install hang at step 5

[siadow]

hi
i'm BIG newbie here. Been trying to install Kubuntu for 2 weeks. Ive read loads of stuff in forums but still no luck getting full install.

i have new pc amd64 3500 with asus a8v-vm moboard, 1 gig ram and 200gb sata HD with no OS from new.

I have live cd of Kubuntu for 64 ( 2 copies), 1 of ubuntu. Both hang at detecting hard drive in step 5 of installation.

i have tried mandriva iso disk which gets as far as loading caldera dr-dos and giving me a A:> prompt.
i do not have a floppy drive and dont know what to do next here?

i have latest Knoppix which works great from cd but i understyand i cannot do a hard drive install of this?

i really want to use kubuntu but am feeling real frustrated. i DO NOT want to use any MS stuff again.

ps. both ubuntu and kubuntu disks work as live cds.

pps. when i go into the BIOS my hard drive is not detected. Ive reseated the cables and can here it spinning! if that helps.

pleeeeeeeeeeese help the new girl
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[Emerzen]

Re: install hang at step 5

Couple of ideas:

If your BIOS isn't detecting your harddrives, that's a problem no OS can solve. The LiveCDs will work whether BIOS detects harddrives or not, because it doesn't use the harddrives (it lives on RAM). So, some troubleshooting steps:

Go into your BIOS (which I am not at all familiar w/). Someplace in there should be options for your harddrive controller (typically something like choices between SATA/PATA, IDE, RAID, etc...) Change your options around and see if any particular setting works; i.e., your BIOS should recognize them as should the OS.

You may want to skip troubleshooting and go right to calling your PC vendor. Again, your BIOS must recognize your harddrives before you can install any OS.

Possibly, your PC came w/ some sort of disk utility CD? If it did you could try booting from it, and seeing if it requires initialization of the harddrives before they're usable.

[al9226]

Re: install hang at step 5

This may sound too simple, but should work. Go back to your cd writer and re burn the iso at a slower speed. 16x usually works for me.

Al