i cant instaal linux mandrake on my pc
i have an
AMD Athlon XP 2800+
i have 3 HD
1 of 40 GB with win 98 and 2000
1 of 80 GB with no os
1 of 120 GB with win XP
on the last one i want to install mandrake on a partition
but when i want to install mandrake i can only press on enter (or f1) and then i get an black screen
the only thing remarkeble is that my capslock and scroll lock are both flashing

can someone help me?


an

What version of Mandrake? If you downloaded the isos and burned, you need to check the md5sum of the isos first. Look for md5summer on Google.

You could try booting with CD2 as there is an alternate install kernel on that disk that works for some who have problems with the first CD.

im working with 9.1
thanks i will try cd 2 first
k i tryed but it makes no diferance
btw what do i have to do with md5sums.91.asc??
and do i have to burn it all over again
and what cd must i burn because i have 5 now

Hi

well, i have mandrake 9.1, it is my first linux i have installed. I installed it with a friend who knows it very well and it worked perfectly ok. Though I cant really specify where your problem is from but I will assure you that the same version is working for me with a similar configuration of system as yours. I use AMD processor. so, please check whether you downloaded all the necessary files required for the Cd 1.

i download an iso so the cd must be complete

no no. what you need to do is check that all the files are OK. Errors can occur during download even if the download doesn't break down.

There is a program called md5sum.exe that you can download and use to check the md5sum (those long hexadecimal numbers in md5sums.asc are the checksums). Google for downloading it and instruction for use. It's not hard to use.

Hi,

I highly appreciate your concern to belong to the group of mandrake users that enjoy linux ingenuity. Now let me give you an instance, there is this linux distro we downloaded but it could not work, but after redownloading it very well, it started to work. So I will advise you to make a full and complete download of the iso. and burn it very well. When I went through your article I was startled because I am using the same configuration as your system. so try redownloading it. if it does not work write and i will ask me friend that assisted me to do my own why it should not work. thanks

it took me 3 full days to download it. i download it nonstop. and i'm not planning to do it again if you dont mind :/

Thank you all for your help so far btw

for mandrake, you only need the first CD to install if this is any consolation. This will give you quite a bit already and if you need other stuff, you can easily download just those packages that you need using a very nice tool provided by mandrake.
There are also places that burn the cds for you. They are very cheap. Might also be worth it since if Donchima is right, they should work.

Hi,

I am a good lover of linux. In fact, I love mandrake distro to be precise. As well, I cheerish your effort to belong to the group of good distro. During my own download I spent more days than yours. I even had to stay all night downloading it. The first download i made could not work out well. So i was encouraged by my good friend to continue. I was almost giving up like you but her persuasion made me to continue. i will recommend to you that you use smartftp which is what I used for my download. It will always resume from where ever the download terminated, until you get the full download. so dont give up easily.
Give it another trial. thanks

there's even a thread:
http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...threadid=88109

What needs to be stated is that checking the md5sum of any downloaded iso is good (necessary) practice. A corrupted download is a common occurrence. You can do this for other files, as well, to be sure you are not working with a corrupt download, which won't work. The md5sums file is very small and will take very little additional time. The alphanumeric strings in the md5sums file that are given for the respective isos are the output of an algorithm performed on each and every bit in the iso. If running that algorithm on your downloaded iso file returns the same string, you know you have a good file. If not, it only wastes your time to continue and wastes the time of all the people who try to help you, as it won't work.

You can search at www.google.com for md5summer, which is the program that performs the md5sum check in Windows. Download it and learn how to use it to check the md5sum of each iso.

can you explain that to me please?
i didnt understand that one

btw the files are all correct.

what do you mean by this? that the directory looks all right? That's not enough! Each and every bit on the CDs needs to be ok. This is what rolf is getting at.

Instead of downloading why not buy a complete copy from eBay (I bought 9.0 for GBP5.00, and got 9.1 off of Linux Format Magazine. Save you all the hassle of checking the checksums!!