I decided to change from Debian to something a little newer this morning. So I backup my data and start a Suse 10.1 install. Unfortunately something crashes about 80% of the way through the third disk (out of five). I don't recall exactly what the error was, but I seem to remember it being a failed dependency.

I reboot and get a terminal. I reboot again and the install continues, only to fail again, only this time earlier in the install.

At this point my system is having difficulty booting, only managing to do so intermittently. It will hang without any output from the bios, or not getting past the first line of the video card bios output.

I realize the temperature is 115F and I don't have a case fan, so I pull the side cover off the system and set a nice big fan next to it. Now I can boot just fine.

Throughout the booting issues I've been trying to install various distros, but to no avail. This problem continues now. I have tried: FC4, FC5, LFS, Slackware, Ubuntu, Suse, Mandriva, and probably a few more. I have succesfully installed all of these in the past on this same system without incident. They all fail, some with output, some without. The most descriptive errors I've recieved have been what appears to be a hex dump preceeded by a line-by-line listing of what looks like addresses and instructions.

Live CD's boot and work about 50% of the time. When they don't boot they fail somewhere during the loading of drivers, etc. When they do load their stability is not so great, crashing or hanging for no apparent reason.

Yesterday my computer was just fine. Any ideas?

So, I try to install windows... no luck there either. I get a bsod then subsequent attempts fail with an error stating there is an error in a text file. Each restart claims the error is on a different line. I think something has gone goofy with my memory. That seems to be the only thing that could cause this erratic behaviour...

Okay... I found a ram test in the Ubuntu live CD. I ran it and my memory failed the second test. Could attempting to install Suse have ruined it, or is it just possible that it failed from the heat?

I wouldn't recommend Suse 10 to my worst enemy.

But even it ain't that bad - I'd think you could reasonably blame the heat problem(s).

So, er, ever heard of a way of repairing it?

In most cases you just need to replace your ram.
A bad mobo can give you a simular result though.
Start by swapping your ram and see if that works.

What temperature was 115F?
And why no case fan?
What CPU temperature are you getting?

If your system is running too hot, you can have multiple problems. Get the cooling fixed first, then start eliminating other variables.

The ambient temperature was 115, it was a hot day yesterday. I'm not sure why there isn't a case fan, but I can assure you there will be one by the end of the day. The processor is an AMD Sempron 3200. The entire system is less than a year old and was built by my sister. I know that setting a fan next to the case isn't the solution, but it did fix the booting issues yesterday. The system would boot just fine, but would inevitably crash when running anything.

Vancouver, WA can get to 115?? Holy S******

If the ambient (at the computer) was 115, and you had no case fan, you may well have fried something.
1. Get a case fan
2. Get a room air conditioner where you use the computer
3. Get a utility disk such as the Ultimate Boot CD, and run diagnositics on memory and such.
4. Check the CPU temp. Modify the CPU cooling also if it is running too hot.