I haven’t used Ubuntu Linux before, although I did try the Live CD more than a year ago. I started to install 8.04 two weeks ago in a Toshiba Tecra M3 laptop to replace Windows XP, because I was having virus issues. Choosing the right Linux OS was my #1 concern because I have reservation about it working seamlessly with a portable computer. Surprisingly, Ubuntu works with the vital parts: Wi-Fi, Ethernet, SD reader, DVD-ROM, and the power management. The Tecra M3 is a 3-year old computer (circa 2005), so the developers had time to make their drivers work with it. There was a problem connecting, via USB, to an external hard drive formatted with NTFS. Also a problem was going into suspend mode while logged in. I had to log off first, and then suspend. I haven’t had time to make those work, yet.
After the installation, I noticed on October 30, they were releasing Ubuntu 8.10. I should’ve read the Ubuntu home page first, instead of going directly to the download section. I wished they mentioned a new version was coming on that download page. Anyway, I made it an opportunity to go through an upgrade process. Interestingly enough, the upgrade is not that smooth for me:
- I used the network upgrade via my current 8.04 install. Going through my 1.2Mbs/385kbps DSL line, it was really slow! There were over 1180 packages to download. The estimated completion was 6 days. I had a good chuckle.
- Downloading the ISO via HTTP is extremely slow. I suppose with everyone trying to download it during release day, saturated the bandwidth on the mirror sites. I went through Bittorrent and got it in less than 20 minutes.
- I downloaded the Full Install CD, instead of the Alternate CD. When I was using Fedora Core Linux, the upgrade and full install processes can be done via one disc. I assumed it was the same way with Ubuntu. Bad assumption.
After spending at least 6 hours tinkering and waiting for the install to finish, I finally got the laptop up and running. Reading the upgrade page is a good start, but it couldn’t help me avoid these issues. I’m sure others have better luck with it. Otherwise, I hope this post helps someone.
Building IT
Jot It Down
Hope you’re having fun with it! I’m running 8.10 right now on my XP laptop from work via the Wubi installer and the loopback filesystem, and it is really nice. XP on the machine is awful as the IT group installs all sorts of garbage that really slows the machine down.
This is nice though as it is fast and solid. Plus, it can be removed via Add/Remove Programs under XP if required – no repartitioning or anything. IT would probably have my head anyway for doing it… but oh well 🙂
Brett Legree´s last blog post..viking fridays – tears in the rain.
Hey Brett,
I’m having fun with it because Ubuntu is new(er) to me. All of the basic stuff works, like the Firefox browser, which is 90% of usage. The rest I’m just going to install the free games. I wonder what else I can do with it? hehe.. 🙂
Hey Rudy,
Glad you’re having a good time with it – sky’s the limit with Linux, you know. I’m constantly amazed at what can be done with it.
Enjoy!
Brett Legree´s last blog post..viking fridays – tears in the rain.