[Solved]Can't get past "Starting network" during installation from USB

Question

I'm trying to do a fresh install of Archlinux on my laptop, following the Beginners Guide. However, I never get to the shell prompt because the installation gets stuck at "Starting network [Busy]".
These are steps I followed:
- I downloaded the latest Arch ISO.
- I wrote it to a usb stick ("Kingston Data Traveler") with "dd if=archlinux.iso of=/dev/sdb"
- I put the usb stick into my laptop (HP Pavilion dm1-4139sd), and booted it. I chose "x86_64". Everything seems to go fine, the only warning I get is: "microcode: failed to load file amd-ucode/microcode_amd.bin".
- I get the message "INIT: Entering runlevel: 3" and "Starting Syslog-NG [Done]", after that its endlessly (at least 20 minutes) stuck on "Starting network [Busy]".
I tried the following variations on the above:
- Wrote the ISO to a different USB, samen problem.
- Tried it with a different Arch version (from August), same problem.
- Turned kvm on and off, same problem.
- Pressed TAB at the "x86_64" line and added "acpi=off" to the end of it. I then get:
    :: Triggering uevents....
    [ 19.697932 ] usb 1-1: device not accepting address 2, error -110
    :: Mounting '/dev/disk/by-label/ARCH_201209' to '/run/archiso/bootmnt'
    Waiting 30 seconds for device /dev/disk/by-label/ARCH_201209
    [ 35.312165 ] usb 1-1: device not accepting address 3, error -110
    [ 45.821422 ] usb 1-1: device not accepting address 4, error -110
    [ 56.330681 ] usb 1-1: device not accepting address 5, error -110
    [ 56.330681 ] hub 1-0:1.0: unable to enumerate USB devices on port 1
    ERROR: '/dev/disk/by-label/ARCH_201209' device did not show up after 30 seconds....
    Falling back to interactive prompt
    You can try to fix the problem manually, log out when you are finished
    sh: can't access tty; job control turned off
    [rootfs /]#
I'm not sure what to do in this prompt. At least the network isn't working and none of the normal commands.
- I reset the DHCP leases on my modem, same problem.
- I turned off/on the hardware WLAN, same problem.
- I tried it with or without the LAN cable plugged in, same problem.
- I tried it with or without the battery plugged in, and with or without the power cable plugged in. Same problem.
I also performed the Arch memory test, and the bios hard disk test. They both report no errors.
I did an Arch installation a month ago on this laptop, and back then it didn't have this problem. I still have that arch installed from back then and it boots/works without problem (I have Starting NetworkingManager [Done]). I know I technically don't need to install arch again, as I still have the old one, but I wanted to clean the changes I made to some settings files and I if it turns out this is some kind of hardware problem I'd like to return it to the store.
Please help! I'm not really that familiar with Linux in general, so it might have been a very basic mistake from me as well. I have no idea what to do next, except for formatting my harddisk (which I don't think should influence the installer?), or trying to install a different Linux distro.
Edit: The solution that solved this problem for me in the end was resetting the BIOS to its defaults.
Last edited by dbakker (2012-09-15 11:28:14)

Answer 1

DSpider wrote:Did you check the MD5 checksum? If you downloaded it using a BitTorrent client, then you don't need to (its hash is checked during downloading).
Yes, I downloaded it using BitTorrent and the MD5 matches.
DSpider wrote:Try a different stick?
Yes, I tried it with 2 different USB sticks. They are both from the same brand ("Kingston DataTraveler"), so I might try different brands as well, but I don't think it is the problem.
DSpider wrote:Or at least a different method from that wiki page. For example, "dd"-ing it should work just fine.
The methods for writing the ISO that I tried so far:
The base method:
dd if=archlinux.iso of=/dev/sdb
(from an Arch install)
The method without overwriting your USB drive (created a FAT32 drive with an VFAT filesystem, from an arch install)
Using Imagewriter (from Windows)
Each method gives the same result: the laptop gets stuck at "Starting network [Busy]" when booted from one of the USB sticks. My modem indicates that it "sees" the laptop, but that the laptop has no established connection. When the laptop is stuck at the "Starting network [Busy]", all the activity on the USB stick stops (the light stops flashing).
The thing I find most strange is that the OS currently installed on the laptop has no problems booting or accessing the internet (both wired and wireless) at all.