Post-Install Pre-Config Freeze
 

Oky, let's try this one!

I just installed Red Hat Linux Enterprise edition. I think this is the appropriate version info:
Red Hat Linux Enterprise WS Release 3
Kernel - 2.4.21-15.EL

It installed wonderfully. Go Linux.

When it runs "firstboot" it brings up the Welcome screen where I can accept the license agreement, configure hardware, and the like. As soon as I click "Next>" on the first screen, the computer freezes. No mouse, no keyboard, no anything.

I tried skipping the "firstboot" using the interactive startup. In that scenario I can log in to the GUI but an identical freeze occurs while the Red Hat screen is displayed. Good news, I think, is that I can switch to the virtual console from the login screen and login as root just fine. I don't know if that's any help to me, but at least it looks like I can do something useful there!

I've hunted through the forums and found similar problems (I think) but no solutions.


Here's the hardware info:

Gateway 2.4 GHz Pentium 4 w/ HT
1 Gig DDR Ram
Linux installed on 10 Gig Primary IDE
Sound Blaster Audigy 2
ATI Radeon Pro 9600

Even when I disconnect all the other drives, the problem still occurs. I have a 160 Gig HD with WinXP and a CD Burner along with a DVD R/RW. The 160 gig is detected on SCSI I think (it's an Ultra ATA...I'm not too familiar with hardware specifics).

I'm a fairly experienced computer user so advanced help is great. I'd really like to mess with Linux but I've had a great deal of trouble. I'm not ready to give up yet though!

Thanks in advance for the help!

Just in case---

I've been working on this all evening and discovered some drivers on ATI's website that seemed to solve the problem for other people...

Sadly I got the drivers and followed the instructions and still the freezing. It's mighty cold on my desk right now. :-)