Could be bad media.
If it's taking a long time to install off a cdrom that could be the problem. I don't know what the updating the gnome database stuff means.
The way to check media is to use md5sum.
Usually from the place were you downloaded the ISO images, there is a file their called "md5sums" of something similar, or often the md5sums are listed underneath each image or something like that.
Inside the text file, if their is one, would be a long string of hexadecimal numbers, one for each image.
so when dealing with install media I go like this:
Download the iso images thru bittorrent of ftp or whatever. (say it was just one image: install.iso)(although bittorrent does automaticly check the downloads itself after the download finishes)
then I find the md5sums for that image off of the website were I got it.
Then I run the command:
md5sum install.iso
Then it works on the iso image and spits out the md5sum number for that file. If it matches the original md5sum then I know that the image is pure and hasn't been tampered with or screwed up. Not even a flipped bit.
Then I do the burning thing:
cdrecord -dev=ATAPI:0,1,0 -v install.iso
(or whatever you use)
And then when that is done I go:
md5sum /dev/cdrom
(or whatever IDE/SCSI/SCSI-emulated (for 2.4 kernels) device you use)
And then if that last md5sum from the actual physical burned CD matches the other 2, then I know the image is 100% and I'm ready to go.
I haven't installed Slackware 10.0 so I don't know what changes it has had since the 9.whatever stuff was since I last used it.
For checking about DMA settings, setting DMA and stuff like that you use hdparm for IDE devices.
Basicly:
hdparm /dev/hda
And that will show you the settings. See hdparm's man files for more info and there are pages out their describing how to tweak your harddrive's settings for best performance, DMA does 95% of the increase and although it's safe to mess with that, other settings can damage or lock up stuff. The man file will have warnings on what to aviod using unless you know what your doing.
Also if you have the DVD/cdrom drive on the same IDE channel as the harddrive it's going to make it difficult to get good images burned, and move lots of data from the cdrom to the harddrive. You see when they are on the same PATA IDE channel they are sharing it, back and forth. The Master has complete control over the IDE channel and will cut the Slave off if it needs to move data on the ide ribbon, which is obviously bad for when you burn CD's and will slow big file transfers down.
Burning CDROMs is weird, they are not a random access device: It's read like a record or a tape, one big long line around and around the cdrom. If your buffer on the cdrom starts going down when burning, it will try to slow the drive down until the data buffer fills back up, but if it runs out of data the drive just can't stop the cdrom, it just keeps spinning. Of course it tries to pick up were it left off, but it will never be able to find the exact same spot and it's like having a big scar on the disk. (this is called a buffer underrun sometimes) Chances are that you'd end up with a coaster. So that's some stuff to think about, if you weren't already aware of it.
And if you don't have a working linux box going yet, use md5sum.exe for Windows to check images, but I don't know how to check the physical burned cd with it in Windows.
If you have very specific Slackware questions, one place to look for answers is the
LinuxPackages.com. That's a place for Slackware enthusiests.
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