Hello again, folks. Last week I decided Mandrake 8.1 just wasn't new enough for me now that I have a cable modem, so I downloaded the 8.2 CDs, repartitioned my drive, and attempted to install the new version. Got a kernel panic -- can't mount root partition -- a few seconds into loading the installer. Here's what I've tried so far: * Are the CDs bad? No, I checked them against the images, and checked the images against the checksums available online. * Is my drive unsupported? No, it still works with the 8.1 CDs, and swapping out the drive for another doesn't help. * Is my K6 processor unsupported? No, it still works with 8.1, and "expert nopentium" at the boot prompt doesn't help. * Is the problem with Mandrake? No, I downloaded Red Hat 7.3 and the same thing happens. * Would it help to upgrade to 8.2 rather than install directly? That gets around the kernel panic, but a number of packages don't upgrade correctly, and the system winds up halfway between 8.1 and 8.2. Anyway, I'm realizing that the bigger problem here is that I'm not enough of a geek to figure out what's going on. I live in Lyn-Lake -- surely there are other Linux folks nearby who are better at this stuff than I am. My roommate and I are pretty good cooks, and Uptown Pizza is only 2 blocks away. So if anybody out there is up for a challenge and hungry for dinner, please write to me. Thanks in advance! --Ben