I have tried to burn the downloaded Mandrakelinux 10.1 Official Images. I have already destroied almost ten CDs while trying to burn CD1, CD2 and CD3.

I got the following errors: "Could not perform End-Track" and "Burn process failed at 24x" or "Could not perform fixation". I have no idea what that means.

Technical data:
1. Have checked the downloaded files with the md5 files through Total Commander. Everything was OK.
2. Using Ahead Nero (tried also Roxio). Opening the .iso and then starting the burn process. The start is OK and it goes well till the end, when - after gets to 100% - the error pops up.
3. Medium for burning the disks:
TOSHIBA DVD-ROM SD-R2312 [CD-R/RW] and
SONY CD-RW CRX820E
4. Burning on Verbatim CD-R 700MB
5. Tried to burn at 24x and at 4x speeds (maximum and minimum).

After a 4x speed error, Mandrakelinux has somehow recongnised the CD1 and it started the Upgrade/Install Mandrakelinux 10.1. Still, when arriving at the partitioning step,
"An error coccurred
INTERNAL ERROR: no kernel available
MDK::Common::Various::internal_error () called from /usr/bin/perl-install/pkgs.pm:197
etc, etc, etc,
install2::main() called from /usr/bin/runinstall2:36"

Will appreciate any help as I really want to install Mandrakelinux 10.1 on my laptop. And, by the way, will it work with a Dell, CX400 Latitude, Processor 400 MHz, RAM 256 MB, HDD 6 GB? Hope it will .

This sounds more like a windows or hardware problem to me, than a Mandrake.
I bet the subsequent install error is due to the failed burn.

Get memtest (http://www.memtest86.com/) and check your RAM.
Try burning on middle speed, like 16, and try a test burn instead of a "real" one (to save CD's).
If you have overclocked your CPU, turn it down to normal speed.
Resetting/reflashing your BIOS might help.

- Peder

I agree. You may want to read this for more info, too.

And a 400MHz is on the lower end at least if you want to use Gnome or KDE in MDK10.1.
If you go for Xfce, IceWM or another lightweight WM (and don't expect Mozilla or OOo to load in 2 seconds) you'll be fine.

- Peder

I have tried the same thing with K3B.
I get "Unknown error 254". The simultation got to 99% (689 of 691 MB burned). K3B was set to automatic speed. Average - 10.6x.
In the log I found such a line:
"Fixating...
WARNING: Some drives don't like fixation in dummy mode."

The CPU is not OverCloacked.

How do I reset/reflash the BIOS? Is this dangerous for the two operating systems installed (XP/Mandrakelinux)?

Have performed a test with Memtest-86 v3.2. Test: std, Pass: 2, Errors: 0. Launched it from a bootable floppy disk.

Is there anything else I could do?

Well the warning is what it says " Some drives don't like fixation in dummy mode" so that's nothing to worry about.

You can reset your bios either by a jumper on your motherboard (check your manual) or by entering the BIOS setup
during boot and select something like "Failsafe or default settings".
That shouldn't do any harm to your PC at all.

To reflash you need a flash image and a flash program from the motherboard/bios manufacturer that matches you MB/bios.
This can be a bit dangerous if you choose the wrong image.

Do you have the two burners on the same cable? Try and remove one of them and see.
If you can, try borrow another burner.

As a last resort, you can install Mandrake through ftp. go to your nearest MDK mirror and download the network-floppies from the
"install/images" subdirectory. Get rawwrite from the "dosutils" directory and write the images to floppies. Boot on those and install.

- Peder

Hi Peder,

I made sure it was burn image file. It didn't work for already many times with the TOSHIBA (using K3B simulation). Have tried at 8x. Now trying simultation at 4x, but I don't think it will arrive.

As a last resort I will try to burn this thing on another laptop. Hopefully it will work. Still, maybe you could sugest me a place to buy the CDs at a small price (unfortunately I am still a student) and preferably to be able to ship it in France.