I wanted to try a new Linux distro, so I got Fedora on a DVD and ran it, but after it asks me to select "start live CD" or "troubleshoot," when I click "start" the screen turns black and I can't see anything anymore.

I thought it was just some driver error, so I tried Arch Linux, but what do you know, the same exact problem. After I get the menu, when I click "start" it shows some output and then the screen goes black and I can't see anything.

At first I thought they were just failing to boot, but then I figured out my problem is stranger than that. They do boot just fine, but I can't see them. If, while the screen is black, I type in "reboot" and press enter, the PC will reboot, showing that the Linux OS most likely booted to the terminal, but I just can't see it.

Does anyone know why this is? I installed Ubuntu like a couple years ago, and it runs fine, so does Windows 8. But whenever I try to boot into a different Linux distro, I can't see it.

you need the boot parameter

modeset=0

Where do I add a boot parameter?

When you boot the pc from cd/ usb, 1st screen

You may need to press one of the F keys to type in the boot parameter in Ubuntu for e.g

oe esc

Basically at the end of the line that is like "linux ......" or "kernel ......."

nomodeset=1 will also be ok

Alright, thanks, figured that out. Just had to press "tab" and it let me add boot options and it worked. Thanks again.