Problem:
Upon attempting to install Debian on my computer, I booted from the CD and received the following message:

First Question: What does that actually mean?
Second Question: I read that you can enter the command prompt somewhere and type in the noapic parameter, however most of the solutions I found were for ubuntu and not debian. Anyone have any ideas on what I should do?

Computer Specifications:
Processor:2.61 GhZ AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 5200+
RAM: 2 gigs of OCZ gold
Motherboard ASUS M2N SLI Deluxe

This is the version of linux I attempted to install:
http://cdimage.debian.org/debian-cd/...amd64/iso-dvd/

Try Lenny instead. It still beta but it is expected to be released officially in a matter of weeks.
http://www.debian.org/devel/debian-installer/

As for the Ubuntu thing... Ubuntu is 98% Debian so what works on Ubuntu works on Debian 98% of the time.

To access the command prompt select 'help' from the installer menu, then you will see the command prompt somewhere near the bottom of the screen.Then type:install noapic or if you want the graphical installer type:installgui noapic.

Matter of weeks? wishful thinking i would say
Regards.
The trooper.

Seriously? I thought it was scheduled for release at the end of September and that it has been frozen for a while now? Hmm, it's clear I haven't been keeping up.

As far as i know there has been no official release date for Lenny.
I would be happy to be proved wrong!

hey guys, thanks for all the responses. I am a very quick learner, but linux is quite a new environment for me. I have a lot of programming experience, but never really bothered to learn linux until now (becuase I need to for a computer engineering class at school)

I got it working. I hit f6 while it was booting in from the CD, got the command line and just used install noapic. Everything has been running flawlessly so far.

The main things I needed were GCC and EMACS, because it's a programming course I'm taking. They weren't setup initially so I had to feel around in the dark but finally managed to get those up and running using the package manager thing.

Now I'm sort of stuck--I have no sound. If it was windows I'd know where to check for drivers and stuff...but I'm am completely lost in the dark here. I will make a new post but if anyone could help out my sound card is an old soundblaster audigy, but the ALSA driver isn't recognizing my card or something...I have no clue.

First check whether your audio is not simply muted. There should be a speaker icon in the top right corner (if you use Gnome that is). If it is not muted, right-click on the speaker and have a look at Volume control center.
If that still does not help,check whether the sound module is loaded by running the lsmod command in a terminal. It should list something like emuk101. If it is loaded, then the fastest solution would be to disable onboard audio in BIOS. You should be able to use both, though, but you'll need to edit /etc/modprobe.d/alsa-base. I don't think that the last two steps will be needed. Audigy is quite well-supported.

In a command shell,as root type alsaconf.
Follow the instructions,then type alsamixer and as jay73 said make sure volume channels are not muted/turned down.
Sometimes in the past i have had to reboot after to get sound up using this method.