Problem installing SuSE 9.2

[timwalsh]

I have downloaded the mini-install iso image for SuSE 9.2 but I can't get anywhere with it. I boot from the CD, select the option for installation, and then my system hangs while it says "initializing hardware". I let it go for about 30 min earlier to no avail. Down in the corner it says "press esc key for details" or something to that effect (I believe it is supposed to bring up the text terminal), but pressing esc does nothing for me.

I'm running a laptop with a 2.4 ghz Celeron processor and a Texas Instruments PCI-1410 PCMCIA adapter.

Any ideas about how to proceed?

Tim

[rong]

The first thing to suspect is the dl'd iso. Pretty common to either get a corrupted download or to have made a mistake in the dl configuration: i.e. is it really the iso image or just all the files.

Your description indicates that it is freezing up almost immediatly since you cannot ESC to the text display which does indeed display every thing that's is being loaded along with the results of the loads.

Could be something else but your hardware sounds OK for compatibility.

Judging by the frequent posts of similiar problems from dl'd distros this is the likely cause. That's why I prefer to order the packages or head down to the local pc store and purchase. Worth it for me anyway.

[borromini]

Like rong said, have you checked the integrity of the cd? A md5sum? And have you tried booting with the acpi functions off? Sometimes helps.

[Flatline]

You could also try the acpi=off or safe mode installation (which uses both acpi=off and noapic)...I've seen acpi and apic issues freeze installs many times. Another possible culprit (other than what rong said about the install media - did you check the md5 sum?) would be bad memory...usually with bad memory, though, the installer will stop at different, seemingly random points so I doubt that's the issue in this case.