clarify: I'm referring to a bad burn, no bootable, bad cd media. Generally, when burning from an ISO image, the disk will be bootable, but those settings should be checked in the burning software. Also the MD5 sum needs to be correct to ensure a good burn.

cya, SD

[EMCguy]

Hi all

The thing I hate most about these forums is that you get to make your stupid mistakes in front of a worldwide audience. The only good thing is that there is so much other stuff to read, most wont get here.

My bad. Burned the CD as a data disk like I usually do, and of course it doesnt work then. When I burn it as an Image disk, it works just fine. My only excuse is that my cd burning software does not default to burn images from the HD to a DVD/CD. I need to go a layer down into the application to get there.

I have a question about running it now, but I'll start a new thread. My personal limit is one stupid mistake per thread.