No luck installing Ubuntu...please help

[marcos9999]

So I have a old (not too old) Dell duo core running Windows Vista that could run much better with a different system such as 8 or maybe...Ubuntu, so I decided to give it a try I have nothing to lose. It didn't install with the Window's installer as it stalled after performing what I though would be the automatic system downloading. Tried to create a image and boot from CD, pressed f12 but it could not find boot CD so I'm kind of wondering is this how it would perform after installed I'm almost giving up and buying W8 which works flawlessly on my equally aging laptop. Still like to give it one more try since I really don't have 100 bucks to burn on W8

 

Thanks for your response

[saturnian]

Tried to create a image and boot from CD, pressed f12 but it could not find boot CD so I'm kind of wondering is this how it would perform after installed I'm almost giving up and buying W8 which works flawlessly on my equally aging laptop.

 

Perhaps a silly question, but is your BIOS set to boot from a CD?

[marcos9999]

Perhaps a silly question, but is your BIOS set to boot from a CD?

 

Sure is...

[saturnian]

What happens when you try to boot with it, exactly? What messages do you see on the screen?

[marcos9999]

What happens when you try to boot with it, exactly? What messages do you see on the screen?

 

I press f12, first it says booting from CD, then it say "no booting device available"

[saturnian]

What if you just restart the computer with the CD in the drive, without pressing F12? I don't recall ever having to press F12 to boot into a live session; I just restart the computer with a live CD or DVD in the drive. Or, if booting from a flash drive, I restart the computer with the flash drive plugged in.

[saturnian]

Also, some interesting hits when I do a web search for "no boot device available," might be worth a shot to check that out.

[V.T. Eric Layton]

You probably have a bad download. Did you check the integrity of the .iso download using the md5sum command and comparing it to the md5sum posted on the Ubuntu download page for the version you downloaded? MD5 stands for Message Digest v.5. It's a crypto-hash algorithm that is often used to check the integrity of files. If you downloaded via MS Windows, you can look HERE to see how to check md5sum of your downloaded file.

 

If the download is good, then the burn is bad. You must burn .iso files as bootable images, not data files. I don't know for sure if Vista has the capability built-in to burn .iso files. You may need ISORecorder to do this.

 

Once you've checked the integrity of your downloaded .iso file and then properly burned it as a bootable .iso, then you should be good to go. Just F12 at boot to get the temporary boot menu from BIOS on that Dell and then choose the CDROM device. If you did everything correctly, the CD should boot up to a Live version of Ubuntu.

 

A note... I'm not a big Ubuntu fan these days. I no longer recommend or install it for my friends, family, or paying clients. I recommend Linux Mint these days, with the Mate windows manager/desktop environment. Also, it's just a personal opinion, but I wouldn't waste money on Win 8. If you really want to put MS Windows on that machine, go get yourself a nice new Win 7 instead.

 

Let us know what all comes about from this, Marcos.

[lewmur]

So I have a old (not too old) Dell duo core running Windows Vista that could run much better with a different system such as 8 or maybe...Ubuntu, so I decided to give it a try I have nothing to lose. It didn't install with the Window's installer as it stalled after performing what I though would be the automatic system downloading. Tried to create a image and boot from CD, pressed f12 but it could not find boot CD so I'm kind of wondering is this how it would perform after installed I'm almost giving up and buying W8 which works flawlessly on my equally aging laptop. Still like to give it one more try since I really don't have 100 bucks to burn on W8

 

Thanks for your response

How did you "create a image"? Sounds like the CD wasn't created as an .iso. You can't just copy the image file to the CD. You have to use an application like ImgBurn to "burn" the image to a CD and make the CD bootable.

Edited April 16, 2013 by lewmur

[saturnian]

A note... I'm not a big Ubuntu fan these days. I no longer recommend or install it for my friends, family, or paying clients. I recommend Linux Mint these days, with the Mate windows manager/desktop environment.

 

I've had good luck with Ubuntu, but Linux Mint might be a better option to start out with. Also, even though the latest release is getting long-in-the-tooth, I like to try a Mepis live session first because I've had the best luck with Mepis on various machines -- great hardware detection, seems to me. Still, Ubuntu usually works well, too, and the cool thing about it is there's so much Ubuntu documentation out there, any problem you run into is probably one that someone else has encountered and found a solution for (often, I've fixed Linux Mint issues by referring to Ubuntu documentation, since Mint is mostly Ubuntu underneath).

 

I'm still wondering if the boot order is set correctly in the BIOS -- to try to boot from the CD or DVD drive first.

[V.T. Eric Layton]

Boot order doesn't matter if he used F12.

 

And yes, Mepis is a wonderful, but often forgotten, distribution.

[securitybreach]

Just download the iso from Ubuntu and use your burning app to burn an iso or use the built in windows iso burner.

 

You can also use isotousb or Unetbootin to burn the iso to a usb drive

 

Either way, make sure you check the iso's md5sum as Eric suggested above.

[saturnian]

Boot order doesn't matter if he used F12.

 

Oh. What's supposed to happen by pressing F12? I think I should know this, after all this time, but I don't.

[securitybreach]

Oh. What's supposed to happen by pressing F12? I think I should know this, after all this time, but I don't.

 

Well some computers use F12 while others use F9 to choose the boot device. This bypasses the bios order and lets you choose which one to boot.

[marcos9999]

Great! Got it to work. Now...if I install it on top of Windows will it keep my software, and docs? Should I do a clean install, and do they offer a clean install?

 

Thanks...you guys are truly great!

[V.T. Eric Layton]

Well some computers use F12 while others use F9 to choose the boot device. This bypasses the bios order and lets you choose which one to boot.

 

Heh! On my main system it's F11.

[V.T. Eric Layton]

You can't install "on top" of anything. If you install Ubuntu on that laptop using the existing partition scheme, it will wipe out your Windows. If you're only interested in installing Ubuntu on this machine and not having any other operating system on it, then the best method is:

 

1) start the LIVE Ubuntu CD

2) start the gparted application

3) use gparted wipe existing partition structure and create three new partitions (at least):

- you'll want one 15Gig or better for the / (root) - format ext3 or 4

- one about 20-25Gig for /home - format ext3 or 4

- and one about twice the size of your current RAM in that laptop... or 2Gig for /swap

 

4) you'll then need to manually install Ubuntu on those three partitions.

 

+++++

 

The easy way, if you don't care what's on the hard drive, is to just choose the option where Ubuntu uses the entire hard drive to install the operating system. That's the easy-peasy non-custom way.

 

Whichever works best for you. The first method is more involved and requires a little Linux savvy. The easy-peasy method is... well, easy-peasy.

 

Have FUN!

 

Oh, and if you have anything important in Windows "My Docs" area like pics, tax returns, etc., you might want to burn that all to a thumb drive or a CD before installing the Ubuntu.

[marcos9999]

Yes I'd like to erase this drive and install Ubuntu...cool

[raymac46]

I've installed Linux on lots of Dells and they usually work great. I have one that has an E2160 dual core running Linux Mint 13. I have replaced the Intel graphics with an Nvidia 8400GS card. This machine used to run Vista but I have replaced it with Linux no problem. I set up my machines as suggested by Eric above - with a manual install, even though Linux is the only O/S present.

Edited April 16, 2013 by raymac46

[V.T. Eric Layton]

Yes I'd like to erase this drive and install Ubuntu...cool

 

Then easy-peasy is for you.

 

 

I've installed Linux on lots of Dells and they usually work great. I have one that has an E2160 dual core running Linux Mint 13. I have replaced the Intel graphics with an Nvidia 8400GS card. This machine used to run Vista but I have replaced it with Linux no problem. I set up my machines as suggested by Eric above - with a manual install, even though Linux is the only O/S present.

 

 

I always install Linux on two or more partitions. It makes reinstalling very, very quick and easy. Plus, with your /home on a separate partition, your /(root) can become corrupted/broken, yet you won't lose a thing in /home.

 

For the non-geeky user, though, just letting Ubuntu install their way automagically is the way to go.

[sunrat]

Great! Got it to work. Now...if I install it on top of Windows will it keep my software, and docs? Should I do a clean install, and do they offer a clean install?

A clean install (if you wipe the drive) obviously won't keep your software and docs. Back them up before you start!

 

If you wipe Windows, your Windows software won't be any use anyway.

Maybe you should look into dual booting. Shrink the Windows partition to make room for Linux, make new partitions for Linux in the free space and install there. When the installer sets up the GRUB bootloader it should find the Windows install and show a menu to choose what to boot on startup.

[lewmur]

A clean install (if you wipe the drive) obviously won't keep your software and docs. Back them up before you start!

 

If you wipe Windows, your Windows software won't be any use anyway.

Maybe you should look into dual booting. Shrink the Windows partition to make room for Linux, make new partitions for Linux in the free space and install there. When the installer sets up the GRUB bootloader it should find the Windows install and show a menu to choose what to boot on startup.

I still strongly advise that people wishing to explore Linux for the first time, do so first in a virtual session. It is very easy to install VirtualBox in Windows and then create a Linux session using the .iso file. One can then experiment with different Linux distro before deciding which one they prefer and before destroying their Windows install.