computer locks up during hard drive install (twice)

[ejames82]

i am trying to install tinycore to a hard drive.
i partitioned with gparted, and went through the commands without a problem.
once i get to this command:

cp -p /mnt/hdc/boot/* /mnt/hda1/boot/

it locks up.  it has done this twice.
any ideas about what i could be doing wrong?

is there any other workaround or diagnosis that can be done?
i'm just a newbie.
thanks.

[maro]

Are you sure that your command is suitable for the devices on your system? I assume you have the CD-ROM (i.e. '/dev/hdc') and your freshly prepared hard disk partition (i.e. '/dev/hda1') properly mounted (to 'mnt/hdc' and 'mnt/hda1' respectively).

Nevertheless to start with troubleshooting here are a couple of commands. If you would provide us with the respective results, we might be able to help:
    mount | grep mnt
    grep mnt /etc/fstab
    fdisk -l

[batnas]

Or you could try

Code: [Select]

df -a

[ejames82]

maro and batnas,

i left the computer on overnight on the slim chance that this morning the files would be copied over, and the computer would no longer be locked up.  i was unlucky.  it was still locked up.

i guess what i am going to have to do is start over.  i have no other choice but to hard kill, that i can think of.

the "sudo fdisk -l" command i don't think will help much.  it just verifies the partitions, size, file types, bootable flag, the names of the partitions, (did i leave anything out) and that everything on the hard drive looks like it should.  i'm reasonably experienced at using gparted now.  i don't think any mistake has been made by me with gparted.
for verification purposes, i will gladly get you this info, but i am 99% certain that the fault won't be found there.

i don't think there is any internet connection by the tiny core live environment, so every type of info transfer has to be done in a primitive way.  basically i am looking at taking digital pictures with my camera and hosting them on imageshack.  i doubt i would be able to post the pics here as attachments.  this will take time.

i am not sure when to run the commands either, i will run them right before the "copy" command where the lockup occurs.

another idea i just had is to try another hard drive.

thanks for the replies.  i'll be back.

[batnas]

well,

All our commands tell you your mounted devices...
tun it before the copy

Are there any problems with the hdd?
try

Code: [Select]

dmesg
\\Batnas

[ejames82]

batnas,

according to seatools, the hard drive checks out perfect.  for the most part, that means the hard drive is good.
that doesn't mean there couldn't still be errors, there could be.  all there needs to be is one error at that critical place and possibly hurt the whole operation.
my reason for considering trying another hard drive is to determine if it couldn't be a hardware issue with the computer itself.  if another, or possibly a third, hard drive does the same lockup at the same place, strongly suggests that the computer is the problem.
thanks.

[curaga]

Are you sure it's not the cd drive?

[ejames82]

i can't be 100% sure, but it's installed several distros and performed quite reliably i really don't think the cd drive is at fault.
i am getting the pictures processed as we speak (mentioned earlier).
thanks.

[ejames82]

i just got another idea.
would this live environment detect a flash drive, and does it include some kind of notepad app?
i could copy and paste the output from the terminal and put it on flash drive.

[batnas]

I think it will detect a flashdrive or at least an USB pen.

Check the appbrowser. I know there are geany and beaver2

\\Batnas

[ejames82]

here's the pics.

http://img534.imageshack.us/img534/1728/img0317dg.jpg
http://img594.imageshack.us/img594/7155/img0318i.jpg
http://img707.imageshack.us/img707/2473/img0319wj.jpg
http://img176.imageshack.us/img176/5048/img0320m.jpg

at this point, i have not ran the command "cp -p /mnt/hdc/boot/* /mnt/hda1/boot/"
that's next.

also, i did not run the "dmesg" command for the pics because the output is more than i could take pics of.  the battery is running low on the camera and i had to decide which pics to get first.  is there any part of the "dmesg" output that is crucial to get?
thanks for the replies.

batnas,
i just noticed your reply.  i will try that because it appears the photos are not very good.  we'll see how it goes.

[ejames82]

i was unable to figure out how to get a flash drive to do me any good.  i don't know how to access it.

[batnas]

If you use a USB stick, you should be able to mount it like the hda...
most likely:

Code: [Select]

sudo mkdir /mnt/sda1
sudo mount /dev/sda1 /mnt/sda1

[ejames82]

batnas,

sudo mkdir /mnt/sda1
terminal: file already exists

sudo mount /dev/sda1 /mnt/sda1
terminal: device or resource busy

i think it's all ready for me to use.  i just don't know how.  i already have it plugged in. 
i'll see if i can't access the app you spoke about earlier.  maybe that can shed some light on the subject.
thanks.

[batnas]

If the USB-pen is already mounted you can save files like every other folder...

Geany and beaver are texteditors .

\\Batnas