Folks

I've been trying to install Centos 6.2 on an HP Mobile Workstation 8540w. For various reasons, I have restarted the install many times.I use the 64-bit DVD image. The install chooses the following options

a) Install with Basic Video Driver b) Skip the media scan c) Default Country, Language, Basic Storage Devices, change time zone d) Fresh Installation e) Configure network, (turn on wired Always Connect). f) Hit ALT-B to get back to examining storage devices. (I found I had to do this to get the HostName field filled in with the defaults from DHCP). [See below, frequent hangs here, in which case I power down and start again] g) If I get beyond the HostName stage, I choose the Virtual Host method and the install goes to completion successfully.

The machine is connected with an ethernet cable to a LAN that is my internal NAT'ted system. The wireless button indicates disabled.

I have been getting varied results with (presumably) the same starting conditions. In each case, I power off the machine, wait a few seconds, and power it on with the DVD image in place, choose "Install with basic video driver", and go through the same sequence.

On many attempts, the installation sequence finishes just right, and the reboot gives me the expected root prompt. The USB mouse does not work during install, so I have to use the keyboard and touch-pad pointers.

Among the anomalies I get are:

1) The first "Waiting for hardware to initialize..." is as far as it goes. Usually, it's done in a couple of seconds and goes on to a second hardware scan. Sometimes it hangs for over a minute before I give up.

2) The install appears to come to the end, the DVD is ejected, and I hit ENTER to reboot. The reboot starts and the screen goes dark. Power down and power up to boot from HD succeeds, but there was a flash of about three lines on the screen before the blue sliding bar appeared.

3) The install sequence hangs with the screen all blue except for the bottom line which reads "Running anaconda 13.21.149, the CentOS installer, Please wait ... Then after about a minute the screen blinks and goes dark.

4) The install sequence hangs on "Media Detected - Found local installation media", the CD drive idled down.

5) The install sequence hangs on "Examining Devices, Examining storage devices, with the blue slider almost at the left edge. Although this screen appears several times, the instance that hangs is the one after I've activated the wired network and hit Back.

In most cases, if the system gets to the point of choosing the Virtual Host option, the installation completes successfully.

So, -- is this an issue with the install procedure? Does it not treat this hardware correctly? Is there some other startup method or option I could use?