ok, i installed debian from cd, got it to boot from floppy to command line...when i tried to boot it from hard disk, it just printed "40" all over the screen...then when i tried to boot from floppy, it went through initialization, then finally the monitpr goes offline and everything stops... the cpu is still on, but the monitor blinks like no one is home..is this a video driver issue?

What bootloader did you choose and where did you install it? You haven't got it configured correctly.

Use the install CD and use rescue, mount your partitions, configure and re-install your bootloader.

If you are attempting to boot to gui, edit /etc/inittab and change your default to the number that corresponds to "Full mulit-user mode" until you get your monitor/video card configured correctly.

LILO mini HOWTO
Multiboot with LILO HOWTO
LILO, Linux Crash Rescue HOW-TO
Installing a bootloader
Multiboot with GRUB Mini-HOWTO
Linux+Win9x+Grub HOWTO
KNOPPIX Linux Live CD

# Configuring X
Linux Hardware Compatibility HOWTO - video cards
The Linux XFree86 HOWTO
Common X configuring tools:
Debian - dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xfree86
Mandrake - XFdrake
Redhat 7.3 down - the setup utility leads to several config tools
Redhat 7.3 up - redhat-config-xfree86
You may have these tools:
XF86Setup
XFree86 -configure
Xconfigurator
xf86cfg
xf86config
xconf
nVidia Driver Installation NHF
nVidia driver page