CRC error when installing Linux

byrnenj

Hi,

I'm trying to install Dibian on my machine but every time I go to install it stop while uncompressing.

Something to this effect :

Uncompressing linux...  

   crc error

-- System Halted

At first I just assumed it was a bad CD. So i burnt it again. Still happened. Then i burnt it gaina at a slower speed. Still happend.
So then i assumed it was the ISO image.
I redownloaded the ISO and burnt it slowly again. Same problem.

Does anybody know what's going on here?

Ste-

Could be way off but did you get the non-us version of cd 1 ?

byrnenj

yep! Is that bad?

Ste-

T'is fine just something I thought of.
Did you get both downloads from the same site or different mirrors ?

byrnenj

Same! But the first I downloaded a couple of weeks ago, the second I downloaded last night!
Neither work though!

Got them from linuxiso.org

byrnenj

From Googling, the following is clear,

* This happens to lots of people
* A lot of them, including me have AMD's with a VIA chipset.
* Happens on various distro's
* I can't find a proper answer!

Crap!

hostyle

What site did you download them from? Certain sites have corrupted iso's for god-knows-what reason.

byrnenj

linuxiso.org

byrnenj

There must be something else wrong, or else all the ISO's on that site are corrupt!

Tried :
RedHat 9 - didn't work
Mandrake 9.2 - didn't work

I tried differnt CD drives!

WTF!!!!!!!!!!!!

I've wasted about 20 CD's trying to get one bloody OS installed!

hostyle

Did you burn all the isos on the same machine, with the same burner and the same software?

byrnenj

Different software, and different machine, but always the same burner!

It's not that old a burner! Only about a year!

It's probably the burner, isn't it?

Stupid thing! They're so bloody dodgy!

Maybe I'll buy a new one, or a DVD burner, hmmmm!

tomk

A couple of options - ask one of the nice people at ILUG to burn a copy of your chosen distro (Debian, of course....). Or if you have a decent net connection, download the boot floppies to get you started, and install everything else online.

hostyle

I'm no expert, but your burner seems like the most likely candidate in this case. Try to get someone else to burn you a copy. Or as tomk suggests try a net install. Also if you get someone else to burn you a CD, get them to burn Knoppix first of all. Then boot that to give you an indication if everything is going to work on your hardware or not.

BTW, how far did you get in the install? Was the CRC error one of the first thinsg? Or was there a couple of menus before that where you get to pick advanced or expert options, or special hardware configs ... I've only installed debian once and that was via a knoppix hdinstall.

byrnenj

Debian :

I got as far as the install menu. Went for : bf24 to load kernal 2.4. It started to uncompress, then got the CRC error.
Also tried just hitting enter, instead of bf24.....same.

Mandrake :

First time got as far as partitioning, installing and it failed on the second disk...that was the first time. Sometimes I don't even get that far. I'll get to press enter for normal install or F1 for other options. I pick an option and the screen goes black and does nothing. Sometimes it goes further and starts to load the program into memory.

Redhat :

Failed during installation. Couldn't read the python package from the disk. Was going to do it again without python, but don't really want Redhat 9.

I'll give this net install a go, how does that work then. Do I just copy those files to floppies and whack them in during boot up. I'll have to connect a floppy drive and russtle up a few floppies but that should be too much trouble!
Fingers crossed!

Zaltais

I've a set of Debian Woody (Stable) CD's knocking around somewhere that I'm not gonna use again that I sucessfully installed from about 6 months ago. (7 disks if memory serves...)

I've also got a 'Network Install' image (testing branch) that I used a couple of weeks ago that I can make you a copy of (110MB single disk only - install the rest from the internet)

If you wanna send me an SAE, send me a PM and I'll give you my address...

BTW: I always get Linux ISO's from either Heanet or ESAT mirrors.

hostyle

Originally posted by byrnenj
Mandrake :

First time got as far as partitioning, installing and it failed on the second disk...

I'm almost sure thats mentioned on the mandrake site (with a solution), but I'm off to bed in one minute, so I can't look for a link.

But your further problems seem to indicate a hardware problem IMO

byrnenj

I stuck my debian images on an external harddrive and my mate is going to burn them for me.....stay tuned for the results!

I kinda have a feeling the problem could be to do with memory....don't know why! I just have a feeling that it's cheap and crappy and causeing problems!

eggshapedfred

Linux Format this month has a few live CDs on the cover discs, amongst them is knoppix. Also Linux Magazine has Debian 3.1 on the cover DVD. It could be easier than a Net install... (think the next linux magazine is out in a few days so the old one might not be around too much longer...)

ressem

Obvious thing to check is the MD5 checksum of the iso's that you're downloading, befiore you burn them.

The MD5 files should be right next to the iso's in the ftp sites.

Google for an MD5 checker for your OS, feed it the iso and compare the strings. If they match then the problem's not with a corrupted download.

byrnenj

good plan! Will do that! Will also try get that version of linux Format...doubt it's in my local shop though! That DVD would be dead handy!

Oh, by the way, does anybody know what my chances of getting drivers for my wireless NIC are for Debian. It's a d-link extreme G, or something to that effect. I'm stick my server away in a press, so it wont be seen or heard, so it's got a wireless NIC in it at the moment.

hostyle

I had one of those. I sent it back. madwifi should cover it, unless you have a VIA chipset in your mobo. Then you could be royally screwed. Caused hangs in Windows, and madwifi crashed my wireless access point. Avoid wireless Atheros chips when possible. Best thing is to get the latest madwifi out of CVS and try that out. Instructions on the madwifi wiki / FAQ.

byrnenj

I've got a via chipset! :rolleyes:

byrnenj

This network install isn't too bad. I installed the basic drivers etc. and it's currently downloading the rest of the system....not sure how long this takes, but it got a lot further than the stupid CD.

byrnenj

All is going very well. Debian is installed and I'm configuring it and downloaded packages.

The installation process is very straight forward. The Net install seemed a little daunting at first, but I haven't had any problems yet.

Considering this is the first time I've ever install linux (sucessfully) I'm quite impressed with how well it's going!

hostyle

Only certain VIA chipsets are problematic. Try it out in any case.

byrnenj

Well it's all sorted!

It's up and running!

I didn't need to use the wireless card.
I just moved the routers etc out with the server and connected everything else wirelessly!

My only problem nor is, I haven't a bulls notion on how to get this working properly.

I have SSH set up and am able to log into it. I also have apache set up, so I'm doing to badly!

My biggest probelm is knowing wherethings should be. Where are the httpd.conf for apache. Where is the startup and shutdown commands for it. Where do I install stuff.

But this is exactly why chose debian, with a text based interface. I think I'll learn a lot more and a lot faster by junping in the deepend...well maybe not the slackware deepend, but deep enough!

hostyle

Originally posted by byrnenj
My biggest probelm is knowing wherethings should be. Where are the httpd.conf for apache. Where is the startup and shutdown commands for it. Where do I install stuff.

My favourite for this sort of thing is the slocate package, but you can use the find command too ("man find"). To install slocate, "apt-get install slocate" (this is from memory , my Debian skills are rusty since my debian box died). Then run "updatedb". From then on you can find files using "locate $filename". (You may need to set updatedb to run on some sort of schedule)

As for stopping / starting apache:

/etc/init.d/httpd stop
/etc/init.d/httpd start
/etc/init.d/httpd restart

All of your services should be available in /etc/init.d/

byrnenj

Cheers, that's good to know.

I've made a little notebook of all my handt tips and locations of stuff. Building up nicely now into a fine knowledgebase!

I'll be a master soon enough!

byrnenj

P.S.

Here it is : My Server up and running!

tomk

Excellent stuff.

Originally posted by byrnenj
But this is exactly why chose debian, with a text based interface.

That was my approach too, about two years ago, and I was similarly clueless about "where things should be". It's been a great learning curve, and I now have a Debian laptop, desktop, server, and wi-fi bridge.

Enjoy the ride!