no, no, no, i mean i installed it as a slave, and formated it over and over and over. then took it out, changed the jumper to put it as master then tried to boot from cd.
for some reason i always get that response when i explain what i did.. maybe i should choose different words.
i can only asume its compatible. it originally came with windows 2k, then i installed xp, then i formated and installed xp again but got some "infection" and ever since then all i can install is linux and free bsd.
as i said before, "checking hardware config.." then black-- and stays black... the cd continues to spin for a little longer then stops, but the light on the computer, the one that lights up when it is processing, not the power light the other one, stays on. Dont know if thats relevant or not.
thanks for the replies!