[hansmax]

I've been trying to install Linux, but not having much luck. Tried to install Debian first(from "Linux for Dummies" DVD), but that's another post. The problem for this post is trying to install Red Hat 9.0. The CD boots and the install begins, I choose the graphical install, the screen lists my monitor and videa card, then mouse, etc. Then the screen darks out and stays that way (I've waited at least 10 minutes with no results.) By darks out, I mean it goes dark, not completely off.

I'm trying to install on a 200 Gig HDD, With 100 Gigs as my Primary (WinXP) partition, 80 as a data/backup partition, and 20 Gigs of unpartitioned space (this is where I assumed that the Linux would go.)

I've tried with discs that came with the Linux Bible, and with a set of disks that I downloaded from the big Linux download site. Same experience both times.

Would it do any good to try to install in a command line mode? I would greatly appreciate any input. This is not life and death, but if I can at least get my feet wet, who knows, maybe my next computer will not be running Longhorn.

[lynch]

It may be that RH 9 is too old a distro to have support for your hardware.
Is this a retail system or home-built? How old (or new) is the system?
Seeing a list of your hardware details may help solve this.
When you say you downloaded discs from the 'net, do you mean RH 9 discs or somthing else?
lynch

[hansmax]

The disks from the net are RH9. Same as the ones I have with the "Bible" CDs.
I thought they might be bad or something, so I also tried downloading.

The system is about two years old, built by me:

Pentium4 2.0 Gig
ASUS P4533S Motherboard
KDS Model XF-9e monitor (correctly identified at beginning of install)
Abit Siruro nVidia GForce 420 Go (64MB, 4X) (also corr. IDed)
HDDs are Seagate 200 Gig and Seagate 40 Gig
SB Live! Sound Card (nothing fancy)
On board USB 1.0
USB 2.0 Card (later add-on)
Samsung CD-R/RW
Sony DVD RW DW-D22A
WinXP Home SP2

Thanks for the links. I intend to look them over. I've be to a few Linux forums and such, but most of them seem to be more advanced than this problem, and don't seem to contain much nuts and bolts beginner type stuff.

I appreciate the input.

[lynch]

Hardware looks fine. Enter your bios and disable PnP and try again and if the screen goes black again, do a Ctrl-Alt-Backspace to restart the x server. I forgot that RH does the X stuff at the beginning of installation. If that doesnt work, try the text install and get x setup afterwards.
HTH
lynch

[hansmax]

Thanks for the reply, lynch. I'm not sure how soon I'll be able to get to it, but I will try that at my earliest convenience and get back on what happened.