9.2 Installation Problems
Installation problems are situations when a machine fails to install. It may fail entirely
or it may not be able to start the graphical installer. This section highlights some of
the typical problems you may run into, and oers possible solutions or workarounds
for these kinds of situations.
9.2.1 Checking Media
If you encounter any problems using the openSUSE installation media, check the in-
tegrity of your installation media. Boot from the media and choose Check Installation
Media from the boot menu. In a running system, start YaST and choose Software >
Media Check. Media problems are more probable with the media you burn yourself.
Burning the media at a low speed (4x) helps avoiding problems.
9.2.2 Hardware Information
Display detected hardware and technical data using Hardware > Hardware Information
in YaST. Click any node of the tree for more information about a device. This module
is especially useful, when submitting a support request for which you need information
about your hardware.
Save the displayed hardware information to a le by clicking Save to File. Select the
desired directory and lename then click Save to create the le.
9.2.3 No Bootable DVD Drive Available
If your computer does not contain a bootable DVD-ROM drive or if the one you have
is not supported by Linux, there are several options you can install your machine
without a built-in DVD drive:
Using an External Boot Device
If it is supported by your BIOS and the installation kernel, boot from external DVD
drives or USB storage devices.
Network Boot via PXE
If a machine lacks a DVD drive, but provides a working ethernet connection,
perform a completely network-based installation. See Section “Remote Installation
via VNC—PXE Boot and Wake on LAN” (Chapter 1, Remote Installation, ↑Refer-
ence) and Section “Remote Installation via SSH—PXE Boot and Wake on LAN”
(Chapter 1, Remote Installation, ↑Reference) for details.
9.2.3.1 External Boot Devices
Linux supports most existing DVD drives. If the system has neither a DVD drive nor
a oppy disk, it is still possible that an external DVD drive, connected through USB,
FireWire, or SCSI, can be used to boot the system. This depends mainly on the inter-
action of the BIOS and the hardware used. Sometimes a BIOS update may help if
you encounter problems.
132 Start-Up
