Win 7, SW 13 Installation problem

[AnGabhar]

Hi All,
My first post. I am so new to Linux that I have not even successfully installed it. I am trying to install Slackware 13.1 from a DVD out of one of the Linux magazines. My system is a Toshiba L505D, Win 7 64 bit, dual processor, 3Gb RAM, 320 Gb HD.
When I attempt to load the hugesmp.s or the huge.s at the prompt, the installation will get to the following point and stall (I gave it 20 minutes):

[<C10035be>] kernel_thread_helper+0x6/0x10

I would really like to get to the point where I can uninstall Windows completely and just use Linux, but at this point I need to dual boot the system until I learn. Any pointers in that respect would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you

Attached is a pic of the screen at the stall point.

I have now tried Fedora 13 and Knoppix 6.3 with the same problem.

[devils casper]

Hi and Welcome !

Have you tried noacpi option? Which Graphics Card do you have?
Does it boot up fine from LiveCD of any Linux distro?

[jayd512]

Hello and Welcome!

DC is on the ball, as usual
Try a LiveCD first... make sure your hardware is detected.

If you're looking for a Slack install, I would suggest either Slax or Vector.
Both are Slack-based, so they would give you the best chance to see if your iron is Linux compatible.
And the bonus to it would be the ability to play around with a Slackware system without the dangers of damaging your current working system

[AnGabhar]

Thanks for the welcome. I will try noacpi after I figure out what it is. I am not sure which graphiocs card I have, I will check it.
The Fedora 13/KDE I believe was a live CD, and it would not load. I burned a CD from the ISO, setup the BIOS to boot from the CD/DVD first, rebooted and it stalled at the same point.
I'll research the noacpi option and try it. I did not see that option on the startup screen. I will update the post when I have more info.
Thanks again,
Dave

[devils casper]

It looks like you have Nvidia or ATI Graphics Card. Installers don't configure these cards sometimes. Have you installed any other OS in your machine? You can check your Graphics Card details from there only.

Have you tried to install in Text Mode?

[AnGabhar]

Graphics card is ATI Mobility Radeon HD GPU. I have not installed any other OS.
How do I install in text mode? I did not see an option like that when I attempted to install. I am at the mercy of the OS as I am not knowledgeable about Linux. I just do what it tells me to do. I think the only options it gave me was to install hugesmp.s or huge.s. I tried them both. I know I should be able to use hugesmp.s. I don't recall anything other than that.
I do really appreciate you're putting up with my ignorance.

[AnGabhar]

Could it be a 32/64 bit problem? Wild guess here.

[devils casper]

It's not a 32/64bit problem.
I am not a Slackware user and I can't tell you how to start installation in Text Mode. I hope someone will chime in soon and let us know about the procedure. In most of distros, you have to pass text parameter ( or something like that ) to kernel at startup.

Ubuntu Alternate Installation CD has text based installer only.

[jayd512]

I've only used Slack once... it was a quick system, but I had a heck of a time getting it going!
Can't really remember the installation screens, but they do require a fair bit of Linux know-how. Then you have the software installation... no dependency resolution.
You might want to try at a few other distros before tackling Slackware.

I don't want to seem like a killjoy here...
You'll have support here, but these are just my own little thoughts.

[Freston]

and I can't tell you how to start installation in Text Mode

Slackware only has text mode

In case you're interested, Slackware boots into an initrd, which (from memory) houses some 25MB worth of tools and utilities for setting up the machine prior to install. If you know what you're doing and want to have maximum influence on how the machine ends up, you'll find most if not all tools you'll need are included.

For example, you've booted the initrd over PBX and want to mount the iso over SMB, it is possible. I mention this, so you'll understand that it's *ahem* more a toolbox offering maximum flexibility, than an auto-guessing auto-configuring installer.

Once the installer is launched, most of the work is done automatically, but you'll need to setup the environment manually in the command line.

I am at the mercy of the OS as I am not knowledgeable about Linux.

I'll have to advice against installing Slackware. Nothing personal. It's just, you'll have to resize your NTFS partition and create an empty target partition (~10GB) and a swap partition (~1GB) manually. There are other distro's that do this automatically.

Unless you have some basic grasp on concepts such as partitions, /dev/sda{1,n} swap space and mount points, chances are good you'll mess up your Windows install.

If I where you, I'd try some easier distro first.