Red Hat Bugzilla – Bug 208776
fc6test4: Installation freezes while transferring install image
Last modified: 2007-11-30 17:11:44 EST
Description of problem: I am trying to install fc6test4 i386 on an Acer TravelMate 4600. The iso image and the DVD is checked and okay. So far everything works fine. I select mostly the default options, the installation process eventually starts, the partitions are formatted and then the install image is transferred to hard disk. About a minute later, the system completely freezes. The only way to get out is to force power off the notebook. Also tried the text mode installation with the same result. I have found no way to install fc6test4 on that notebook. How reproducible: Always Steps to Reproduce: 1. Download and burn fc6test4 i386 dvd iso. 2. Boot the dvd on an Acer TravelMate 4600 notebook. The bug is reproducable both in graphical and text mode installer. 3. Select your desired install options and start installation. Actual results: The message "Transferring install image to hard drive..." is eventually shown on the screen. About a minute later, the mouse cursor image stops rotating, and the system does not react on any keys or mouse movements. The "Transferring" message is still shown. I need to keep the power button depressed in order to power off the notebook. Expected results: The system does not freeze, but the installation proceeds as usual.
Can you try switching to tty4 when it starts transferring and watch to see if there's an oops displayed there?
No oops, but immediately before the freeze, this message appears on tty4: <6>ide-cd: cmd 0x28 timed out <4>hdb: DMA timeout retry <3>hdb: timeout waiting for DMA hdb is the DVD drive where the installation DVD is inserted. I will add a screenshot of the frozen system. Maybe it will tell you some more.
Created attachment 137513 [details] Screenshot of tty4 on the frozen system
Is there anything I can do to help you kill this bug before FC6 final? This is an off-the-shelf Acer notebook, and there is no way to install fc6test4 straight from DVD.
I have tried FC6 final now, and still experience this issue. A message "Transferring install image to hard drive..." is shown along with the busy mouse pointer, but then nothing happens (I have waited for several minutes). Well, at least the system did not freeze this time, but gave a different set of messages on tty4, see attachment. The FC6 iso and the DVD was verified and OK. I have also checked the harddisk, but there were no errors as well.
Created attachment 139280 [details] Screenshot of tty4 from FC6 final
Would be useful to know if booting with ide=nodma changes the behaviour and if it still hangs then what error is reported. Can you confirm the laptop has an Intel 915 chipset ? Alan