The Elvidge Family

Ubuntu

Installing Ubuntu Lite on an old PC

Tuesday, 02 June 2009 00:00 | Author: Paul |

Installing Ubuntu Lite on an old PC

Update - since writing this guide UBuntu have released a new version install specifically for netbooks - I have not used this version yet - but it should be an easier install. (see here)

Ubuntu is great as a 2nd OS on any system either just for back-ups or as an alternative system for browsing and office, plus a lot more. There are plenty of 'lite' distributions to choose from. I've used Mepis-lite in the past with success. Here is how I installed Ubuntu-lite on an old Pentium 3 PC and added some extra functionality. I found I had to do a few work-arounds different from other install guides - (these are the sources main & blog) To prepare your PC - if you plan to have Windows aswell on the PC - install that first and leave some spare unformatted disk space for the linux partition (>3 GB).

1. Download the Ubuntu “mini” iso image from Ubuntu’s archive site and burn a CD.

2. Boot the CD and type “cli” (followed by Enter) at the initial prompt.

3. Respond appropriately to the installer’s half-dozen-or-so prompts. (If you have opted for the windows mult-boot option, here select the installer to use your unallocated disk space).

4. After the installer’s process completes, remove the CD and hit Enter at the prompt to reboot the system, and then login with your user name. (Note: At this point, 693MB of the system’s hard drive was occupied by the core Ubuntu OS.)

5. At the resulting command-line prompt, download the UbuntuLite installer script using the following command: (ps. this didn't work for me and when I rebooted it only went to the command prompt and not the GUI)

wget http://download.tuxfamily.org/ubuntulite/nouveau/install_ubuntulite_nouveau

NB: At this point, it did not work for me and so I did the following at the command prompt:

sudo wget http://ppa.launchpad.net/ubuntulite/ubuntu/pool/main/u/ubuntulite-repository/ubuntulite-repository_0.1-0ubuntulite1_all.deb

now type the command:

sudo dpkg -i ubuntulite-repository_0.1-0ubuntulite1_all.deb

this should install the .deb file. After this type at the command line:

sudo bash install_ubuntulite_nouveau

This may take a while - then return OK

sudo shutdown -r 0

You should now be able to boot in the Graphical Interface of Ubuntu-Lite If you wish to add more functionality, use the 'Synaptic Package Manager' to find and select more programs like: Firefox Open Office programs Samba (windows network shares)

Last Updated (Thursday, 29 October 2009 10:50)

Installing another OS in Windows

Sunday, 19 April 2009 00:00 | Author: Paul |

I have used Virtual Box (Sun Microsystems) and installed Vista and Ubuntu/Linux on an XP Pro machine with minimal fuss. I have used to to check compatability and to play with other operating systems without the headache of risking install for real. Here's a very quick guide to doing it. You will need your original install media CD or iso CD image (free download for Linux).

1. Download and install the latest version of VirtualBox from here making sure you use the correct version for your current Operating System.

2. Select 'New' and simply follow the wizard to prepare the drive for a new Virtual Operating System. a-Give your OS a name such as Vista or Ubuntu b-Select the operating system c-Now select the amount of RAM allocated to this (only whilst the Virtual Machine is running) Vista needs more / Linux needs a lot less. d-Create a Virtual Hard Disk by selecting new and entering the fileneame where this will be installed on your current hard disk (inside your current file system - you just need to have some free HD space somewhere). Make sure you allocate enough for the operating system you wish to install. It will now take a little time to install the Virtual Hard Disk - then go through to create it.

3. Select the new Virtual System and select 'Settings'. To install your Operating System - you need to either install from the original OS install disk or an image backup. Mount a CD rom drive from either a folder or the existing CD drive (CD/DVD Tab). Set the boot properties for the virtual OS so it points to your installation media (this can even been an 'iso' file on your hard disk (General - Advanced Tab).

You are now ready to click Start which is the equivalent of pressing the 'on' button of your new virtul computer

One thing to know: When you click in the new window of the live OS your keyboard & mouse control that window - to un-lock this press the right-Ctrl key!

Installing Dual-Boot System

Wednesday, 19 November 2008 00:00 | Author: Administrator |

This is a very quick summary of what I did to set up my latest dual boot Win XP Pro System and Ubuntu (on HP Mininote)
1. Install Win XP - using the disk partitioning tool at start-up. I set aside 30GB for the XP System & Programs, 2GB for the PageFile, 15GB for the Ubuntu partition (Left unformatted) and then the remaining space for a documents partition.
2. Once I had installed Win XP and made all the changes I wanted there, I made a copy of the windows partition and boot sector incase this was corrupted.
3. I used the Ubunto boot installation CD to install Linux. This only worked in the Graphics Safe Mode option . I followed the instructions provided here for the Ubuntu manual partitioning bit (slightly different in newer Ubuntu versions)
4. I used the instructions here to modify the boot menu in Ubuntu so that XP was the default operating system by default.