hey i am kinda new to all this Linux stuff but i got my hands on mandriva and i am going to try and make a dual boot system with Windows. I already have windows installed. I have already partioned my hard drive so linux will fit on it. I burnt mandriva and booted it up and after i went through the boot menu it loaded and after that it suddenly went all blank?? Is it my graphic card? i have an ati raedeon 9550. What am i doing wrong and how do i fix it??
Thanks.

Bold removed and text adjusted by Ixthusdan

When you burned the cd/dvd, did you verify the integrity of the download by checking the md5sum? This should be done prior to burning. A bad download in this type of file means problems during the install. Also, an iso file should be burned at a slower speed, rather than a fast speed, again so that there are very few extrapolation errors when burned.

At what point does the installation "go black?" Is it immediate or after a few minutes?

it goes black after a few minutes.. yes the md5sum was all right.. i just checked the disc on another computer and it ran fine so there must be something wrong with my computer and hardware

First, try booting with some options that turn off acpi. They are available on the first boot screen. This is the most common problem in installation. As far as I know, the ATI driver issue has been solved for several releases, so there should be no issue with video.

Also, be sure your bios is set for "no" on plug and play os. Linux needs to utilize the bios for configuring hardware.

Yer i just tried booting with the acpi off and i went into the bios and turned off that plug and play thing. But the blank screen kept appearing?? what else could it be?
Thanks

Could you give some more details about your hardware?

Yer Sure

Windows XP Pro Build 2600 SP2
80GB IDE Internal Drive & 320GB USB External
Intel Pentium 4 CPU 2.4Ghz
512mb DDR-SDRAM
ATI Radeon 9550 256mb AGP 4x

Try booting without the usb drive in place.
Also, what specifically happens? Please be specific. What is on the screen when it goes black, or what was immediately on the screen prior to going black?

Well after i boot after i have inserted the disc.. the boot menu comes up and there is only one option which is like Boot and install from disc or something so i go into that. After i go into that a little loading bar appears at the bottom left hand part of the screen and as it is loading is says press Esc for verbose mode. This loads right and after it loads a black screen pops up and says insert username and has some other writing on the screen.. but it disappears very quickly. After that another black screen pops up but it only has a cursor flashing at the top left hand part of the screen. This also disappears very quickly and another black screen pops up and it just remains black and you can't do anything?

what happens if at that point you hold down ctrl, hold down alt, and press F1? do you get to a text login screen?

Also, what is your motherboard, or computer brand and model number?

when i press ctrl+alt+F1 at the blank screen nothing happens??

My computer brand name is -
HP Pavilion 05 P9896A-ABG 743a

My Motherboard is -
MSI MS-6526G(L) / MS-6714 845GEM/GVM

I think you offered the number on the power supply. Could you just give the model number?