Can't boot any Linux distro

[joker2000]

Hi! I've recently bought a Toshiba Satellite C650 with the following system configuration: 3 GB DDR3 Memory, a DualCore Intel Core i3 at 2266 MHz, 320 GB, 5400 RPM, SATA-II Hard Disk and an integrated Intel(R) HD Graphics video card.
I tried at first to install Ubuntu 10.10 through Wubi. That didn't seem to work, as my laptop froze at the moment where all the numbers and letters appear and my hardware is checked (I'm kind of new to this, sorry). A restart was needed. Next, I tried to boot the same distro with a USB Live stick. The same thing happened again.
At first I thought that the iso file was guilty for this, but then I tried a bunch of other Linux distros such as Fedora, Mandriva, EasyPeasy, Puppy, Sugar on a Stick and Slax. I even burnt a Slax Live CD. Nothing changed. I read somewhere that there are video cards that aren't compatible with Linux. Someone recommended me to update my drivers. After I did that, I tried again but without any luck. Another tip was to mess a bit in bios at my hard disk in order to change something from ahci to compatibility. That didn't work either.
I really don't know what to do.
Any advice is appreciated. Thank you so much and sorry for my bad English.

[coopstah13]

are you burning the disc correctly? you need to select option to burn image and select ISO file, do not extract ISO file first

[joker2000]

are you burning the disc correctly? you need to select option to burn image and select ISO file, do not extract ISO file first

yes, i did burn it correctly. tried it on two of my friends pcs and worked as a charm.

[oz]

Welcome to the forums!

Not sure that it will help, but you could try disabling ACPI and/or APM to complete the install, then enable it again. I don't own a laptop so can't think of anything else to suggest at the moment. Maybe some other laptop owners will step up with some suggestions for you.

[joker2000]

Welcome to the forums!

Not sure that it will help, but you could try disabling ACPI and/or APM to complete the install, then enable it again. I don't own a laptop so can't think of anything else to suggest at the moment. Maybe some other laptop owners will step up with some suggestions for you.

thanks, will try

[MASONTX]

Sometimes the alternate install will work when the regular install won't. Download the alternate and give it a try.

[joker2000]

Welcome to the forums!

Not sure that it will help, but you could try disabling ACPI and/or APM to complete the install, then enable it again. I don't own a laptop so can't think of anything else to suggest at the moment. Maybe some other laptop owners will step up with some suggestions for you.

My bad, I haven't mentioned that I tried only Live versions, except Ubuntu, which I tried both as Live USB and by installing it.

[oz]

My bad, I haven't mentioned that I tried only Live versions, except Ubuntu, which I tried both as Live USB and by installing it.

So, did you find a distro that works?

You might also try the "alternate install" of Ubuntu as suggested above to see if it works. It's a text only installer (no liveCD) that often works when the liveCD fails. In fact, it works every time for me, when the liveCD always fails to install properly.

[joker2000]

So, did you find a distro that works?

You might also try the "alternate install" of Ubuntu as suggested above to see if it works. It's a text only installer (no liveCD) that often works when the liveCD fails. In fact, it works every time for me, when the liveCD always fails to install properly.

No, couldn't find any yet that works. Thanks, much appreciated. I'll give it a try in a few moments.

[joker2000]

I'm back. I have dowloaded the Ubuntu alternate installer iso, burnt it and tried to install it. Right after I selected the install option, the screen instantly showed a few lines of data, the last being [...kernel_thread_kernel+0x7/0x10], where it froze. I read somewhere that someone had to leave his system for 30 minutes to check his hardware, so I did that too. Nothing happened. Any other tips, maybe, please?