| Installation Guide10.1. You are unable to boot Red Hat Enterprise Linux10.1.1. Are You Unable to Boot With Your RAID Card?If you have performed an installation and cannot boot your system properly, you may need to reinstall and create your partitions differently. Some BIOSes do not support booting from RAID cards. At the end of an installation, a text-based screen showing the boot loader prompt (for example, GRUB: ) and a flashing cursor may be all that appears. If this is the case, you must repartition your system. Whether you choose automatic or manual partitioning, you must install your /boot partition outside of the RAID array, such as on a separate hard drive. An internal hard drive is necessary to use for partition creation with problematic RAID cards. You must also install your preferred boot loader (GRUB or LILO) on the MBR of a drive that is outside of the RAID array. This should be the same drive that hosts the /boot/ partition. Once these changes have been made, you should be able to finish your installation and boot the system properly. 10.1.2. Is Your System Displaying Signal 11 Errors?A signal 11 error, commonly known as a segmentation fault, means that the program accessed a memory location that was not assigned to it. A signal 11 error may be due to a bug in one of the software programs that is installed, or faulty hardware. If you receive a fatal signal 11 error during your installation, it is probably due to a hardware error in memory on your system's bus. Like other operating systems, Red Hat Enterprise Linux places its own demands on your system's hardware. Some of this hardware may not be able to meet those demands, even if they work properly under another OS. Ensure that you have the latest installation updates and images. Review the online errata to see if newer versions are available. If the latest images still fail, it may be due to a problem with your hardware. Commonly, these errors are in your memory or CPU-cache. A possible solution for this error is turning off the CPU-cache in the BIOS, if your system supports this. You could also try to swap your memory around in the motherboard slots to check if the problem is either slot or memory related. Another option is to perform a media check on your installation DVD. Anaconda, the installation program, has the ability to test the integrity of the installation media. It works with the DVD, hard drive ISO, and NFS ISO installation methods. Red Hat recommends that you test all installation media before starting the installation process, and before reporting any installation-related bugs (many of the bugs reported are actually due to improperly-burned DVDs). To use this test, type the following command at the boot: or yaboot: prompt: linux mediacheck
For more information concerning signal 11 errors, refer to: http://www.bitwizard.nl/sig11/ 10.2. Trouble Beginning the Installation10.2.1. Problems with Booting into the Graphical InstallationThere are some video cards that have trouble booting into the graphical installation program. If the installation program does not run using its default settings, it tries to run in a lower resolution mode. If that still fails, the installation program attempts to run in text mode. One possible solution is to use only a basic video driver during installation. You can do this either by selecting Install system with basic video driver on the boot menu, or using the xdriver=vesa boot option at the boot prompt. Alternatively, you can force the installer to use a specific screen resolution with the resolution= boot option. This option may be most helpful for laptop users. Another solution to try is the driver= option to specify the driver that should be loaded for your video card. If this works, you should report it as a bug, because the installer failed to detect your video card automatically. Refer to Chapter 28, Boot Options for more information on boot options. To disable frame buffer support and allow the installation program to run in text mode, try using the nofb boot option. This command may be necessary for accessibility with some screen reading hardware. 10.3. Trouble During the Installation10.3.1. No devices found to install Red Hat Enterprise Linux Error MessageIf you receive an error message stating No devices found to install Red Hat Enterprise Linux, there is probably a SCSI controller that is not being recognized by the installation program. You can also refer to the Red Hat Hardware Compatibility List, available online at: 10.3.2. Saving traceback messagesIf anaconda encounters an error during the graphical installation process, it presents you with a crash reporting dialog box: - Details
shows you the details of the error:
- Save
saves details of the error locally or remotely: - Exit
exits the installation process.
If you select from the main dialog, you can choose from the following options: - Logger
saves details of the error as a log file to the local hard drive at a specified location. - Red Hat Customer Support
submits the crash report to Customer Support for assistance. - Report uploader
uploads a compressed version of the crash report to Bugzilla or a URL of your choice.
Before submitting the report, click Preferences to specify a destination or provide authentication details. Select the reporting method you need to configure and click Configure Event. - Logger
Specify a path and a filename for the log file. Check Append if you are adding to an existing log file.
- Red Hat Customer Support
Enter your Red Hat Network username and password so your report reaches Customer Support and is linked with your account. The URL is prefilled and Verify SSL is checked by default.
- Report uploader
Specify a URL for uploading a compressed version of the crash report.
- Bugzilla
Enter your Bugzilla username and password to lodge a bug with Red Hat's bug-tracking system using the crash report. The URL is prefilled and Verify SSL is checked by default.
Once you have entered your preferences, click OK to return to the report selection dialog. Select how you would like to report the problem and then click Forward. You can now customize the report by checking and unchecking the issues that will be included. When finished, click Apply. This screen displays the outcome of the report, including any errors in sending or saving the log. Click Forward to proceed. Reporting is now complete. Click Forward to return to the report selection dialog. You can now make another report, or click Close to exit the reporting utility and then Exit to close the installation process. 10.3.3. Trouble with Partition TablesThe partition table on device hda was unreadable. To create new partitions it must be initialized, causing the loss of ALL DATA on this drive.
you may not have a partition table on that drive or the partition table on the drive may not be recognizable by the partitioning software used in the installation program. Users who have used programs such as EZ-BIOS have experienced similar problems, causing data to be lost (assuming the data was not backed up before the installation began) that could not be recovered. No matter what type of installation you are performing, backups of the existing data on your systems should always be made. 10.3.4. Using Remaining SpaceYou have a swap and a / (root) partition created, and you have selected the root partition to use the remaining space, but it does not fill the hard drive. If your hard drive is more than 1024 cylinders, you must create a /boot partition if you want the / (root) partition to use all of the remaining space on your hard drive. 10.3.5. Other Partitioning ProblemsIf you create partitions manually, but cannot move to the next screen, you probably have not created all the partitions necessary for installation to proceed. You must have the following partitions as a bare minimum: When defining a partition's type as swap, do not assign it a mount point. Anaconda automatically assigns the mount point for you. 10.4. Problems After Installation10.4.1. Trouble With the Graphical GRUB Screen on an x86-based System?If you are experiencing problems with GRUB, you may need to disable the graphical boot screen. To do this, become the root user and edit the /boot/grub/grub.conf file. Within the grub.conf file, comment out the line which begins with splashimage by inserting the # character at the beginning of the line. Press Enter to exit the editing mode. Once the boot loader screen has returned, type b to boot the system. Once you reboot, the grub.conf file is reread and any changes you have made take effect. You may re-enable the graphical boot screen by uncommenting (or adding) the above line back into the grub.conf file. 10.4.2. Booting into a Graphical EnvironmentIf you have installed the X Window System but are not seeing a graphical desktop environment once you log into your system, you can start the X Window System graphical interface using the command startx. Once you enter this command and press Enter, the graphical desktop environment is displayed. Note, however, that this is just a one-time fix and does not change the log in process for future log ins. To set up your system so that you can log in at a graphical login screen, you must edit one file, /etc/inittab, by changing just one number in the runlevel section. When you are finished, reboot the computer. The next time you log in, you are presented with a graphical login prompt. Open a shell prompt. If you are in your user account, become root by typing the su command. Now, type the following to edit the file with gedit. gedit /etc/inittab
The file /etc/inittab opens. Within the first screen, a section of the file which looks like the following appears: # Default runlevel. The runlevels used are: # 0 - halt (Do NOT set initdefault to this) # 1 - Single user mode # 2 - Multiuser, without NFS (The same as 3, if you do not have networking) # 3 - Full multiuser mode # 4 - unused # 5 - X11 # 6 - reboot (Do NOT set initdefault to this) #id:3:initdefault: To change from a console to a graphical login, you should change the number in the line id:3:initdefault: from a 3 to a 5. Change only the number of the default runlevel from 3 to 5. Your changed line should look like the following: id:5:initdefault:
When you are satisfied with your change, save and exit the file using the Ctrl+Q keys. A window appears and asks if you would like to save the changes. Click Save. The next time you log in after rebooting your system, you are presented with a graphical login prompt. 10.4.3. Problems with the X Window System (GUI)If you are having trouble getting X (the X Window System) to start, you may not have installed it during your installation. If you want X, you can either install the packages from the Red Hat Enterprise Linux installation media or perform an upgrade. If you elect to upgrade, select the X Window System packages, and choose GNOME, KDE, or both, during the upgrade package selection process. 10.4.4. Problems with the X Server Crashing and Non-Root UsersIf you are having trouble with the X server crashing when anyone logs in, you may have a full file system (or, a lack of available hard drive space). To verify that this is the problem you are experiencing, run the following command: df -h The df command should help you diagnose which partition is full. For additional information about df and an explanation of the options available (such as the -h option used in this example), refer to the df man page by typing man df at a shell prompt. A key indicator is 100% full or a percentage above 90% or 95% on a partition. The /home/ and /tmp/ partitions can sometimes fill up quickly with user files. You can make some room on that partition by removing old files. After you free up some disk space, try running X as the user that was unsuccessful before. 10.4.5. Problems When You Try to Log InIf you did not create a user account in the firstboot screens, switch to a console by pressing Ctrl+Alt+F2, log in as root and use the password you assigned to root. If you cannot remember your root password, boot your system as linux single. If you are using an x86-based system and GRUB is your installed boot loader, type e for edit when the GRUB boot screen has loaded. You are presented with a list of items in the configuration file for the boot label you have selected. Choose the line that starts with kernel and type e to edit this boot entry. At the end of the kernel line, add: single
Press Enter to exit edit mode. Once the boot loader screen has returned, type b to boot the system. Once you have booted into single user mode and have access to the # prompt, you must type passwd root, which allows you to enter a new password for root. At this point you can type shutdown -r now to reboot the system with the new root password. If you cannot remember your user account password, you must become root. To become root, type su - and enter your root password when prompted. Then, type passwd <username>. This allows you to enter a new password for the specified user account. If the graphical login screen does not appear, check your hardware for compatibility issues. The Hardware Compatibility List can be found at: http://hardware.redhat.com/hcl/ 10.4.6. Is Your RAM Not Being Recognized?Sometimes, the kernel does not recognize all of your memory (RAM). You can check this with the cat /proc/meminfo command. Verify that the displayed quantity is the same as the known amount of RAM in your system. If they are not equal, add the following line to the /boot/grub/grub.conf: mem=xxM
Replace xx with the amount of RAM you have in megabytes. In /boot/grub/grub.conf, the above example would look similar to the following: # NOTICE: You have a /boot partition. This means that # all kernel paths are relative to /boot/ default=0 timeout=30 splashimage=(hd0,0)/grub/splash.xpm.gz title Red Hat Enterprise Linux Client (2.6.32.130.el6.i686)root (hd0,1)kernel /vmlinuz-(2.6.32.130.el6.i686 ro root=UUID=04a07c13-e6bf-6d5a-b207-002689545705 mem=1024Minitrd /initrd-(2.6.32.130.el6.i686.img Once you reboot, the changes made to grub.conf are reflected on your system. Once you have loaded the GRUB boot screen, type e for edit. You are presented with a list of items in the configuration file for the boot label you have selected. Choose the line that starts with kernel and type e to edit this boot entry. At the end of the kernel line, add mem=xxM
where xx equals the amount of RAM in your system. Press Enter to exit edit mode. Once the boot loader screen has returned, type b to boot the system. Remember to replace xx with the amount of RAM in your system. Press Enter to boot. 10.4.7. Your Printer Does Not WorkIf you are not sure how to set up your printer or are having trouble getting it to work properly, try using the Printer Configuration Tool. Type the system-config-printer command at a shell prompt to launch the Printer Configuration Tool. If you are not root, it prompts you for the root password to continue. 10.4.8. Apache HTTP Server or Sendmail stops responding during startupIf Apache HTTP Server (httpd) or Sendmail stops responding during startup, make sure the following line is in the /etc/hosts file: 127.0.0.1 localhost.localdomain localhost |
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