What if ISO cd/dvd won't run?

The latest versions of any and (almost) all distro's fail to run on my computer. They all seem to die due to kernel panic. Open SUSE 12.2 beta being the exception. This is a new phenomenon, as everything used to boot up just one version back from current.

I am quite happy with openSuSE, but it bugs me that the rest fail, and would like to run down the cause. Unfortunately the screen scrolls by at hyper speed, and once the crash occured, I can't scroll back.

In cases like this, is there a way of a: slowing down the procedure or b: single step the boot process so errors may be observed?

I don't know of any specific command, and my googling didn't turn anything up. I did at one time accidentally discover that hitting "esc" would pause the booting process, and enter would continue on.

bdquick wrote:

hitting "esc" would pause the booting process, and enter would continue on.

Thanks for that hint. Sadly it no longer seems to work for any of the distros. The one good thing that came from this is that I no longer suspect a hardware problem. Using openSUSE 12.2 beta as an example, here is what happens.
1. The DVD version freezes with a kernel panic.
2. The Live CD version runs perfectly, but can not be installed directly from the boot menu.
the computer freezes with a black screen.
3. Once the live cd is up and running, installation can be selected from the menu, and completes
to the point where a reboot is requested.
4. Booting the computer produces the intro screen, then the computer freezes.

At least on my box, this is valid for both 32 and 64 bit versions. The only conclusion I can derive from this is that Linx is much like Forrest Gump's box of chocholates.