In our last episode, I began toying with Ubuntu

Linux 5.1 Live on my Compaq Armada M300 laptop. Today, I’m ready to hurl the entire

infernal contraption through the nearest window (conveniently located

about three feet behind me).

Didn’t take long, did it?

The problem, you see, is that when Ubuntu finishes what it generously

calls its boot process and makes its cute little musical chime, all I’m

left with is a strange, blank-white screen. I can force the screen to

dissipate with a [CTRL]+[ALT]+[BACKSPACE] command–which I found

through sheer, stupid, trial and error–but I’m then presented with a

text readout of the boot process that ends with this phrase:


xscreensaver-command: no screensaver is running on display :0.0

Now, when I try to [CTRL]+[ALT]+[BACKSPACE] earlier in the boot

process, I get the same result for about one second, then the white

screen reappears. Once I’m on the text screen, I can type anything I

want, to no effect. No commands are effective, not even a simple clear

command. All I can do from this position is [CTRL]+[ALT]+[DEL], which

prompts a new series of declarations that ends with instructions to

remove the live disk (the drive tray then pops open) and press enter.

The machine then reboots as normal.

The last declaration before the boot process hangs and I can clear the white screen is this phrase:

* Checking battery state…


Now, this is a hand-me-down laptop with an almost certainly useless

battery, so I’m wondering if the bootstrap process is searching for

some kind of hardware feedback from the battery, is unable to find it,

and thus simply hangs during boot. If so, what boot parameter do I need

to input to prevent this from happening? If it isn’t the battery, what

is the likely cause, and again, what boot parameters will solve it?


I’ve posted this whole shebang into Tech Q&A so the TR community at

large can mock…er, help me with the issue. 498 useless TechPoints

are up for whoever can get this n00b past his latest hurdle. Tune in

next time to see if I can solve it.

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Keep up with the Trivia Geek’s ongoing Wacky Linux Adventures with the wackylinux tag. If it doesn’t say wackylinux, it’s not really a wacky Linux adventure.