Won't boot from hard disk, core 2 duo E4400 based system

Ok, we need to know first what is not working. The rescue mode is working fine, so that's maybe the graphical interface.

Instead of choosing the first option in grub, hit 'e', it will allow you to edit the options of the boot.
You will see several lines, move on the longest one, hit 'e' again. You can then edit this line. Find and delete 'quiet' and 'splash'.
Hit 'b' to boot. You will then see plenty of information about your boot. Try to see if you see any error message or where it stops, it may help.

Then we can also watch in the log files.

Thanks Francois for responding to my problem. Where do I find the 'e' option ? During boot, I see a press ESC which takes me to a menu listing options to boot in server mode, rescue mode or check memory -- all of these hang. I can open a shell in recovery mode ? Is there something that you want me to edit ?

Sorry for the unclear explanation.

So after you press the ESC button, you have the menu.
Select the first option, then press the 'e' key.
You will then see a new menu with 2 or 3 lines. Move on the longest one,
then 'e' again, the content of the line is now editable (just below I
think). You can then modify the parameters, and press 'b' to boot.

All those actions are explained briefly on the screen anyway, look at
the text below the list items.

I hope it's clearer.

        François

Thanks for getting back Francois.

I removed the quiet and splash lines and did a 'b' to boot, but I do not see any information being printed. The system just hangs and the screen is blank. The only thing that seems to work is booting from the CD and using the recovery option.

- NN

Ok, so if the screen is really blank, that's a video problem I think. Once you press the 'b' key to boot without the 'quiet' and 'splash' options, you really see nothing at all?

You should try some other video modes I think.

In the first menu, you have options at the bottom (you open them using the function keys).

Also, what is your graphic card plz?

Thanks once again for getting back.

On pressing the 'b' key, the screen goes blank (the cursor is still visible) and stays this way. I don't see any options to use the function keys, I just tried pressing all the function keys after pressing 'e' on the first menu and also before pressing 'e'.

The system has ATI Radeon X300 Integrated Graphics card.

- NN

Mmmm maybe you should try the alternate CD to install using a text installer.
I'm not familiar with video problems at boot unfortunately, maybe someone else can help.

I was able to get a version to install on this dell optiplex 320 using the steps described at the below URL:

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=409345&highlight=optiplex+320

It appears the problem is related to GRUB and using lilo resolves the problem. This problem was to have
gotten fixed by 7.0.4 FCS, but looks like it is still around.

Thanks for all your help and suggestions.