Ok-I have a better question now...
 

When trying to boot puppy i get this:

Now executing 'rc,sysinit' script in /etc/rec.d...

Making the file system usable...
Checking if version update...
Loading kernel modules...
Loading "us" (USA) keyboard map...
Puppyserialdetect is running...
Detecting keyboard: ps/s mouse: ps/2
Setting up network interfaces...
__

then the screen just goes blank.

whats wrong?

Seems as though it's unhappy with your X settings. What hardware do you have (monitor/graphics card) and, if you do ctrl+alt+Fn (one of the function keys) are you taken to a terminal where you can log in as root and let use see the relevant bits of your xorg.conf file?

me full specs:

Customized HP Pavilion a1410y

Motherboard: Intel 533MHz
CPU: 3.333 GHz
Video: ATI Radeon Xpress 200
Ram: 256mb DDR2 SDRAM
CD/DVD +/- RW w/lightscibe
HDDs: 1) 80GiB w/WinXP, 2) 12GiB w/Ubuntu 6.10

How about the second part? Can you see your xorg.conf file and post it here?

ok-you have to forgive me-i dont know the location of my xorg.conf file. i can log in as root in a terminal. where do i find xorg.conf?

Normally it's in /etx/X11

If it drops you to a terminal, try typing xorgwizard.

ok-heres the whole file:

# /etc/X11/xorg.conf (xorg X Window System server configuration file)
#
# This file was generated by dexconf, the Debian X Configuration tool, using
# values from the debconf database.
#
# Edit this file with caution, and see the /etc/X11/xorg.conf manual page.
# (Type "man /etc/X11/xorg.conf" at the shell prompt.)
#
# This file is automatically updated on xserver-xorg package upgrades *only*
# if it has not been modified since the last upgrade of the xserver-xorg
# package.
#
# If you have edited this file but would like it to be automatically updated
# again, run the following command:
# sudo dpkg-reconfigure -phigh xserver-xorg

Section "Files"
FontPath "/usr/share/X11/fonts/misc"
FontPath "/usr/share/X11/fonts/cyrillic"
FontPath "/usr/share/X11/fonts/100dpi/:unscaled"
FontPath "/usr/share/X11/fonts/75dpi/:unscaled"
FontPath "/usr/share/X11/fonts/Type1"
FontPath "/usr/share/X11/fonts/100dpi"
FontPath "/usr/share/X11/fonts/75dpi"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/X11/misc"
# path to defoma fonts
FontPath "/var/lib/defoma/x-ttcidfont-conf.d/dirs/TrueType"
EndSection

Section "Module"
Load "i2c"
Load "bitmap"
Load "ddc"
Load "dri"
Load "extmod"
Load "freetype"
Load "glx"
Load "int10"
Load "type1"
Load "vbe"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "Generic Keyboard"
Driver "kbd"
Option "CoreKeyboard"
Option "XkbRules" "xorg"
Option "XkbModel" "pc105"
Option "XkbLayout" "us"
Option "XkbOptions" "lv3:ralt_switch"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "Configured Mouse"
Driver "mouse"
Option "CorePointer"
Option "Device" "/dev/input/mice"
Option "Protocol" "ExplorerPS/2"
Option "ZAxisMapping" "4 5"
Option "Emulate3Buttons" "true"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
Driver "wacom"
Identifier "stylus"
Option "Device" "/dev/wacom" # Change to
# /dev/input/event
# for USB
Option "Type" "stylus"
Option "ForceDevice" "ISDV4" # Tablet PC ONLY
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
Driver "wacom"
Identifier "eraser"
Option "Device" "/dev/wacom" # Change to
# /dev/input/event
# for USB
Option "Type" "eraser"
Option "ForceDevice" "ISDV4" # Tablet PC ONLY
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
Driver "wacom"
Identifier "cursor"
Option "Device" "/dev/wacom" # Change to
# /dev/input/event
# for USB
Option "Type" "cursor"
Option "ForceDevice" "ISDV4" # Tablet PC ONLY
EndSection

Section "Device"
Identifier "ATI Technologies, Inc. Radeon Xpress 200 (RC410)"
Driver "ati"
BusID "PCI:1:5:0"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
Identifier "HP v75"
Option "DPMS"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
Identifier "Default Screen"
Device "ATI Technologies, Inc. Radeon Xpress 200 (RC410)"
Monitor "HP v75"
DefaultDepth 24
SubSection "Display"
Depth 1
Modes "1152x864" "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Depth 4
Modes "1152x864" "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Depth 8
Modes "1152x864" "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Depth 15
Modes "1152x864" "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Depth 16
Modes "1152x864" "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Depth 24
Modes "1152x864" "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
EndSubSection
EndSection

Section "ServerLayout"
Identifier "Default Layout"
Screen "Default Screen"
InputDevice "Generic Keyboard"
InputDevice "Configured Mouse"
InputDevice "stylus" "SendCoreEvents"
InputDevice "cursor" "SendCoreEvents"
InputDevice "eraser" "SendCoreEvents"
EndSection

Section "DRI"
Mode 0666
EndSection

anybody out there?

Did you try typing xorgwizard?

The xorg.conf file you posted does not look like it's from puppy.

its not going to be from puppy-i cant boot it, remember?

Sorry, thought it was dropping to a terminal window. If it just hangs during boot, that's kind of hard. I've posted a modified initd.gz here:

http://www.mediafire.com/?cnzq2kingtz


The initrd.gz is one of the files on the CD, it contains the init script. This one will be more verbose about what's going on than the stock one. Maybe you can see what's hanging. This is for Puppy 2.14 only!!

Are running Puppy as a live CD or a HD install? It seems it's stopping after network interfaces so I wouldn't think it'd be X related. When it's X related it doesn't even run X at all and just drops you to command line anyways.