Well, it didn’t help my being a total n00b with Linux.
I ran the hash against my DVD image, and got the right numbers, and the DVD (the LIVE/install version) boots just fine, and I can play around with all the cool toys.
I just can’t get Install to progress beyond the 15% mark once I’ve specified the drive partitioning, and it didn’t make a difference whether I tried it Guided, Guided Whole disk, or Manual.
I even played around with QTpart trying to set up the partitions BEFORE I initiatied the Install & still got no play.
Hm. I just installed from the installation CD (not Live DVD) and it ran fine. Of course, different hardware... But a number of things that were questionable in Kubuntu 7.04 (like old HP printer installation) just simply worked this time out. Not perfect, but it’s dramatically improved from my experiences a decade ago.