Problem - Solved - Re: Starting with Linux

From: BobS (spam_at_spam.com)
Date: 11/18/05 

Date: Fri, 18 Nov 2005 15:08:33 GMT

Rod,

You just solved the mystery and you do have a hardware problem - not enough
memory for ver 10. Minimum requirements are 256Mb and the Recommended
amount is 512Mb. So here's what I believe is happening:

1. SUSE does not see enough memory to support the operating system much less
DMA (direct memory access) for the hard drives - so it turns DMA off. With
DMA off, you will notice some system degradation and with only 128Mb of RAM,
it's swapping like crazy out to the hard drive which is running slow because
DMA is off because there's not enough memory to support it. See the
big -slow- circle there?

2. I'll bet that part of the memory is also being shared by the video (4 to
8Mb probably) further reducing the amount of system memory available.

3. I haven't checked but I'll bet ver 7.3 has lower minimum memory
requirements of only needing 32 Mb as WinME does and that's why it runs
faster.

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;272156#kb1

4. I think your only choices now are to either upgrade the memory, stay with
ver 7.3 (or a version that doesn't require as much memory) or a new
computer.

5. That computer probably uses PC100/133 type memory and it's getting hard
to find locally but you can try on-line. Just be sure to look up the exact
memory type you need. If it's the older PC100 memory, it comes in several
flavors (chip configuration) and can be crazy in price just because its
getting hard to find. Hopefully you can use the PC133 memory which is
relatively cheap (www.pricewatch.com ) and click on Memory System, and look
for PC133 type. You'll need to know what the max amount of memory that your
computer can support in each slot. It's cheap enough on line so if you can
load it up to the max amount at a low cost - then do it and don't worry
about that 127Mb stick you have in there now. If your system supports two,
512Mb sticks, then go for it while its still available.

6. eMachines
http://www.emachines.com/support/product_support.html?cat=desktop&subcat=Other .
Use this to enter your model number and look up the specs if you can't find
the manuals.

Be glad to offer any help I can, such as how to decide what memory is needed
(need model # of computer) and how to change out the memory (piece o'
cake..) but you gotta take the case off that computer first.

Choice is yours,

Bob S.

"rod s" <rod@surfanytime.co.uk> wrote in message
news:4dcbba47bbrod@surfanytime.co.uk...
> Hello again,
>
> I will try to answer the questions in as much detail
> as I can:
>
> In article, BobS wrote:
>> Rod,
>
>> Need to get unconfused here. You have Windows on one hard drive
>> (master) and Linux on a second hard drive - is that correct?
> Yes,
>
> (When I started experimenting with Linux (couple of years
> ago) I added this second drive (40GB). The Windows was
> resident on the original hard drive and as far as I
> understand it the loading process of Linux puts it
> all on the second (slave) drive. I have not had to tell
> it any of this in these recent trials, so I must have
> told the v7.3 what to do originally and Linux must
> detect this somehow when (re-)installing any version.
>
>> 1. What version of Windows are you running (Win98SE, WinXP, WinXP
>> w/SP2...)
> It is Windows ME (millennium edition) Me 4.90.3000
>
>> 2. Name brand and model of computer (if any).
> It is emchines - GeuineIntel - Intel(r)Celeron(tm)processor
> 127.0MB RAM
>
> Is that enough... I could perhaps find the books which
> came with the computer.
>
>> 3. Does Windows run correctly (fast) when you boot to it (yes /
>> no)
> I have never had any reason to suspect it is running slow.
> Some progs take 30s to load eg Firefox but I assume this
> is due to bloated program.
>
>> 4. When you had ver 7.3 running, was the DMA set On or Off
>> the hard drives?
> I don't know.. I suppose if it comes to re-installing v7.3
> for test purposes, I could check this and other points.
> Systematically.
>
>> 5. When ver 7.3 was running was the DMA for the
>> CD drive On or Off?
> Same answer as for q4.
>
>> 6. When ver 10 is running, you said YaST shows DMA is "NOT" on
>> for "both" the hard drives
> After installation, I looked in YaST-hardware-IDE DMA MOde.
> There are three lines.
> current DMA......device........Required Mode
> off hda no change
> off hdb no change
> ultraDMA/33 CD no change
>
>
>> 7. What was the other "place" in Linux
>> that indicated DMA was "ON" when running ver 10?
> elsewhere on the same screen you can change the DMA.
> You are offered in a submenu:
> DMA Off
> DMA On (default) <-----it says!!
> DMA/16
> UltraDMA/16
> UltraDMA/33
>
> I have never altered the CD setting
> I have tried DMA On
> I have tried UltraDMA/16
> I don't think I tried any of the others.
>
>> 8. Was that for the hard drives or CD?
> see q7
>> Even though the hard drives support DMA, and it sounds like your
>> hardware is new enough (BIOS) that it should also support DMA,
>> it appears you are having a conflict. YaST should be turning
>> DMA to ON for the hard drives and OFF for the CD/s. Double
>> check that.
> see qq6-7
>
>> If YaST is turning DMA to OFF for the hard drives
>> then maybe ver 10 is not identifying the motherboard correctly
>> or the drives.
> OK
>
>> The one thing that is troublesome is that you said you turned DMA
>> to ON and that buggered the boot record - which is a typical
>> symptom under Windows when the hardware really doesn't support
>> DMA even though the software shows selections to turn it on.
> I suppose that's it... the boot process hung (if memory is right)
>> I've had to reload Windows on more than one occasion trying to
>> see if the hardware really supports DMA.
>
>> It would be nice if you could get at the hardware to unplug the
>> windows drive so we can do some elimination here but you
>> indicated that's not possible. Anyone else around that could do
>> that for you?
> The problem is space - it would be a major undertaking to get
> at the computer - and (I hope this doesn't sound as if I
> am ungrateful for all your patient help) I'm not sure it
> is worth the effort.
>
>> At any rate, try answering the questions above and then when you
>> reload ver 10, do it by the numbers, one step at a time, assume
>> nothing, write down any errors it gets or anything you don't
>> understand so we can try to sort it out.
> Well, when I loaded it yesterday, it didn't seem to
> report any errors - the whole process went smoothly.
> But I agree it is only sensible to do this systematically
> so that one does not rely on memory.
>
>> If I get the chance in the am, I'll be loading ver 10 up on one
>> of my test boxes here (old hardware also) and I'll let you know
>> how it runs - or I'll be asking you for advice....;-)
> LOL
>> Don't give up on it yet. We just need to get it back to ground
>> zero and go from the known to the unknown - one step at a time.
>> So keep a pencil and paper handy to jot down anything that looks
>> flaky. It just may be the clue needed.
>
> The word 'just' is rather encouraging. I am not planning to
> do anything till I hear from you - with a plan of campaign
> and then anything I do will be taken down in writing and may
> be used in evidence.
>
> Though all this installing and re-installing is very
> time-consuming, there is one bright side. The computer
> I use for messages such as this is a different one, so that
> I am not reliant upon the 'test' machine for immediate
> communication. This machine is not a Windows one - it
> is a RISC-PC if that means anything to you. But if it helps
> in all of this I do have another older Windows machine
> which is running Windows 98 but only has the one hard
> disk.
>
> --
> /\ _ \
> |==============| / / / \__\ |=====================|
> | Rodger Davis | /_/ / / / \ |rod@surfanytime.co.uk|
> |==============| / \_/\_/ /___) |=====================|
>

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