Fresh install Mint 5 Elyssa and no gui to be had

[muddygeek]

So... I just installed Mint 5 on my Compaq Presario v2000z notebook. I've successfully ran Ubuntu 8.04 back to 5.something on it. I also had Mint 4 installed and working properly before. I opted to install a fresh copy per advisement. Now I am without a GUI. I'm not of the command line exactly but I don't know what I need to do to make things work. I get GRUB up fine (graphical version at that) and then Mint starts booting. However, it takes an extraordinarily long time to boot (as I'm sure its looking for something that doesn't exist or is corrupted?). Eventually I'm left with a black screen stating "BusyBox v.1.1.3 (Debian ...) Built-in shell (ash) / Enter 'help' for a list of built-in commands.

So help um helps me about as much as an Amish man driving a car. Thus my plea to those of you with far greater knowledge, what do I do?

By the way, I also had the same problem with Mint 5 Beta.

Specs...
Compaq Presario v2000z
ATI graphics
Sempron 2800
30 GB partition
2 GB RAM
2 GB swap
what else do you need to know?


Chris
http://www.muddygeek.com

[gamx]

hey, i have a exactly similar problem here. seems linux mint isn't too friendly to our laptops

[Computersleuth]

I've got this same problem. I did not have this issue on the Beta 048.

I am doing a fresh install on top of Beta 048. Only my /home partition is intact from 048.

I have a Compaq Presario v5000 series notebook.

ATI graphics
AMD Turion 64 CPU
1.25 Gig of RAM

[Computersleuth]

hey, i have a exactly similar problem here. seems linux mint isn't too friendly to our laptops

Specs on your computer?

[Missed]

I have exactly the same problem with my desk-top.

Asus M2NPV-VM
AMD 6000 X2
2Gb DDR2-800
Seagate 320 Gb
Viewsonic 22 widescreen

If I do a soft reset after the GUI fails to open, the system starts up normally.

I also did a complete reinstall, including my home partition, when this problem occurred, so I don't think it is anything that I have changed.

[Computersleuth]

I have exactly the same problem with my desk-top.

Asus M2NPV-VM
AMD 6000 X2
2Gb DDR2-800
Seagate 320 Gb
Viewsonic 22 widescreen

If I do a soft reset after the GUI fails to open, the system starts up normally.

I also did a complete reinstall, including my home partition, when this problem occurred, so I don't think it is anything that I have changed.

What is a "soft reset"?

[Missed]

What is a "soft reset"?

Ctrl/Alt/Delete.

[Computersleuth]

What is a "soft reset"?

Ctrl/Alt/Delete.

Thanks . . .

I do not remember that my system booted normally after a soft reset . . . I will check it out this evening (about 8 hours from now).

[Computersleuth]

What is a "soft reset"?

Ctrl/Alt/Delete.

Thanks . . .

I do not remember that my system booted normally after a soft reset . . . I will check it out this evening (about 8 hours from now).

[muddygeek]

I've tried soft and hard reboots. Neither one changes anything for me. Any other ideas?


Chris
http://www.muddygeek.com

[Splunge]

Hi Guys,
Heard about mint a lot and first tried it with Elyssa RC1. All worked fine and I loved it. Waited for the final before I ditched my Ubuntu partition. Installed today and when I rebooted, all looked good, nice grub menu, but it would not load!

The mint bar (not sure what to call it) kept going across but never loaded. I rebooted and chose the recovery option and told it to boot normally and it did. It seemed to work but after a reboot it does the exact same thing.

I fixed it, BUT, I did this by using the above method and then sudo apt-get dist upgrade. <<< Did I do bad? Am I still using a Mint install or do I have some funky hybrid now?

I'd rather know so if I have to re-install I can do it now before I start setting everything the way I like.

Great job Clem and all supporters. Another Mint convert has jumped on board!

[Splunge]

Just registered as well, don't know why I thought I had already done so above

[gamx]

Apparently the ramdisk initrd is not initializing the root kernel which causes it to fall back into initramfs which is sorta like your Windows Safe Mode. Never had one of these problems with other distros using the 2.6 series of kernels thou, which is weird

[muddygeek]

That's what's surprising me here too. Like I said, I've used Ubuntu 8.04 on this laptop which is what Mint 5 is based off of. I don't get why Mint is having an issue here.

[Missed]

I never had this problem with Daryna.

Anyway, I turned off quiet & splash at the grub screen, did several soft boots, because the first didn't work, and the list on the screen stopped at different places each time. So, not much help from that. Would the system logs help? If so which one?