Okey well My original computer broke so I decided to get my brothers old computer till I can buy a new one, well bad news. When I install linux on it and run it all I get is a blank screen with a blinking dot. Well I gave up on it and decided maybe the hardware is just not compatable or something. Well a few days ago me and a friend were just talking (he's almost a linux guru) and I mention what happened to him. Well he tells me it will work on my system, all I have to do is give the linux installer a certain command so it'll install it a certain way. But he dosn't remember the command!java script:emoticon('<_<', 'smid_1') so I'm looking here for answers. He did tell me what was wrong though apparently dell has some dos partition to handle stuf and it won't recognize my linux. If anyone knows anything please help me.

My system is a dell dimension L700CXE, if that helps any.

thanks

So, the installer works. When you switch it on, do you see the boot loader (grub or lilo) or does it do the blank screen right after POST?

D

The boot loader works just fine I can click windows or linux but, after picking linux there's just a blank screen with the blinking dot thing in the upper left corner. My friend said that he had the same computer and ran into the same problem and eventually got it working through help from the internet. But it was a while ago and dosn't remember what to do exactly.
thanks

So is anyone going to help me? It's been on here for a while? well it's like some dos partition the dell has instead of machine code or something, and I just need to give the installer a certain command to change the dos partition to a different one or something. Thats what my friend told me. All I need is the command and where and when to put it. anything?

Okey maybe this helps, Just disregard everything before because well I found out some new stuf. I just tried loading it on a friends computer thats the exact same model and year, and it works on his. plus the person I got this from said that linux used to work on this computer. So I'm confused. Plus DSL and Puppy linux seem to work on my computer. But Ubuntu doesn't, but it works on my friend's. The only difference between our computers is that mine has added memory and a better graphics card. But slightly better hardware can't be the case, can it. Well here's a review of what happens.
Linux boots but right after the load screen it goes to a blank screen with a " _ " in the upper left corner, and freezes. This is the same for ubuntu and LinSpire, but these both work on my friends computer. And oddly enough DSL and Puppy Linux seems to work. Any Ideas?

First of all - Put Linspire in the bin and never touch the damn thing again .

You might have some dodgy memory - Try reseating the memory or trying a different stick (if you have more than one, just try removing one at a time). If it still hangs, try disabling some of the devices in the BIOS< you might have an IRQ collision or some other such black magic between two of the devices. Graphics cards can be a bit difficult when it comes to collisions, because if you only have one AGP slot, you have no other place to put it. You might try moving any PCI cads around though (unless all your bits are onboard the mobo).

D

If I read your post correctly, you can pick Windows or Linux which means that you have Windows on the HD and I have heard that the Windows Recovery partition on Dell and HP PCs can cause issues when installing. I have loaded MDK on several Dell PCs with no problem, but that was on a fresh HD install. Mandrake has an EXCELLENT installer that can see all these partitions and can autopartition for you.

Yeah...that blinking cursor sounds like a hardware issue. If Puppy and DSL work, then you know linux works, its just that the distro you're trying to install is looking for something else. Try some different settings in your BIOS.

good luck