Other Help Topics :: CD Boot Problems *URGENT*=Please Read
Hey Guys (and Gals),
This is my first post here. Woohooooo!
Anyhow, down to business, as they say. I spent the last two nights downloading the DamnSmallLinux .iso. At only (!) 50Mb in size, i was willing to stretch to get myself a copy of a linux distro to try (but I fully intend to get it anyway, sick of M$). So I go to one of the many ftp pages availible, and eagerly download version 6.2. I then burned the .iso to a CDR and read lots of docs.
However, I am unable to find a decently small and easy to use partitioning program to divide the HD. Also a little nervous about doing it because my dad uses this computer for his business (eek). So, i simply tried a live boot (booting from the CD). Inserted my freshly burned CD into my DVD Drive and reset. Pressed F5 to get to a startup menu and chose to boot from the CD. I am presented with a blue screen and push enter as instructed to begin booting up. I get two messages:
loading vmlinuz (might have been vmlinux, can't remmber)
[OK]...booting kernel... (or somthing to that effect)
Everything appears ok, but after doing this all i get is a black screen with no command prompt or X Windows/etc. The computer locks up. I reboot and try the procedure again. Using the -failsafe/ -expert/ -toram and various other options has no effect. Is there anything I can do or have I got a bad download/ etc?. I hear i can chek the MD5 Checksum, but I don't know how. Any help given is much appreciated, and I expect I will thoroughly enjoy my time here 
.
Thanks,
Virulent_Virus
Try typing in
knoppix vga=normal
at the Boot (F2) prompt. Your system may not be able to display the frame buffer. Do you see a little penguin icon in the upper left corner before your computer crashes?
You can check your MD5 checksum by using an MSDOS/Windows utility called md5sum. Get it here:
http://www.etree.org/md5com.html
Follow the instructions on the web page for installation.
Then make sure that your damnsmal.x.x.iso file and your damnsmall.x.x.md5 file is in the same directory, say for example C:\damnsmall
If the MD5 file gets downloaded with a *.md5.txt extension, please remove the .txt by renaming the file.
Then go to an MSDOS or "Command Prompt" and cd into the c:\damnsmall directory.
Then type in
md5sum -c damnsmall.x.x.md5
(where .x.x is the version number of the ISO. Type in the name EXACTLY as it was shown in Windows Explorer. If you are unsure, do a 'dir' command to display the directory. Also, you need to make sure that your .iso file is saved exactly as the original name. Do not rename this file)
You should get a message back saying that the ISO is OK or not OK.
Good Luck.
Ok First up md5sum is a way of checking that the download is not corrupt.
When you download an iso there is also a md5sum file in the same directory which is like a small serial number to verify it's integrity.
For windows you can download a free checker (about 400kb zip file)from:-
http://www.md5summer.org
Next whats your video card? I had problems with onboard v3 cards & a radeon9700. In both cases using a boot code made the loading screen visible.
When Boot comes up at the start, theres a pause where you can enter a cheat code. Pressing F2 at this stage should reveal those usable.
When I had a similar boot problem I found that entering
knoppix vga=normal
after the flashing Boot cusor worked.
HTH
Ok thanks for the tips i'' go try them now.
ok using knoppix vga=normal dosen't seem to have any effect. The MD5 sum matches and is ok.
Would the fact that i'm running direct from a cd have any effect. I have no partitions except my windows one, im just pusing F8 at start.
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