Instead of using Windows 7

[rallynavvie]

While I was back home for a death in the family this past weekend my parents asked if I could take a look at their ailing desktop and see if I could breath some new life into it. I didn't hold out much hope as they've done a good job of crudding up XP over the years and the desktop itself is an 8 year old Dell system with a 1.6 P4 and 512MB memory. I had copies of Windows 7 available to me but I decided that it was the end of Windows for them for now. They have laptops with Windows on them if they really need it but I decided to load Ubuntu on their desktop to start familiarizing them with a Linux OS.

It's been a while since I've used Linux as a native host OS though I use Ubuntu daily in a VM. Install process went well and after all the updates were applied and the system settings tweaked I was amazed to see how well the old PC ran! They really only use it for internet, email, and office applications and I had done some testing with their office docs in my VM to make sure they'd work after the switch. I've had them using Firefox for a couple years now so they're familiar with its interface but I did have to teach them about AdBlock and NoScript, even though I have a pretty decent list for both that I loaded up for them.

I'm somewhat proud to report that they've taken to Ubuntu very well this week. They both love how much more responsive the system is and how Ubuntu seemed to fix all the issues they were having with XP. And since they can't really install applications from the net (they have to use the Add Program option where the apps are often tested and reliable) so it's going to be forever before they can mess it up. Their peripherals, like the digital camera and scanner, are even working without their bloatware now. And their printer is shared to the wireless so they can print from anywhere (even though I could have set up XP to do it the Linux implementation is a lot nicer).

Start converting, people. If my folks can use it and like it then others should be able to use it and like it.

[freebird73717]

Bravo! I applaud you for getting them to try Linux and ubuntu is a great place to start. For a good majority of people that just do email, internet, and office linux is all they really need anyway.

[vcdlover]

I am interested in Ubuntu as well. My work place gave me an IBM T42 which had Intel Due Core 1.6 and 512 RAM. It is running XP Pro and it seems slow. I want to experiment Ubuntu, but my fear is that there are no drivers for T42. I just visited the IBM site, but there's no driver for other OS's.

Any idea how to get started?

Thanks

[edDV]

I am interested in Ubuntu as well. My work place gave me an IBM T42 which had Intel Due Core 1.6 and 512 RAM. It is running XP Pro and it seems slow. I want to experiment Ubuntu, but my fear is that there are no drivers for T42. I just visited the IBM site, but there's no driver for other OS's.

Any idea how to get started?

Thanks

Google the laptop model number + "Linux" and see if anyone has figured it out.

[vcdlover]

I am interested in Ubuntu as well. My work place gave me an IBM T42 which had Intel Due Core 1.6 and 512 RAM. It is running XP Pro and it seems slow. I want to experiment Ubuntu, but my fear is that there are no drivers for T42. I just visited the IBM site, but there's no driver for other OS's.

Any idea how to get started?

Thanks

Google the laptop model number + "Linux" and see if anyone has figured it out.

Thanks edDV.

I just searched the web and found some answers. The Ubuntu should detect all devices and install drivers for them automatically. I'll give it a try this weekend.

[rallynavvie]

Yeah, I was surprised that my Sony Vaio SZ-series laptop had most of its drivers available for Ubuntu, and that includes the biometric.

Download the Ubuntu ISO for your system (desktop 32-bit or 64-bit) and boot to it. There's a "live CD" option that allows you to run Ubuntu from the CD and see if it can detect all of your devices once it's loaded.

[disturbed1]

@vcdlover
http://www.thinkwiki.org all about IBM/Lenovo laptops.

Start converting, people. If my folks can use it and like it then others should be able to use it and like it.

I'm sure you already did, but set up ssh and vnc so you can give them remote assistance when needed. A few years back when we lived in AZ, and my in-laws lived in OH, I did this for them. It's nice to ssh in and apply any security updates/patches, or install new programs without having to walk someone through it over the phone.

[vcdlover]

Thanks all for suggestions.

No doubt that I still love Windows. I just spent several $$$ for a copy of Windows 7 Ultimate (for my main workhorse PC) and another copy of Windows 7 Home Upgrade for my Toshiba laptop. I just want to try Ubuntu to see if I could get hooked.

That's my weekend project other than watching college football and NFL.

[tun.tin]

I have a stripped xp lite version only 100MB iso just for magicjack/file sharing and it has been running 24/7 over a year now without problem. Windows still rocks

[mh2360]

I have a stripped xp lite version only 100MB iso just for magicjack/file sharing and it has been running 24/7 over a year now without problem. Windows still rocks

I would expect it to "rock" for the price they charged for it.

Linux rocks for no other reason than it is 100% free.

[MJA]

I am interested in Ubuntu as well. My work place gave me an IBM T42 which had Intel Due Core 1.6 and 512 RAM. It is running XP Pro and it seems slow. I want to experiment Ubuntu, but my fear is that there are no drivers for T42. I just visited the IBM site, but there's no driver for other OS's.

Any idea how to get started?

Thanks

Google the laptop model number + "Linux" and see if anyone has figured it out.

Thanks edDV.

I just searched the web and found some answers. The Ubuntu should detect all devices and install drivers for them automatically. I'll give it a try this weekend.

add more memory($30)+format= fast born again laptop

[3Simon7]

There is also a very small version of linux available for older and slower PCs.

http://www.damnsmalllinux.org/

http://www.amazon.com/Official-Damn-Small-Linux-Book/dp/0132338696

[vcdlover]

Now there's a problem. Ubuntu was installed and everything seemed to be successful. When it restarted, it said "error: no such device: 4f8d52ed and etc. Press any key to continue." I've tried to install it three times and it still said the same message. I didn't change anything other than following the 6 steps. Ubuntu didn't give me any warning about any device. The Prepare disk space option, I chose Erase and use the entire disk. It shows the hard drive below the line SCSI1 (0,0,0) (sda) - 40.0 GB ATA. The blue bar above said The computer has Ubuntu 9.10 (9.10) on it. Have I done anything wrong?

Thanks for any suggestion

[freebird73717]

That's an error that I haven't seen before and a quick google check didn't give me anything based on what you wrote. If anybody else doesn't have any more ideas then try posting the exact error message at the ubuntu forums for some detailed help.

http://ubuntuforums.org/

edit
specifically check out this thread
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1305819

[MJA]

Ubuntu for netbook wont run on my ASUS Eee PC 2G Surf(2GB hard drive,512mb memory) ,but I have no issue with Microxp sp3

[disturbed1]

I didn't change anything other than following the 6 steps.

I'm going to guess that you followed the installer's instructions which were only 6 steps long?

Did you install Grub to the MBR?

error: no such device: 4f8d52ed and etc.
The above is as ambiguous in Linux as me stating I get a pop up with some buttons in Windows

Is this error: no such device directly after boot up -
before the splash screen -
during the splash screen -
after the splash screen -

4f8d52ed looks like part of an UUID (hard drive identifier). If that's the case, the rest of your error message might contain (para-phrased) failure to find root device. There's a number of things might have happened. Usually it's because Grub was installed to the incorrect drive/partition.


--edit--

Damn freebird73717 beat me to it

[vcdlover]

That's an error that I haven't seen before and a quick google check didn't give me anything based on what you wrote. If anybody else doesn't have any more ideas then try posting the exact error message at the ubuntu forums for some detailed help.

http://ubuntuforums.org/

edit
specifically check out this thread
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1305819

Thanks freebird

The message seems to change every time each installation, but error: no such device: read the same. I just reintalled in again and this time it gave me this code 9bb7bb41-7254-463e-b46d-742218a08805 Failed to boot default entries. Press any key to continue.

I was playing with the demo, it seems to be very nice OS and quite challenging.

Thanks

[vcdlover]

I didn't change anything other than following the 6 steps.

I'm going to guess that you followed the installer's instructions which were only 6 steps long?

Did you install Grub to the MBR?

error: no such device: 4f8d52ed and etc.
The above is as ambiguous in Linux as me stating I get a pop up with some buttons in Windows

Is this error: no such device directly after boot up -
before the splash screen -
during the splash screen -
after the splash screen -

4f8d52ed looks like part of an UUID (hard drive identifier). If that's the case, the rest of your error message might contain (para-phrased) failure to find root device. There's a number of things might have happened. Usually it's because Grub was installed to the incorrect drive/partition.


--edit--

Damn freebird73717 beat me to it

disturbed1,

After restart, there's a splash screen GRUB loading. When I force it to restart again, it shows another screen GUN GRUB version 1.97 beta4. It gave me 4 options like Ubuntu, Linux 2.6.31-14-generic. Ubuntu, Linux 2.6.31-14-generic. (recovery mode). Memory test (memtest86+) and Memory test (memtest86+, serial console 115200).

[vcdlover]

That's an error that I haven't seen before and a quick google check didn't give me anything based on what you wrote. If anybody else doesn't have any more ideas then try posting the exact error message at the ubuntu forums for some detailed help.

http://ubuntuforums.org/

edit
specifically check out this thread
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1305819

I just went to http://ubuntuforums.org/ and found the exact issue like that poster r6ual which was posted a few minutes ago. His (her) title reads 9.10 installs but fails to load. Maybe IBM doesn't like Ubuntu?

Thanks

[disturbed1]

There are more than a couple of bugs in Launchpad about grub2 just prior to the release, and not all Thinkpad owners. I'm really surprised Ubuntu moved to grub2 as the default boot loader. There's a reason grub2 is labeled as unstable. Hell even Arch Linux - which is considered bleeding edge doesn't ship grub2 as default.

To fix this -
See if you can boot in recovery mode. Sooner or latter someone on the Ubuntu forums will post how to fix this.
If recovery doesn't work either, you'll need a live cd. Mount your hard drive, and edit it that way.
Wait on Ubuntu to respin the installation CDs (if they ever do).
Do what other in the same position as yourself have done - install an older version then upgrade to the latest.
Attempt to try this https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Grub2#Recover%20Grub%202%20via%20LiveCD

Don't forget about these distros either
http://www.vectorlinux.com/
http://www.goblinx.com.br/en/
http://zenwalk.org/

Good Luck, and have fun!

[vcdlover]

There are more than a couple of bugs in Launchpad about grub2 just prior to the release, and not all Thinkpad owners. I'm really surprised Ubuntu moved to grub2 as the default boot loader. There's a reason grub2 is labeled as unstable. Hell even Arch Linux - which is considered bleeding edge doesn't ship grub2 as default.

To fix this -
See if you can boot in recovery mode. Sooner or latter someone on the Ubuntu forums will post how to fix this.
If recovery doesn't work either, you'll need a live cd. Mount your hard drive, and edit it that way.
Wait on Ubuntu to respin the installation CDs (if they ever do).
Do what other in the same position as yourself have done - install an older version then upgrade to the latest.
Attempt to try this https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Grub2#Recover%20Grub%202%20via%20LiveCD

Don't forget about these distros either
http://www.vectorlinux.com/
http://www.goblinx.com.br/en/
http://zenwalk.org/

Good Luck, and have fun!

Thanks disturbed1

I followed your link and found the older version 8.04.3 and downloading it right now. I'll try it when it's done. In the mean time, I'm installing version 9.10 on my ancient ComPag Armada M700 to see if it works or not. Will report back what I see.

Thanks again

[rallynavvie]

Strange that I've never had an issue installing Ubuntu on anything. I thought for sure there would be something wrong with the install on the 8 year old Dell Dimension desktop. My Vaio laptop didn't have an issue with it either. You're probably on the right path installing the older version. 9.10 just came out this week so I would have recommended going back to 9.04 to see if that works.

[freebird73717]

Strange that I've never had an issue installing Ubuntu on anything

Same here. But then the latest I've installed was 8.04. I'll probably install 9.04 soon myself.

[vcdlover]

Strange that I've never had an issue installing Ubuntu on anything

Same here. But then the latest I've installed was 8.04. I'll probably install 9.04 soon myself.

I just finished installing 9.10 on my ComPaq with no issue. But, the laptop is ancient so ti's very slow. Now, I've got version 8.04.3 installed on the Thinkpad, it works fine. I'm then trying to upgrade to 9.10, but no success. I follow direction from the forum Start System/Administration/Update Manager. It didn't detect 9.10. Put the CD in, it opens it but doesn't in install. I'll try to download 9.04 to see if it works.

Stay tune

[vcdlover]

OK, to follow up

I was able to run 9.10 on my Thinkpad by installing 9.04 first then run the upgrade with no issue. My previous issue was that I installed 8.04 first. Ubuntu didn't allow 8.04 to 9.10. Everything is running fine now. I'm still learning how to locate each directory and it'll take time. I notice that the Thinkpad is running faster now. I would say about 30% faster.

Well, not everything is smooth. I download AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition 8.5 for Linux and install it. The problem is, I couldn't find the location after successful installing. Based on the help from a link provided by Ubuntu, it said You can find AVG Antivirus under Applications > Accessories > AVG for Linux Workstation. Unfortunately, there's no AVG found under that directory.

Another issue, every time it restarts, it always prompts to enter the wireless connection code even though I choose remember.

Any help is appreciated.

Thanks

[Poppa_Meth]

In my limited Ubuntu experience (I'm just starting to tinker with it myself) the free Avast AV is much better than AVG is on Linux anyway.

[disturbed1]

Why are you guys installing an antivirus in the first place? Running a mail server or something

[rallynavvie]

Why are you guys installing an antivirus in the first place? Running a mail server or something

Yeah there aren't many viruses afflicting Ubuntu these days. Maybe as more people migrate to it someday but since most Ubuntu users are generally more technology savvy I don't think there's much market for viruses.

[Poppa_Meth]

I run it as a precaution just because all my other rigs are Windows.

[vcdlover]

I run it as a precaution just because all my other rigs are Windows.

My Thinkpad which runs Ubuntu is connected to the home file server (all Windows) and it is a preventive action. I think I started to like Ubuntu and I'll spend more time reading and playing with it. It is a new experience. I'd tried RedHat before, but it wasn't joyable to play with so it was ditched.

I'll try a different one tonight if I could get any anti-virus app running.

Thanks