LiveCD Leaves Me w/ a Blank Screen

[InertKinesis]

First: I posted a similar question in the Ubuntu forum, but this seems to be a much higher traffic area, and after spending some time looking at what kinds of things get posted where, the Linux Newbie forum seems like a better place. To the MODS: If you are going to delete one of these as a double post, please delete the one in Ubuntu forum.

So I want to put Ubuntu on my Alienware Aurora m9700 laptop. I downloaded the 6.10 .iso, burned it, checked for defects with the tool in the boot menu, and told it to "Start or Install Ubuntu". It went through all its antics with the bouncy and then functional progress bar, and then left me with a blank screen. About 30 seconds later I heard a nice startup noise, and that was it. Soon after that my CD drive stopped making its usual reading noises, and then it stopped spinning altogether. So I was left with a totally blank screen.

It was suggested to me that it could be a disc error, so I downloaded the 6.06 .iso, and ran md5summer on it. Everything was fine, so I burned it, used a Nero tool to make sure that the .iso got on the disc intact, checked it again in the boot menu, and then asked it to start/install. The exact same thing happened. I got all the way through the noise, and then it all stopped.

What do I need to do here?

Thanks,
Mike

[smolloy]

I've never installed ubuntu, so I'm not familiar with the startup options, but you could try starting it up with the kernel options "vga=0 noapic". If this is possible, it's most likely that you'll have a grub screen, where you can select to boot up the installer, or safe mode, or something like that. You should be able to enter those commands before the installer starts.

[InertKinesis]

I tried those options, to no avail. Exactly the same thing happened, with no detectable difference. Got to the startup sound with a blank screen and that was it. Could it be a motherboard compatibility issue? Conflict with the dual video cards in SLi?

[smolloy]

I doubt it's your motherboard, but I suppose it could be your video cards. Did you try passing just one of the options I mentioned? That is, just try "noapic", then (if that doesn't work), try "vga=0". It's a dumb suggestion, but it might work.