[Deaf-lug] Ubuntu Won't Work on a laptop
JGJones
mailinglist at gwallgofi.com
Tue Mar 11 01:43:26 GMT 2008
I wouldn't use Ubuntu on the laptop...
It'll run...but horribly slow (Gnome/KDE just isn't suited for that)
However if you're willing to "play"...if you can get a copy of Linux
Format magazine from a store (supermarkets even stock them nowadays) -
they've got a DVD with 10 or 12 different distro's on it - some of them
are suitable for slow and old PC's
DSL (Damn Small Linux) will abosolutely SCREAM on your old old PC (it's
actually designed to run well on a 486 with 16Mb!!) - although it does
lack a bit in features...it'll load *fully* in RAM as you have 320Mb so
it'll be really fast.
http://damnsmalllinux.org/
However you'll obviously want a tad more features than that...so I could
suggest a slightly different DSL - DSL-N - http://damnsmalllinux.org/dsl-n/
It use more updated features so it's not as fast, but will still be
really fast with your old PC.
HOWEVER I'm aware that the two suggestions above aren't as
"user-friendly" as something like Ubuntu is...so I could suggest you
check out Xubuntu - which is Ubuntu, but using XCFE as the window
manager (take up much less resources than Gnome/KDE)
http://www.xubuntu.org/
Bear in mind that they will *not* have the full features of its bigger
brother - however I use Xubuntu on a Sony VAIO - which is a P3 1GHz with
512Mb and it works very well - good enough for casual web browsing etc
(in my case as I have SiS graphics...I have to disable Flash cos it's
simply just awful with that)
HDD sizes:
You've got 30GB free - Ubuntu'll work very very well with that space and
you can dual boot XP/Ubuntu (remember that while installing, don't
select the option to let it use entire HDD!! That means it wipes off XP
- just tell it to use free *available* space)
However I'm guessing that obviously that 30GB free space you talk about
is in a partition - so you'll need to edit the partition (it does have a
nice easy to use partition editor) to resize your 2nd HDD to free up
that 30GB of space.
before doing this - defrag your HDD!
Hope that's clear? A bit late here so I might not be explaining stuff
properly so do feel free to ask any questions!
Cheers
Paul Johnston wrote:
> Hi again,
>
> Apologies for not replying before now. Been real busy. Such is life,
> with a full time job and 3 young kids :-)
>
> Joe, you are right. Upgrading the good old memory to 2GB on the laptop
> solved the problem.
>
> Been playing with Ubuntu on the laptop and my old PC. Really like it.
> So would like to install this on my ageing PC. First step to me
> becoming a full blown Ubuntu convert :-) Any recco's for
> partition/disk sizes for Ubuntu? This PC is really old (8+ years old,
> 500 MHz Pentium 3 with "mere" 320MB memory).
>
> This old desktop has 2 HDDs. One is whopping (!) 13GB. Shows my PC
> age!! 7Gb free if it helps. 2nd HDD, bought 3 years ago or so, is 75Gb
> ish, prob 80GB with system files etc installed. Can't remember!! 30Gb
> free.
>
> Question is do I have enough disk space for dual XP/Ubunto boot up
> options? Fret not if I haven't. I am prepared to replace the 13GB HDD
> with a bigger one (160GB for £25ish!!, amazing how cheap they are
> nowadays) if this would help with the performance etc of Ubuntu.
>
> Cheers,
>
> Paul.
> -----Original Message-----
> *From:* deaf-lug-bounces at mailman.lug.org.uk
> [mailto:deaf-lug-bounces at mailman.lug.org.uk]*On Behalf Of *JGJones
> *Sent:* 26 February 2008 23:52
> *To:* deaf-lug at mailman.lug.org.uk
> *Subject:* RE: [Deaf-lug] Ubuntu Won't Work on a laptop
>
> Ah I see your problem now...
>
> It's the Intel graphics - it's *very* well supported in Ubuntu
> (Intel make open source drivers for them after all) - BUT it use a
> part of your system memory as its graphics memory.
>
> Booting from Live CD chews up memory a lot (since it's not touching
> your HDD) so this might explain why you're not getting a graphical
> screen. However since you've ordered 2GB, so as soon as you plug
> that in, you'll be able to run Ubuntu on that laptop just fine
> without issues - everything supported (apart from wifi, I don't know
> which model it is if you have it, but most are getting supported
> these days now) as you'll have plenty for graphic memory as well.
>
> With more memory, all is well. I've got 2GB on my laptop and Ubuntu
> just flies (although I do have a Core 2 Duo 2.2GHz with 4Mb cache to
> go with it(!)) - am planning to get 4GB for it (I actually run out
> of memory a lot - I run a few Virtual Machines on it) and when I
> do...it's time to upgrade to my first 64bits OS.
>
> On Tue, 2008-02-26 at 18:47 +0000, Paul Johnston wrote:
>>
>> Hi there,
>> The laptop is actually an ordinary one purchased off Dell 2 years
>> ago. No extra hardware or anything like that. Minimum spec.
>> Memory is 256MB (which is indeed on the low side so I have ordered
>> 2 gig for it) DDR2 SDRAM. CPU is Celeron M 1.4Ghz. Graphics is
>> indeed bog standard Intel (915GM/910GML if this means anything to
>> you).
>> I have left my Hardy Heron CD at work so this will have to wait
>> until tomorrow.
>> Cheers,
>> Paul.
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> *From:* deaf-lug-bounces at mailman.lug.org.uk
>> [mailto:deaf-lug-bounces at mailman.lug.org.uk]*On Behalf Of *JGJones
>> *Sent:* 26 February 2008 17:31
>> *To:* deaf-lug at mailman.lug.org.uk
>> *Subject:* Re: [Deaf-lug] Ubuntu Won't Work on a laptop
>>
>>
>> Paul
>>
>> IF possible can you give us the hardware specification for the
>> Dell Inspiron 1300 laptop? What CPU, memory, graphics etc?
>>
>> Dell Inspiron are quite well supported in Ubuntu so it's
>> unusual to hear of a live CD not working on a Dell Inspiron,
>> so it's possible you've got one with some funky hardware that
>> Ubuntu sadly doesn't have the drivers for but I really doubt
>> that! :) I'm looking specifically for the graphics bit (which
>> *should* just work - Intel graphics is open source, nvidia and
>> ATi both are well supported with open and closed source
>> drivers, SiS graphics even is supported and even VIA's
>> UniChrome graphics is supported too although not as brilliant)
>>
>> Regarding downloading Hardy Heron - you're right that it's
>> still in beta, however it's passed the feature freeze phase
>> now - meaning that all software version that you'll get with
>> that is frozen at that moment and won't go any further and
>> from this point on it's all just bug-fixing so you'll get
>> increasing stability with it (plus it's to be the LTS (Long
>> Term Support) version as well - which is I think 5 years for
>> desktops?) - no harm in testing that with your laptop - I am
>> going to be upgrading to Hardy myself quite soon too on my
>> primary laptop (I can live with any errors etc during the beta
>> phase and often help with bug-fix testing anyway)
>>
>>
>>
>> On Tue, 2008-02-26 at 09:12 +0000, Paul Johnston wrote:
>>> Hi Ben,
>>>
>>> Thanks for this. The alternate desktop CD does not seem to have the demo option? I would like to try out Ubuntu first before installing it on the laptop.
>>>
>>> I have yet to try the CTRL + ALT +F1 or connecting the laptop to an exteranl monitor though.
>>>
>>> In the meantime I am downloading the Hardy Heron version of Ubuntu. To see if this will work ok on the laptop. I know this is still a beta version but is the final one, so should be relatively bug free.
>>>
>>> Cheers,
>>>
>>> Paul.
>>>
>>> ----- Original Message ----
>>> From: Ben Fletcher <enlightenedtux at googlemail.com <mailto:enlightenedtux at googlemail.com>>
>>> To: deaf-lug at mailman.lug.org.uk <mailto:deaf-lug at mailman.lug.org.uk>
>>> Sent: Monday, 25 February, 2008 12:38:38 PM
>>> Subject: Re: [Deaf-lug] Ubuntu Won't Work on a laptop
>>>
>>> re corruption... yes however drivers used on your computer may be
>>> different to drivers used on your laptop, and one of these drivers for
>>> laptop (e.g. driver for display) may be corrupted on the CD.
>>>
>>> When you get to the blank screen, does CTRL + ALT + F1 bring you to a
>>> console prompt? Asking you for your username and password?
>>>
>>> Have you tried connecting the laptop to some external monitor, and
>>> using that instead of laptop's screen, for the installation?
>>>
>>> The alternate desktop CD is here:
>>>
>>> http://www.ubuntu.com/getubuntu/download
>>>
>>> towards the bottom, you should see a checkbox to tick.
>>>
>>> Rgds, Ben
>>>
>>>
>>> On 25/02/2008, Paul Johnston <gingerdeafman at yahoo.co.uk <mailto:gingerdeafman at yahoo.co.uk>> wrote:
>>> > Hi Ben,
>>> >
>>> > Thanks for this. The model is Dell Inspiron 1300 (over 2 years old).
>>> >
>>> > CD corrupted? I wouldn't have thought so as it works fine on my other PC.
>>> >
>>> > Alternate desktop CD? News to me. Where could I get hold of one? (URL).
>>> >
>>> > Cheers,
>>> >
>>> >
>>> > Paul.
>>> >
>>> >
>>> >
>>> > ----- Original Message ----
>>> > From: Ben Fletcher <enlightenedtux at googlemail.com <mailto:enlightenedtux at googlemail.com>>
>>> > To: deaf-lug at mailman.lug.org.uk <mailto:deaf-lug at mailman.lug.org.uk>
>>> > Sent: Monday, 25 February, 2008 10:40:38 AM
>>> > Subject: Re: [Deaf-lug] Ubuntu Won't Work on a laptop
>>> >
>>> > Got name of the laptop model? Is the CD not corrupted? How about
>>> > giving the alternate desktop CD a try? It has a text based installer
>>> > which may give you a better idea of what the problem is. When you
>>> > download the CD, you can tick a box to ask for the alternate desktop
>>> > CD:
>>> >
>>> > "Check here if you need the alternate desktop CD. This CD does not
>>> > include the Live CD, instead it uses a text-based installer."
>>> >
>>> > Rgds, Ben
>>> >
>>> > On 25/02/2008, Paul Johnston <gingerdeafman at yahoo.co.uk <mailto:gingerdeafman at yahoo.co.uk>> wrote:
>>> > > Hi again,
>>> > >
>>> > > I have created a Ubuntu bootable CD that works fine on my ancient desktop PC but doesn't work on one of our laptops.
>>> > >
>>> > > It boots up ok, showing Ubuntu screen with the orange progress indicator bar and then reaches beige screen with mouse pointer which can be moved. Just that blank beige screen, no "swirly" desktop image or task bar. Any ideas? 256MB not enough perhaps?
>>> > >
>>> > > Cheers,
>>> > >
>>> > > Paul.
>>> > >
>>> > >
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