i have a 3 cd set Mandrake 9.1 d/l and i tried to install it but when i got into the install session and it said loading program into memory it would stop... it would say:

1. loading program into memory
2. installing usb devices
3. could not uncompress 2nd stage ramdisk. this could be because of hardware incompatibility...

i think it might be the incompatibility with my cd drive, i have tried on both a creative 52x and a hp cd-writer 9500 series. both end with same result. i have suspicions that it could also be a faulty d/l, or something like that... if you have any info that would be helpful it would be greatly appreciated. thank you

do you have a different computer you can try the disks
on?

It could be that you do not have enough memory.

hey, thanks for the replies... i have sufficient memory, and i have tried it on both of my computers, both have 2 drives, so it wont work on my two creative 52x's nor my hp cd writer 9500, nor the lg cd writer... ne other guesses would be appreciated

if it will not work on either computer, the first disk
is probably corrupt. Or you got a bad burn, or a bad
scratch on the cd.

Do you have an AMD processor? K6?

I have gotten around this using different methods:

1. Try leaving the window up with error message, and go get some coffee. For some reason, versions 8.x and below seem to work after waiting at least 5 minutes and selecting OK. Why, I really never gave it any thought. I just counted my blessings.

2. For newer editions, I just do a network install from my DSL, and now Cable internet connection (making a boot floppy with the network.img file from CD1). This has always worked like a charm for me. I understand this is not an option for everyone, so please read on.

3. Put CD1 in another computer and use it to make a boot floppy. There is a directory on the CD named images. That directory contains alternate boot images (as well as some other files). On a linux system, use the dd command to copy the image of your choice to an empty floppy. If you want to use windows, there is a directory on the CD named dosutils with different versions of rawwrite for you to use.

I wish I could be more specific, but it is just something you have to toy with until you find your best solution. I have used many other distros on the problem system without the same error. I have heared it being an old kernel issue that has yet to be resolved on the kernel shipped with Mandrake. I'm not advocating that as a reason, just what I have heared.

Never let a problem stop you. I could have used another distro, which I do on other systems, I just don't take defeat lightly.

Please pardon any spelling or grammar errors.