I have Ubunut 6.06

number one
i tried to install opera a few days ago and that did not work, something about a software channel, but since then, apt-get and synaptic both say whenever i do anything at all "the package opera needs to be reinstalled, but i cannot find a package for it" even if i do something that has nothing to do with opera, nothing at all will install or remove, synaptic and apt-get are broken and i have no idea why

number two
i cannot write to any portable media except single layer cds
dvds will only mount read only, even if they are blank
Usb drives will only mount read only
portable hard drives will only mount read only
I have no idea how to fix it, but when i tr to write the only error i get is "error, could not write to drive "system:/media/sda1" or whatever the address is
i need to be able to write things because i am trying to switch to Kubuntu 7.04

Number three
Kubuntu live CD will not work
i click, "start or install in safe graphics mode" or "start or install Kubuntu" and they both start to boot up, but after the bootsplash is done it just goes to a black screen with a cursor flashing in the top, i tried typing in startx and reconfiguring the xserver liek i had to do before, but no matter what i type and enter it just goes down to the second line with nothing happening

My computer works as it is, but it feels like if i cant fix any of these it will be permanently stuck in a state of perpetual mediocrity

any help would be greatly appreciated

sudo dpkg reconfigure synaptic
Has this always been this way or has this just occurred? Have a look at /etc/fstab and show us. (Thinks: CD/DVD drive is usually /media/cdrom0)
You had this before? (i.e. black screen + cursor and you had to type startx - when booting the ubuntu 6.06 CD.) Have you tried the alternate CD? Have you tried the boot options?