This problem happened to me recently. I was installing Knoppix 3.6 over 3.4. the system
crashed, that is would not progress further in the loading than the first few lines. In order to correct the problem I had to clean, not format, but wipe the hard drive. I used the commercial program Tuff Test. A new install worked. I have 3 computers with some version of Knoppix/debian installed. I,also, have plug-in hard drives to allow me to change OS at my whim.
I hate to be a "Kill Joy" but I think you have to re-install.



William