ubuntu and xp dual boot

[Luke122]

A quick cruise through the Ubuntu forums suggests disconnecting any external USB devices for the boot up, particularly storage devices such as media players like ipods, external hard drives, etc.

Apparently it's a problem with certain combinations of hardware, as there's no specific cause found as of yet. I'm still reading through the info there, but heres the link to the search on the forums.

[andymushu]

alright, thats good to know. the only usb devices i have connected are my mouse and keyboard, so i really hope thats not the issue. i have 1.5gb of ram, so i think i am set for that requirement.

[Luke122]

Hmm.. I've seen PC's where having more than 512mb of ram prevented an OS from installing correctly... in your bios you may have an option for "os install mode", which limits the amount of available system ram... maybe try that?

Your USB kb/mouse arent causing this problem. How many hdd's / dvd / cd drives do you have? (This probably wont help, but I'm nosy.)

Just out of curiosity, you could always try disconnecting your hdd and booting the live CD to see if it works... if you have a sata drive and ide cdrom/dvdrom then it could be a sata issue.. or an ide issue.. I'm just throwing out ideas for ya.

[andymushu]

i don't have an os install mode anywhere in my bios. i read somewhere that (initramfs) just meant it was booting from the live cd. i don't have a sata hard drive, or optical drive for that matter. i have a cd-rw drive, and a cd-rom drive. i also have a 40gb hard drive that i use for my main computer, plus a 20gb one that i was planning to use for linux. i just hooked up the 20gb drive today. it is definitely not a sata issue, but maybe an ide issue, as all my devices are ide. thanks for all the suggestions.

[Redundant]

or optical drive for that matter. i have a cd-rw drive, and a cd-rom drive.

Those are optical drives.

i also have a 40gb hard drive that i use for my main computer, plus a 20gb one that i was planning to use for linux. i just hooked up the 20gb drive today. it is definitely not a sata issue, but maybe an ide issue, as all my devices are ide. thanks for all the suggestions.

I don't know about linux but you may want to check the jumpers on the ide drives so there are no conflictions. (i.e. two master or two slave drives)

[Luke122]

Were you trying to boot ubuntu with both HDD's attached at once? Redundant may be on to something with the jumper positions... but a live cd shouldnt be affected by the Hdd's, since it's using a ram drive.

[andymushu]

Those are optical drives.

i meant they weren't sata. sorry for the confusion. i did check the jumpers and my primary hard drive is set to master and the secondary drive is set to slave.