Ubuntu x64 pains.

[X11]

I've ran out of places to whine for help so I thought I would drop by this place. It seems Ubuntu utterly hates my computer and my computer hates it. The problem as I explain it will look like a bad CD, but it is not, I repeat NOT a problem with faulty media. Unless on off the chance the faulty media produces an MD5 collision with the original (impossible).

Basically I tried to install it first by popping the CD in and booting from it. The menu appears and I chose the install option. Split seconds later "CRC error" and nothing more. Yes, it sounds like bad media.

So I tested the media with the same disc and same drive under VMware on Windows. It installed, booted, and works quite well. So why the hell this CRC error?

I finally decided, since I was going to dual boot anyway, to use the Windows installer on the Ubuntu CD. This installed quite well, I rebooted, picked the option on the menu for Ubuntu and GRUB4DOS or whatever showed up and I let it time out to the default. Split seconds later, CRC Error.

I am beginning to assume that the problem might be with my RAID contoller not being configured properly. I use a very ordinary striped raid of 2 X 500 GB drives. When the RAID BIOS starts after the normal post it is what detects those drives as well as the DVD drive, which might explain why booting from the CDROM is a bad idea.

Anyone have any ideas on how I might solve this?

The motherboard/RAID is an AMD 780 chipset one. If you need more info tell me how to get it.

[Void Main]

So you did the Wubi install and it wouldn't boot that installation from hard disk? Yes, definitely sounds like it's hanging up on hardware other than your CD and I think you have the likely culprit in mind. Can you describe the hard drive and CD configuration in a little more detail? Is this an on-board RAID controller where you have separate IDE connectors on the motherboard to plug your drives in? Does it have a second normal EIDE controller on board as well? Would you have a spare drive that you could plug into that controller port and also plug the CD into it as a trouble-shooting test?

Also, have you tried the 32 bit version of Ubuntu?

[Void Main]

Actually if you could give the exact make/model of your motherboard that could be very helpful (assuming it is on-board RAID).

[X11]

Mobo Details:

Manufacturer : Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd. (Gigabyte)
Product : GA-MA790GP-DS4H

NorthBridge : AMD 780
NorthBridge : AMD K10 Bridge
NorthBridge : AMD K10 Bridge
SouthBridge : SB700 LPC host controlle

It is onboard RAID, I'll try the livecd from an ordinary IDE drive later on.

Yeah, the Wubi install wouldn't boot from the hard disk unfortunately, with the same CRC message.

[Void Main]

Looking at the manual for your motherboard I assume these are SATA drives you currently are striping right? I would be willing to bet that plugging a drive and CD onto the IDE channel will boot and install. You might have to remove your other devices (or disable the SATA RAID in the BIOS). I realize that's not the configuration you want but it would tell us something more about where the problem resides.

Might go through all the FAQ items and make sure the BIOS is up to the latest:

http://www.gigabyte.us/Support/Motherbo ... _List.aspx

I need to dig more on the Linux side...

[Void Main]

I think this thread actually contains some key information to the problem you are running in to:

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=880833

I am pretty sure it's the RAID setup (as you suspected) that is tripping things up but I am not exactly sure why.

[Void Main]

You may have done this already but you may play with the SATA RAID options in the BIOS (OnChip SATA Type specifically). Looks like you can set SATA port 4 and 5 to be IDE. If you have another SATA drive I wonder if you could plug into one of those ports in IDE mode and get it to boot?

[X11]

I remember that option in the BIOS, I have a spare drive somewhere to try. I have my DVD on the 3rd SATA port. I'll move that over first and see if I can get it to boot.

Regarding 32bit Ubuntu though, I figure I need 64bit because i have 8GB of ram on this machine. However I've noticed for a long time building 32bit kernels that there are memory options that might work. Another possibility might be to install 32bit Ubuntu and build a 64 bit kernel. Not sure how viable either of those are.

[Void Main]

I have a feeling that your problem will exist in both 32 and 64 bit versions. Having said that there is no reason you can't run 32 bit on that machine:

http://larmeir.com/2009/07/enabling-pae ... -to-64-gb/

[X11]

I took your advise on the BIOS thing and found another drive I can use in IDE mode for Linux. I will get to building a kernel with PAE now.

Thanks. It's good to finally be able to see what Linux runs like on this kickass computer. Also thanks for listening and not just insisting that this was a problem with the integrity of the installation media.

[Tux]

OT: AMD 780, is that a dual socket Athlon?

[X11]

Single socket.