[mdlug] Linux box won't boot

[Jeff Hanson]

Try a different LiveCD like Parted Magic or a newer Ubuntu.  If the problem
is occurring in the Grub menu then it's not a kernel problem since the
kernel isn't loaded yet.  Might be a problem with Grub itself.

On Fri, Sep 19, 2014 at 8:51 PM, David Lee Lambert <davidl at lmert.com> wrote:

> I have an old (12 to 14 years?) Compaq desktop (tower) repurposed as a
> server.  It has been running Debian 6 "squeeze", I tried upgrading to
> Debian 7 "wheezy" tonight.  Unfortunately, now it won't boot.
>
> The system has about 768 MB RAM, two IDE hard-drives configured with LVM
> accross them, IDE CDROM (writer), built-in USB 1.1, add-in USB 2.0 PCI card
> (only thing connected right now is an HP DeskJet printer), add-in PCI
> Ethernet, add-in PCI VGA (no on-board VGA), connected to an LCD monitor.
>
> So the upgrade mostly went OK, I was able to reboot once, but there were
> still some unconfigured packages: the "dovecot" family and "iscsitarget".
> "dovecot" may be because of a config-file change, but "iscsitarget" depends
> on a kernel module.  I installed some kernel source and rebooted again.
>
> Now when I turn the power on, the screen goes backlit but black. After
> about 20 seconds, it flashes briefly red "COMPAQ" on a green background,
> then shows the GRUB boot menu.  If I push any key on the keyboard, it
> immediately goes backlit but black again, and nothing else happens.  The
> fan is running. Num Lock is lit but unresponsive, no HDD activity.  If I
> hit the power button, it turns off immediately.
>
> Stranger still,  if I try to boot from a Linux CD (tried Ubuntu J and
> Ubunutu 5.10 so far), I get similar behavior.  Screen is black but blacklit
> for about thirty seconds after power-on.  I push any key on the keyboard,
> it flashes back to that state,  and no HDD activity.
>
> Could the OS upgrade have overwritten the MBR, with dire consequences?
> Could a PAE kernel have triggered a BIOS bug?  Or am I just unlucky, and
> some hardware failed today?
>
> Suggestions for how to proceed?
>
>
> --
> cell: +1 586-873-8813
> IM: davidleelambert (Yahoo!,Skype,Google)
> "Justicia, Tierra y Libertad"
> _______________________________________________
> mdlug mailing list
> mdlug at mdlug.org
> http://mdlug.org/mailman/listinfo/mdlug
>