I can confirm this! On my Asus M2400N Laptop (1.5 GHz Centrino, 512 MB RAM) the kernel only boots if put acpi=off as a parameter on boot. If acpi=off is not set the grey box with "loading the Linux kernel" appears for a couple of seconds, then disappears and the machine reboots.
Having set acpi=off the Desktop-CD boots just fine and everything seems to work (except extra keys (but I haven't played around with that yet). I am actually typing this being online with the Desktop CD. If any further information is needed just let me know. ** Attachment added: "dmesg output" http://librarian.launchpad.net/6446936/dmesg%20acpi%3Doff -- kernel 2.6.20-6 problem on asus centrino with kubuntu feisty herd 3, acpi=off partial solved https://launchpad.net/bugs/83290 -- ubuntu-bugs mailing list ubuntu-bugs@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-bugs