OK, I downloaded the Mandrake 9.1 Install image, twice from different servers, and burned both to different CD's. I did the checksum check, and they both checked out.

I killed 98 on ye olde Digitole and put in the Mandrake CD. It failed to work when booting off a CD, so I made the booter floppy.

It started the installer, and I fired up the linux GUI installer window. It was installing alright until after the formatting. It searched for packages to install, then exited out of the GUI with an "Invalid Argument" error. Installation ruined.

I then proceeded to put in the other Install CD, and the EXACT same thing happened!

BTW I already set the "Disk Access" to Other, and turned off "PnP OS" in my BIOS.

Any suggestions on what I should do?

I then proceeded to use the low-res installer, but it did the exact same thing!

Ouch -- that sounds like a tough one.

I'm a newbie too though so I can only guess.

Have you tried restarting the process?

Are all cables connected?

Is your hardware setup by some chance incompatible with the CDrom?

There isn't much else I can say. Sounds very disturbing, but good luck!

1. Yes

2. Yes

3. If a CD on Master is incompastible, what is?

I'm a complete newbie myself, so I have no clue. It could be a compaq?

System Specs:

PC - Digital Celebrus GL 6180

Processor: Intel Pentium Pro 180 MHz

Memory: 96 MB RAM

Hard Drives: 4.3 GB SAMSUNG SV0432A
2.5 GB QUANTUM BIGFOOT

CD-Rom Drive: Hitachi CD-R 8X

Network Card: Integrated 10/100 NIC

Finally, I did the text install, with the same problems!

What is happening?!?!

I was just reading up on linux and found an interesting article:

http://www.linuxiso.org/viewdoc.php/isofaq.html#archs
"Why does the installation program keep asking for the cdrom when it's already in the drive, or states it can't find a file?

If your system uses a SCSI cdrom drive, or an older IDE cdrom drive, it's possible that the correct module was not loaded during hardware setup and your cd drive is not enabled. You may be able to determine this by viewing the boot messages in one of the virtual terminals. This is done by holding down the Alt and Control keys while pressing, one at a time, the F1 through F10 keys. You should see different text messages on each virtual terminal. Look for indications that your cdrom drive was detected and a module loaded, or an error message indicating failure. If this occurs you will need to either find the correct module for the drive, upgrade to a newer unit, or use a different installation source.

Not being able to find a particular file is usually an indication that the cd is corrupt. You should have checked the MD5 sums before burning. If the MD5 sums are correct, then there could have been a problem during burning. View the cdrom in whatever OS you are running. If you see one large .iso file, you've copied instead of burned the disk image. Even if you see files and directories and the MD5 sums checked, a file or directory may have not burned correctly. I do not know of an easy way to 100% verify each file and directory was burned correctly.

There could be a problem with the cd media itself. Don't burn at a speed that is faster than the rated speed for the media you're using. If you use a cdr-w, make sure there are no smudges on the burning surface _before_ you start the burn, and, just to be sure, blank the disk before burning your iso file.

Another possibility is that your cdrom has problems reading from the media you're using. Try using the cd in another cd reader, or another system to see if this is the case."

OK...

however, it is accessing the CD Drive with no problems up until this point, where the installer just closes out with the invalid argument error.

Hmmm, maybe starting the install from the CD2 might work...

It also says this:

"Make sure your system bios is set to boot from the cdrom _before_ booting from the hard drive. There are too many system variables for me to tell you how to enable this setting. Check your computer documentation or try searching Google. During the boot, watch your monitor for wording that indicates the system is trying to access the cd drive. If it is trying to access the cd but still won't boot, make a boot floppy using the cd. From whatever OS you are using, view the cd and look for README files or an Images or Disk directory. There should be instructions on how to create and use a boot floppy when the cd won't boot."

Maybe you should try to make a boot disk?

Been there, done that.

Lets see what happens when I put in the 16X CD-ROM Drive...

...if I can only find that silly Philips screwdriver!

hmmm... the 16X is worse! It don't work at all!

A little run with the Windows 98 CD and I'm gonna try to install from the hard drive, ala diskcopy

Great! Diskcopy don't like CD's!