Topic: Question for Linux minded people....

[Centurus]

I downloaded an ISO for Freespire and burned an install disc.  I can run Freespire from the CD without any problems, but when I install it to a 40 gig IDE drive as the only operating system, and then try to boot from the disk, the following occurs.

GRUB loading, please wait...
Internal error: the second sector of stage 2 is unknown.

A reinstall of Freespire doesn't fix the problem.  Freespire is based on Ubuntu, and I rather like what I see when I run it from the CD.  My hardware is already functioning without problems. 

Any idea how to correct the error I'm getting?  Keep in mind I'm using a 40 gig hard drive for this Linux install, and I had Freespire overwrite any and all data on the hard drive, since I use it for testing purposes only anyway these days.  My system specs are below.

AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+ AM2 socket
2 gigs Kingston DDR2-800 ram
Gigabyte GA-M55Plus-S3G motherboard

I don't have any other hard drives installed in the machine currently.  Gotta love mobile racks.

[Bonk]

Sounds like you missed something in the setup of the partitions? What did Freespire do on setup? How many partitions? Did it create a swap partition?

Does it offer a manual partitions setup on installation? if so, take it and specify an ext3 partition for the main partition and a 2GB swap partition.

A quick Google yields:
http://www.google.com/search?q=Internal+error%3A+the+second+sector+of+stage+2+is+unknown.
http://forum.freespire.org/showthread.php?t=13621
http://forum.freespire.org/showpost.php?p=15457&postcount=2
http://www.gnu.org/software/grub/manual/grub.html  <--- lots of reading there!

I'd try for a manual partitions setup on install first though.

[Centurus]

It has an automatic install option which I choose, since I have no idea how to do manual partitions for Linux.  That's one of the reasons I've stayed away from Linux for so long cause no matter how much I tried, I could never do it right.

It does create a swap partition, and I think it created 2 partitions.  Not sure since I'm still very unfamiliar with determing how to find that information out.

[Bonk]

lol. well in this case there's no harm in giving it a try, you don't have anything to lose on that disk.

You mention mobile rack however... how is the bios detecing the disk? Are LBA and SMART enabled?

Manual partitions should not be too hard, it should give you a gui in the setup, create a 38GB ext3 partition, set it to root '/' mount point, and create a 2GB swap partition then off you go.


EDIT: actually make that a 36 or 37 GB partition, its best to leave a little breathing room as actual disk sizes are often smaller than they say on the box.

EDIT2: also, if going th reinstall route, then set it to reinstall grub as well of course.

EDIT3: lol, and you'll probably need to delete any existing partitions before creating the new ones. - should be able to do that right in the setup gui.

[Centurus]

lol. well in this case there's no harm in giving it a try, you don't have anything to lose on that disk.

You mention mobile rack however... how is the bios detecing the disk? Are LBA and SMART enabled?

Manual partitions should not be too hard, it should give you a gui in the setup, create a 38GB ext3 partition, set it to root '/' mount point, and create a 2GB swap partition then off you go.


EDIT: actually make that a 36 or 37 GB partition, its best to leave a little breathing room as actual disk sizes are often smaller than they say on the box.

EDIT2: also, if going th reinstall route, then set it to reinstall grub as well of course.

The motherboard detects the hard drive as if it were plugged in directly.  Always has been that way. 

As for GRUB, I've been reading the links you provided, and I can't understand a damn thing they're saying.

[Bonk]

As for GRUB, I've been reading the links you provided, and I can't understand a damn thing they're saying.

That's why I suggest reinstall with manual partitions setup, it will give you a gui where you won't need to read all that stuff first.

But if you're really interested in giving Linux a try, be prepared to have to deal with the command line and arcane documentation at some point in the experience. Its really not that bad once you dig in.

[Centurus]

As for GRUB, I've been reading the links you provided, and I can't understand a damn thing they're saying.

That's why I suggest reinstall with manual partitions setup, it will give you a gui where you won't need to read all that stuff first.

But if you're really interested in giving Linux a try, be prepared to have to deal with the command line and arcane documentation at some point in the experience. Its really not that bad once you dig in.

The install process was all GUI.

[Bonk]

The install process was all GUI.

Lol, again:

That's why I suggest reinstall with manual partitions setup, it will give you a gui where you won't need to read all that stuff first.

I mean that later on, once you have Linux up and running, at some point you will need to introduce yourself to the command line. Probably not for the first few days, but the occasion will eventually arise, I promise. That is what I meant to say, sorry if I was not clear.

[Bonk]

I'm thinking the source of your problem is that the default install created an ext4 partition and the combo of the disk and/or bios settings cannot handle that filesystem. (ext4 has a number of compatibility issues) Any distro that uses it by default has made a mistake in my view.

I'm just guessing that this is your problem, and why I'm suggesting a manual partitions setup on install (ext3), its easy to test and there's a pretty good chance using the older and more compatible ext3 filesystem will solve your problem.

Of course, there may be others here with better suggestions. (Lepton, Nemesis?)

[Centurus]

Well, I reinstalled again and the default file system was something I can't even remember.  Something starting with R.  I switched it to EXT3 and it seems to be working fine now.

[Bonk]

Well, I reinstalled again and the default file system was something I can't even remember.  Something starting with R.  I switched it to EXT3 and it seems to be working fine now.

Thought so.

They were using Reiser's filesystem as default?    I think the author is in prison for murder now? (EDIT: nope - still on trial for his wife's murder from what I gather) Not that that's a good reason not to use the filesystem...

I'm not so sure a journalling filesystem is such a good idea anyway, which would be a better reason not to use it.

Bad choice on Freespire's part. It will probably work fine on newer drives, but people tend to install Linux on older spare systems.

What's the default desktop, KDE or Gnome? (edit: nevermind - I checked it's KDE - )

So now you can play with it anyway, and when you need to get down to the nitty gritty at the command line, we're here for ya!

[Centurus]

I can't seem to play any DVDs on the system.  Any idea?

[Bonk]

I can't seem to play any DVDs on the system.  Any idea?

Lol.. it seems that is always the first question. I'm not a movie guy, but you can try checking the Adept package manager - it should connect to the ubuntu feisty (7.04) repositories I expect, (you may need to enable the "universe" repository) and there you will find some restricted drivers for video playback. The list of stuff is long and it might be hard to identify. I'd suggest a quick search on the Freespire forums.

Another simple solution might be to just install VLC (should be in adept as well). You'd be looking for the Debian package if you download from the website. And if you do... here comes the command line... look up dpkg ... (oh... and sudo)  something like a:
 sudo dpkg-install vlc_installation_package.deb

EDIT: sorry there's an ubuntu package there: http://www.videolan.org/vlc/download-ubuntu.html
though ubuntu uses the debian packaging system anyway...

I'm kinda busy on my windows install but if you don't get it figured out I'll fire up my Kubuntu install and take a few screenshots of the packages to look for in Adept.

[KBF-Kurok]

your probably missing the libcss for it to play dvd it isnt legal to distrubute it in linux distros in the us id just go to the distros forums and do a search for what to do prolly been asked a million times.

[Midnight Tech]

CNR has VideoLAN - currently trying to get it to recognize a DVD.....