buddypress does not work

I use a dedicated lamp server – I have tried several times and several ways to get buddypress working – it’s the first plug-in I’ve had this serious a problem with of the dozens that I have been testing – there is a problem with navigation to the buddypress directory – seems to expect a members directory in the path – that is a lower-level sub-directory – I can get a screen using the default bp theme – but paths are broken – there is no guidance on this – so perhaps it’s something simple that I’m overlooking like .htaccess settings – I usually am able to work my way thru altho not in this case thus far – wp has me spoiled – and I’m not a heavy tech