I tried to make a Debian netinst install disc. I tried two different computers with multiple settings. I also tried different brands of CDs. All resulted in corruption. I am using AT&T Broadband (if it matters). I also tried two different CD drives on the future Linux Box. What am I doing wrong?

I hope this isn't too obvious, but I have made this mistake, long after I should have known better:

If you are burning the *.iso, are you selecting "Burn image" in the burning program? Otherwise, you will just be copying the *.iso file to another media, not creating a bootable disk.

Different burning programs hide it in different locations on the menu. In K3B, it's under "Tools." In Brasero, I think it's under "Create a New Project."

Actually, I am using "Burn Image". Confusing, huh. I forgot to post, I am using Windows 7 Disc Image Burner and also Infra Recorder on the other computer.

You could have a corrupted download. Checking the MD5 checksum would let you know if the .iso is corrupted. I can never be bothered to check MD5sums unless I'm getting a problem, so I prefer to download .isos with bittorrent. With good bittorrent clients, you can checked the integrity of the .iso (or any other file for that mater).

Burning at high speed can corrupt the .iso as well, try burning at a lower speed.

when you mount the resulting cd on your pc, which files are on it? tens of files, or just one named xxxxxx.iso?
if your answer is xxxxxx.iso, then it's your cd burning method that's wrong (see above comments).

to get a good iso, I always start from the distrib's web site, not some obscure forum url, etc ...

also, every distrib provides a way of verifying the integrity of the iso you downloaded before burning it to a cd/dvd

once the image is burned, you can do something if you have access to a linux machine: use dd to do a copy of your dvd to a file. I believe you get a file that is the exact copy of the original iso file. So you can then compare it to the original .iso file using diff command. If they're the same, you burned the cd correctly.

Have fun with linux!

On Windows, try ImgBurn. See if that's any better.
http://www.imgburn.com/

I am using debian.com for my isos. I can't find a MD5 for netinst. I'll try the diff command. I'll also try imgburn.

From http://cdimage.debian.org/debian-cd/...so-cd/MD5SUMS: eb25e5098ed0e60381f78b4efdde8737 debian-6.0.1a-amd64-netinst.iso

Thanks for the URL catkin! The files I used to create the discs were not corrupt. I'm going to try the diff command.

Another option for burning the thing is to get a live cd of any Linux OS and burn it from there. I trust Linux burning tools. I don't trust MS for anything.

I tried the diff command and the CD matched the mounted disc image that matches the MD5 on Debian's website. The disc is perfect but it always gives me an error in mid-installation saying the disc is corrupted and it won't let me get farther then that.

Have you tried booting from the disc in another computer?

I know it's a long shot, but maybe it's the drive in your target computer.

I actually tried two drives in the same computer both didn't work.

CD reader drives or HDD drives?

Have you tried with cds from different manufacturers? some cds are very cheap (as in quality). Also are you burning at default or max speed? Try burning at a lower speed say 24x or 16x.