okay I re-burned disks 1-3 on 1X and tried to install again. Disk one was smooth like normal, disk two was going smooth then started throwing error codes again. I have to abopt install, install disk one again, and then cancel the install. So the problem, it appears, is that I'm not being able to install the needed pieces. I downloaded my MDK ISO's from the mandrake website so I'm kind of perplexed as to where I need to go and get the proper files.
I am willing to deal with this the "long" way...at this point I just want it to work and I can download the missing programs later.