Ubuntu 6.10 Installation help

[Genocidicbunny]

After having finally upgraded my hard drive to one of a bigger volume, i decided to install Ubuntu 6.10, aka Edgy Eft. Now it was all going fine until I came upon a little problem. Anytime I try to boot from the CD to install it, It does its loading thing, then It comes upon an error with X Server.

X Server could not be started. This is most likely because It is not configured correctly. Would you like to view the server output to diagnose the problem?

I tried using the

sudo dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xorg

After using that i selected the ATi driver and set up all the other stuff at what it suggested. I typed in

startx

and got what pretty much looked like the server output before the reconfigure. At the end it said

Fatal Server Error: Could not find Screen

This happened with the VESA driver too. Now since the live cd hasnt even logged on the network driver didnt configure itself yet so I cant download the drivers to use them.

As suggested by someone on IRC I downloaded the Alternate CD. Except now it refuses to boot off a CD. My computer now tries to boot right off the HD instead of the CD drives like I told it to in the BIOS.

Specs:
Mobo: Tyan Thunder LE
Proc: Intel Pentium 3, 867 MhZ
1024 megs RAM
120 GB WD HardDrive, One partition
Onboard ATi Rage XL video card
Expansion Video Card: NV GeForce MX4000
I cant think of anything else that might be of importance except that I have 2 CD drives, one is CD-R, one is CD-RW, both are set on the same IDE cable as the secondary, with the HD being the only one on the primary.

All Im trying to do is install Linux, I dont want any suggestions to upgrade components, since Im not about to go do that on my budget.

EDIT- I forgot to note that both cd's work perfectly fine on my laptop which I am currently using, so it isnt the cd's

 

[Padma]

For your sake, I'm hoping you've asked this question on the official Ubuntu forums. They will *probably* give you better help.

For myself, I have no idea, at this moment. FWIW, my system is *roughly* equivalent to that, and I have installed Ubuntu, Suse, Mandriva, and PCLinuxOS over the last several months, all with no appreciable problem.

 

[Genocidicbunny]

Well, my first problem currently is getting the system to boot off the CD. I think that the alternate CD will install fine if I can get it to boot, which it is still refusing to. Even with the HD disconnected, it still attempts to boot off only the HD, completely ignoring the CD drives. Although right after POST i do notice a small pause, which I dont think is there if i set it to boot right off the HD. Maybe it just isnt recognizing that there's a CD in there.

 

[croxis]

Try putting the hard drive into your working computer, install it on that, and then put it on your crappy one. You can also try to hunt for the floppy or USB boot method if there is a floppy drive or USB ports on your computer

 

[Genocidicbunny]

That computer is a desktop, this one is a laptop, the only other desktop in the house is so old, the mobo doesnt recognize HD's bigger than 27 Gb. idk why that number, it just doesnt. And this HD is 120 gigs. And as i said before, and as you suggested on IRC croxis, Im gonna use the alternate Cd, as soon as I can get the comp to boot off a CD

 

[croxis]

Oh right i forgot about that. Stupid me. I suggest looking up booting off of a floppy or usb stick then.

 

[Genocidicbunny]

well, I would like to fix this problem overall. Ive looked into using a bootloader maybe, since to get the one that ubuntu has, i would have to install it right? Unfortunately, I cant find any that dont require you to already be able to boot off a CD or a floppy drive, which I dont have, dont have the money for or the cables, or the ability to purchase

 

[Genocidicbunny]

So, I didnt get a new computer over the holidays, therefore i request your help once again. Now how would I get my computer to boot off a cd

 

[EzInKy]

Onboard ATi Rage XL video card
Expansion Video Card: NV GeForce MX4000

It could be that X is confused by the two graphics chips. I think if I were troubleshooting this problem I would remove the nVideo card and then try the ATI driver.

 

[Genocidicbunny]

I was going to do just, that, but as said before, its not booting from CD

 

[EzInKy]

I was going to do just, that, but as said before, its not booting from CD

Did you try the original CD you downloaded that brought you to the X error?

 

[Genocidicbunny]

Ive tried all kinds of CD's. The ones ive dl'd, the ones i ordered. I even tried the MS bootables and they dont work

 

[EzInKy]

Ive tried all kinds of CD's. The ones ive dl'd, the ones i ordered. I even tried the MS bootables and they dont work

Interesting. Is your CD drive detected after the system is booted? If not, can you pull a CD drive from another computer to test whether it is a problem with the motherboards ide controller?

 

[Genocidicbunny]

an update a while off but and update nonetheless.
After having my computer completely refusing to work I said screw it for a while and just used my laptop to surf the net. 2 days ago I got the idea to reset the CMOS as to reconfigure everything again. It worked! I succesfully booted off the cd to ubuntu. From there it was simple, I removed my video card ( the nvidia one ) and installed ubuntu with just the ATi one running. From there, I plugged in the card, and installed the drivers. Everything is working fine now, except of course that im Running 6.06 ( couldnt find the 6.10 cd ) but I will be updating that when I get home from school

 

[Shadylookin]

an update a while off but and update nonetheless.
After having my computer completely refusing to work I said screw it for a while and just used my laptop to surf the net. 2 days ago I got the idea to reset the CMOS as to reconfigure everything again. It worked! I succesfully booted off the cd to ubuntu. From there it was simple, I removed my video card ( the nvidia one ) and installed ubuntu with just the ATi one running. From there, I plugged in the card, and installed the drivers. Everything is working fine now, except of course that im Running 6.06 ( couldnt find the 6.10 cd ) but I will be updating that when I get home from school

I would recommend using your nvidia card over the ati card. the nvidia drivers are much better from what I hear(I know the ati ones are a pain in the ass)

 

[Genocidicbunny]

I said that i plugged in the card and installed the drivers. I have an old monitor, so refresh rates do matter on it, therefore I had to plug it in if I wanted to keep my eyesight