Installation Difficulties no matter what distro i try
 

Here's where im at
Vector Linux v5.1 Standard, downloaded from both torrent & FTP links, md5 hashes confirmed on all, no go each time i try to install it it runs the self check and shows corruptions
Debian Sarge, I downloaded the 2 DVD disks as i prefer larger individual downloads to many small. tried vie torrent & FTP links, md5 hashes matched up yet again, burned and upon booting to installation freezes on "Locating linux ATAPI CD-Drive" pretty sure is what it says, i left it sit for 20 minuts there and finaly just gave up
Ubuntu & Kubuntu both 6.06 and 5.10, both again downloaded torrents & FTP, confirmed MD5 hash codes... they all install fine, yet all freeze up as soon as loading into kde or gnome respectivly

i have tried many other distros, the above are most recent. at this point the only one to ever get me a working linux station is Simply Mepis 3.3, however i find it bloated up a bit.

what im looking for is a small fast distro, not packaged with 10 different text editors, 7 audio players. im a very linux noob but extremely ambitious. i have my windows on my main drive and have repartitioned my 2nd 160 gig into a 37.5gig linux, 37.5gig linux, 5gig linux swap, 80gig win xp

a very small fast distro, im trying to get one that is as far from windows as possible but maintaining a gui as im extremely lost still on a command line
prefferably one with source and most of the basic build utilities and what not. i have little fear of doing manual installs if needed but so far i have yet to get a distro that even fits closely to what i would like to start with. if anyone has suggestions and or possible ideas on the above distro failures i will be checking back on this topic. i wish i had error codes i could post but i never got any just basic freezes & corruptions. one other thing i noted, of the ones i tried of the "64" version i didnt get past the basic installation menus without freezing, most wouldnt even load up at all even tho im running a official amd 64 processor : /

my system spec is as follows, and i need to update my video card

80gig Seagate IDE HDD
160gig Seagate IDE HDD
ATI Radeon 9600xt 256mb ram
1024 megs sdram
amd athlon 64 3400 *socket 754 with 1600mhz fsb*
chaintech znf-250 motherboard with a card reader
unsure of brand dvd player & again unsure of brand dvd/cd burner below it

im extremely open to suggestion on bios options and what not as at this point i am unable to come up with ideas on why anything isnt working for me. but i desperatly wish to get away from windows and learn something new

For a quick test, try the Etch Beta3 Debian installer.About 100MB .iso. Much better hardware recognition and more up-to-date drivers than Sarge.

My last couple installs, I have bypassed the Desktop "task" offered at the end of the Base Install, then installed each Desktop application I use individually. More trouble but it's a very lean and fast setup.

If you're seriously wanting to learn, I would try setting up a Linux from Scratch box. The LFS LiveCD will get you started, you can use lynx to view the lfS book in one console while doing the work in another (if you don't know, F1 F2... will change consoles in console mode. You will learn more and respect your system more than, I think, with any other distro. LFS only installs the basics (everything you need for a system to actually work) then once you get to BLFS (Beyond LFS) you will be installing the libs and programs you need to get your GUI to work. If you don't want to actually go through the book (which could take days you can try the ALFS script which is located on the LFS Live CD and should setup the basics for you without much hassle (although this will take hours) The reason it takes so long is because every program that you will be installing is being compiled from the source code. Which means that it should be optimized for your particular machine. This should improve over all speed and effeciency. You will also compile your own kernel. It's a good idea before doing this to list the entire specs of your machine on a piece of paper. Compiling the kernel with only the support your need for your computer should also improve the efficiency and speed of your box.

I was in the same boat. No distrobution felt quite right. I didn't like the fact that I didn't know what was on my computer. Now I do.


If that's not your cup of tea, get Damn Small Linux, and see what you think, it even comes with fluxbox (my favorite)

knew i forgot something, i actualy sent for and bought the 6.0 stable book and CD. it froze up as soon as i loaded the xwindows options usualy, othertimes would freeze at the splash for it. and as i had said earlier command line and me are not exactly well aquainted

I didn't install it using the xwindows option... LFS is at 6.1.1 stable now so I don't know if you might try it again, if not try DSL and see what you think. You really just need to find out what the underlying problem is, whether it be hardware related (which seems to be the obvious answer) or what. Then it doesn't matter what distro you use you'll know what you need to do to get your hardware working. Also I've heard ZenLinux is interesting, you might check out their site.