openSUSE Complains it "Cannot Find Repository" when installing

Posted February 8th, 2008 in Linux/Unix/BSD

A customer of mine from the Linux CD Mall emailed with a problem trying to install openSUSE 10.3. The DVD booted up OK but then came up with the error message "Cannot Find Repository" and refused to be able to install. Basically it couldn't see the DVD even though it had booted from it in the first place.

The solution to this "cannot find repository" problem is very simple. When you first boot up from the CD or DVD, you have several boot options on the boot menu. After selecting the installation option, it is possible to type some text into the box that appears near the bottom of the screen. Simply type in this:

hwprobe=-modules.pata

and then press the <enter> key and it should work just fine. The screenshot below shows the boot up screen with this text entered there. I have put a red box around the boot options section.

This solution worked for my customer, and since he experienced the issue I have discovered one of my PCs has the exact same problem, and this also worked for me.