I've tried twice now. I'm using the DVD to install, and I can get into the screen, partition my drive and then the first time it said that my system wasn't compatible, and the second time i got to the package choices, and then it ewnt to start and just restarted. Any ideas?

my setup is the following:
/boot 100 mb
/ - 5 gb
/usr - 25 gb
/home - 51 gb

the rest of the drive is partitioned into three primary windows partitions (system, files, programs) for a dual boot system.

1. what is your system?

You have no swap partition?
It won't install without one.

Try:
/boot = 256Mb (additional kernel images will go here - leave room)
swap = 256Mb
root = / = 8Gb (everything not in /usr or /home is here - I like to give this enough space for the entire install if possible.)
/usr = 30Gb (this will be where most 3rd party software goes - you need expansion room)
/home = the rest.

enlarging boot and adding swap should clear this up though.

ok...i'll try it again, but by leaving everything as is, and adding a swap, i got an anaconda error and it restarted.

You sure your dvd is good?

You've gotta be ultra paranoid about getting a clean image burnt. This means sha1sum'ing the image you downloaded, then burning it, then comparing the dvd against the the iso image to make sure they are identical. If you don't do all those steps, don't expect your install to work.

See this thread for some discussion on it: http://forums.fedoraforum.org/showthread.php?t=62761

johnMG: the main trouble with the dvd is when the media check works but the system won't install (distribution notes). The sha1sum check is usually reliable. It looks a bit like anacondas current mediacheck is being depreciated.

I read your fedora forum posts:
You had issues mostly with OS X messing up. You probably had a poor line connection somewhere too. It showed up with FC4 because there are 4 CDs and thus lots of chances to go wrong. Hence the "paranoid" feeling.

(I too have had issues with OS X and burning Cds. It was very unreliable for large files, but it wasn't my machine so I didn't want to fiddle. Sometimes it's just the hardware that comes with these things.)

I remember, a long time ago now, a flat mate telling me that floppy disks are not reliable. I was surprised and enquired further and he quoted a totally unreasonable failure rate (1 in 3 uses corrupts the disk or something). I investigated and discovered that a fridge magnet had got stuck under his drive. If the floppy jiggled a bit going in then it would be erased! And so he had an unreasonable paranoia about floppy integrety from personal experience. (I also had an experience where someon was repeatedly scratching one or another disk during the sneakernet transfer... this produced identical frustration to yours as you can imagine.)

Ultra-paranoid is probably safer - but not required.

For FC4 - I'd say: use the dvd, do a fresh install (no ungrade), and read the release notes first. It also helps not to be the first to try If the disk-install works not, try a net install: then you aren't relying on the burn step working right.

I'd also recommend the faq and the personal FC4 installation here.

It looks like you did an "everything" install too - so you'll be finding FC4 a little bloated

I'm curious: is the rescue CD any different from CD1? I have the dvd and rescue but I cannot see any difference using the install notes.

I don't have a fast connection - fast internet in NZ sucks and from this island, forget it. I got mine through an internet cafe. They hadn't even heard of the sha1sum but the dvd install nicely with no error messages first time.

> I'm curious: is the rescue CD any different from CD1?

No idea. Never tried using it. I guess I'm supposed to boot from it if I really botch up my system, but fortunately that hasn't yet happened.

BTW, I was being a little silly when I said "ultra paranoid". I just meant: check the iso, then verify your burn, or you really don't know if you've got a good cd/dvd or not. If you do those things, there's really no need for the RH/Fedora mediacheck.

As for picking up a cd/dvd at an internet cafe... I suppose it's trickier to figure out if your disc is good. Maybe you could put the disc in the drive, not mount it, then sha1sum it somehow... dunno. I'm very fortunate and have a fast internet connection.