Hi
I would say that you would benfit from using cheat codes. Enabling dma should increase the speed of a cdrom drive(this may not work on older computers).

Code:
knoppix dma
The other problem seems to me graphics related(X windows not starting).You didn't include any info about your computer so it is hard to give a good answer. Do a search for cheat codes, match your video card to a video cheat code and add it at the boot screen prompt. F2 for a small list of cheat codes.
Johnb