@artvet2,
This thread is about to veer "off-topic".
XP "threw you out" when you changed MoBo. I fully understand your frustration and wish for change. But you are having trouble installing
any version of linux on your hardware.
Here's my suggestion: The 64-bit versions of linux tend to lag a bit behind the plain old 32-bit versions. I do not know why this lag is. It looks like you have an AMD 64-bit (dual?) processor. Probably high-end hardware and very desirable
But why don't you just start simply, and then work up? Install a plain "ordinary" 32-bit linux for a
686. Maybe even try disabling one of your processors in the BIOS if at first install, it falls over. 32-bit
686 linux should be 100% compatible with your chipset. Use it, get the functionality you need
now, and play with linux. There's a lot to learn, but it is also a lot of fun, if you like that sort of thing. Whatever you learn with 32-bit linux will also apply to 64-bit dual processor.
Perhaps it's time to learn to walk before you try to run
If you don't give your
686 install ALL your HDD space, but leave some room on another partition to install other distros, with the laudable intention of eventually getting the maximum performance out of your hardware, you'll be sorted out.
Your newest distro won't work? Grub will let you choose to boot to
686 (32-bit), have everything working (albeit with a
really annoying 0.12S delay before the next window opens) and you can (hopefully) use functioning tools to find the answers you need.
My linux philospohy is to have a "favoured" distro that runs well on my hardware
always available. That favoured version has all my important documents & emails (Yes, I keep backups of my personal data [which reminds me ....])
I also have spare disk space for installing the "latest & greatest" where I test them out. When I find a distro that works well, is stable, and I like, it replaces my favoured distro. The cycle repeats.
Let us know how you get on.