I am very new to this but am a network administrator. I dont know much about macs.

The problem i am having is no matter what distro i use i cannot get this to boot. It either says no boot device (iaktos v3) or starts loading the Darwin kernel and restarts (iaktos v5).

I am using what i think to be the proper configuration. i have all nforce mboard and vid card and am selecting that. along with the speed throttler.

If someone could help me with what config I should be using I would be very grateful.

I also am dual booting xp and this. However, this is on a completely separate hard drive and i boot to it using the bios boot menu. I don't know if that's a problem.

Here is my DXDiag info.


System
System Manufacturer: NVIDIA
System Model: NFORCE 680i LT SLI
BIOS: Phoenix - AwardBIOS v6.00PG
Processor: Intel(R) Pentium(R) Dual CPU E2180 @ 2.00GHz (2 CPUs)
Memory: 2814MB RAM actually 4gb
Page File: 737MB used, 5755MB available

Video
Card name: NVIDIA GeForce 8600 GT
Manufacturer: NVIDIA
Chip type: GeForce 8600 GT
DAC type: Integrated RAMDAC
Device Key: Enum\PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_0402&SUBSYS_40161682&REV_A1
Display Memory: 256.0 MB

Sound: Intergrated
Description: Realtek HD Audio output
Default Sound Playback: Yes
Default Voice Playback: Yes
Hardware ID: HDAUDIO\FUNC_01&VEN_10EC&DEV_0885&SUBSYS_10ECE601& REV_1001
Manufacturer ID: 1
Product ID: 100

Misc
Name: NVIDIA nForce 590/570/550 Serial ATA Controller
Name: NVIDIA Network Bus Enumerator

You cant get the installer DVD to boot? Or you cant get it to boot from the HD after being installed?
Are installing from IDE or SATA? To IDE or SATA?

Have you tried "iPC" distro? You can boot with "-v" and give us some of the error message. I would also try burning the disc at 2x speed and trying agian. You may have to also modify bios settings though this was not necessary for me.

I cannot boot after successfully installing. I'm wondering if I am not picking the correct install options. I am just selecting all the nForce stuff and video card and installing. Do i need to select a boot loader or can i just use the standard one. Let me know and thank you for the replies!

What setting would i have to modify in the bios? does it matter if the hard drive is not the master? or can i just boot from the drive from the bios boot menu, which is what ive been doing.

Is the HD IDE or SATA? If its SATA try setting up the controller as AHCI in the BIOS. If its IDE you may need some other kext to get it supported, AppleNForceATA doesnt support some newer nForce IDE controllers.
It should not matter if the drive is not master as long as there is no controller with a slave disk and an empty master port. It should not matter at all if the drive is SATA in AHCI mode, but its always safer to connect the drives following port order.
Bootloader should not be a problem if your system already starts up booting (Darwin prompt, press F8, etc.), means its already installed and working.
About install options, you should ideally choose only one for each piece of hardware (i.e. one option for SATA, one for Video, one for audio), as installing several kexts for the same purpose can cause troubles (specially video injectors).