Caching fontsFailed error VL Lite

[VLL2008]

Caching fontsFailed error VL Lite

Hi

 I installed Vector Linux Light on a Chembook 5033 Laptop... 400 Mhz  64 MB RAM 6 GB hard drive. I did the installation, and upon boot I am stuck at this error "Caching fontsFailed"  . How do I resolve this? 

Thanks.

[VLL2008]

 I reinstalled again..same problem.

I then wiped the hard drive clean using D-Ban, I reinstalled again adding "noacpi" to the boot instructions.
Again the same problem.

I restarted the machine, with my PCMCIA card connected to  the the LAN (to see if that made a difference). This time I got past the errors and it continued booting  then ended up with a blank screen.

I disconnected the PCMCIA with the LAN, and restarted the machine yet again. This time I am back at Caching fontsFailed.

I tried DSL (ended up with numerous errors) and Puppy (froze) on this machine, I also tried installing icewm with the Ubuntu cli minimum install option, while one can install Ubuntu on 64 MB with the command line option. Supposedly one can install icewm through the command line (it doesn't work... I tried that too).  http://www.binonabiso.com/en/Ubuntu-miniRAM-HOWTO.html

I looked around the forum, and noticed others are having issues with the Fonts Failed error.

[overthere]

If it helps I always see the fonts fail error as my computer boots...it is likely what comes next that is the issue..also 64 meg ram is low so you should have a swap partition of at least 128 meg. if you can get it to boot but the screen is black, perhaps try ctrl+alt+backspace and see if it takes you back to command prompt..then run vasm and reconfigure the video..
dsl runs better on 128 and often requires you to reconfigure x via xsetup
cheers

[VLL2008]

If it helps I always see the fonts fail error as my computer boots...it is likely what comes next that is the issue..also 64 meg ram is low so you should have a swap partition of at least 128 meg. if you can get it to boot but the screen is black, perhaps try ctrl+alt+backspace and see if it takes you back to command prompt..then run vasm and reconfigure the video..
dsl runs better on 128 and often requires you to reconfigure x via xsetup
cheers

I am going to go back to trying it again later on when I have more time, I was looking for some direction where to go next. Problem are these laptops, I should not complain as I picked two of them up for about $27 each on E-bay incl shipping. Chembook 5033 is not even listed at the Chembook website, whereas older and newer models are listed. From what I can tell, the laptop takes 144 pin SoDimm's in EDO ...memory chips. I can run Windows 98 and Windows NT 4.0 with no issues on these, though I don't want to go that route.

 I have another Chembook, model 6133 Laptop (also not listed on Chembook's site) also bought on E-bay and I upgraded it to 160 MB Ram and cannot boot Xubuntu up to desktop on that one due to odd errors that stop it from booting. Though Vector Linux 5.8 Gold DID run good however on the 160 MB Chembook 6133.

While Chembook's can seem a good deal for the low price they command on E-Bay. Just be aware that the 6133 and the 5033 are almost the same and to add ram, you have to disassemble the computer bottom and even the heat sink and fan to access the ram. Of the two 5033's that I bought, I had to replace the hard drive on one and that one has a faulty key board where numbers 6 and 7 don't work and also a couple of the letters which fail to respond when tapped.



 I also have a Omnibook 5700 Laptop...talk about ancient...this does not boot from CD-ROM. I tried various distros like DSL, Vector Light, Puppy, TinyMe, I did install Ubuntu command line only. It has a whopping 48 MB RAM (real proprietary and expensive even if you can find the ram) , and the speed is a whopping 166 Mhz. I used the "transplant the hard drive on another computer and transplanted it back method" to get Command line Ubuntu on it and even then I cannot access the web with the PCMCIA LAN card....but  its the only method that seems to work on these ancient computers.

 I might try the "transplant method" for Vector Light for this (5033) machine. Its a hobby anyway, and I am learning as I go along.

[overthere]

Sounds like fun..I had very good luck with dsl on a p166 with 128megs on 1 or 2 gig.. although it worked on less. I tend to stay above that for linux and install windows on older units...but many have had good results...I am sure they will post if you need more help
Hope the transplant is a success
best of luck
cheers

[VLL2008]

Hi again

 I tried the "surrogate install method" I transferred the hard drive to another computer with more ram. I did the install and then re-transplanted the hard drive. Here is the latest.

I booted up and it got stuck at

"Setting up basic networkCaching fontsStarting network eth0 using a DHCP server.."

FAILED                                                                                                        (FAILED)

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I rebooted and installed my PCMCIA card connected to my LAN and got further this time

It went to

dhcp: Mac address
dhscp : your IP address
eth0 Link cap
 inet addr
UP BROADCAST NOTRAILERS RUNNING MULTICAST
RX Packets
TX packets
collisions 0
RX bytes
Interrupt 10 Base address 0 x200
                                                                              (OK)
                                                                              (OK)

Then the boot goes no further, so what should I do next?

[VLL2008]

Is there a way of turning off the fonts?

[nightflier]

Do you select the "linux-tui" on boot so you can see all the error messages?
When the process stops, does the machine respond to ctrl-alt-del or any other keyboard inputs?

[VLL2008]

Do you select the "linux-tui" on boot so you can see all the error messages?
When the process stops, does the machine respond to ctrl-alt-del or any other keyboard inputs?

No it does not. If there was a way to ESC or go to some confiq file, I could perhaps fix the error (s) after the problem happened...then maybe I could fix this issue.


 I also checked the time to see if its a battery problem messing with the bios. And the time was only 25 minutes off and readjusted the time and rebooted again...still the same problem.

I just saw another post here on the Vector Linux forums dealing with the fonts problem. This is going to be my next step...to get to terminal and try to figure what to turn off .

http://forum.vectorlinux.com/index.php?topic=6155.0

[VLL2008]

 Just a follow up, I installed more ram, its now up to 98 mb on this laptop and unfortunately it didn't make any difference. That "caching fonts failed" error and then it just sits there...is back again. Even after burning a new ISO and a new installation, even turning off acpi and pnp startup.

It very could well be these laptops do not support Linux. I can install and run Windows 98 with no problem. But Linux is a no go, It isn't just Vector Linux Light that will not run. I also tried fluxbuntu, xubuntu and even icebuntu.


The only thing I could possibly add to this is to stay away from Chembook 5033 laptops, they are completely worthless in my opinion.