I'm trying to install linux on a fresh machine. It freezes on install of these distros:

FC Core 2
FC Core 3
Mandrake 9
Mandrake 10
Yoper

FC Core 1 works as does CentOS (a Redhat Enterprise clone). I'm able to run the latest Knoppix (Kernel 2.6) though I haven't tried installing that yet.

With, for example, FC Core 3, it freezes during the part where it's installing packages. Right in the middle. There are no error messages, just a hard freeze.

I'm running an Athlon XP 2000+ on an Asus X Series Motherboard (Socket A, VIA KM400, DDRAM, VGA integrated). I have 3 Maxtor 60 GB drives and a simple CD ROM drive.

Any ideas?

sounds like bad hardware to me. could be bad ram, bad PSU, overheating the CPU, a short in the system someplace, but if you are freezing up in that many distros then it is not a *nix thing, but a hardware issue.

Hmmm.. I'm inclined to think it might be some form of hardware incompatibility but I'm a bit disinclined to think the hardware is malfunctioning. Why would two older flavors of linux install? Windows 2000 will also install on the system.

I think the failures occur at the same time in the install sequence so that too would tend to argue against a random element.

Are there any tools that can be used to test for incompatibilities?