[pm-h] Can't Move to Linux

[G. Wade Johnson]

On Sat, 14 Aug 2010 08:01:29 -0500
Mike Flannigan <mikeflan at att.net> wrote:

> 
> 
> On 2/26/2010 7:28 AM, Mike Flannigan wrote:
> >
> > I would like to get any flavor of Linux installed
> > to my older-generation computer.  I have 2
> > old computers:
> > x86 Family 6 Model 7 Stepping 3 AT/AT Compatible 130,596 KB Ram
> > Intel (R) 4 CPU 1400 MHz 130,352 KB Ram

[snip]

> 
> 
> Now I'm trying to install Linux on a new model
> HP portable computer.  In fact it is 64 bit.
> 
> I got Fedora 12 installed.  It didn't go the first
> time, but did the 2nd.  Used the entire hard
> drive for a clean install.  My problem is I
> could not connect to the internet (or my
> network).  Seems to be a common problem.
> I tried hard to fix it, but never got it done.
> One of many sites I used to try to fix it is:
> http://forums.fedoraforum.org/archive/index.php/t-239096.html
> I had almost the exact same problem as on
> that site, but didn't get to a resolution like
> she eventually did.
> 
> Then I tried Ubuntu.  It got past English language,
> but then just hung at Install Ubuntu.
> 
> If anybody has any other Linux recommendations,
> please let me know.  Looks like I'm headed back
> to Windows and I'm not happy about that.
> 
> My portable is an HP Pavilion dv9830US notebook PC
> that was running 64 bit Vista with relatively good
> success, but it was a bit slow.

Hi Mike,

Sorry to hear about your Linux issues. I've installed Linux on several
machines successfully over the years.

One issue I can think of with the notebooks and laptops is that they
continue to be "special": unusual drivers or hardware issues. They
laptop manufacturers normally provide Windows drivers to Microsoft and
that's it. There are a few special distributions I have heard of that
take some distribution like Ubuntu and "tweak it" to handle laptops
installs better.

I know some people have decent luck using the Ubuntu Live disk to
verify that Ubuntu can get drivers and such up and running. Then, they
install from the booted Ubuntu system. I don't know if that's what you
tried or if you just started with an install.

A couple years ago I had a bit of trouble installing Ubuntu on a 64-bit
desktop I had built and it turned out to be the video board. I know
nVidia makes this particularly difficult with their binary-only drivers.

There are a few distributions that give you a lot more control on the
installation. But, I wouldn't recommend them unless you are pretty
Linux-savvy already: Slackware, Gentoo. You could try Debian, but it's
the basis for Ubuntu and not nearly as friendly, so I would probably
recommend against it.

The one other thing I can think of would be to make certain you are
working with the latest Ubuntu. It seems that the install system is
getting better at detecting hardware with each new version.

Doing a quick Google of "Ubuntu dv9830US" resulted in examples of
people who have managed this install. I would suggest checking
ubuntuforums.org to see if anyone has any advice.

 G. Wade
-- 
"any technology sufficiently advanced is indistinguishable from a Perl
script."                                -- Programming Perl, 2nd ed.