I hope someone can help me...I'm completely new to this, I've successfully installed Ubuntu on my Dell and went through the ringer to get it on my G3 iMac.

I got it to install initially, but when I tried to edit the xorg.conf file (looking for the "Modules" sections), it came up blank, so I skipped that part.

Ubuntu installed okay but was SO slow and the graphics are not great ( I think because I was supposed to edit the xorg.conf file)

I can't really get it to run anything, and more than half the time it won't even start up. It just gives me the error:

Mount of File system failed
The maintenance shell will now be started.
Control-D will terminate this shell and retry
root@ubuntu:~#

I'm VERY VERY new to linux, so I may need serious guidance.

I've created an alternate cd of Xubuntu thinking if I could install it I could maybe get the iMac to run faster...or at all...but I can't figure out how to get it installed. Do I need to uninstall Ubuntu first?

When I try to boot from cd, I get this:

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First Stage Ubuntu Boostrap

Press l for GNU/Linux,
Press c for CDROM.

Stage 1 boot:

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if I hit c, it takes me in a continuous loop of that screen until it freezes. (Booting CDROM...)

If I leave it alone or hit l, it takes me to the default:

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Welcome to yaboot version 1.3. 13
boot:

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I have two options, Linux and old...I haven't tried old...but if I enter Linux, or just let it go there itself, it tries to boot Ubuntu, but gives me the "mount of filesystem failed" error.

at the moment it's saying:

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root@ubuntu:~# podif[517]: can't read sid from 520/stat

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I'm trying me best to figure this out, but I'm at a loss. My husband wants to me to stop trying, but I'd really love to make it just work! Any ideas?

Thanks!

The best thing to do is to let the installment set your system up with:
Automatically partition the disk
and put all the files on one partition.
You should have a partition setup of: APM, New World Boot block, /, and swap. If you know howto, you need to edit /etc/fstab to point to root.

Two options, reinstall and ask for help on installing or
use a livecd and correct the mount problem. If I were you, I'd pick the first.
Also, go to the debian forums and read this: http://forums.debian.net/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=20481 .