slackware problem

Hello, i'am trying to load slackware 8.1 onto a seagate hard drive i just got and for some reason when i install it and restart and doesn't show up. Either my computer doesn't detect it or it didn't install correctly. I have installed it before with no problem but this time it just seems to have problems. First I made a linux and a linux swap partition (linux - 4gb swap - 300mb). I wrote those partitions with no problem. Then after that I did a full install, I did decide not to load lilo boot tho. Slackware found all of my hardware and I selected KDE as my graphic interface. After all of that i restarted my computer like it said and after that it checks the cd rom, checks the floppy, and then it checks the hard drive and doesn't seem to find linux. Does anyone know why it's not working? Would using partition magic 8 to do my partition make any difference from using slackware?

Two ideas come to mind:

1. Somehow the root partition is not flagged as the boot partition

2. The boot disk you used (if you used a floppy) employed a kernel that had drivers that do not match all of your hardware. Explanation can be found here: http://www.slackware.com/faq/do_faq....installation#9

Don't know if either of these is the cause, but hope they help.

If you didn't install LILO, then you need an alternative method to find
the LINUX partition, and boot from it. The most common alternative is a
boot floppy. (the install program should have prompted you to make one)

Without a boot floppy, you would need some other boot loader installed,
because a standard Master boot record will not boot Linux. You would
need a third party program like System Commander.

If you did create the boot floppy and it isn't working, maybe your BIOS
is set to boot from the hard drive first, and ignoring the floppy drive.

Go into setup and change the boot order, if this is the case.
:cool:

found the problem, it ended up actually being the CD. It had a semi-deep scratch on the bottom causing it to skip over some things that appear to be needed. I'am downloading slackware 9.0 iso right now, so i will see how that goes. Thanks for your help anyways