I am trying to install OpenSUSE 10.2 off of a DVD (got fed up with mandriva) but it won't install. the boot options come up and i select "install". the linux kernel loads and then the screen goes dark and doesn't do anything after that. I have tried 2 DVD drives and I have also tried the "safe mode install". am I doing something wrong?

We're going to need more information; memory, cpu, hd, video card, and did you download the dvd yourself?

Can u try CD? Or u may download the 10.3 alpha 1 CD, it is more stable than 10.2.
My PC is only Celeron 2.4GHz + 526 MB RAM, no problem.

200mb ram
ati rage 128 64mb
60gb maxtor hdd
Plextor DL DVD-RW drive
AMD Athlon 1 ghz proccesor
Yes, I did d/l the DVD myself

I advise u to try 10.3 alpha 1 CD, 5CDs + 1 Addons CD, I guarantee u it will work.

Did you check your dvd with md5sum, to be honest I think Suse recommends a minimum of 256 ram. I would think you should have enough to do a min. install.

I can get into the installer with 10.3 alpha2 but i get an error message that says:
Failure occured during the following action:
Deleting partition /dev/sda5
System error code was: -1 01 4
Should I hook the HDD up to annother computer and format it there so the installer doesn't have to do it?

EDIT: wait, you said Alpha1. will that make a difference?

I would stick to released products before venturing off to the alpha, i.e. pre-beta, releases. I *think* all you need to do is lower the screen resolution at the initial screen just before you select "Install". I had an ATI Radeon card and the EXACT thing happened to me. There is an F key you can press to change the resolution, look at the bottom of the screen and find the F key next to the screen resolution, press it and change it.

On my initial install it was set to 2048x1024 and I got a black screen after the kernel loaded. I rebooted, pressed the F key and changed my screen resolution to 1024x768 and I was able to install without ANY problems. I've since replace the ATI card with an NVIDIA 6600 and re-installed (just because ) and was able to install at the 2048x1024 resolution.

HTH,
MMYoung

It didn't work that way either. my monitor is 1024x768 and my graphics card can do higher resoulutions. I deleted all the data on the drive using the mandriva installer and removed the partitions with a winXP disk. now it wants me to enter the location of the swap partition, but there is no swap partition yet. i tried entering stuff like /dev/sda3 but it didnt work. should I re-partition the drive with mandriva and have SUSE use those partitions?

You may need to read a little more or get some help, but you can use cfdisk in Suse and repartition your hard drive. If you used windows to format the entire disk usually the distro will automatically do all the work for you. Of course you can change the default recommendations but usually they will split the hard drive down the center.

Are you still having the blank screen problem when you choose a graphic install ?

Do you have an on-board video card besides the ATI card you mentioned ?

I'm guessing, maybe the output of the SUSE install is going to the on-board video instead of to the ATI video card ?

That happened to me on one of my machines while the install was still text based, before it got to the graphical part. However if you have gone past to the point of graphically selecting the desired partition information then the problem must be something else.

i am sure about alpha 2, i am talking about alpha 1.

Will alpha 2 work though? I spent all day downloading it.
I don't have video on my motherboard and I'm sure now that the graphics card isn't the problem. I think I'm going to wait to install this until I get a better setup with more memmory.
What is cfdisk and how do i get into it? I might need to use it.

There is a problem with certain models of the ati video cards. Checkout this thread " http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...d.php?t=533815 " and as for the cfdisk you need to do more reading or get some local help. I don't have enough time to go step by step and if you will do a search in forums you will see that the topic has been covered many times.

OK, thanks. I do some research myself so I don't bother you guys with questions that have been answered before. Im sure theres lots of info out there that i can find.
I should write a jounal about my linux experience. "Linux newbie trys to kick windows addiction. Can he do it?"....