CNC linux operating system

[piglete2000]

Hi,

I have been trying to install the Ajax system on a milling machine for the first time and have run into a problem with the "solid state hard drive". The computer recognizes it correctly in the bios set-up, but when it tries to boot from it it gives the following error: GRUB hard disk failure. I managed to read the flashcard directly using a USB reader and Redhat linux. So I think that the files are intact. When I install the "solid state hard drive" and try to boot with Redhat Linux, the loader gets stuck checking the partitioning on the "solid state hard drive". Has anyone encountered this problem before? Could the IDE flashdisk adaptor be bad or incompatable with my computer?

I also tried to download the linux installation CD and install CNC linux directly on the hard drive. Unfortunately, when I burn the CD from the files Ajax provides, it doesn't wind up bootable. I'm not sure how to make a bootable linux CD, but I'm convinced that there are more steps to it than those described on Ajax's user support site. Is there a trick to it?

-Kristen

[DieGuy]

Most flash linux installs don't use grub, so that is a new one on me.

Some CF cards are not bootable.

[lerman]

Originally Posted by piglete2000 Hi, I have been trying to install the Ajax system on a milling machine for the first time and have run into a problem with the "solid state hard drive". The computer recognizes it correctly in the bios set-up, but when it tries to boot from it it gives the following error: GRUB hard disk failure. I managed to read the flashcard directly using a USB reader and Redhat linux. So I think that the files are intact. When I install the "solid state hard drive" and try to boot with Redhat Linux, the loader gets stuck checking the partitioning on the "solid state hard drive". Has anyone encountered this problem before? Could the IDE flashdisk adaptor be bad or incompatable with my computer? I also tried to download the linux installation CD and install CNC linux directly on the hard drive. Unfortunately, when I burn the CD from the files Ajax provides, it doesn't wind up bootable. I'm not sure how to make a bootable linux CD, but I'm convinced that there are more steps to it than those described on Ajax's user support site. Is there a trick to it? -Kristen

When you "burn the CD from the files", what are you actually doing? On what OS? On linux, you could use mkisofs to generate the file system, then cdrecord to write it to disk.

Ken

[AjaxCNC]

Kristen,

What motherboard/PC are you using for the control? The flash card and reader were fully tested before we shipped them to you, so they should be OK. When we see this kind of problem it is most likely due to an incompatible motherboard.

[piglete2000]

Thanks for the quick replies!

I actually used Windows XP to burn the CD on another computer. I just followed the instructions on the user support site: Unzip the files into a directory on the hard disk then burn the files onto the CD. Normally, in windows to make a bootable CD you need an image file, but the download from Ajax didn't have one and the instructions didn't mention one at all.

I am using a PC Chips motherboard. The flashdisk didn't come with any compatability list other than "fully IDE compatible". I couldn't find one on the manufacturer's web site either. The candidate computer runs Redhat and SuSE linux just fine. What exactly is the compatibility list for the flash disk and for that matter the rest of the Ajax system?

-Kristen