Really wired: system freezes at "starting hotplug subsystem"

[Ingo Lantschner]

Hi I just tried to install Linux on a brand new machine *)specs below

On a first try I installed Ubuntu, but had problems with configuring X. 
So I tried others (Suse, Gentoo) - but they had their own problems with 
this hardware so I thought I can try Ubuntu again and invest in my 
X-knowhow.
So I installed Ubuntu again. After first reboot it told me about 
X-problems and fall back to the text-console. I tried with 
nvidia-drivers, as outlined on the Wiki (Installing Binary drivers) and 
rebooted. I got the well known errors: it attempts to load the shpchp 
and pciehp modules. But then it *hangs*. (So no chance to add something 
to the blacklist)

I tried to install Ubuntu then custom: Installation went fine, This 
time, after a few <ok> the system freezes at "starting hotplug 
subsystem". (No messages related to shpchp and pciehp apeared.)

I tried to install again with expert - same result. I tried to install 
again with normal installation, same result.

Of course I did format the partitions between each install. And I did 
not change anything in the BIOS nor did I remove or add any hardware. 
Also it is very unlikely that the hardware got broken between the 
installs, since Windows XP still starts up and works fine on that 
machine (it's in its own partition.)

So does anyone know, why? Or does anyone know, how to circumvent 
hotplug? (The live-CD does *not* work on that machine; I tried to press 
Alt+Print+e - no reaction, same with Ctrl+Alt+Del  -- machine seems to 
be very very dead.).

Many TIA Ingo.


*) specs of HW:

0000:00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corp.: Unknown device 2580 (rev 04)
0000:00:01.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corp.: Unknown device 2581 (rev 04)
0000:00:1b.0 Class 0403: Intel Corp.: Unknown device 2668 (rev 03)
0000:00:1c.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corp.: Unknown device 2660 (rev 03)
0000:00:1d.0 USB Controller: Intel Corp.: Unknown device 2658 (rev 03)
0000:00:1d.1 USB Controller: Intel Corp.: Unknown device 2659 (rev 03)
0000:00:1d.2 USB Controller: Intel Corp.: Unknown device 265a (rev 03)
0000:00:1d.3 USB Controller: Intel Corp.: Unknown device 265b (rev 03)
0000:00:1d.7 USB Controller: Intel Corp.: Unknown device 265c (rev 03)
0000:00:1e.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corp. 82801BA/CA/DB/EB PCI Bridge (rev d3)
0000:00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corp.: Unknown device 2640 (rev 03)
0000:00:1f.1 IDE interface: Intel Corp.: Unknown device 266f (rev 03)
0000:00:1f.2 IDE interface: Intel Corp.: Unknown device 2652 (rev 03)
0000:00:1f.3 SMBus: Intel Corp.: Unknown device 266a (rev 03)
0000:01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: nVidia Corporation: Unknown 
device 0145 (rev a2)
0000:03:01.0 Multimedia controller: Philips Semiconductors SAA7134 (rev 01)
0000:03:03.0 FireWire (IEEE 1394): VIA Technologies, Inc. IEEE 1394 Host 
Controller (rev 80)
0000:03:04.0 Communication controller: Lucent Microelectronics: Unknown 
device 048c (rev 03)
0000:03:06.0 Ethernet controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT6105 
[Rhine-III] (rev 8b)


Modell  	Titanium MD8383 XL
Hersteller 	Medion
Vertrieb 	Aldi
Hauptprozessor 	Intel Pentium 4 550 (3,40 GHz, FSB800, Hyper-Threading)
Betriebssystem 	Windows XP Home Edition
RAM 	512 MByte PC3200 (DDR400), 2 DIMMs
Mainboard/Chipsatz 	MSI MS-7091 (Micro-ATX)/Intel 915P
Grafikkarte: GPU 	Nvidia Geforce 6610XL (PCIe)/128MByte
Ports 	DVI-I, VGA, S-Video (In/Out), Composite (In/Out), Scart (RGB out)
Festplatte: Typ 	Western Digital WD2500JD (SATA)
Kapazität/Cache/Drehzahl 	250GByte/8 MByte/7200 rpm
Brenner/Geschwindigkeit 	Pioneer DVR-108/ Lesen: CD-ROM 40X, DVD-ROM 
16X, DVD-RAM 2X; Schreiben: CD-R 32X, CD-RW 24X, DVD-R 16X, DVD-RW 4X, 
DVD+R 16X, DVD+RW 4X DVD+R Double Layer 4X
DVD-ROM 	Artec DHM-G48R/48X, 16x
3,5”-Floppy 	nein
10-/100-MBit-Netzwerk 	Onboard
WLAN 	Ralink RT2571F 802.11b/g
Modem/ISDN 	ja/nein
TV-Karte 	Medion (DVB-T, analog, Radio)
FireWire/IEEE1394-Ports seitlich/hinten 	2/1
USB-2.0-Ports vorn/hinten 	2/4
Audio: 7.1 analog/SPDIF-Ausgang 	ja/optisch und digital
Audio: Kopfhörer/Mikrofon vorn 	ja/ja
Video-Eingang/SPDIF-Eingang 	Composite, S-Video/optisch und digital
Speicherkarten-Leser 	4-in-1 (9 Typen)
Tastatur/Maus (drahtlos) 	ja/ja
Fernbedienung (Funk/Infrarot) 	Funk
Hauptschalter/Reset-Taster 	ja/nein
PS/2- / Parallel- / RS232- / Game-Ports 	2/1/1
Steckplätze: PEG (frei)/PCI (frei)/PCIe 	1(0)/3(2)/0
Steckplätze: DDR-DIMM (frei) / max. RAM 	4(2)/ 4 GByte
5,25/3,5"-Zoll-Einbauschächte (frei) 	2(0)/2(1)

see also: http://www.heise.de/newsticker/meldung/53318