F16 Net Install CD Doesn't Work

[bob p]

This is a follow-up to my other thread about the upgrade path from 15 to 16 not working. I got nowhere trying to upgrade from 15 to 16, and after not getting any helpful ideas, I decided to throw in the towel and start off with a fresh install of F16. Unfortunately, that doesn't work either. My Fedora system is dead as a doornail and I can't even install F16.


I'm booting the F16 i386 Network Install CD. The CD boots into text mode, and I get as far as choosing the English language and a US keyboard. That starts Anaconda 16.25, the network installer GUI.

Within Anaconda, my first option is to choose storage devices. I choose the first option, "Basic Storage Devices", because I'm not doing anything fancy -- this is a basic Windows / Linux setup install with a few IDE hard disks.

Anaconda pops up a dialog box that says "Examining Devices" and that's when things go bad. The next dialog box says,

"An unhandled exception has occurred.  This is most likely a bug.  Please save a copy of the detailed exception and file a bug report."

When I choose the "SAVE" option, a new error dialog pops up, telling me:

You do not have an active network connection.  This is required by some exception saving methods.  Would you like to configure your network now?"

How lame. Of course I have a network connection. IT works fine with every other OS that I boot on the system. IT's just the F16 install CD that can't see the ethernet connection. Attempting to configure the ethernet connection produces a bunch of other errors, telling me that other thigns aren't configured correctly for submitting error reports.


Ideas?

[Hammerhead V]

I haven't had that first issue, but I recently had to reinstall my Fedora 16 x86_64, and I also used a net install. The same iso worked for me before, but now my ethernet does not work, although I was able to connect with a wireless network to finish the install.
If this helps anyone diagnose the problem that would also be great news for myself, although there is the possibility that this might be a red herring and my issue might only coincidently be similar.

[BBQdave]

Originally Posted by bob p

IT's just the F16 install CD that can't see the ethernet connection.

If you have the time and bandwidth, I recommend the F16 live install CD. I have had no issues with it (several installs across different machines). You can test your hardware in the live session (ethernet connection) and it is not necessary to have a web connection for the install.

For me, it seems roughly the same amount of time to use the live cd install and then yum update.

[george_toolan]

You could also use the installation DVD which doesn't require an internet connection during installation.

If you have several hdds and operating systems it might be a good idea to choose advanced options and tell it which hdd/partition to use for the installation.

[chrismurphy]

You need a USB stick, and go to a shell, and dump your anaconda logs to the stick. I suggest anything that ends in .log that you find in /tmp. And I'd also create a dmesg.log, something like:

dmesg > dmesg.log

You could also include an lsmod and lspci:

lsmod > lsmod_results.txt
lspci > lspci_results.txt

Based on what you've given so far, it's a totally endless guessing game.

If you're going to go down a rabbit hole of troubleshooting anyway, you could consider downloading the F17 Beta and then maybe if the problem is reproducible there, and located, it might get fixed for the final release. *shrug*