Unable to install Linux

[Faerie]

Hi, all y'all

I'm a first time poster here, I hope you can help.

I have recently built a new computer from seperate parts, and in order to save costs (and to generally get more experience), I'd like to install Linux as my primary OS.

Basically, I'm not able to install Linux; it seems to freeze every time I try to boot it. It seems to get half-way through, but it seems to freeze before it gets to the OS.

I have tried booting through a Linux Mint DVD (V11 "Katya"),which should boot from the CD and run in RAM,and also I've tried using a Mandriva DVD which came with a copy of Linux Format magazine, and they both fail before the OS loads, and I can't do anything with it. This happens after I have seen the boot menu for the DVD and seems to be persistant regardless of whether I ask it to boot from the disc or install the OS from the DVD.

While trying to install Mint, I get:

Loading /casper/vmlinuz.............
Loading /Casper/initrd.lz.............
Ready.

Busybox v1.17.1 (Ubuntu 1:1.17.1-10ubuntu1) built-in shell (ash)
Enter 'help' for a list of built-in commands.

(initramfs) Unable to find a medium containing a live file system

...when I try to install Mandriva, it shows a splash screen saying that it is installing Mandriva, and then it goes black - command-prompt style, displaying "dracut/#:", and I am unable to type anything with the keyboard. The num-lock doesn't seem to work on the keyboard, either.

...just to reinforce the point, this occurs ofter the DVD boot-up splash screen (I assume based on GRUB),which gives me the choice of installing / running the OS from disk (Linux Mint gives me a RAM tester option too). It doesn't seem to matter whether I tell it to run Mint (in compatibility mode or not) or install or run Mandriva from the DVD; it seems to fail before the OS even gets loaded.

Also, FYI, my BIOS recognises both my HDD and my DVD drive.

...If anyone can help with this issue, I'd be very grateful.

[Rubberman]

How did you burn your installation media?

[Faerie]

Hi Rubberman, thanks for the reply ^_^

I burned the copy of Linux Mint at work, from the *.iso file I got from their website. I've live-booted it before while I was using it for file recovery at work, so I know it works.

The Mandriva DVD is from the front of a Linux magazine I got a while back. I've tried Mandriva before and quite liked it, but I haven't used this particular disc to install before. (It's Mandriva 2011)

Hope this helps, let me know if you need any more info

EDIT: It's 64-bit Mint, not sure about Mandriva, but my new PC has an i5, so it should be okay

[Faerie]

UPDATE: I seem to have got it working. I burned a fresh version of the install CD (mint) as opposed to the DVD, it live booted fine and is installing now. I assume I'm going to have to get all of the fancy extras and stuff that came on the DVD myself, but that'll just let me figure out how to install stuff.

Thanks for the help though, and it's good that I know about this forum so I can peruse and learn how to do the stuff here.

Thanks again! ^_^

[MASONTX]

To download files, synaptic package manager makes it fairly simple. Open synaptic, click reload to get the latest list of programs, then select the ones you want to install. There are a lot of programs available, so you may want to make a list first. You can search for the file if you know the name, or you can go into the sections on the left, Games and amusement, for example, and select the program from the list. I always download gimp, openoffice or libre ofice, restricted extras (a collection of non-free drivers), firefox, and certain games I like to play such as foobilliards. Check your program list first, as some distro's include some of the programs, such as firefox and openoffice. When you have selected all the programs you want, click apply, and synaptic will do the work of downloading the packages for you along with all their dependencies. It takes a while to sort through all the potential programs, but in the end you can will have just what you want, instead of what the retailer thinks you want.

[jmadero]

If at all possible it's recommended to install from USB these days, that way you can avoid bad burns. Most users from what I've seen use unetbootin to do this, I keep a USB drive around at any given time with at least 2-3 distros on it for fast and convenient installs

[Chavo27]

I can't get mint to install either, maybe there is an issue with the iso burned to a dvd-r

[ktmariappan]

Looks like your DVD problem which is burned from iso. Please try to burn one more DVD.

[Chavo27]

I don't know if your talking to me but I've made three copies

[elija]

I don't know if your talking to me but I've made three copies

Check the MD5SUM of the downloaded iso file against the one on the Mint site. If they differ, you have a corrupt or altered download so grab a new copy. If they are the same, try burning at a slower speed to a DVD from a different batch. In my experience, if there is a problem with a disk you could have problems with many from the same pack.