Can't run Live CD

[Manuroc]

I cannot start up any of the Shift 0.6.2 distros. The problem always occurs when loading start-up scripts, just after loading most of the drivers. I think it happens when starting x, so it's probably a graphics issue. The screen goes black, as if it was starting Gnome (or KDE or Flux), flickers, displays some weird artifacts, and then goes to a blue screen telling me it was not able to launch after failing a few times, and it it would try again in two minutes. When retrying, it crashes again.

I am using an ATI x1400 mobility, if that helps. Also, launching the live CDs in a virtual machine works fine. Does anybody know a solution to this issue?

[Unto Darkness]

Maybe the CD is corrupt? Try downloading a fresh copy.

That happened to me when I was trying the Ubuntu 8.04 Alpha 4 Live CD.

[Manuroc]

I've tried that once, and it happens with all distros. It's a problem with the startup scripts and possibly my hardware...

[Unto Darkness]

I think there should be an option on the main screen, before you boot the kernel, where you can select a "safe graphics mode" or something? Not too sure what the term was. I remember seeing it on Ubuntu. Should be there on Shift as well.

[Manuroc]

Yeah it's there... it didn't work either. Sorry I forgot to mention it in the first post. It's weird because I didn't have booting problems in previous versions of Shift... I'll try running regular Ubuntu.

[markwolfe Veteran]

Maybe the CD is corrupt? Try downloading a fresh copy.

Before automatically trying re-downloading you can save yourself bandwidth and time by just checking the md5sum or sha1sum of the iso you downloaded. If you have a good download, why bother re-downloading? If it is a bad burn, just re-burn (possibly at a slower speed). If the burn is good, then you have other issues not related to downloading or burn.

That said, if you are willing to download a different distro, I have always had good luck with Knoppix, and it has several options (called "cheat codes" for some reason) that you can modify your boot process at the grub command prompt.

[Manuroc]

where can I find the md5sum strings? Haven't seen them anywhere...

[markwolfe Veteran]

For Shift? When you click the download buttons, then you see them.

[farmeunit]

If it's working fine in a VM, I wouldn't think the CD would be bad. Should be a hardware issue. I have not been able to run LiveCDs on my P4 with Asus P4P800, several different ATI cards. Been they all run great on my AMD 2500+, A7N8X, with different ATI cards. I can't tell you where to start looking to fix your issue, but thought I'd throw my hardware experiences in there. Good luck.

[Manuroc]

Alright, I've checked the md5, it's correct. I'm sure it's a hardware issue, but I wonder if it can be corrected via a software correction. I'll try Ubuntu soon, burning it now.

[markwolfe Veteran]

Ubuntu and Shift won't be different enough to make a difference at this point.

If you get around to Knoppix, I am more familiar with its "cheat codes" for troubleshooting and modifying its boot actions.

[Manuroc]

Yeah, didn't work for Ubuntu either, still got stuck at boot scripts. I'll try knoppix and maybe look around the Ubuntu forums too...

[Manuroc]

Knoppix worked fine, but I found the issue with Ubuntu. On their forums it seems that many people are having problems with the ATI x1400 and installing. This post should help getting it installed, for whoever has the same problem as I do. I'll try it in a bit.

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=4...highlight=m5550