The Quest for Ubuntu Continues (part 5: success)

I have finally succeeded in my mission! I now have Xubuntu completely installed on my old Presario. It turns out it was because my hard drive was attached to the wrong jumper; it was attached to 1 when it should have been attached to 0. I also created only two partitions, a ext3 and a swap. It's working awesome!

The Quest for Ubuntu Continues (part 4)

After talking to various people on forums, etc., I was alerted to the fact that my hard drive appeared to be on a secondary mounting section. At first I wasn't sure what this meant, and I resumed my natural course of things (eg. getting more and more confused as people kept trying to explain things). That is until I noticed something. The computer I am trying to install Xubuntu on doesn't have the cover on the tower (I was too lazy to put it back on), and the hard drive was disconnected before I started this whole charade. I looked closer, and noticed that the hard drive was not plugged into position 0, but was plugged into position 1. I quickly fixed this, and the problem I was having (at the time) went away. I am currently in the process of reinstalling for the last time (last as in either it will work, or I will give up), and I finally got a clear answer on what I should be doing with the partitioning. So, when this is finished, we will see...

The Quest for Ubuntu Continues (part 3)

No progress has been made on this front. I have tried many things, all of them failing. I have even tried Fedora, Kubuntu, and others, and now I am trying Xubuntu. I tried downloading the disk image on the computer in question, but it kept giving me errors about not having enough space. I must have seriously fucked up the partitioning for that to happen. I still haven't gotten a clear answer from anyone about what exactly I should be doing with the partitioning (on IRC, forums, etc.). So, if Xubuntu fails again, I will give up. Unless I can somehow find someone who will install it for me. Which is unlikely.

The Quest For Ubuntu Continues (part 1)

Compaq Presario 5000 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

5000Z-5UVME2 (Internet PC)

• • 700-1200MHz AMD Duron/Athlon Processor
  • 20-60GB Seagate IDE Hard Disk Drive
  • 63-384MB PC133 SDRAM
  • 8-64MB S3 or nVidia Graphics Controller
  • 4 x USB 1.1 Ports (2 Front, 2 Rear)
  • 15-17" Compaq CV Series CRT Monitor
  • 56K Dial-Up Modem
  • JBL Platinum Series, Monsoon MH-500 or Klipsch ProMedia 2.1 Speaker System
  • Compaq USB Internet Keyboard/Mouse or Smart Credit Card Keyboard/Mouse
  • CD-ROM, DVD-ROM, and/or CD-RW
  
  

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I assume that since my computer is a plain 5000 Presario, and the processors match, that this is the correct computer. Except the hard drive doesn't match. I also don't have the said speaker system, and I most certainly do not have a dial up modem.

All of this will become relevant in the next post, as well as the knowledge in previous entries (that I am struggling to get Ubuntu on my old computer, and it's taking a lot of fucking effort).

The Quest For Ubuntu Continues (part 2)

• 700-1200MHz AMD Duron/Athlon Processor
• 63-384MB PC133 SDRAM
• 8-64MB S3 or nVidia Graphics Controller

Before I installed Ubuntu, I decided it would be a good idea to write down my specs, just in case I needed to reinstall drivers (which surprisingly I didn't). But I am unsmart and decided not to write down the graphics card and the memory. The above is what I pulled off Wikipedia. This information is important because, in light of the GRUB errors I keep receiving, I decided to post on the Ubuntu forum. One of the first things I was asked was the stats of my computer. Unfortunately, I could not provide the above information, well, except for the processor. *pets Dell computer lovingly* By the way, I am procrastinating....I should be studying math....

Chemistry

I have concluded that my brain is not atrophying, as I thought it was, because I can still figure things out! As a result of certain circumstances, this week I was not able to obtain the desired amount of sleep, and therefore, after all was said and done, missed part of chemistry class. This is not good, as I am not a strong chemist. So, sitting down to do my assignment tonite, I was a tad worried. It took me a while, but I managed to teach myself the basics of what I missed. I balanced an equation which stumped me for a while. I had one of those moments where something in your brain just pops into place. It's a very satisfying feeling.

Na + H₂O ---> NaOH + H₂

becomes:

6Na + 6H₂O ---> 6NaOH + 3H₂O

That is the equation I had problems with. I doubt I'd be able to do it again. Hopefully that won't come back to bite me in the ass on the test.

GRUB Error Messages

GRUB Error Messages

17 : "Invalid device requested"

This error is returned if a device string is recognizable but does not fall under the other device errors.

18 : "Invalid or unsupported executable format"

This error is returned if the kernel image boing loaded is not recognized as Multiboot or one of the supported native formats (Linux zImage or bzImage, FreeBSD, or NetBSD).

21 : "Unknown boot failure"

This error is returned if the boot attempt did not succeed for reasons which are unknown.

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I have been dicking around with Linux lately, and I cannot seem to get it installed without requiring the boot disc to load it. I got it in my old computer and got it running off the boot disc, ran the installer, thought everything was okay, so then I got some packages, set some prefs, restarted after a package, and got Error 18 first. I went in, jostled with the partitioning a little bit, and got Error 17 after that. I went in and tried:

sudo apt-get remove --purge grub

sudo apt-get install grub

sudo grub

grub > root (hdx,y)

grub >setup (hd0)

grub > quit

But that proved completely fruitless. That's when I ended up with Error 21. So, now, I am in the process of doing a complete reinstall (which isn't bad considering what stage I'm at), and completely repartitioning (which is taking way too fucking long). I really hope it works, or else I will be severely annoyed.