It seems that no matter which version of Linux that I try to install (other that Ubuntu 10.10 or older)or try out, my machine only boots up a black screen with a blinking cursor in the upper left of my screen. From Fedora to Backtrack, none produce more than the black screen. I have tried the only thing that I know 'nomodeset' during boot up, doesn't help. I think it may be a hardware issue with kernels or grubs. Here is a list of my hardware:
Motherboard> MSI P67A-C43 version 1
BIOS> American Megatrends Inc. version V1.19
CPU> Intel i7-2600k @3.40GHz 64 bit.
Memory> Corsair CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9 times 4
Sensor> Hardware monitor ID=0x19341005
Devices> Many ask if needed.
PCI> Many ask if needed.
System Slots> 7
Network Adapter 1> Virtualbox
Network Adapter 2> Realtek PCIe GBE Family Controller.
Video> MSI GeForrce GTX 460 v2
Sound Device> Nvidia and Realtek
Storage> Seagate model ST31500541AS
That's about all I can find.
The black screen is a definite downer all help is greatly appreciated.
Jonnynitro138
Oh I am using a flash drive to install with DVDs get expensive to keep burning. I am using LiveUSBCreator and Unetbootin to make the flash drive images to boot from. I do try the ISO's in Virtual-box and they, the Linux ISO's, work there.

Just clearing some things up here.. You get the black screen BEFORE or AFTER installation of said distro?

Also, are you trying to install from a live disk/usb or are you burning the actual ISO to the usb?

Hi, sorry for the confusion. I get the black screen with blinking cursor right after boot up I never get an actual log in or start up menu to install from. I have tried both live CDs and installation ISOs. I use the flash drive because my DVD writer is a bit slow.
Thank you
Jonnynitro138
I think that the LiveUSBCreator (made by Fedora) makes a live usb from the ISO.

I've had terrible experiences trying to install from a USB. Took that as a learning experience and moved on.

If you don't mind, how were you burning the ISO's to the DVD's before attempting to boot?

On Windows I have LG Burning Tools, I double click the ISO and Image Burner starts, I select the slowest download speed for best quality. After which I reinsert the disk and reboot. I have change my boot options to boot from USB first then the DVD writer then the hard drive. Funny thing is is that I just burned OpenSuSe 12.something and tried it... it installed I now am using OpenSuSe 12. something. My hard drive is 1.5 terabytes so holding 3 or 4 OS's is a possibility, + my system can hold 6 of them. I'm still not quite sure what to do with all that space, but I am in school and hopefully I will find out soon from some other students, since my major is not computers.
So what is different in OpenSuSe compared to the other Linux distro's? I would love to have the option of using an external drive to hold more OS's, for the experience of using them.
Thank you
Jonnynitro138

I'm glad your problem is fixed! I wonder what was causing the black screen?

And I am not sure how OpenSuse stacks up to other distros..

Lol I'm not quite sure myself how it worked, thats why I am not going to post this as solved yet. I would like to learn how to fix the problem that I have with other distro's. I think it may be that the video card is still to new or something like that. I searched Google and I think it may have something to do with the kernel I just don't know enough to access and manipulate programs yet.
Again thank you
Jonnynitro138