I'm trying my first Linux installation and failed at first second and
tries.

I'm loading Suse 9.1 from disk set created by the dos utility on
SUSE CD. I get the suse welcome screen followed by the Installation screen.

When I choose any of the installation options (install, manual install, safemode install and another one which I forget) It brings up the 'loading Linux kernal' box gets to 98% then the disk drive remains on until a "reboot - Unable to read" error appears. I've tried to re-create the #3 disk to no avail.

The PC is an oldie for sure 233 Mhz with 20 gig ... and the best I have
at the moment.. Any clues out there?

Thanks in advance for help

how long did you leave it before resetting ?

please give as much info about the hardware as you can.

i had a similar problem trying to boot from my cd-re-writer, linux was trying to use DMA (direct memory access) i later found out that my model of cd-writer (Samsung) often crash when trying to use DMA.

try booting from a different cd-drive if you use samsung,

Yes it is a SAMSUNg...I'll have to try another drive and have
a couple of others that I'll install and give a shot...

I let the 3rd disck go for as long as it wanted till it timed out or
came up with the error read. Very strange...

Regarding the machine..it's an old HP VECTRA 233 Mhz
me thinks a 20 g drive and beyond that not sure.. I'ts bare bones
with a 56K modem and that's about it. 256 K RAM...monitor is
a sylvania F90...
I know... get a newer machine ha ha.. but that's all i've got for now...

I'm really new at the mechanics side of PCs so this is a challenge for
a challenged person ha.


Thanks
Duff