Install from 9.x to Mandriva 2006 'FREE'

[datachief69]

I wanted to upgrade to a flavor of nix that will be supported without $$$.
Unlike Red Hat, who is now FEDORA... I upgraded my HP Pavilion N5445 Laptop from 9.x Mandrake to Mandriva 2006 Free.
Now the laptop has become a paper weight, it just sits there.
I ran some of the examples provided on other posts and it still sits there. the fan works if that helps.

Any ideas where to go next?
Messages I do see are:

while booting into failsafe;
the last item I see on screen before the lock up is:
apm: BIOS version 1.2 Flags 0x03 (Driver version 1.16ac)

~Thank You in advance for your help.

[fingal]

Sounds like a BIOS problem relating to ACPI or APM - perhaps. Have a read of this thread. There are a lot of similar threads on these forums.

You upgraded from 9.* to 2006? Personally I wouldn't do that. By the time a distro has moved on that many versions it's radically different. It would be better to backup your existing data, delete the old partitions and start with a fresh install imho. That might be the root of your problem.

[datachief69]

Fingal, Thanks for the advice, I will try again tomorrow... I think I removed the partitions. The problem I am having is wht three different Liunx Distro's I think you nailed it on the head with the BIOS being the problem. I Think I will contact HP tomorrow to see if there is something else I can try. I have tried BSD 6.1, Fedora Core 5 and Mandriva 2006 and unable to even get a graphical interface, yes I tried text install, worked but then NO gui. So... I will try with the BIOS and go from there, any good version of Linux I have not already tried?

Thanks Again!

[nezumigeek]

Fingal, Thanks for the advice, I will try again tomorrow... I think I removed the partitions. The problem I am having is wht three different Liunx Distro's I think you nailed it on the head with the BIOS being the problem. I Think I will contact HP tomorrow to see if there is something else I can try. I have tried BSD 6.1, Fedora Core 5 and Mandriva 2006 and unable to even get a graphical interface, yes I tried text install, worked but then NO gui. So... I will try with the BIOS and go from there, any good version of Linux I have not already tried?

Thanks Again!

I couldnt get mandriva to boot until I shut off the extended bios on my thinkpad....it was a bios configuration program that included power management, diagnostics, and format abilities. Perhaps try that if the previous answer didnt work