Mandrake install freezes before install program loads

[Eric Lauritzen]

Hi All,

I'm hoping the list won't mind too much if I introduce myself by asking for
help with a problem, but first a little small talk.

My experience with Unix/Linux has been sparse so I definately fit well under
the "newbie" category.  I have experience with computers but it's always
been with Microsoft products, so Linux is very foreign to me still, but I
can see where the effort to get past the learning curve will be worth it.

The problem in a nutshell:

I boot from the Mandrake - Linux 8.0 install CD as per the manual, it boots
to a Welcome screen with the option to hit enter or F1 for more options.
Regardless of what route I take, the computer locks up, and I get any of the
faulty symptoms listed below during the part where text is moving up the
screen.

My first day of attempts and troubleshooting was while trying to set it up
for dual boot.  Then I partitioned the hard drive and tried for a while on a
blank hard drive,  and now I have installed Red  Hat 7 successfully.  The
problem persists.

Below are also faulty indications, things I've already tried, and as much
detailed information about my system as I could lay hands on.

Faulty indications and error messages:

-all the keyboard lights illuminate (most of the time)
-computer is completely unresponsive (not even the on/off pushbutton works,
only the reset button)
-no hard drive activity for over 10 minutes

Sometimes, after the welcome screen, the screen just goes black - especially
if I try standard graphical install

Most often it stops just after the following text is the last displayed:

Partition check:
hda: hda1 hda2 <hda5 hda6>
RAMDISK: Compressed image found at block 0
Uncompressing....
    --->and then the system is locked - this one usually occurs when I try
the standard graphical install

Sometimes it gets much farther, after the "Welcome to Linux - Mandrake" and
something about drinking egg whites, and looks like this:

Running install...
CPU 0: Machine Check Exception: 0000000000000004
Bank 0: f200008000000800
Bank 3: b200000000080a01
Kernal Panic: CPU context corrupt
        this usually happens when I attempt the text or an expert install

On rare occasions there will be some other text it stops at, but over 95 out
of 100 times I'd say it's one of the above.

What I've already tried:

-swapped memory sticks in and out
-removed the nic - the only other card besides the video card
-disabled plug n play
-disabled everything else I could think of
-tried a different set of install CDs
-tried the install from two different CD drives
-tried booting from a install floppy instead of CD
-ensured the install CDs worked on another computer
-tried all modes of installation expert, vgalo, vgalo expert, text, text
expert, etc
-tried specifying the amount of memory as a boot option
-booting with windows startup and typing fdisk /mbr (before I installed RH7)

System Information:
(I know I included a lot that is probably unnecessary, but everywhere else
I've asked for help they wanted more - so here it is)

Dell Dimension XPS D266

Microprocessor - Intel® Pentium® II with MMXT technology
266 MHz internal/66 MHz external

Compatibility speed can be set through the system setup program (all cache
memory is disabled to simulate compatibility speed)

L1 cache 32 KB

L2 cache 512 KB

Microprocessor mounting - single-edge contact (SEC) cartridge connected to
the system board contains microprocessor and cache circuitry

Math coprocessor - internal to microprocessor

System chip set - Intel 440LX PCIset
Data bus width - 64 bits
Address bus width - 32 bits
DMA channels - 7
Interrupt levels - 15
System BIOS chip - 2 Mbits (256 KB)
System clock - 66 MHz (matches external processor speed)
Diskette/communications ports - 24 MHz from the system clock

Expansion Bus:

Bus types - ISA, PCI, and AGP
ISA expansion-card connectors - 1 full-length
PCI expansion-card connectors - 3 full-length
AGP expansion-card connector - 1
Shared expansion-card slots - 1 full-length (slot contains both an ISA and a
PCI connector, only one of which can be used at any given time)
ISA bus frequency - 8.33 MHz
PCI bus frequency - 33 MHz
AGP bus frequency - 66 MHz
Plug and Play revision - 1.0 A
PCI bus specification - complies with PCI specification 2.1
PCI-to-PCI bridging - supported

Memory :
DIMM sockets - 3 [2 - 32Mg + 1 128MG = total 128MG]
DIMM capacities - 16, 32, 64, and 128 MB
Minimum RAM - 32 MB
Maximum RAM - 384 MB
BIOS address - F0000h
DIMMs registered or unbuffered - unbuffered
Frequency - 66 MHz
Clock cycle - 15 ns (supports 2- or 4-clock DIMMs)
CAS latency - 2
SPD revision - 1.0
DIMM voltage - 3.3 V

Sound:
Audio chip set  - Yamaha OPL3-SA3 Enhanced 3D Audio controller, a
single-chip audio system that integrates OPL3 and its DAC, a 16-bit
Sigma-delta CODEC, MPU401 MIDI interface, and joystick with timer

Wave-table MIDI chip - Integrated Yamaha OPL4-ML2 chip

Video:
STB Velocity 128 (Nvidia 128) AGP 4MG

Hard Drive:
Maxtor 88455D8 (8 gig)

CDROM Drives:
SAF CD-RW6424A
NEC

BIOS Version 4A4LL0X0.10A.0017.P06(A05)

I cant think of any more information to provide.  If anyone knows what else
I could try