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In XOOPS, it imperative to have the proper structure and file permissions.
Structure
If you unzip a module archive directly into modules, then it likely doesn't work. The directory structure is:
XOOPS_ROOT/modules/
where module name is the name of each module. In each directory, you should see a xoops_version.php file. If you don't see that, then neither will your admin area.
File Permissions
This depends upon your system, but some modules don't come with file permissions that match your server's needs. The ones that tend to work for most is 755 for directories and 644 for files, but your mileage may vary. Make sure that directories are executable and files readable for your web service.
If that doesn't get it going, let us know again, and we can try and give you some other pointers. Also, you might try adding a basic content or news module just to make sure.