Unsuccessful Linux Installation
 

Hello everybody,

I have recently purchased a new Dell Precision 360 workstation with 1gb of memory, 40gb hd, and a Nvidia Quadro FX 500 video card. I wiped the hard drive and put in the RH Linux 9 CD to install. After many lines of text, the screen went blank. I went back and reinstalled, using the "linux text" option and got much further this time, supposedly successfully loading Linux. After rebooting the computer, it got as far as "Starting firstboot: " and hangs there.

Any ideas about what to do now?

Thanks for the help!

1. If downloaded, did all the ISOs pass the md5sum?

2. Did you do the media check prior to attempting install?

How To Check MD5sums On A Linux ISO Image
# Cheap CDs
AlmostFreeLinux
Discount Linux CDs
Linux Central
Cheapbytes
TuxCDs
ComputerHelperGuy
CheapISO
Os Heaven

# Pre-installation guides
GNU/Linux pre-installation checklist
The Pre-Installation Help File

# Partitioning
Linux Partition HOWTO
Rute - Partitions, File Systems, Formatting, Mounting
Proper Filesystem Layout

No, I didn't download the images, I'm installing from the Red Hat CD-ROMs and I have all of the specs for the hardware of the PC. I first used the generic Nvidia Quadro driver, then used the vesa generic video driver, but both times failed. This was done while installing in text mode. When I install in graphical mode it just hangs. When I press ctrl-alt-F1 it shows "1...2...3...4...5.... X server startes successfully."; ctrl-alt-F2 shows "-/bin/sh-2,05b#"; ctrl-alt-F3 shows "* moving (1) to step welcome"; ctrl-alt-F4 shows "<6>parport0: irq 7 detected"; ctrl-alt-F5 shows just a blinking cursor; and ctrl-alt-F7 is blank.

try using the

linux noprobe

way if you know what type/genre your hdd is from, and what driver to chose for it.

good luck ;) installed with me with no effort, tho Fedora aint liken me when I try to rescue disk'ed it.

hyper-thread function stopped me from installing redhat
It works fine after I turn that function off from the BIOS

I checked and made sure that hyperthreading is disabled and I tried using noprobe, but still end up at the screens described earlier. I did select the GRUB loader. Would that make a difference?

Thanks everybody for the help...I really appreciate it! I'll get it going sooner or later.