fresh ubuntu install hangs on "installing system... 59% copying files" [SOLVED]

[hydran]

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[Shagbag]

Your use of the WinXP repair console is the correct way to rewrite the MBR so that it points to the first sector of your XP partition (where the NTLDR resides).  All GRUB does is rewrite the MBR to point to the first sector of your Linux partition (where the GRUB Stage 1.5 and GRUB Stage 2 files reside).  So what you're doing to get your XP install bootable is correct.

As to why Ubuntu hangs I do not know.  It's been a while since I installed (or used for that matter) Ubuntu.  Does the installer give some sort of verbose mode or an option to see which files are being installed?  Also, I presume you've posted on the Ubuntu forums as I doubt you're the only one to have had this problem.

It wasn't clear from your post if you'd had this problem before and managed to fix it.  Is that the case?  If so, I take it you didn't make any (pen and paper) notes of what you did that fixed it?

[hydran]

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[Shagbag]

Is there a linux command to low-level format the drive, including rebuilding the boot sector and mbr before installing linux?

Yes there is.  Try running

Code:

mkfs.ext3 /dev/hda2

with root privileges in a terminal.  This will install the ext3 filesystem on the 2nd partition of the  first IDE drive (which I think is where your linux install is going to be?).  I take it you know about linux's naming conventions for hard drives.

Keep at it.  You're doing well.  It's very frustrating, I know.  I've been there so I know.  In fact, I'm having a frustrating time at the moment trying to get sound working on Gentoo.  I can play CDs but I can hardly hear the vocals - just the music.  Weird.

[hydran]

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[Shagbag]

Sure.  It's up to you but I'd try another newbie distro.  I don't particularly like Ubuntu, but I recommend it to newbies because:

(a) it's got a huge community so getting help is quite good;
(b) it's got a lot of users so third party resources, eg. books, magazines, etc. often give Ubuntu-centric advice; and
(c) it's debian based (I don't have much experience with .rpm based distros like Fedora and SuSE) and the Debian community is HUGE.

Did you try Dapper?  I've tried both Dapper and Edgy and unless you're going to run Beryl (which you can't on VIA hardware) then it's not worth the upgrade, IMHO.  Besides, Dapper comes with LTS which is 3 years on the desktop, ie. you get automatic updates until June 2009.  By that time you'll have moved on to another distro anyway so why not stick with and learn Dapper?

But Ubuntu is not the only distro that's newbie friendly.  Have you tried PCLinuxOS?  It's another debian-based, newbie-friendly distro.  It just doesn't have the same size community as Ubuntu.  It does have a decent sized community though.  PCLinuxOS 2007 is due out this month.  The next version of Ubuntu (Feisty Fawn) isn't due until April.

You could also try Freespire.  It's not bad.  Honestly, try as many distros as you can until you find one that you like the look and 'feel' of.  Hey, try Kubuntu if you want and get familiar with KDE!

[hydran]

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[Shagbag]

If you're ever stuck with commands, etc. in the future, the Gentoo web site has some top notch documentation.  A lot of it is Gentoo-centric but there is also quite a bit that is generic linux.  For example, here is some good generic background on partitioning a hard drive and installing a filesystem.

[hydran]

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[rrussell]

I could never get 6.10 to install, I had to go back to 6.06.

No clue why, but the symptoms were same as yours - it'd get just so far and then quit.

[Shagbag]

Surely the Ubuntu installer has some sort of verbose mode (hit F2 or something like that???) that allows you to see (ie. debug) what is causing the problem.  It would be really poor form if it didn't.

[hydran]

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[rrussell]

Was that q aimed at me?

To be honest, I don't remember. It could very well have been the install; the CD was still in the drive and it hadn't rebooted. I seem to recall it making it to ~70% of whatever stage it was in, though.

Shagbag - I believe there was an option to display an exception trace sort of thing. I looked at it and it was about 80 lines of junk (to me) which I couldn't cut-and-paste and had no inclination to write down.  6.06 installed fine, and that suited me.

[Shagbag]

Hmm.  

When I get back to London (next weekend), I'm going to install Ubuntu 6.10 just so I can try and be a bit more helpful. It's a little frustrating (to say the least) trying to help out when I'm totally reliant on my memory for my Ubuntu experiences which are increasingly becoming a distant memory.  Besides, there's so much friggin Ubuntu artwork over on gnome-look.org that I'm missing out on some of the nice eye candy.

[hydran]

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[rrussell]

Oh, no, I tried two different images with three different partitioning schemes.

I actually did do the verify Cd once, as well. (Well, DVD, but still...)

I suspect there's something particular about my hardware that it just didn't like.  Not sure how they managed to break something from .06 to .10, but whatever...

[hydran]

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