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Hey guys! I am new to these boards, and a noob at Linux, so be gentle. I was given 31 older machines. They are all identically spec'd at 900MHz P3, ...
  1. 10-26-2010 #1
    L0rdG1gabyt3
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    CentOS 5 Installation Locking up.

    Hey guys! I am new to these boards, and a noob at Linux, so be gentle.

    I was given 31 older machines. They are all identically spec'd at 900MHz P3, 1GB PC133 SDRAM, and 100GB HDD.

    I have decided to build a cluster with these machines and it was suggested to me on another forum to use CentOS.

    I have downloaded the ISO and burned it to a DVD. The beginning of the install works great until I get to the part when I begins to copy packages. It gets about 30% complete then hard locks up. The scroll lock and caps lock lights on the keyboard are blinking.

    I have replaced the optical drive, tried a different hard drive, re-burned the ISO at slowest speed with a new DVD. Nothing seems to make a difference.

    In addition, I have tried to install ROCKS, and get the same thing. When it gets to the installation portion that looks like CentOS, it locks up with the same symptoms.

    Does anyone have any suggestions on what may be the problem? I made a joke to my wife last night saying that if this had been Windows based, it would be mostly working already!
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  2. 10-26-2010 #2
    Rubberman
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    Start with a minimal install and add packages (with yum) until you find out what's causing the problem. Which version of CentOS 5 are you installing?
    Sometimes, real fast is almost as good as real time.
    Just remember, Semper Gumbi - always be flexible!
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  3. 10-26-2010 #3
    L0rdG1gabyt3
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    Quote Originally Posted by Rubberman View Post
    Start with a minimal install and add packages (with yum) until you find out what's causing the problem. Which version of CentOS 5 are you installing?
    I will try a minimal install when I get home.... I am trying to install 5.5
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  4. 10-26-2010 #4
    Rubberman
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    Do all of the system exhibit the same symptoms? If so, then there may be a bios configuration issue. These are, as you know, old machines. If you can, try to find an updated bios to install in them. If the manufacturer is still in business, you might be able to get one from them for these systems, assuming they are not running the latest/last bios flash for the hardware. Best guess? USB issues. Are you trying to run USB keyboards/mice, or PS/2 style devices?
    Sometimes, real fast is almost as good as real time.
    Just remember, Semper Gumbi - always be flexible!
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  5. 10-26-2010 #5
    L0rdG1gabyt3
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    Quote Originally Posted by Rubberman View Post
    Do all of the system exhibit the same symptoms? If so, then there may be a bios configuration issue. These are, as you know, old machines. If you can, try to find an updated bios to install in them. If the manufacturer is still in business, you might be able to get one from them for these systems, assuming they are not running the latest/last bios flash for the hardware. Best guess? USB issues. Are you trying to run USB keyboards/mice, or PS/2 style devices?
    The boards are all Biostar boards. I am running PS2 keyboard and mouse through a KVM. So far Ive only tried installing on one machine, as I would like the other harddrives to be basically shared storage throughout the cluster.
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  6. 10-26-2010 #6
    Rubberman
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    The reason I asked about whether or not you tried installing on more than one of them is that the one you picked may have a problem the others don't, and the only way to verify that is to see if any of the others exhibit the same symptoms. If they don't, then you know the problem is specific to that machine. If they do, then you know it is a more generic problem. In either case, you know a lot more than you did, and have a much better chance of fixing the problem.
    Sometimes, real fast is almost as good as real time.
    Just remember, Semper Gumbi - always be flexible!
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  7. 10-26-2010 #7
    L0rdG1gabyt3
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    Quote Originally Posted by Rubberman View Post
    The reason I asked about whether or not you tried installing on more than one of them is that the one you picked may have a problem the others don't, and the only way to verify that is to see if any of the others exhibit the same symptoms. If they don't, then you know the problem is specific to that machine. If they do, then you know it is a more generic problem. In either case, you know a lot more than you did, and have a much better chance of fixing the problem.
    I will give it a shot tonight, and report back the results. Thanks for your help so far.
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  8. 10-27-2010 #8
    L0rdG1gabyt3
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    So I took your advice of doing a minimal install, only installing 1 package, and it locked up again. Just for the fun of it I decided to try the non-graphical installer, and what do you know, it installed all packages. 2.8GB worth.

    But now I'm at a loss of what to do next. I guess I just assumed it would still boot to a GUI. All I get is a black screen with "new-host login:" I have tried admin, Admin, administrator, Administrator, all with the password it asked me for during install, and nothing seems to make it login.... Any idea on my next steps here?

    EDIT: Nevermind. Its been a LOOOOOOOOOONG time since I've been in the *nix realm. Windows uses admin, Linux uses root! I got it logged in. Now to start the GUI.

    EDIT: Seems the command "startx" will do the trick.
    Last edited by L0rdG1gabyt3; 10-27-2010 at 01:04 AM. Reason: Temporary stupidity again.
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  9. 10-27-2010 #9
    tx28longhorn
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    Try the user root and then the password you gave during the install.
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  10. 10-27-2010 #10
    L0rdG1gabyt3
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    Quote Originally Posted by L0rdG1gabyt3 View Post
    EDIT: Nevermind. Its been a LOOOOOOOOOONG time since I've been in the *nix realm. Windows uses admin, Linux uses root! I got it logged in. Now to start the GUI.

    EDIT: Seems the command "startx" will do the trick.
    Quote Originally Posted by tx28longhorn
    Try the user root and then the password you gave during the install.
    Thats what I did.

    Now I think I have a NIC problem, as its locking up when going online.
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