tried my best to verify that the server I was loading from (mirror.mcs.anl.gov) had mirrored 8.1, and it appeared to have done so. Re-transferred and burned the boot.iso cd, then ran the starttup and pointed it to /pub/suse/i386/8.1 (also tried /current). Still got the same effect where it puills up the installation program, I choose my settings, it scans for packages, then displays the "No base selection available" and "ERROR:No proposal" messages under the "SOFTWARE" selection item. Any ideas what I am doing wrong? Could someone that it worked for post their steps, and any ideas I might be able to follow? This is very frustrating! _________________________________________________________________ Unlimited Internet access -- and 2 months free!  Try MSN. http://resourcecenter.msn.com/access/plans/2monthsfree.asp