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Author Topic: Installation fails on Pentium MMX laptop  (Read 1258 times)

Offline Rich

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Re: Installation fails on Pentium MMX laptop
« Reply #30 on: April 13, 2026, 12:19:40 PM »
Hi rodders
This is the information I found on the Kapok 8200:
https://macdat.net/laptops/kapok/8200.php
https://macdat.net/files/pdf/clevo/user_manuals/kapok_8200.pdf
and it doesn't seem to match your description.
The 8200 has a 486, 20MB RAM max, and no CD.

... I burned a CD with TC10 and hooray, it manages to boot but only to a TC@BB prompt. ...
Good, that's a start.
Which TC10 ISO did you use? Core, CorePlus, or TinyCore?
Which menu entry did you select?

Since you have a command line, we can try to get more information
from the system. First we want Linux to recognize your floppy so you
can copy information instead of manually typing it.

See if it already detected the floppy:
Code: [Select]
grep '/dev/fd' /etc/fstabIf grep doesn't give a response, then do this:
Code: [Select]
sudo modprobe floppy
sudo rebuildfstab
grep '/dev/fd' /etc/fstab
Grep should print something like this:
Code: [Select]
/dev/fd0 /mnt/fd0 auto noauto,users,exec,umask=000 0 0 # Added by TC
If that doesn't show up, try mounting the disk like this:
Code: [Select]
sudo mkdir /mnt/fd0
sudo mount -t auto /dev/fd0 /mnt/fd0

if it did show up, you can mount like this:
Code: [Select]
mount /mnt/fd0
Then run:
Code: [Select]
busybox lsmod | head -n 1 > lsmod.txt; busybox lsmod | tail -n +2 | sort >> lsmod.txt
dmesg > dmesg.txt
free -m > free.txt
for F in `ls /etc/sysconfig/`; do printf "$F = $(cat /etc/sysconfig/$F)\n" >> sysconfig.txt ;done 2>/dev/null
Copy lsmod.txt, dmesg.txt, free.txt, and sysconfig.txt to your floppy and attach
the files to your next post.

Don't forget to umount your floppy before removing it:
Code: [Select]
umount /mnt/fd0

Offline rodders

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Re: Installation fails on Pentium MMX laptop
« Reply #31 on: April 13, 2026, 12:56:13 PM »
Hi Rich
This is the information I found on the Kapok 8200:
Doh! I have to stop relying on my memory, its a 6200AT!

Quote
Which TC10 ISO did you use? Core, CorePlus, or TinyCore?
Which menu entry did you select?
I used CorePlus and tried a few, including the base with no extensions

Quote
See if it already detected the floppy:
It didn't detect it, I'll try mounting it and get those files.

Do you think there is any mileage in the sbpcd option? The drive is a Teac CD-220E and I understand the SBP driver may support it.

Offline Rich

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Re: Installation fails on Pentium MMX laptop
« Reply #32 on: April 13, 2026, 03:40:05 PM »
Hi rodders
6200 makes more sense:
https://www.macdat.net/laptops/kapok/6000.php
https://www.macdat.net/files/pdf/clevo/service_manuals/6200.pdf
https://www.macdat.net/files/pdf/clevo/service_manuals/6200a.pdf

... Do you think there is any mileage in the sbpcd option? The drive is a Teac CD-220E and I understand the SBP driver may support it.
That driver is for CDs connected to SoundBlaster cards.
Is your CD connected to a SoundBlaster card?

Personally, I hoping the dmesg.txt file will provide some useful
information on your hardware and required drivers.

Offline rodders

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Re: Installation fails on Pentium MMX laptop
« Reply #33 on: April 14, 2026, 03:24:51 PM »
Hi Rich
... Do you think there is any mileage in the sbpcd option? The drive is a Teac CD-220E and I understand the SBP driver may support it.
That driver is for CDs connected to SoundBlaster cards.
Is your CD connected to a SoundBlaster card?
Hmm, I was grasping at straws to try to understand why the CD wasn't being recognised and found this: http://slackware.uk/slackware/slackware-3.6/docs/linux-2.0.35/cdrom/sbpcd which mentions Teac CD drives and that 'no-sound' cards are supported. I've since learned that my CD-220E is an IDE drive anyway, so its irrelevant.
Quote
Personally, I hoping the dmesg.txt file will provide some useful
information on your hardware and required drivers.
I've attached the files you asked for. Getting them was complicated by the fact I have a UK keyboard and with it set for US keymaps no keys will produce | or \ !
I've looked through the dmesg file and can't see anything glaringly obvious but I suspect there is something going on in the IDE section but it will need more experieiced eyes than mine.

Offline Rich

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Re: Installation fails on Pentium MMX laptop
« Reply #34 on: April 15, 2026, 11:54:50 AM »
Hi rodders
I'd like you to change this part of the boot command:
Code: [Select]
loglevel=8 cdeto this:
Code: [Select]
loglevel=8 noacpi libata.dma=0 cde
If it still boots, run these commands and post the resulting files:
Code: [Select]
dmesg > dmesg.txt
ls -l /mnt > mnt.txt

I think your laptop has a Zoom Telephonics Inc. sound card.

... I have a UK keyboard and with it set for US keymaps no keys will produce | or \ ! ...
Thanks for pointing that out. If I need any commands with those keys
in the future, I will attach a script to run them for you.

Offline rodders

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Re: Installation fails on Pentium MMX laptop
« Reply #35 on: April 16, 2026, 02:23:03 AM »
Hi rodders
I'd like you to change this part of the boot command:
Code: [Select]
loglevel=8 cdeto this:
Code: [Select]
loglevel=8 noacpi libata.dma=0 cde
If it still boots, run these commands and post the resulting files:
Code: [Select]
dmesg > dmesg.txt
ls -l /mnt > mnt.txt

I think your laptop has a Zoom Telephonics Inc. sound card.

... I have a UK keyboard and with it set for US keymaps no keys will produce | or \ ! ...
Thanks for pointing that out. If I need any commands with those keys
in the future, I will attach a script to run them for you.
Files attached. I'm afraid they are not going to help much, the diffs seem to be just timing and size differences.