I have a Compaq Armada V300 I'm trying to installing AntiX 16 onto. Both the full and base versions will not boot to the desktop. It will progress through the command lines I guess and then it flashes a login then moves to what I assume should be the desktop but there isn't a desktop. It's a black screen and no key presses do anything. It seems completely frozen. And I have to pull my battery to shut it off. I've tried all three of the boot options on the main menu and neither do anything else. I've also tried changing the boot options in the prompt in the box at he bottom when selecting a boot option.

As I saw in some other posts of different issues someone said to check the md5? Well I did and it passed all three tests in the full edition. I haven't tried the base version. I tried to check some other option but I can't recall the name. It gave a error. I think it was can't check because iso9660? Whatever that was. I can get core libre to go through with the installer but I have no idea what I'm doing there so I dont get far. I really want to try Linux as I had to format my hdd and reinstall Windows 98 after massive errors at every turn. And now half my Compaq drivers won't install. That why I want to try Linux on it. And if successful here also on my iBook G4. The computer which is downloading and burning my disks for me and every other machine I own through floppies or CDs.

And of course as I've never used Linux so I've had to download many versions of antiX only to find I downloaded the 64bit version three times. And now all three versions of the 32bit on a metered Internet. I'm trying to download antiX version 13 as a test to see if it may go. But it's the last download I want to do as I've used half my data now. I can really use some help. Just make sure to"dumb" everything down for me as I have no idea what any of this is like grub, she'll and so on. I saw those in other posts. So smart. Any help sure would be very helpful. Thanks

Ps I would try antiX on a live usb drive but my Compaq has only one at USB 1.1. Not sure I want to try loading a full environment through a blazing fast 1-10mb a second, or if it could even start. I will try if you think I should. And plus I've never been good with software. Again, thanks for any help you can give!

What are the CPU and RAM specs for that laptop? If it is less than 192MB RAM, then antiX-full is unlikely to get to desktop especially running live from a cd.

I have at pentium 2 at 400mhz with 512mb of ram. It has a 4.3gb hdd. No idea on graphics or other specs.

Antix 13 is also a no go. It will freeze up too. But at a different point. Right after I enter root as the login it blanks the screen then the password shows. I enter root there and it drops the curser to a new line blinking but nothing ever happens afterwards I can enter text but no command entered or the enter key does anything. I've tried the safe boot, failsafe and different boot commands. Nothing yet has yielded a desktop.

Ok so booting the antiX 16 full cd on my Windows 7 machine it comes up fine. Just slightly cut off on the right side. Might be my monitor and I choose the 1024x768 resolution. Oh well. It only slightly cuts the time. Can still read the time fine. Hmmm, I wonder why it can't boot on my Compaq. Clearly the disk works. I really like the rox-jwm desktop theme. I think I'll play with it for awhile. Finally having it working is amazing. Although on the wrong machine.

Running the live cd, choose one of the min-* options in F6 at the menu and see if that gets to desktop. It may take a long time.
If you want to install, type 3 at the menu and then follow the instructions for the cli-installer.

I have an old laptop with 384 MB RAM and a PIII 500 that took age to install antiX via cd.

Is it programmed to so this at 1x speed? If so then google says to copy onto my 3gb partition=5.688 hours. I know it may not do 3gb but close enough for this time. That's a long time. It does seem to be doing something. I can hear the disks spinning but whether that means they are moving data or not I can't tell.

So what's with the /home partition? I have no idea what that is/does. Can someone explain it, and is it needed?
And how can I get two partitions? I did one 3gb and wanted a 1gb for that /home. But the partition manager? would not let me add the 1gb partition. Whatever. It's ONLY 5-1/2 hours of it doesn't work out.

What is nice is there's a little nub on my laptop for turning the screen off. Yea, none of this magnetic switch rubbish. I can rest my spare phone charger on it to turn my screen off! Now I don't have to worry about my screen getting issues being on for 5 hours with no changing images. I know burn in doesn't effect lCDs but why keep it on that long anyways?

Is it programmed to so this at 1x speed?

It'll transfer the data as quickly as your hardware allows.

would not let me add the 1gb partition. Whatever. It's ONLY 5-1/2 hours of it doesn't work out.

5+ hours is due to your USB bottleneck, right?
Later, without USB being a limiting factor, adjusting the hard drive partitions
(size the initial partition smaller, add a second partition in the newly-freed space)
will only take a few minutes (YMMV, on my drives I've learned to expect about 10-14 minutes).

So what's with the /home partition? I have no idea what that is/does. Can someone explain it, and is it needed?

To get up to speed, you really should google search and read"Linux for Beginners" -type tutorials.

No, you do not"need" a separate"home" partition. ('separate' is the operative term here)

On a windows system, did you choose to store all, everything, on C: drive
or did you keep C: small, sparsely populated... and install programs onto (and save your documents onto) D: , E: ...
Perhaps you chose to do so, but you did not 'need' to do so, eh?

an analogy:
Under the root (top-level) directory of the windows boot drive, there's a"Documents and Settings" folder.
Under"Documents and Settings" we find a folder for each useraccount
and further nested subfolders containing files"owned by" each individual user account.
Depending on your settings/policy, other users can't see the contents of your folder(s) here.
(You can selectively"share" a given subfolder that you own, and can decide"others can see" and/or"others can write/delete")
-=-
Under linux, the top-level of the file hierarchy is"/"
(designated in writing as a forwardslash character, spoken as"root directory")
User-owned files are pathed to a subdirectory named"home", found immediately under"/"
and its"full path designation" is written as"/home" (and AFAIK is always spoken as"home" or"the home directory").
This directory (folder) is analagous to"C:\Documents and Settings"
and
beneath it, a subdirectory is autogenerated for each useraccount.
If my login username is"demo" (the default useraccount name in many live linux scenarios),
I can expect
that"my home directory" is located at"/home/demo" and
that any files I create, save, or download get placed in this path... and
that others can't see or edit them unless I choose to share 'em.

Windows has an"Administrator" user account; linux has a"root user" account.
The root user has permission to create/edit/delete anything and everything on the filesystem.
(in other words:"full permission, all the the way to the root of of the filesystem")
-=-
Regular user accounts have full permission only on filesystem content in, or beneath, his/her"my home".
Regular user accounts have selective (selected by someone other than them) permission to access files which are pathed elsewhere.

===============

See, no one can decide for you whether your"the home"
should be stored on a separate partition (or an entirely separate device, if you choose)
that's your call to make.

edit, edit, edit
cleanup typos, fixor muh gramm3r...

It shouldn't be the USB bottleneck. I'm using the live cd. Guess it's my hardware is really slow on this. Or maybe it's just stuck again. For the last 3-4 hours. In fact, I think it's stuck. Only a slight wurr from what I would believe is the fan. No loud spinning of the cd drive. No clicking clack from the hdd. I've been listening to music with headphones for the last 5 hours so no idea what it's really been doing. I'll be upset if it's not finished in another hour or two when I'll force myself to give up on it and shut it down.

"google recommends..."
oh, you're talking about a 1x speed CD burn.
{facepalm}
If you had typed slower, I would have understood the first post better ???

Personally, I wouldn't have the patience to do what you're attempting.
I don't touch CD/DVDs, and wouldn't find interest in refixorating a max 800x600 display.
izzit 800x600 max, or can you attach a higher res external display?

skidoo wrote:"google recommends..."
oh, you're talking about a 1x speed CD burn.
{facepalm}
If you had typed slower, I would have understood the first post better ???

Personally, I wouldn't have the patience to do what you're attempting.
I don't touch CD/DVDs, and wouldn't find interest in refixorating a max 800x600 display.
izzit 800x600 max, or can you attach a higher res external display?

To be honest first, I don't have the patience for a lot of stuff. I'm only able to do this because I really want to get antiX working as I really like the design and I'm super tired right now.

I finally gave up and shut it down. Don't think it did anything. I could attach a external display. I have a really fantastic looking CRT monitor stached about 5ft(ok more like 8ft) from it. Now I can hook it up to my 5" portable CRT tv from the 1980's with the ntsc composite out cable(more for fun and I could than anything else). Not sure if that's only Compaq drivers though. Mainly the only reason I'm able to sit next to it waiting is cause I'm super tired. I was up until 1am this morning waiting on it as well and trying other stuff. And also I'm listening to music on my iPod removing artists I don't like while browsing my iPad mini online and various I'm bored topics.
(Not actually topics on I'm bored but the kinda stuff you search only when you're bored. Get it?)

I'm not sure if this Compaq will go with antiX at all. I've tried almost everything I can(well everything I can without external help such as you). May have to look at other options such as puppy linux or try my Windows 98 and fuss with Compaq drivers that"try to write to a protected drive" stuff again. Really like antiX so I don't want to give up yet. But I really close since nothing has even yielded any sort of results that I can be proud off. 6 hours at staring at the same screen isn't as fun as some might think. Although some people might find it fun. I should get them to install antiX for me!

skidoo wrote:

Is it programmed to so this at 1x speed?

It'll transfer the data as quickly as your hardware allows.

would not let me add the 1gb partition. Whatever. It's ONLY 5-1/2 hours of it doesn't work out.

5+ hours is due to your USB bottleneck, right?
Later, without USB being a limiting factor, adjusting the hard drive partitions
(size the initial partition smaller, add a second partition in the newly-freed space)
will only take a few minutes (YMMV, on my drives I've learned to expect about 10-14 minutes).

So what's with the /home partition? I have no idea what that is/does. Can someone explain it, and is it needed?

To get up to speed, you really should google search and read"Linux for Beginners" -type tutorials.

No, you do not"need" a separate"home" partition. ('separate' is the operative term here)

On a windows system, did you choose to store all, everything, on C: drive
or did you keep C: small, sparsely populated... and install programs onto (and save your documents onto) D: , E: ...
Perhaps you chose to do so, but you did not 'need' to do so, eh?

an analogy:
Under the root (top-level) directory of the windows boot drive, there's a"Documents and Settings" folder.
Under"Documents and Settings" we find a folder for each useraccount
and further nested subfolders containing files"owned by" each individual user account.
Depending on your settings/policy, other users can't see the contents of your folder(s) here.
(You can selectively"share" a given subfolder that you own, and can decide"others can see" and/or"others can write/delete")
-=-
Under linux, the top-level of the file hierarchy is"/"
(designated in writing as a forwardslash character, spoken as"root directory")
User-owned files are pathed to a subdirectory named"home", found immediately under"/"
and its"full path designation" is written as"/home" (and AFAIK is always spoken as"home" or"the home directory").
This directory (folder) is analagous to"C:\Documents and Settings"
and
beneath it, a subdirectory is autogenerated for each useraccount.
If my login username is"demo" (the default useraccount name in many live linux scenarios),
I can expect
that"my home directory" is located at"/home/demo" and
that any files I create, save, or download get placed in this path... and
that others can't see or edit them unless I choose to share 'em.

Windows has an"Administrator" user account; linux has a"root user" account.
The root user has permission to create/edit/delete anything and everything on the filesystem.
(in other words:"full permission, all the the way to the root of of the filesystem")
-=-
Regular user accounts have full permission only on filesystem content in, or beneath, his/her"my home".
Regular user accounts have selective (selected by someone other than them) permission to access files which are pathed elsewhere.

===============

See, no one can decide for you whether your"the home"
should be stored on a separate partition (or an entirely separate device, if you choose)
that's your call to make.

edit, edit, edit
cleanup typos, fixor muh gramm3r...

Ok that home explanation really helps out. Everything on my drive is in one place. C:. It's a fresh formatted drive off my iBook through a USB to ide adaptor because of Windows deciding bsod's are better then a working OS. I'll try once more tomorrow and if I believe it's not installing I will start looking at other OS's possibly. At least I got a couple machines I can install antiX onto. Like my Windows 7 machine as a dual boot. Can't do full there right now. And a old Windows XP machine, if I can figure out how to even boot into antiX from the live cd. It only wants to go to XP and nothing to change cd drive first. I even put my antiX basic disk in one drive and the antiX full in the other(one drive is cd rw and the other DVD). But those are different issues for a different time. For now, I'm going to focus as much on the Compaq as I can. Before my ssd I'll throw into the iBook and pop Debian onto. Which is only a couple days.

Ok so I found a problem. When I attempted this again. I did my 3gb partition with the remaining as free space for something else. I did the options. When it started to run it showed some errors. I'll attach a pictures of them. Because shortly after it froze. Maybe we can get it. I'll try formatting the hdd before the installer. See if that does something.

antiX-full needs 2.7GB so that might be the reason for the space errors.

BTW - even f you manage to install antiX-full to hd, you do realise that it will still be slow to use due to the weak CPU.
What do you want to use that old laptop for?

anticapitalista wrote:antiX-full needs 2.7GB so that might be the reason for the space errors.

BTW - even f you manage to install antiX-full to hd, you do realise that it will still be slow to use due to the weak CPU.
What do you want to use that old laptop for?

I don't know what I want to use it for. Mostly random junk I guess? I'm using antiX basic. I decided against the full. Although maybe on another machine I do that. There's the libre office in basic right? I haven't tested that to see about it.