Poweredge 6450 Linux Install Issue

Hello,

I have attempted to install Gentoo, Suse, and Ubuntu. So far I have been unsuccessfull, I am fairly experienced with linux and cant figure out the problem. Suse and Ubuntu both have issues when copying media off of the cdrom. Gentoo seems to crash (Kernel panic) when loading the root filesystem from the ramdrive. I have tried setting the install mode to on, in the bios. I have tried selecting files from a USB hard drive. Nothing seems to work. In Ubuntu / Dell cd I can mount the cdrom and see the files on it. I checked quite a few files to make sure they showed up fine, and they have.

I tried to pass the ide=nodma into the bootloaders and still no luck. I tried Suse / Ubuntu in safe mode as well. It seems like there must be something odvious im missing, my first guess would have been the cdrom drive having issues, but it doesnt appear to be. I also ran the linux memory test and had no errors. On a side note it wont let me load any kernel mode drivers in Suse.

Any suggestions would be welcome.