Running Linux, Third Edition

Running Into Trouble

Almost everyone runs into some kind of snag or hangup when attempting to install Linux the first time. Most of the time, the problem is caused by a simple misunderstanding. Sometimes, however, it can be something more serious, such as an oversight by one of the developers or a bug.

This section will describe some of the most common installation problems and how to solve them. If your installation appears to be successful, but you received unexpected error messages during the installation, these are described here as well.

Problems with Booting the Installation Media

When attempting to boot the installation media for the first time, you may encounter a number of problems. Note that the following problems are not related to booting your newly installed Linux system. See Section 3.3.4 for information on these kinds of pitfalls.

Floppy or media error occurs when attempting to boot.

The most popular cause for this kind of problem is a corrupt boot floppy. Either the floppy is physically damaged, in which case you should recreate the disk with a brand new floppy, or the data on the floppy is bad, in which case you should verify that you downloaded and transferred the data to the floppy correctly. In many cases, simply recreating the boot floppy will solve your problems. Retrace your steps and try again.

If you received your boot floppy from a mail-order vendor or some other distributor, instead of downloading and creating it yourself, contact the distributor and ...