ok mandrake 9.2 installs fine on my puter. until it gets to the bootloader install screen. at that point it takes like i dont know how long because i always leave but prolly longer than it should. so after the long period of time i come back the bootloader install says, "error installing lilo error code :." yes the error code or whatever is a colon and a period. what the heck is this?

ok also i am running knoppix-std from the hd. it is saying that the hd is not "hda" but that it is "hde" maybe this has something to do with it?

here is my puter config:

it is a weird ibm mb, yeah its weird.
p3 666mhz
128 mb rambus
60 gb maxtor hd running on a pci ide controller

Try using grub instead of lilo and see if that works any better. The hde thing shouldn't be a problem; its the the drive on the first ide channel on the pci ide controller configured master so it's being properly identified. I've got the same thing; the onboard ide devices are hda, hdb, hdc, and hdd so the next ide channel on the pci controller is designated hde for the pci ide1 master device..