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Loading and Hardware Detection Problems

The MDP Resource CD is still being developed and there are a few hardware configurations that will cause problems. This page details some fixes for common problems. You should also check the online list of Compatible Hardware. If you do not find a solution to your problem, or if you have a correction, then please email mdp-support@eng.cam.ac.uk .

Many of the fixes below involve typing some options when the computer first starts to load. These should be typed you first see the prompt:

Welcome to the MDP Resource CD. This CD will start to load in 5 seconds. (If you need to specify any special options, then press F2 for help.)

Solutions to Common Problems

• General Problems
• After the initial MDP logo, the screen goes completely black
• Fails at "Looking for CDROM in:"
• Flat-screen monitor complains "Signal out of range"

You may also find that the CD loads completely but then you discover problems with the configuration after it has loaded.

• Network card is not detected
• Problems connecting to the university
• Using a non-UK keyboard

If your specific problem doesn't appear below, then you may like to try entering the following at startup:

failsafe

This setup does not configure all the drivers in the optimal way for your computer, so you may not experience maximum performance, and not all features of your computer will be available. However, it is less likely to fail on troublesome hardware.

If you are booting directly from the CD, and not using the floppy, you could also try:

knoppix26

This is often useful for very new hardware, and for detecting some laptop hardware. Unfortunately due to space constraints, it is not available if you are booting from the floppy disk. See Changing your Computer's BIOS to Load from the CD-ROM for information on booting directly from the CD.

If you have are booting directly from the CD, you should try typing the following at startup:

knoppix26

At startup, try typing either one of the following:

knoppix atapicd

knoppix nodma

At startup, try typing:

knoppix vsync=60

This solution reduces the update rate of the screen. It is not recommended for a non-flatscreen monitor, since it can make the screen flicker too much.

When you try and configure your network card, you get a "no recognised network card found" error. It may be possible to manually configure your network card.

To do this, you need to know the manufacturer and model number of your network. You can find this from Windows from the Device Manager. To open Device Manager, click Start, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel. Double-click System, click the Hardware tab, and then click Device Manager. Your network card should be given in the list of hardware.

Once, you have loaded the MDP Resource CD, you need to open an XTerminal window with =>Start =>XTerminal and then type a command from the list below, depending on what your network card is. More cards will be added to the list over time.

sudo modprobe 3c509

sudo modprobe sk98lin

Now try and configure your network card by clicking on => Start => Settings => Network => Network Card.

There is a currently a small bug in the program that connects to the University, which may refuse to connect to your file space at university, even if you supply the correct username and password. This is known to occur if the password contains a $ dollar character. Hopefully, it should not occur for other punctuation. This will be fixed in later versions of the CD.

At startup, try typing one of the following depending on your keyboard:

knoppix lang=us

knoppix lang=fr

knoppix lang=de