Triied to install arch 0.6 from ISO burned to a CD. Boot gets to trying to load modules from CD and just sits there.
Followed by two error messages..something about non fatal events on cpu0

Try turning APIC on.

If you consider giving in that easy, you may want to rethink moving to Linux.

Arch is fantasic-ly simple, and I have no idea why its described as "for advanced users only". On the other hand, if you are a Linux newbie (especially if you know nothing about loading hardware modules, aka drivers) you might want to start with a different distro. Arch is NOT a standardized Linux, so what you learn about administering Arch will not tranfer to say,...Red Hat based distros. Also consider that Arch is not to a "1.0 release" version, per se. It's is very fluid and may change drastically over the next year or so. Again, Arch is awesome, but be prepared if you want to dedicate yourself to Arch-style distros you may have difficulty moving on if you so desire.

actually, I do know why it's described as being for advanced users only- The creator had no help and little time when he started his project, so he put that advisory in to prevent being swamped with support questions. The arch community has grown fantastically since then, and I think there are about a dozen developers, and a really good forum on their website. I'd say it's more like an intermediate distro. Once you figure out pacman, it's pretty kick@$$.

Oh, and back to your original question, did you try and compile your own kernel, or did you just use the prebuilt?

sorry, disregard the last post.

are you using the right kernel? Do you need scsi support?