[GTALUG] Unbootability

[Lennart Sorensen]

On Tue, Oct 21, 2014 at 10:49:24AM -0400, Peter King wrote:
> I'm trying to revive an old computer.
> 
> The CPU is an Athlon XP 2500, on an Asus A7X87 motherboard, with 3GB
> of RAM.  The internal connections are all PATA.  It has both USB ports
> and a DVDRW drive installed.  Up until a month or so ago, it ran as
> well as an old computer could, with Gentoo installed.  Then a hard disc
> went bad, and that's when the fun began.

There appears to be no such thing as an A7X87.  Would help to get that
part right at least.

> The BIOS, which dates from 2004, wouldn't let me boot from a USB stick
> (the only options are USB-FDD and USB-ZIP).  So I started burning boot
> CDs, all of which fail: Gentoo current install disc; SysRescue CD; the
> Debian 7.0 live install disc; Archliinx; and OpenBSD.  As I said, they
> all fail, quite early on in the process: the BIOS tells me "ATAPI CDROM:
> No Emulation" and then starts loading each disc, but fails one way or
> another, never getting through a kernel load as far as I can tell (which
> isn't very far).  I have swapped the DVDRW drive out for another one,
> with no change in results; I have changed the PATA cable connected to
> the DVDRW twice, also with no change in results.  MemTest seems quite
> happy with the installed RAM.

I find it odd if a bios from 2004 can't CD boot.  I was able to CD boot
a machine in 1997.  I don't think you could even install XP by any method
other than CD boot.  Now there is more than one type of CD boot, and
some motherboards might only implement the one windows uses and that
might not be what linux uses.  Also I have seen cases where you could
boot from a CD but not a DVD even with the same exact iso file burned
to the disc.

> The boot failures are inconsistent, but, for what it's worth, here is
> how they each fail:
> 
> (1) Gentoo install disc: Gets as far as starting to load the kernel when
>     the screen goes black.  Sometimes that triggers a BIOS reboot, but at
>     other times it just sits there.  Tried several combinations of kernel
>     modules: nofb, noacpi, no-hardware-detection, and so on, without any
>     making a difference.
> 
> (2) Sysrecue CD: Latest version simply segfaults after the "ISOLinux"
>     declaration.
> 
> (3) Debian 7.0 live install disc: Gets to the menu of choices, and will
>     usually allow me to make a choice; picking "Install" in any form 
>     causes a black screen followed by a reboot.  Under the "Advanced"
>     menu I can run MemTest, though.
> 
> (4) Archlinux install disc: Once I got to the menu, with the motherboard
>     wildly beeping in the background, but wasn't able to select any of
>     the choices.  Every other time it just triggers a reboot.
> 
> (5) OpenBSD 5.6 install disc: Starts loading the kernel but freezes after
>     printing the UC copyright notice.
> 
> Google turns up lots of suggestions for the "no emulation" message,
> most of which are either "switch the cable" or "change the drive", both
> of which I've tried, as noted.
> 
> The next thing I'll try is to remove one hard disc, install it in some
> other functional computer, and install a bootable Gentoo (or whatever)
> on it there, then reinstalling the disc on the old computer to see if
> it will boot from it.  I'm happy (enough) to do that, but I'm bothered
> by the brick wall I've hit in trying to do something ordinary, namely
> to boot from a CDR.  Any ideas?

-- 
Len Sorensen