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#1 2023-01-20 04:19:57

HeroRareheart
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Registered: 2023-01-20
Posts: 5

[SOLVED] I'm like 2 steps in and stuck, need guidence.

I'm trying to get a non-windows or DOS OS running on an ACHIENT laptop and determined I need the i486 build. I made an install CD, popped it in, annddd got thrown to an ISOLINUX terminal, not the typical pretty menu I'm used to from Debian, Ubuntu, Mint, ect., with the line;

BOOT:

Upon smacking enter I presume it's trying to boot because it loads some things and outputs the following;

Loading /boot/vmlinuz-linux... ok
Loading /boot/initramfs-linux.img... ok
Probing EDD (edd=off to disable)... ok

After that it sits there forever with a blinking _. Not sure what to do from here, if someone could point me to the appropriate documentation I should consult I'd appreciate it. I  presume it's the upstream Arch instillation documentation I need to consult but I'd like to check before spending an hour digging through documentation in case I've consulted the wrong thing.

Last edited by HeroRareheart (2023-01-23 08:17:16)

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#2 2023-01-20 08:34:08

abaumann
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From: Zurich
Registered: 2019-11-14
Posts: 984
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Re: [SOLVED] I'm like 2 steps in and stuck, need guidence.

Can you throw add 'debug' or and 'loglevel=7' to the syslinux command line 'arch32'' (I think you have to press ESC when booting the ISO)?
Maybe we see more then.
https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Genera … leshooting.

How much RAM do you have (below 128MB is very very hard to boot IIRC).

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#3 2023-01-20 19:36:40

HeroRareheart
Member
Registered: 2023-01-20
Posts: 5

Re: [SOLVED] I'm like 2 steps in and stuck, need guidence.

abaumann wrote:

How much RAM do you have (below 128MB is very very hard to boot IIRC).

It has 32MB. I did just order 2 64MB sticks to max out the RAM as I'm challenging myself to make this old system as usable as possible. That's going to take a month to arrive though, and atm I cannot seem to add anything to the command line. pressing escape does nothing and If I just add the flag to the command line I'm already dropped in I just get;

failed: No such file or directory

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#4 2023-01-20 22:08:31

levi
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From: Yorkshire, UK
Registered: 2018-06-16
Posts: 1,197

Re: [SOLVED] I'm like 2 steps in and stuck, need guidence.

I think I first installed archlinux on a pentium3 with 128mB ish of RAM back before the upstream project dropped 32-bit x86.  I've never installed it on anything with as little RAM as 32MB.  Plus also, linux if a moving target which tends to grow over time, noting stays still in this world.  Perhaps you'd better use FreeDOS until you get the new RAM.


Architecture: pentium4, Testing repos: Yes, Hardware: EeePC 901+2GB RAM+OS half on the SD card.

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#5 2023-01-20 23:43:23

HeroRareheart
Member
Registered: 2023-01-20
Posts: 5

Re: [SOLVED] I'm like 2 steps in and stuck, need guidence.

levi wrote:

Perhaps you'd better use FreeDOS until you get the new RAM.

I think that may be what I need to do. I pulled another 32mb stick from a spare laptop and now it will boot. It spits out an error or two then after boots fine. I'll 100% keep playing with it as is though and see what happens.

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