Solaris

Just as the subject says, I'm having trouble with Solaris 10 (08/05) freezing on me at the beginning of an installation.

(While I'm new to Unix, I have messed around with a few versions of Linux, and I'm not unfamiliar with installing OS's on machines -- I will try to provide as much information as possible).

To start off, I have verified the checksum of the .ISO file (it's good), my machine is set to boot from the DVD drive first, I've downloaded the correct version of Solaris (x86/x64), and my hardware is compliant with Solaris (I'll provide that information later, just in case), so as far as I know, everything is good to go on that part.

When I boot from the DVD, the first menu I get gives me 3 options:

Solaris
Solaris Serial Console ttya
Solaris Serial Console ttyb (for lx50, v60x and v65x)

I select the first option, Solaris, and it then brings me to another menu with 6 options:

1. Solaris Interactive (default)
2. Custom Jumpstart
3. Solaris Interactive Text (Desktop session)
4. Solaris Interactive Text (Console session)
5. Apply driver updates
6. Single user shell

From here, I again select the first option, Solaris Interactive (default), and I then get a message that states "Configuring interface nge0." After a few seconds, I get a second message that states "Skipped interface -- Setting up Java -- Extracting Windowing system."

I then get another menu asking which keyboard layout I want to use. After selecting the default option, US-English, I get a message that says "Starting Solaris Interactive" (there's some text giving info about the console mode), and at the bottom it says "Press Enter to continue."

After I press Enter, I get a grey screen with a white console box, and inside the white console box is says "If the screen is legible, press ENTER in this window." After I do this, I get a message that says "Detecting locale, please wait..." and after a second or two I get a message that says:

Select a language

0. English
1. French
2. German

It is at this point where the installation completely freezes on me; I get no response from the keyboard or the mouse.

I've left it on this screen for several hours (I've been told by a friend that Solaris can take a while to unpack all the files it needs for the installation), but it still remains frozen on this screen. I've used both USB and PS/2 keyboards and mice, but the result is the same. The machine is not connected to my home network, but I've been told that this shouldn't affect anything, let alone freeze the installation. I've made sure that there is enough free space on the partition for the installation (I believe I left 50 GB). And as I've mentioned, I've checked all my hardware, and to my knowledge, everything on this machine is compatible (here is the hardware):

ASUS A8N-SLI Premium 939 nForce4 SLI Motherboard
AMD Athlon 64+ X2 4400
2 GB OCZ Platinum DDR 400 SDRAM RAM (2 x 1GB sticks)
Maxtor DiamondMax 10 6L200S0 200GB 7200 RPM SATA 1.5Gb/s HD
LITE-ON 16x DVD+/-R DVD Burner
BFG GeForce 7800GT 256MB PCI-Express 16x SLI Graphics Card
Samsung SyncMaster 731BF Monitor

I've been able to load up and install Ubuntu and OpenSolaris on this machine, which leads me to believe the hardware is just fine. Oh, and while I currently have Windows XP Pro SP3 installed on it, I've tried to install Solaris with Windows on a separate partition, as well as with a "fresh" partition that's un-formatted.

I've tried to search for this problem, but I've had no luck in finding anything that answers why the installation is freezing at this point. Any and all help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Can you change your installation media and try ?

try to install with this option:

4. Solaris Interactive Text (Console session)

I guess an update, of sorts.

This morning, I was trying the installation once again, this time with Solaris 10 08/10. The first two times it would freeze at the same spot as it was freezing with 08/05, but on the third try, I had to leave the room on the first "grey screen with white console box" where it asks "If the screen is legible...." When I got back to the room, the grey screen and white console box was no longer there, and I was presented with a black screen and, if I remember correctly, a language menu. From this point on, I was able to continue on with the installation (or so it seems -- I didn't get the chance to install Solaris, as time constraints were in effect).

Sooo....it seems as though the problem is solved, sort of. I'm able to install Solaris, but I have to use a "workaround" to do so. Any ideas why this would happen, that if I simply wait on that grey screen with the white console box, it will seemingly bypass all of that and continue on?

Thanks.

i think hardware issues here. can you run this install as duke says?

Well, like I said, going through the installation like I have been, if I just let the installation "sit" for a minute or two at the grey screen with the white console box, it seemingly bypasses that, brings me to a language menu, and then allows me to continue on with the installation with no problems. So I guess I've found a workaround.

I'm just curious, and puzzled, as to why it freezes at that particular screen. I've checked my hardware several times, even asking a friend of mine that works with Solaris at work, and everything seems to be in order.

However, I did try the installation via the "Solaris Interactive Text (Console session)" option. It bypasses that grey screen with the white console box altogether, and goes right into the language menu, then the rest of the installation.

Something tells me it's a software issue. If it was hardware, I wouldn't be able to continue with the installation, whether through option 4, or just letting the computer sit while it skips the grey screen with white console box.

I'd still like some input/opinions/thoughts on why this is even occurring though.

Thanks.

if you don't press enter on the mentioned screen you go automaticly to the console install session. this is no workaround this is "works as designed" behavior. it is the same like option 4. in the install routine like mentioned in my above post.
so it should be a GUI issue and it could be you video adapter causing the problem...