On Thu, 13 Apr 2006 18:17, you wrote: > Hi list, > > I just replaced a fried server with a Mini-ITX board and can't seem to > boot it. > > I initially just shoved the drive from the old PC in and went to boot up > as I have done many times before. Grub came up and I made my selection, > immediately after the boot line the machine reboots. > > I thought that was odd, so tried a SLAX live CD and get the isolinux > prompt and the same reboot after unpacking the kernel. Same deal with a > Arch Linux install disc. > > After a bit of looking I found an old Windows CD which boots fine so it > seems to be a compatibility problem with Linux and not just a fault :( > > I have tried passing acpi=off to the boot line with no result and looking > through the BIOS I can't seem to find anywhere to turn ACPI off at all. > > Does anyone have any suggestions as to where to look next? All my google > searches bring up dual boot articles etc. which aren't much help.
Could be a bad PSU. I have had this problem with mini-ITX boards before. I expect it happens to any design, but what I found was that generally mini-ITX systems have lower power consumption than regular systems, so they are equipped with lower power PSUs. For example, my old mini-ITX system had a 60W laptop-style power brick. This was not sufficient to power the system when I attached a full-size CD-ROM drive, but I suspect that a slimline CD-ROM would have been okay. Maybe the Linux boot sequence makes the mobo work harder at boot? I don't know. Try booting the CD without a hard drive attached (reduce overall consumption). Or power the system with a full-size PC PSU (350W or whatever they are these days). Alternatively, try another boot disc. Debian Disk 1 will boot a PC. It's not a live CD, but it boots up so you can run the installer. Also, try Memtest (available from the boot menu in Mepis, and maybe others). Again, it boots and does very little (and worth doing anyway to see if there are any RAM problems). Finally, re-seat all RAM and connectors on the mobo. I know this doesn't explain why the Windows CD works and the others don't. It's a full-moon tonight so maybe that's it. Those are my only suggestions for the moment. HTH, A -- Now playing: Micamac - Suite Catalane I
