Booting error during the boot

Did you try the recovery mode from the menu? It should give you a command line prompt at the end. Is it the case?

the same error happens when i try to boot through recovery mode. It freezes up at the same point and no access to a command line. The only command line that i can access is the grub command line at startup.

Did you note the error message? I think we need it to help you...

[105.438351] [<c0163930>] error_code+0x7c/0xa0

hope that helps

Ouch, a bit too complicated for me.... Is it the only error message you have? If that's the case, I guess we need to find someone with higher technical skills unfortunately

ya...there's several, and i can't get to all of them either

alright, i tried knoppix 3.7 live cd and it works perfectly...but when i tried the newest version of knoppix (5.1) and it did the same thing as ubuntu 7.4, could this information help you? for some reason my computer is not running the newer versions of linux

That's weird... Probably a bug with the newest kernels, but usually that's the opposite.
Could you give me the reference of your computer?

not sure if this is what you meant by the reference of my computer, but here it is

Product number
PS463AA
Introduction date
12/29/2004
Country/region sold in

    *
      United States
    *
      Canada

Bundle information
The Compaq Presario SR1319RS-B desktop PC bundle (part number PS464AA) includes:

    *
      SR1319RS Desktop PC, part number PS463AA
    *
      FP5315 15" TFT LCD display with integrated speakers

Hardware
Base processor
Pentium4 519 (P) 3.0 GHz:

    *
      533 MHz Front side bus
    *
      Socket 775

Chipset
Intel 915GV
Motherboard

    *
      Manufacturer: Asus
    *
      Motherboard Name: PTGD1-LA
    *
      Compaq motherboard name: Goldfish2-GL8E

Memory
Component Attributes
Memory Installed 512 MB (2 x 256)
Maximum allowed 4.0 GB* (4 X 1 GB) requires the replacement of the installed 256 MB DIMMs

*Actual available memory may be less
Speed supported PC3200 MB/sec
Type 184 pin, DDR SDRAM
DIMM slots Four
Open DIMM slots Two
Hard drive

    *
      160 GB SATA
    *
      7200 rpm

16x DVD(+/-)R/RW DL drive
(must use Double-Layer media discs in order to take advantage of the DL technology)
type Attributes
DVD+R DL Write Once 2.4X
DVD+R Write Once 16X
DVD+RW Rewritable 4X
DVD-R Write Once 8X
DVD-RW Rewritable 4X
DVD ROM Read 16X
CD-R Write Once 40X
CD-RW Rewritable 24X
CD-ROM Read 40X
CD-ROM drive
Maximum speed: 48X
Modem
PCI K56flex data/fax modem
Video graphics
Integrated with up to 64 MB allocated video memory
Sound/audio
Integrated High Definition audio

    *
      Realtek ALC 880 chipset
    *
      8-channels for Full Dolby 5.1/6.1/7.1 surround sound support with Dolby Pro Logic IIx

Network (LAN)
Integrated 10/100 Base-T networking interface
Power Supply

    * AC input voltage (47-63Hz):
          o 100-127V/8A
          o 200-240V/4A
    * DC output wattage: 300 Watts

Memory card reader

    * USB interface
    * Supports the following cards:
          o Compact Flash I
          o Compact Flash II
          o SmartMedia
          o Memory Stick
          o Memory Stick Pro
          o MultiMediaCard
          o Secure Digital (SD)
          o Micro Drive
          o XD Picture Card (xD = extreme digital)

External I/O ports
I/O ports on the front panel
Port type Quantity
9-in-1 (4 slot) + 1 USB One
IEEE 1394 One
USB Two
Headphone One
Line-in One
Microphone One
I/O ports on the back panel
Port type Quantity
PS/2 (keyboard, mouse) Two (one each)
VGA (monitor) One
Parallel One
USB (2.0) Four
IEEE 1394 One
LAN One
Audio One each (line-in, line-out, microphone)
Expansion slots (total)
Slot type Quantity
PCI Three (two available)
DIMM Four (two available)
Drive bays (total)
Bay type Quantity
5.25-inch, external Two (occupied)
3.5-inch, external Two (one available)
3.5-inch, internal One (occupied)
Keyboard and mouse

    *
      Compaq PS/2 home professional keyboard
    *
      Quebec Keyboard Kit (French Canada only)
    *
      Compaq PS/2 scroller mouse

Other after market installations:

PNY Nvidia Geforce 5200 Graphics card
60 GB Maxtor hard disk
512 MB RAM
one 133 ultra ide pci card

Try running the memory test (at the bottom of the boot menu). Maybe one of the 256MB chips are defect somewhere high up in the mem range. Older Linux distros typically use less memory, so maybe they can run unaffected.

The memory test takes a long time to finish, but be patient and let it run. :)

ok...so i found out why it was freezing during the boot. I have an onboard graphics card and a peripheral nvidia geforce 5200. It boots properly on my onboard graphics card, but freezes when i try to use the nvidia card, which puzzles me because i heard that linux runs better with nvidia. Oh well, at least i can run it now. thanks for all your help!

ps...i tried downloading the nvidia drivers for linux, but when i try to boot through the nvidia card, it still freezes and now i can't get to the graphical interface at all...even if i run through the on-board card. I can still run the CLI, but will not load the graphical interface. It only did this when i enabled the nvidia card...is there a way to disable the device through the CLI? Sorry about the rookie question, i'm new to linux.

all the info is in the above post

all the info is in the above post

Thanks! That solved my problem!