GRUB bootloop on old Optiplex 210L, ideas?

Ah, another day, another donor computer with parallel port to evaluate for LinuxCNC use!

This one is a Dell Optiplex 210L . The chassis is all metal, it runs a single-core P4, and came with 2GB of RAM. It also has onboard video with VGA-output. Great, I figured, I'll pop a video card in and it'll be another LinuxCNC machine!

Well, not so fast.

It seems that no matter what I try in terms of a video card the machine refuses to boot through GRUB into the main GUI. It gets through the first few diagnostic lines, then reboots. Left alone this bootloop continues until I interrupt it (poweroff or other). This happens on both the Debian Wheezy ISO and the Ubuntu 12.04 ISO. I am able to boot into the GUI using NOMODESET, but beyond this I'm rather at a loss as to what to do. I've tried this on both an old Matrox GPU and a more recent GeForce 6600, and neither can get through GRUB.

Is this something that's common to older Dell computers?

Is this an issue specific to GRUB, and if so is there an alternate bootloader I should try?

Any input would be greatly appreciated, but please keep in mind I'm (still) a Linux newbie.

Thanks,

Have you tried 8.04?

Rick G

I'd never considered trying to install an older Linux version onto the machine, matching the vintage of OS with the hardware. Worth a shot, thanks!

For installing LinuxCNC, should I follow the same procedure as installing onto a distro like 12.04?

Cheers-

I am able to boot into the GUI using NOMODESET, but beyond this I'm rather at a loss as to what to do.

If it boots OK with 'nomodeset' kernel parameter, then make it permanant

ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1613132

For installing LinuxCNC, should I follow the same procedure as installing onto a distro like 12.04?

No, download the 8.04 based iso and install that. You will be limited to version 2.5.x, so try the Wheezy based distro with nomodeset first.

If you installed on the machine with the internal video chip in use and THEN added a new card, you might even want to reinstall and see if it picks up your card properly.
Would be easier than trying to manually reconfigure xorg to use the correct drivers.

regards