Finally got to a command prompt - all I had to do was hit escape (in Ubuntu - don't know how to get there in Fedora).

All of the vendor sites list Boot Options, but not how to use them. Now all I have to do is figure out Linux syntax, and I should either succeed with the install, or find out what's wrong with my machine.

Did you try F4/Safe Graphics Mode?

That should get you running so you can install your nVidia drivers...

F4 didn't do anything different.

Using the command line, it switched to graphical for a little bit, then switched back to text.
The screen shows "Setting kernel variables..." a bunch of times, checked then mounted local filesystems, then started a bunch of things marking them [ OK ].

It has halted at "* Starting bluetooth". Did it twice in a row. I don't have bluetooth.

Just noticed that it started powernowd (no OK listed), then moved on and then stopped at bluetooth. Probably something to do with powernowd?

It was my mouse. So far. I reconnected to the PS/2 port and I'm in. Now, it can't find my drives to partition. Good grief.

Different as compared to what? You need to help me out, here. I'm not in front of your computer. If F4 didn't open a menu and allow you to choose Safe Graphics Mode, then you have a bad CD. Did you check it for errors like I said??

I'm telling you man-go get my new multidistro that has netbootcd and install from the net and reboot into Fedora, whatever...it's got alot of stuff-
( http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...rminal-717558/ )

Note that it is also good practice to run any iso you download from the net in Qemu/Vbox, etc so you know if it'll boot n play Before you burn a CD.

Sorry fellas, I tend to just say what my end results are. Let me catch you up:

I did check the CDs as soon as they were created.

F4 did give me Safe Graphics Mode, but the mode failed the same as before.

Then I discovered that ESC took me to a command prompt, which is what I needed in the first place, since I could not tell what was messing up (you can get to a command prompt the same way in Fedora - just have to press it one more time).

Text mode indicated that something was wrong with USB, and the only USB thing still connected was my mouse. I plugged the mouse into what I call the PS/2 mouse port, and the Live CD worked just fine. Dammit.

I selected the "Try without changing" option, and the machine is waiting for me to decide how I want to partition my drives, which I will work on after work. More research . I'll proceed with Ubuntu since it happened to be the one in my drive when I figured out the problem.

So, my deepest gratitude to you for sticking with me!

I will either post any future problems here, or at least, I'll update this thread when I'm finished with my setup for anyone else with similar problems. My Netgear wireless network card has (or had) a bad reputation.

My apologies if I sounded huffy. I'll now explain this more politely.

With Windows, yes, you can contact MS, tell them which version you're running and with what hardware, and the problem you're having, and they already know the solution. And well they should; They wrote the OS.

With Linux, there are many distros that are altered in many different ways. Then, when you have a problem, you have volunteers to help. Some are more knowledgeable with certain situations, but most do a lot of research. So, we just need to know exactly what happens and when, to make it faster and easier for you and us.

I'm glad to hear that you're making progress. I appreciate your gratitude, and we are still here if you need further assistance.

Cheers

I've hit another wall. I think I want the partitions to be:

/dev/sda
/dev/sda1 ext3 /boot 98 mb
/dev/sda6 ext3 / 59386mb
/dev/sda5 swap 1998 mb

Where does the bootloader go?

/dev/sda, or dev/sda1?

I put the boot loader somewhere (I don't know) once so far, but the reboot couldn't find the master boot record.

The bootloader needs to go in dev/sda1. That's your boot partition.

With Ubuntu, I always used the default install, which automatically created the partitions, file system, etc.

If you have unresolvable issues with manual partition configuration with Ubuntu's partitioner, here's a link for using GParted. It's for installing PuppyLinux, but it will give you the basics. Start at part 2, image 7.

http://www.puppylinux.org/wiki/insta...l-installation

Not unless another distro has already installed a bootloader to the MBR. I think it would be safer to install to sda in this case.

I've checked the docs, and I stand corrected. Thank you, Jay.

Looks like I have this problem:

I disabled the drives it didn't recognize, then went to re-install. This time , the "guided" partitioner gave me a choice very near to what I came up with. It's installing now - if it doesn't work, I'll have to decipher what this quote means and try again after work.