133 lines
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133 lines
7.3 KiB
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<!Converted with LaTeX2HTML 95.1 (Fri Jan 20 1995) by Nikos Drakos (nikos@cbl.leeds.ac.uk), CBLU, University of Leeds >
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<TITLE>2.5.3 Problems installing the software</TITLE>
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<BR> <HR><A NAME=tex2html2803 HREF="node88.html"><IMG ALIGN=BOTTOM ALT="next" SRC="next_motif.gif"></A> <A NAME=tex2html2801 HREF="node81.html"><IMG ALIGN=BOTTOM ALT="up" SRC="up_motif.gif"></A> <A NAME=tex2html2795 HREF="node86.html"><IMG ALIGN=BOTTOM ALT="previous" SRC="previous_motif.gif"></A> <A NAME=tex2html2805 HREF="node1.html"><IMG ALIGN=BOTTOM ALT="contents" SRC="contents_motif.gif"></A> <A NAME=tex2html2806 HREF="node250.html"><IMG ALIGN=BOTTOM ALT="index" SRC="index_motif.gif"></A> <BR>
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<B> Next:</B> <A NAME=tex2html2804 HREF="node88.html">2.5.4 Problems after installing </A>
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<B>Up:</B> <A NAME=tex2html2802 HREF="node81.html">2.5 Running Into Trouble</A>
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<B> Previous:</B> <A NAME=tex2html2796 HREF="node86.html">2.5.2.3 Problems with SCSI </A>
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<BR> <HR> <P>
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<H2><A NAME=SECTION00453000000000000000>2.5.3 Problems installing the software</A></H2>
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<P>
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<A NAME=secinstallprobsinstall> </A>
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<P>
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Actually installing the Linux software should be quite trouble-free,
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if you're lucky. The only problems that you might experience would be
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related to corrupt installation media or lack of space on your Linux
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filesystems. Here is a list of these common problems.
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<P>
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<UL><A NAME=1677> </A>
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<A NAME=1678> </A>
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<LI> <b>System reports ``<tt>Read error</tt>'', ``<tt>file not found</tt>'',
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or other
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errors while attempting to install the software.</b> This is indicative of
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a problem with your installation media. If you are installing from floppy,
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keep in mind that floppies are quite succeptible to media errors of this
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type. Be sure to use brand-new, newly-formatted floppies. If you have
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an MS-DOS partition on your drive, many Linux distributions allow you
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to install the software from the hard drive. This may be faster and more
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reliable than using floppies.
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<P>
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If you are using a CD-ROM, be sure to check the disc for scratches, dust, or
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other problems which might cause media errors.
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<P>
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The cause of the problem may be that the media is in the incorrect format.
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For example, if using floppies, many Linux distributions require that the
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floppies be formatted in high-density MS-DOS format. (The boot floppy is
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the exception; it is not in MS-DOS format in most cases.) If all else fails,
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either obtain a new set of floppies, or recreate the floppies (using
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new diskettes) if you downloaded the software yourself.
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<P>
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<LI> <b>System reports errors such as ``<tt>tar: read error</tt>'' or
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``<tt>gzip: not in gzip format</tt>''.</b>
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This problem is usually caused by corrupt files
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on the installation media itself. In other words,
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your floppy may be error-free, but the data on the floppy is in some way
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corrupted. For example, if you downloaded the Linux software using text mode,
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rather than binary mode, then your files will be corrupt, and unreadable
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by the installation software.
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<P>
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<LI> <b>System reports errors such as ``<tt>device full</tt>'' while
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installing.</b>
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This is a clear-cut sign that you have run out of space when installing
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the software. Not all Linux distributions will be able to cleanly
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pick up the mess; you shouldn't be able to abort the installation and
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expect the system to work.
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<P>
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The solution is usually to re-create your
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filesystems (with the <tt>mke2fs</tt> command) which will delete the
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partially-installed software. You can then attempt to re-install the
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software, this time selecting a smaller amount of software to install.
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In other cases, you may need to start completely from scratch, and
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rethink your partition and filesystem sizes.
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<P>
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<LI> <b>System reports errors such as ``<tt>read_intr: 0x10</tt>'' while
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accessing the hard drive.</b>
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This is usually an indication of bad blocks on your drive. However, if you
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receive
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these errors while using <tt>mkswap</tt> or <tt>mke2fs</tt>, the system may
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be having trouble accessing your drive. This can either be a hardware
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problem (see Section <A HREF="node83.html#secinstallprobshardware">2.5.2</A>), or it might
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be a case of poorly specified geometry. If you used the
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<P><TT> hd=<IMG BORDER=0 ALIGN=BOTTOM ALT="" SRC="img82.gif">,<IMG BORDER=0 ALIGN=BOTTOM ALT="" SRC="img83.gif">,<IMG BORDER=0 ALIGN=BOTTOM ALT="" SRC="img84.gif"> <P></TT>
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option at boot time to force detection of your drive geometry, and
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incorrectly specified the geometry, you could be prone to this problem.
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This can also happen if your drive geometry is incorrectly specified in
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the system CMOS.
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<P>
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<LI> <b>System reports errors such as ``<tt>file not found</tt>'' or
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``<tt>permission denied</tt>''.</b> This problem can occur if not all of the
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necessary files are present on the installation media (see the next
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paragraph) or if there is a permissions problem with the installation
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software. For example, some distributions of Linux have been known to
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have bugs in the installation software itself. These are usually fixed
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very rapidly, and are quite infrequent.
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If you suspect that the distribution software contains bugs, and
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you're sure that you have not done anything wrong, contact the maintainer
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of the distribution to report the bug.
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<P>
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</UL>
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<P>
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If you have other strange errors when installing Linux (especially if you
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downloaded the software yourself), be sure that you actually obtained all
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of the necessary files when downloading. For example, some people use the
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FTP command
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<P><TT> mget *.*
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<P></TT>
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when downloading the Linux software via FTP. This will download only those
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files that contain a ``<tt>.</tt>'' in their filenames; if there are any files
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without the ``<tt>.</tt>'', you will miss them. The correct command to use
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in this case is
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<P><TT> mget *
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<P></TT>
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<P>
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The best advice is to retrace your steps when something goes wrong. You
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may think that you have done everything correctly, when in fact you
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forgot a small but important step somewhere along the way. In many cases,
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just attempting to re-download or re-install the Linux software can solve
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the problem. Don't beat your head against the wall any longer than you have
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to!
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<P>
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Also, if Linux unexpectedly hangs during installation, there may be a
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hardware problem of some kind. See
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Section <A HREF="node83.html#secinstallprobshardware">2.5.2</A> for hints.
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<P>
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<BR> <HR><A NAME=tex2html2803 HREF="node88.html"><IMG ALIGN=BOTTOM ALT="next" SRC="next_motif.gif"></A> <A NAME=tex2html2801 HREF="node81.html"><IMG ALIGN=BOTTOM ALT="up" SRC="up_motif.gif"></A> <A NAME=tex2html2795 HREF="node86.html"><IMG ALIGN=BOTTOM ALT="previous" SRC="previous_motif.gif"></A> <A NAME=tex2html2805 HREF="node1.html"><IMG ALIGN=BOTTOM ALT="contents" SRC="contents_motif.gif"></A> <A NAME=tex2html2806 HREF="node250.html"><IMG ALIGN=BOTTOM ALT="index" SRC="index_motif.gif"></A> <BR>
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<B> Next:</B> <A NAME=tex2html2804 HREF="node88.html">2.5.4 Problems after installing </A>
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<B>Up:</B> <A NAME=tex2html2802 HREF="node81.html">2.5 Running Into Trouble</A>
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<B> Previous:</B> <A NAME=tex2html2796 HREF="node86.html">2.5.2.3 Problems with SCSI </A>
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<BR> <HR> <P>
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<BR> <HR>
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<P><ADDRESS>
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<I>Matt Welsh <BR>
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mdw@sunsite.unc.edu</I>
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</ADDRESS>
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