install problems - no distro seems to work

I'm having problems installing any distrobution of linux. I'm a complete linux newbie and i've tried Ubuntu 32-bit, 64-bit, Debian x386 and Fedora 9 x86-64. I've tried various means of installing - i.e. cd's, install within windows (ubuntu) and debian's win32 loader.

Before i give an outline of the problem, here are the specs (according to SiSoft Sandra):

PC Laptop
CPU: Intel(R) Pentium(R) Dual CPU T2370 @ 1.73ghz
Hard drive: Toshiba MK1652GSX 160gb (SATA150, 2.5", 5400rpm, NCQ, 8mb cache)
Hard drive configuration: 1st partition (30gb, NTFS), 2nd partition (30gb, NTFS), 3rd partition (90gb, NTFS, Windows XP Pro 32-bit installed).
Video adapter: SiS Mirage 3 Graphics (128mb, AGP 3.00, PS2.0, VS2.0)
RAM: 2gb DDR2
Mainboard: OEM Notebook
System BIOS: OEM 1.12

I have attempted to install linux to one of the 30mb partitions in order to have it alongside windows on the 90mb partition. As above i've tried numerous distrobutions and install methods. The installation process hangs shortly after I confirm that I want to install the default version of the distrobution. I have read somewhere that this may be a kernel problem, but i'm not familiar at all with that.

If anyone can help I'd appreciate it. If the solution involves reformatting the disk into a single partition and deleting windows I don't really mind.

BlackCoffeeKing, welcome and Howdy. I am guessing you menan 90gig partition and 30 gig partition instead of 30mb and 90mb. I am also guessing that you tried installing using WUBI with no success. I am just guessing though.

Oops just reread that; Hard drive configuration: 1st partition (30gb, NTFS), 2nd partition (30gb, NTFS), 3rd partition (90gb, NTFS, Windows XP Pro 32-bit installed).

Just a suggestion, can you try booting up a Mandriva Live cd or maybe a Mepis 7 Live cd to see if you still have same problems. Also are you doing md5sum checks of your downloaded iso and burning to cd at a slow speed?

Here are some step by step how to's for you to make the going, maybe less painless than its already been, and you should keep your Windows partiition to get you over the bumps of learning Linux. All these tutorials are for dual boot installs. On the first link you can substitute Mepis 7 for the 6.5 shown in the video, or use any other distro that you choose for that matter.

An Introduction to Linux

Installing Ubuntu with Windows Dual-Boot | Ubuntu Screencasts

How to dual-boot Vista with Linux (Vista installed first) -- the step-by-step guide with screenshots

Ubuntu & Windows XP DualBoot

Dual-Booting Windows XP/Vista And Ubuntu 7.04 - Page 3 | HowtoForge - Linux Howtos and Tutorials

I know that the tutorials cover some of the older distros, but the basic principle of how to go about a install remains the same. The info still applies. Just substitue Hardy for Edgy or Gutsy.

Also I am not sure if since you formatted your free space as NTFS (eg 1st partition (30gb, NTFS), 2nd partition (30gb, NTFS), if that is causing problems. Maybe you would have better luck formatting them as FAT32. I am not astute like some other members to know if this makes a difference.

Thanks for the help rokytnji. I'm trying out some of your ideas. First one i've tried is downloading and burning Mandriva One live cd at a slow speed as suggested (4x). Unfortunately the same result - hang after selecting the default option (in this case, booting from cd).

Any thoughts as to whether my laptop's hardware may have an effect? According to some internet source I read, the single core Pentium 4's were incompatible with a number of versions of linux. Might something similar be happening here?

Hm I have a friend with similar problem with you. He can't install any Linux too. I am using single core and there is no problem. Maybe you should check the cd or dvd rom lens? I'm just guessing that it need to be cleaned.

I agree with garry there. My IBM m-41 single core Pentium M 1.8 ghz has no problems running any distro I have thrown at it. I had a problem once with a cd player on one laptop where during a iso bootup, whether linux or even windows, it would freeze during install. Problem was fixed when I changed out cdrom player.

Hi again. This time I tried a slow burn of the Fedora 9 net install cd. Didn't work. After selecting the default install option after initially detecting and loading the cd, it hangs at the line

"Marking TSC unstable due to TSC halts in idle."

I've tried burning cd's in both my laptop and desktop so i dont think the writers are at fault. Also, I was using the single core problem as an example - my laptop is a dual core.

Next i'm going to have a go at installing from a USB stick to see if it is my cd drive having a problem with reading the discs. I'll report back ;)

Yep, with the laptop I mentioned in the previous post, the problem wasn't in the burning of the distro either, and the Windows cd was oem. The problem was in the reader on the cdrom. It would lock up during windows install about 1/4 of the way through install and would stop on booting up linux at the very beginning. Just figured I would clear that up.

i've got a 4 year old computer, the only way I could boot a CD is with Ubuntu's help installing a loader for the CD, much like Debian's win32 loader. but, if a WUBI install didn't even work, it might be your CD drive (i once lost 10G to a faulty CD drive).