i have tried to install several flavors of linux ,redhat,gentoo,mandrake,and peanut they all boot from the cd but are unable to install saying that the disk is not inserted, however it does boot the cd, and i have recently installed windows using a bootable cd and the cdroms work in windows. i have installed mandrake(older version) on this same machine but have since chanded my cdrom, if anyone has had this problem before and found a solution plz help me out

Before installing LINUX, you need to go in to your BIOS and change some settings. First look for ACPI and disable it, but keep APM enabled. Next find PNP OS and disabled it or select BIOS. LINUX doesn't have a way to give out IRQs to the devices that require them. The BIOS will give an IRQ to every device that needs it. Set your hard drive to LBA. It will decreases the chances of your computer not booting in to LINUX. Set all memory to their safe specs. Change AGP to as low as you can. Preferrely 1X

If the LINUX installation CDs can not run, check the iso images using a checksum like md5summer. You can either download a GUI program or a command line program. Check the images three times or more. If the iso images are bad, download them from a different server.

Older CD-ROM drives can not read CD-R and some others do. Also try using a different brand of CD-R discs. Try writting to the CD at a slow speed around 1X to 4X.

thx dude