Quote Originally Posted by zephyr
When I start up computer (bios is set to boot from cd) the Knoppix 3.8.1 screen appears.
I press [Enter] next to the word 'Boot:'
it goes:
Loading linux24...
Loading minirt24.gz...
Loading...

Then the pc will hang and I have to press the reboot button.
Anyone have any idea what the problem is? or what i should do?
First, make sure you have a good download of the ISO.

Download an MD5 sum checker, for example:
http://sourceforge.net/projects/md5summer/

Run this and if the MD5 sum prodcued matches the published MD5 sum you then have a GOOD ISO.

With the above completed try the following:

When the boot: prompt appears type

knoppix nodma noapic noscsi nodhcp nousb

See what happens, you may need to repeat this several times and change the various codes after the work knoppix from the list of available one, press F2 or F3 to when the first screen with the boot: prompt appears to see a list of codes.

Some of the ones you may need to use are: nousb nopcmcia

One at a time remove each of the codes, working from the end, till it freezes again on boot. Thats the problem source. Put that noxxxx code back and go from there.

An older machine I use to test things out was very difficult to get to boot an older Knoppix version it took the better part of 3 days on/off/on to get a working combo to the commad line. Later versions have gotten quite a lot better at booting the first time out even on the old hardware I use as the main linux/Knoppix box. I am down to a DMA and xserver settings on this when trying newer CD's. X just wants to use out of range settings for my video card & monitor when left to its own devices, and the DMA issue is a know BIOS issue, which I fix later with a hdparm command.

Its TRIAL and ERROR. WRITE DOWN each line you try so you know what you've done. When you get a working boot the LAST code you added will be the problem. DMA, USB, SCSI PCMCIA, DHCP and APIC are some of the biggest problem causes.

At the point it freezes up my first hunch is a bad ISO and thus the reason to make sure you have a good download.