[NBLUG/talk] Gentoo Live Installation CD failure

[Dave Sisley]

Sean wrote:

> I have been attempting to quickly install Gentoo on some older PCs to
> use as test servers, but have been having problems.
>
> I have tried the Gentoo Live Installation CD (2006.0) on three
> different systems and two different hardware sets, and every time the
> installation process fails either during the installation, or during
> the installation wizard setup. I hope someone might have an idea of
> what is going on.
>
> The error is this when it fails during the install "There was an
> exception received during the install that was ouside the normal
> install errors." It goes on, and the package that failed seems to be
> different every time. This happens even if I do not choose any extra
> packages, or what installation method (install from downloaded
> packages or off of the CD) was used. The other times it simply failes
> while choosing installation options and throws me back to the command
> line. Running this in command line or X seems to make no difference. 

Sean:

Some simple stuff to double-check:

Make sure the older PCs aren't so old that they don't meet Gentoo's 
minimum requirements for hardware.

Can you run md5sum on the disk to verify it?  The Gentoo handbook 
<http://www.gentoo.org/doc/en/handbook/handbook-x86.xml?part=1&chap=2> 
refers to a file that contains the md5 and sha1 hashes 
(install-x86-minimal-2006.0.iso.DIGESTS - Note:  that's for the Minimal 
install CD, rather than the Installer Live CD).  You should be able to 
find the hashes in the same place from which you downloaded the ISO.

Alternatively, perhaps Gentoo has a 'check this disk' function that 
comes up during installation?  I'm not familiar with Gentoo, but RedHat 
& Fedora have something like that.  It allows you to check each of the 
install disks before you begin the actual install.

I've seen similar errors during Fedora installs, using CDs I know are 
good and on hardware that I know can support it.  I'm afraid that 
sometimes, I just have to start over and try again - it often 'just 
works' the second (or third!) time.

Good luck!

-dave.

-- 
Dave Sisley
dsisley at sonic.net
roth-sisley.net