I started the thread "Can't install Linux Mint 8 x64" and I'd like to summarize what I've found in case anyone has any ideas. Initially, I thought the problem was that I was using an unsupported DVD drive, but I'm not so sure anymore. Here's the hardware I'm using:
EVGA P55 Classified 200 motherboard with 2.93 GHz quad-core Xeon processor
8 GB ECC memory
500 GB Seagate disk drive
NVIDIA Quadro 5800 graphics card
NVIDIA C1060 Tesla card
Sony Optiarc DVD RW AD-7240S SATA drive
Everything works perfectly with both 64-bit Windows 7 and 64-bit Windows XP. When I try to boot with any of the following three CD-ROMs, all of whose MD5 checksum has been verified to be correct:
a) Linux Mint 8 Main Edition (2 CDs burned, one of them with no other applications running while being burned)
b) Linux Mint 8 x64 (2 CDs burned, one at slowest speed - 4X)
c) Linux Mint 7 Main Edition
the behavior is the same: the isolinux copyright notice appears on the display, and then the display goes completely blank (black), the DVD drive goes idle, and nothing else happens, no matter how long I leave the computer turned on.
I tried using an HP DVD SATA drive, and the result was exactly the same. Almost surely it's a different drive because it's not capable of burning DVDs, unlike my Sony drive.
I was able to install Linux Mint 8 x64 using a borrowed external DVD drive over USB, but only in compatibility mode. After installing, I am able to use my Sony drive without any problems. The only other way I've been able to install Linux Mint 8 x64 is in VMware's VMPlayer VM. It won't install in Parallel Desktop 4.0 Extreme, no matter what I do - it always complains it can't "find a medium containing a live file system".
In the separate thread "What SATA DVD drives are compatible with Linux Mint 8 x64?" it was suggested I get a LG DVD drive, but the fact that using the HP DVD drive doesn't help, and that I can use my Sony DVD drive just fine after installing seems to indicate that the DVD drive is not what is impeding installation.
Any ideas what the problem is? It's true I was able to install using a borrowed USB DVD drive, but it shouldn't be so hard to install Linux Mint 8, and I would prefer changing my hardware to make it more compatible with Linux Mint 8, if only I new what to change.
Still can't install Linux Mint 8 x64
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Still can't install Linux Mint 8 x64
Last edited by LockBot on Wed Dec 28, 2022 7:16 am, edited 1 time in total.
Reason: Topic automatically closed 6 months after creation. New replies are no longer allowed.
Reason: Topic automatically closed 6 months after creation. New replies are no longer allowed.
Re: Still can't install Linux Mint 8 x64
that's unusual, I have version 8 x64 and it installed fine with my HP drive (also sata). My problem was in regards to USB, which after a bit of tweaking I managed to get running just fine. I hope you get a solution soon, that machine looks like a really nice performer. Probably could divide by zero!
Re: Still can't install Linux Mint 8 x64
Did you ever try installing from a USB flash drive?
Re: Still can't install Linux Mint 8 x64
This is just a blind guess, but have you tried removing the Tesla card and then doing the install? I looked it up to see what it does and I wonder if any version of linux has been tested with it. It probably isn't the cause of your install problem but it would be fairly easy to test.
Re: Still can't install Linux Mint 8 x64
SamuelFigueroa,
you seem to be spending a lot of time and effort on sorting out a problem that now does not exist.
Your original problem (as per title of post) was that you could not install Mint 8 64 bit.
In your later posts you say that you have been able to install in compatibility mode, so job done, and you should now get on and enjoy Mint.
On my setup I have an internal SATA DVD drive and I have had problems installing with Mint5, Mint7, and Mint8. The strange thing is that once in the blue moon, the install went through OK, but normally it failed. I added all sorts of extra boot parameters which sometimes worked and sometimes did not.
One day after trying for hours to install Mint 8 64 bit, I unplugged the internal SATA DVD drive and plugged in an old USB DVD drive. To the boot line in compatibility mode I added " ACPI=OFF". This time it booted through to the Desktop in a couple on minutes. I have repeated this installation again (I broke the installation), and again it worked faultlessly. The internal SATA drive is still disconnected as the USB one works so well that I have not bothered with it.
Best regards Keith
you seem to be spending a lot of time and effort on sorting out a problem that now does not exist.
Your original problem (as per title of post) was that you could not install Mint 8 64 bit.
In your later posts you say that you have been able to install in compatibility mode, so job done, and you should now get on and enjoy Mint.
On my setup I have an internal SATA DVD drive and I have had problems installing with Mint5, Mint7, and Mint8. The strange thing is that once in the blue moon, the install went through OK, but normally it failed. I added all sorts of extra boot parameters which sometimes worked and sometimes did not.
One day after trying for hours to install Mint 8 64 bit, I unplugged the internal SATA DVD drive and plugged in an old USB DVD drive. To the boot line in compatibility mode I added " ACPI=OFF". This time it booted through to the Desktop in a couple on minutes. I have repeated this installation again (I broke the installation), and again it worked faultlessly. The internal SATA drive is still disconnected as the USB one works so well that I have not bothered with it.
Best regards Keith
Re: Still can't install Linux Mint 8 x64
I've got to agree with tinca here. If compatibility mode works then what is the issue? I've had to use compatibility mode myself with both Mint 7 and 8. Otherwise I was not even able to boot into the live CD environment. That's why there is a compatibility mode. It makes things....gasp...."compatible."tinca wrote:In your later posts you say that you have been able to install in compatibility mode, so job done, and you should now get on and enjoy Mint.
Re: Still can't install Linux Mint 8 x64
Thanks for the replies. The point is that I've got hardware that is not compatible with Linux Mint, so the only way to install is to borrow an external DVD drive. It's likely I will have to reinstall, and I would rather not have to borrow an external DVD drive when that happens. If I knew what to replace, depending on what it is, I could go ahead and do that. For example, if my DVD drive is not compatible, I can get another one. However, I don't want to ask for another drive, only to find out that didn't help anything. But maybe it's not the DVD drive that's the problem; maybe it's something else. That's why I'm asking for help.
Re: Still can't install Linux Mint 8 x64
I have eliminated my DVD drive as the point of failure. I removed it and its SATA cable, then plugged it into a different computer, and Linux Mint 8 installed without any problem. I then put the drive back into my EVGA-based computer, plugging its SATA cable where the hard drive was plugged in before, and again I was not able to install Linux Mint 8. I therefore conclude that Linux Mint 7, 8, and 8 x64 cannot be installed on my EVGA motherboard using a SATA DVD drive. It has to be installed using an external USB DVD drive. (I'm guessing it could be installed using a USB flash drive as well.) On the other hand, CentOS Linux 5.4 installs without any problems using my SATA DVD drive. My guess is that the Linux Mint installer is incompatible with the P55 chipset. It would be great if the Linux Mint installer could be fixed to work at least as well as the CentOS installer. But at least now I know that there's nothing wrong with my DVD drive, and that I will have to plan on borrowing an external DVD drive when it comes time to reinstall Linux Mint.