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OSR5 Common Problems and Solutions



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    ramFS/extractProd/extractAll - teminated signal 8

    OSR 5.0.5 - During the install the error
    'Reading from install source - 10Kb/ramFS/extractProd/extractAll
    terminated by signal 8'
    appears.

    You are booting from the CD on a machine with minimal memory and the install has run out of memory.

    Either increase the installed memory or reduce the number of buffers allocated during the install with: 

    Boot:   defbootstr  nbuf=1

    System does not boot during installation:

    Verify that the boot disk is in the drive.  If not then insert the disk and restart the system.  If there is another disk in the drive, for instance a DOS bootable disk, use this to verify that the drive is in fact the boot drive or A:. If it is the actual boot drive, and the disk is inserted, but it still does not start, check that the disk has been inserted correctly and is fully seated in the drive. If the disk is fully inserted and it still does not boot.  Check with another boot disk for another Operating Systems. If the foreign disk boots the system, then the SCO Boot disk is faulty.   Either create a new one using dd from a current UNIX. system, or use the rawrite utility available from most Linux distribution on the Internet.

    System Still does not boot:

    If all else has failed, check that the disk drive is connected properly to the I/O controller. Check that the CMOS values for the drive are correct, if 1.44 for a DSHD 3.5" Disk, 720 for a DSDD 3.5" Disk, 1.2M for a DSHD 5.25" Disk, or 360 for a DSDD 5.25" Disk. Check that you have 16MB of RAM available to the system.  Ensure that the 15MB-16MB hole is disabled.  Any and all shadow RAM should be turned off. Check that all the adapter cards are inserted into the motherboard and fully in contact with the bronze/gold connectors. If all has failed check the SCO Hardware Compatibility Handbook or the web site

    Errors reading from the floppy drive/disk:

    Check that the correct disk is being used.  Also check the version number and ensure that it correlates with that on the CD media. Make sure that the disk is fully seated in the drive. Make sure the CMOS settings are correct for the drive in question. Make sure the disk is not defective in any manor.  If it is then replace it.

    System reboot or screen blanks:

    Incorrectly configured video card. Incompatible video card

    System hangs during hardware configuration:

    Check configuration of hardware. Correct any address conflicts that may occur.

    Various SCO articles relating to Installation

    If you are downloading fixes with Netscape, SHIFT LEFT-CLICK the mouse to force a download instead of displaying to the screen. Due to SCO's miserably implimented method of naming SSO's, all the installation files must be named VOL.000.000. Therefore, either SAVE AS to some clever name, or make a new directory for EACH download. If you are not clever in naming these sub-directories, you will find yourself with many files named VOL.000.000 and no clue what they are. Be sure to read the cover letters and documentation which are NOT included inside various SSL and SSO archives.

    Installation

    Comments and suggestions always welcome - tom@tkrh.demon.co.uk