Quote Originally Posted by Cuddles
I'm sorry to say, greygooseplz, you may be right, and you may be wrong...

DMA is not uncommon on any device, CD-ROM, CD-RW, DVD, DVD-RW, or a hard drive. In the case of a DVD, not having DMA active can make a movie "choppy", and in my case, having DMA active on my "flackey" hard drive, can make it not work. ( Samsung model )

I would suggest the cheatcode that UnderScore suggested, try that, if you get in, then try using the hdparm command to isolate, maybe, which one, or a combination of, device(s) could be causing a problem. Thats a start. You might try the "full guns" approach. When you get the boot: prompt, take a look at the list of cheatcodes you can use. Especially the ones that have no... in front of them, and try those...

i.e. If you dont have PCMCIA, use the nopcmcia cheatcode, if you dont have something, then use the "no" cheatcode for it...

Booting into v3.3, I had a long slew of cheatcodes to get in...

boot: linux26 lang=us alsa nopcmcia noapm noagp noswap nodma noacpi

This was actually for v3.4, and booting the experimental kernel 2.6, but change the "linux26" to "knoppix" and it should work with any version.

About the ONLY thing that is being "set" in the above command is, the language, and ALSA support, almost everything else, is being disabled... The above command was used to boot my new version of 3.4, off the CD, with an old hard drive installed version of 3.3, which was going to be erased, and the new version replace it - hence, nothing was trying to go to an install, or hard drive.

Again, most "everyone" needs to use some sort of cheatcode, or a combination of cheatcodes, to get the OS up and running. I have only heard a few people report that they didnt have to do anything, and it worked. This is not an issue with the OS, remind you, it is probably due to the "complexity" of individuals computers, hardware, and what they require. This is why Knoppix has those cheatcodes, in the first place, to "hopefully" iron out those differances

Good Luck.
Your post timed in one minute after mine, saying that it worked.
it was the DMA, It booted up flawlessly and Im still running it right now, about to reboot into WinXp.

Thanks for the help though, everyone...
Your post kinda confused me there Untill I realized you posted one minute after me... again, I could probably be considered a newbie.

besides forums is there a place where I could get VERY BASIC FAQ/Tips for someone "completly" new to Linux?
ive been searching and found alot, one thing about linux that I love so far is the community, its not hard to find help/info...
The pages I found were mainly lists of cheatcodes or commands, thats a little overwhelming right now.

im trying to find more on setting up a dual-boot system, just incase...
i was planning on trying to install/run knoppix as my only OS, but Im sure Ill have problems.I dont think Ive got sound and havnt figured out how to check it out yet.i have no media or games and dont know If Im supposed to be getting sound from the main linux gui/explorer.

I should try to learn and research ALOT more before comminting and installing knoppix as my only OS, but mainly just setting up my usuall programs...opening/running the new "exe" files