As I started to load Linux 9 you can do a disc check. I did it & it said disk 2 & 3 failed I cleaned them & it still failed, any thaughts? On disk 6 it couldn't read it as it said ' no Checksum added. What?What is that when it's at home? Should I download the whole thing again? from an FTP sight?

Butface

a checksum is an algorithm applied to a file (or cd) which when completed cretes a small string which is unique to that file.

So, if you download an importand file (like the operating system) its a good idea to run a cheksum check on it.

If the checksum of the downloaded file mathes exactly the checksum of the file on the server, then the download was a complete sucess. if however the checksum does not match, then the file was corrupted on download.

you can probably check disk 6 by getting its checksum string from the distributor.

If the checksum check fails, then your coppies are corrupt, and you should get a new copy.. either buy a distribution (you can get them very cheap from ebay, (it is perfectly legal to make coppies of linux, and RE-SELL them) or re-download the file.

maybe your disks will still work, its a gamble and might cause crashes, or whatever, you dont know. maybe the corrupted part is just a screen saver... maybe its a major runtime library, or worse the kernel

Thanx

The problem is that's not true. It's possible to get the same checksum for 2 different files. A chance for such a situation is very low, but it's not 0.

Well yeah, But it will be a VERY cold day in H3LL before a random download corruption causes that to happen

With so many files downloaded every day (and so big files), it may happen (it's too hot to calculate probabilities, just my guess ).

How To Check MD5sums On A Linux Iso Image
# Cheap CDs
Discount Linux CDs
Linux Central
Cheapbytes
TuxCDs
ComputerHelperGuy

Wow this forum is brilliant. Thanx guys I'll try all of this info.