Linux Ubuntu freezes

[rugman1969]

I need some help. I am totally new to the Linux OS. I have been a Windows person forever. I downloaded the 10.04 live version of Ubuntu onto a usb and a cd. I have tried both at separate times. Either way, the system freezes on me after 5 minutes or so. I cannot figure out why. Anyone have any guess? I have read video cards have been an issue, but I can't stay on long enough to be able to explore. I have an EVGA GX250 video card. The program boots, and I can fool around a little, but then it freezes, aand there is no keyboard or mouse input. Control alt delete does nothing, as there is no keyboard input. I HAVE NOT INSTALLED ON MY HARDDRIVE. I want to try it out first. If I can't get it right, I won't install on my harddrive. I am currently running WIN7
Thanks for any help

 

[Pyroflea]

Have you tried running it via VirtualBox as a virtual machine? Did you check the md5 when you downloaded the .iso?

 

[rugman1969]

??? What is virtualbox, and what is md5 and how do you check it? I am literally brand new to Linux anything. Also, this boots before Windows, so windows is not running.

 

[rugman1969]

Have you tried running it via VirtualBox as a virtual machine? Did you check the md5 when you downloaded the .iso?

??? What is virtualbox, and what is md5 and how do you check it? I am literally brand new to Linux anything. Also, this boots before Windows, so windows is not running.

 

[linux_0]

http://www.virtualbox.org

VirtualBox is a powerful x86 and AMD64/Intel64 virtualization product for enterprise as well as home use. Not only is VirtualBox an extremely feature rich, high performance product for enterprise customers, it is also the only professional solution that is freely available as Open Source Software under the terms of the GNU General Public License (GPL). See "About VirtualBox" for an introduction.

Presently, VirtualBox runs on Windows, Linux, Macintosh and OpenSolaris hosts and supports a large number of guest operating systems including but not limited to Windows (NT 4.0, 2000, XP, Server 2003, Vista, Windows 7), DOS/Windows 3.x, Linux (2.4 and 2.6), Solaris and OpenSolaris, and OpenBSD.

VirtualBox is being actively developed with frequent releases and has an ever growing list of features, supported guest operating systems and platforms it runs on. VirtualBox is a community effort backed by a dedicated company: everyone is encouraged to contribute while Sun ensures the product always meets professional quality criteria.

md5 is a way to verify your download didn't get corrupted in transit and that no one's tampered with the ISO.

Fedora's got some nice instructions which also apply in part to other distros

https://fedoraproject.org/en/verify

http://docs.fedoraproject.org/en-US/Fedora/13/html/Burning_ISO_images_to_disc/sect-Burning_ISO_images_to_disc-Validating_the_Files.html

Ubuntu, fedora and most other distros have a way to check for defects built into the cd which is nice but it's not enough, you should always check all the checksum files and digital signatures.

Good luck

 

[rugman1969]

Maybe I can shed some light:
I have taken the cd I made and installed it on my computer at work, and it works fine. So I think the downlaod was ok. I have also tried it using aflash drive, but the same thing happens

 

[linux_0]

Can you post your full specs please?

Did you try the media check and a memtest on the computer that's freezing? If your cd runs well under virtualbox on the same computer but keeps freezing when you boot from it then there's probably something odd going on.

Semper Fi

 

[rugman1969]

Don't know what a memtest is or a media check. I can tell you that win7 smokes ass on this computer. The cd doesn't freeze when I boot. The computer freezes after linux is loaded and I start checking it out. I have gotten as far as being on the net, then iut freezes. Or just looking at the folders linux has, it freezes. Or just let it sit there, and eventuaslly it freezes. No idea why, but windows works great on it. Does this when booting from cd or flash drive, but does not freeze during booting. Only freezes after the app has been running a few minutes. Gets through the boot process fine.

 

[linux_0]

Can you list what you've got under the hood please? cpu, mobo, ram, drives, controllers, etc., etc.

I'm sure you computer is great, I'm not trying to bash it, just tryin to get to the bottom of it. Some mobos are really odd, bad ACPI and compatibility issues can cause all sorts of problems that'll be very hard to figure out. memtest and the media check are built-into the ubuntu cd and they'll help you diag the problem.

The "Check disk for defects" option runs the media check, which checks the cd for defects, if the cd has defects or I/O errors then it'll probably freeze randomly.

The "Test memory" option runs memtest

Have you tried powering off the computer for a few minutes and then booting straight into the CD? If you boot 7 first, reboot, then boot linux but could end up having some very odd problems. It's also possible that something in your BIOS may be causing odd issues. Some board makers intentionally optimize for windoze and de-optimize for Linux.

Semper Fi

 

[rugman1969]

Can you list what you've got under the hood please? cpu, mobo, ram, drives, controllers, etc., etc.

I'm sure you computer is great, I'm not trying to bash it, just tryin to get to the bottom of it. Some mobos are really odd, bad ACPI and compatibility issues can cause all sorts of problems that'll be very hard to figure out. memtest and the media check are built-into the ubuntu cd and they'll help you diag the problem.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2593/4174847215_0066d34dc9.jpg

The "Check disk for defects" option runs the media check, which checks the cd for defects, if the cd has defects or I/O errors then it'll probably freeze randomly.

The "Test memory" option runs memtest

Have you tried powering off the computer for a few minutes and then booting straight into the CD? If you boot 7 first, reboot, then boot linux but could end up having some very odd problems. It's also possible that something in your BIOS may be causing odd issues. Some board makers intentionally optimize for windoze and de-optimize for Linux.

Semper Fi

Just newly built within the past few months:

Intel I5-750
Asus P7p55d pro mobo
EVGA GX250 vid card
onboard audio
2 seagate hd's 160 gb, 250gb(storage)
1 seagate 60gb hd for windows 7

 

[linux_0]

Thanks for posting that

There's several people on newegg saying this board works with ubuntu, so it's odd yours is freezing.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131405

Asus mobos usually work with linux and several come with asus express gate which is the asus linux thingy so it's doubly odd.

I'd suggest giving fedora 13 x86_64 a try just to see what it does.

http://fedoraproject.org/en/get-fedora-options

There's some options you could try like acpi=off and noapic but there's no way to know if that's going to work until you try it.

You could update your BIOS too and see if that helps.

Good luck

 

[rugman1969]

Thanks for posting that

There's several people on newegg saying this board works with ubuntu, so it's odd yours is freezing.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131405

Asus mobos usually work with linux and several come with asus express gate which is the asus linux thingy so it's doubly odd.

I'd suggest giving fedora 13 x86_64 a try just to see what it does.

http://fedoraproject.org/en/get-fedora-options

There's some options you could try like acpi=off and noapic but there's no way to know if that's going to work until you try it.

You could update your BIOS too and see if that helps.

Good luck

Thanks for the info. the mobo does have express gate, and I have no idea what that is. I have tried Ubuntu 4.3.1, 5.01, 10.04 live, and Puppy Linux, all with the same problem. My bios is factory set, no overclocking or anything, and I will try the fedoraproject thing. What does the express gate have to do with running Linux?
Thanks for the help, by the way.

 

[rugman1969]

By the way,
Is Fedora a Linux based program, and can it be run from a flash drive without installing it hard drive?

 

[linux_0]

Is Fedora a Linux based program, and can it be run from a flash drive without installing it hard drive?

Fedora is one of the most popular Linux distributions, it's like Ubuntu, but somewhat different.

Fedora replaced Red Hat Linux, not to be confused with RHEL, in 2003 when Red Hat Linux ( 1995 - 2003 ) was discontinued.

Fedora uses RedHat style packages and tools while Ubuntu's derived from Debian GNU/Linux. Ubuntu and Fedora function almost the same way except Ubuntu uses apt and Fedora uses RPM.

The fedora project distributes live cds here http://fedoraproject.org/en/get-fedora-options but you've also got the option to get installable DVDs which can be used under virtualbox http://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Downloads or installed natively.

Make sure you get the x86_64 version!

You might wanna start with the GNOME Live CD here http://download.fedoraproject.org/pub/fedora/linux/releases/13/Live/x86_64/Fedora-13-x86_64-Live.iso

They've also got KDE, LXDE and XFCE versions although Fedora can use KDE, LXDE and XFCE on the same computer.

KDE is heavy and requires lotsa hardware, LXDE and XFCE are much more lightweight but they're all capable of running the same programs, albeit with a different graphical interface ( GUI ).

ASUS express gate is an instant-on Linux system available on ASUS motherboards. There's more info about it here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Express_Gate

So if you've got Express Gate then your board should run linux, but there's a possibility of compatibility issues with some distros. Switching to the latest BIOS from ASUS and modifying some BIOS settings might help.

acpi=off and noapic could also help, but you've got to pass those to the kernel manually on boot, so try fedora first and see if that helps.

Good luck

 

[rugman1969]

Is Fedora a Linux based program, and can it be run from a flash drive without installing it hard drive?

Fedora is one of the most popular Linux distributions, it's like Ubuntu, but somewhat different.

Fedora replaced Red Hat Linux, not to be confused with RHEL, in 2003 when Red Hat Linux ( 1995 - 2003 ) was discontinued.

Fedora uses RedHat style packages and tools while Ubuntu's derived from Debian GNU/Linux. Ubuntu and Fedora function almost the same way except Ubuntu uses apt and Fedora uses RPM.

The fedora project distributes live cds here http://fedoraproject.org/en/get-fedora-options but you've also got the option to get installable DVDs which can be used under virtualbox http://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Downloads or installed natively.



Ok, so what I understand from your link is that a version of Linux is pre-installed on the asus mobo, identified by express gate. How do I get the pre-installed linux to boot from that? Do I have to go into bios to change something?

Make sure you get the x86_64 version!

You might wanna start with the GNOME Live CD here http://download.fedoraproject.org/pub/fedora/linux/releases/13/Live/x86_64/Fedora-13-x86_64-Live.iso

They've also got KDE, LXDE and XFCE versions although Fedora can use KDE, LXDE and XFCE on the same computer.

KDE is heavy and requires lotsa hardware, LXDE and XFCE are much more lightweight but they're all capable of running the same programs, albeit with a different graphical interface ( GUI ).

ASUS express gate is an instant-on Linux system available on ASUS motherboards. There's more info about it here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Express_Gate

So if you've got Express Gate then your board should run linux, but there's a possibility of compatibility issues with some distros. Switching to the latest BIOS from ASUS and modifying some BIOS settings might help.

acpi=off and noapic could also help, but you've got to pass those to the kernel manually on boot, so try fedora first and see if that helps.

Good luck

 

[rugman1969]

So if you've got Express Gate then your board should run linux, but there's a possibility of compatibility issues with some distros. Switching to the latest BIOS from ASUS and modifying some BIOS settings might help. Reading up on it, there are no instructions on what to do.

 

[linux_0]

To upgrade to the latest BIOS you've got to grab the BIOS image for your P7p55d pro board from http://support.asus.com and copy it to a usb stick or a CD-R.

Most ASUS boards are equipped with ASUS EZ-Flash which is a utility that'll let you flash the BIOS easily. Make sure you've got reliable power, reboot your computer and press ALT and F2 to launch ASUS EZ-Flash while the computer's running the power on self test. This'll launch a blue EZ-Flash screen, make sure you follow the instructions in your manual to flash the BIOS.

After you're done flashing the BIOS, reboot and hold down the delete key to go into the BIOS, load the failsafe settings, disable overclocking and express gate. Save and exit, then reboot.

Make sure the computer's not interrupted while it's flashing the BIOS or it could end up being unbootable or bricked, be sure to read the warnings and instructions in your original ASUS manual.

If it's still freezing after this, start a memtest and let it run overnight for 8-12 hours. Post some pix of the memtest results on flickr if you can. Then check the disk for defects and post those results too.

Good luck