I have a problem booting any liveCD on my Presario 2100 laptop.
I always get some problem when i use any livecD. I get the startup splash screen with distro logo but with Grafpup 2.0 i get a kernel panic error after that.

Is there a way to start a HD install from the boot prompt itself?

I am currently running Debian Etch.

grafpup does not have the option - you could move the ISO to the HDD and boot from there...

however, your HW is sufficient to run a live CD - possibly the cd drive is a bit flaky? Which other live distros have you tried?

I have tried DSL about 2 months back.
Ubuntu 6.06 a few months back but no success.

Now Grafpup wont run.
I tried Grafpup on a friends new Compaq C700 ( i think so) laptop and it boots up fine, giving all the config options and stuff. Then it hit a snag. At the login screen, after entering username and passwd, it again reverts to login screen asking for username and passwd without displaying any warning or message.
Means it wont go past the login screen.

I'm afraid it is something of a rule of thumb that if DSL won't run it nothing will.
Try reseating your friend's RAM... possibly you have the start of some HW failure here and on your computer.

From that login screen... try ctrl+alt+F1 to bring up a text login, see if that works.

Of course, you can try a full install... use a non-live disk. Ubuntu Alternate, Debian, openSUSE, fedora... use a very recent distro for this.

The OS i currently am using is Debian Etch. It installed without a hitch on my laptop.
But then I was new to Linux and had disappointment with DSL and Ubuntu.

I downloaded the Debian net install iso. First I downloaded the stable release ( then Sarge) which wouldnt run.
Then I downloaded Etch which was so simple to install.
Then I had a tough time sourcing and installing packages to get my broadband connection over ethernet running.
From then on it was pretty straightforward. I got Gnome, found it boring and finally settled on KDE since it was easy for my transition from wincrap. Then I experimented with various software, lots of installing, uninstalling, tweaking, etc, etc...
So my OS is quite a Frankenstein monster of sorts.

So when I found out that I was actually requiring an OS for Graphics and art, I decided to add Grafpup to my HD,an easy download since my connection is bandwidth limited to 1GB per month.

I just want a clean new OS. Readymade stuff working out of the box.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debian
... "etch" is the current "Debian Stable" release.
... "sarge" is the old stable release, it will be pretty dated by now, so it is not surprising it wouldn't run.

The current "Debian Unstable" is called "Lenny" and is usually recommended for a home desktop which uses more recent hardware.

Debian emphasizes the Free Software ideology. So if your hardware needs proprietary drivers or some kind of wrapper you will have trouble at the installation stage. However, once you are online, adding software is the easiest of any distro.

You now have a well-respected distro working well. I strongly urge you read around what it is trying to do for you before moving. If the ps file is too big for you, try here.

Debian is not a specific OS at all. It is just that there are quite a few packages available for artistically inclined people.

However - grafpup is a distribution on it's own, not actually a program to add to Debian.

This is usual for your first time once you get used to what you actually use, you'll make a more clean install just the way you like it, and it'll stay that way.

Some people keep two installations - one for fiddling and one for using. I keep an install that I use, highly customized, and one that is as standard as possible so I can troubleshoot other people's computers.

Probably what you want to do next is identify the actual software that you enjoyed using in grafpup and install it to debian... chances are much of it is already there.

Thats right. I have a dirty OS for fiddling around.
I want Grafpup because I like the selection of programs in it and want to make it my standard system. I have never used it before though.

btw you got a bit of info wrong:- Debian unstable is always Sid. Lenny is "Testing".

I just want a OS specific for Graphics because I already have had an experience with the general purpose Debian.

NEways It seems that there is not much I can do about Grafpup vs my laptop.

One more question.
If you do a HD install from a live cd, is it same as that done from a non-live cd ?

btw you got a bit of info wrong:- Debian unstable is always Sid. Lenny is "Testing".
... just testing

http://www.linux.com/articles/51232
... it seems graphpup will install to HDD after all.
Havn't found actual instructions for this, probably the same method as with puppy.

Well sorry to disappoint you but the hard drive install option is documented to be available only after the desktop has been loaded. Means it has to be run as a live cd first in order to do a HD install.

I am looking for a way to bypass that by passing some boot parameter or smthing.

I thought there was a way to install puppy by entering "3" at the boot: prompt... it that gone now?

Looking at the distrowatch listing, the only graphical packages out of the box in grafpup are inkscape and gimp. GIMP is in almost all distros, so it's just inkscape

sudo aptitiude install inkscape

that you need to add. You may want to try blender too.

If you liked the "look and feel" of grafpup, then you need to replace your desktop, file manager and window manager. Then you're done.

I have never been able to try Grafpup.
I will try the 3 at boot prompt though.

I have always wanted to use a graphic artist inclined distro and finally when I find one and am unable to use it, it is disheartening. Seems its back to basic debian for me.

I got this error myself. The workaround for now is, to login and logout. Then login as any other user you want to.

My guess is, that when the pc is shutting down, the lock file of slim isn't removed. But that need more research..