Ubuntu

Slow & Difficult Installation

Asked by Bart Hansen

I have been trying unsuccessfully to use the Ubuntu 6.06 CD I received a few months ago.

My computer is an old AMD 500MHZ with 512 of RAM and a 12G hard disk, which should be sufficient to run Ubuntu according to the CD sleeve.

However, unloading the CD to my hard drive and then trying to install Ubuntu takes a very long time. Although the CD and HD lights are flashing away busily the whole time, each step takes upwards of 30 minutes to complete. In fact, I never was able to finish as after an hour or two my machine re-boots itself. I have never managed to get beyond Step 2 in the install process.

I have re-formatted my hard disk and run various scanning and de-fragging utilities against it, none of which show errors. Over the weekend I re-installed the original Win 98 system that was on the PC and it went smoothly. The system was moved from the CD to my HD in less than 5 minutes and the Win 98 system was ready within 30 minutes as the install program predicted. Win 98 now boots up successfully, all of which leads me to believe the problem is not with my hard drive.

Is there any history of some of the CDs not working? Or might there be compatability issues where my old FAT file system is incompatible with Ubuntu needing the newer NTFS format.

Thanks for any information or suggestions you may have.

Bart Hansen
Virginia, USA

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williamts99
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williamts99 (williamts99) said : 		#1

Probably the easiest thing to do would be to try out a newer version of Ubuntu. 6.06 has been superseded by 6.06.1 but I would go even higher to the October 2006 release 6.10. Also, as your computer is no spring chicken, you may be interested in checking out a lighter version of Ubuntu called Xubuntu, it is designed for slightly slower computers and computers that are light on ram. You can check out the information on the Xubuntu website http://www.xubuntu.org/ Another option is to use lighter weight versions of some programs inside of Ubuntu, you may wish to refer to: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/LowEndSystemSupport

To get the newer version of Ubuntu: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/GettingUbuntu

If you are going to burn the disks yourself, please refer to:
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/BurningIsoHowto

If you have any trouble booting the CD, please refer to:
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/HowToBootFromCd

If either of these options do not work for you, and perhaps the best way to get a hold of an Ubuntu CD is to check with your local Linux Users Group(LUG).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linux_User_Group

The install is pretty self explanatory, if you want to do a Windows/Ubuntu dual boot where you get to choose which OS you want to run when the computer boots, it's pretty easy, but you should check out the following page.
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/WindowsDualBoot

Best Regards,
Williamts99

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Bart Hansen (vestby) said : 		#2

Thanks very much for the reply.

I am confused about whether my old computer will be able to run Ubuntu.
While it is indeed not a spring chicken, I feel that 512 of RM and 500MHZ is
enough, at least according to the sleeve information on the CD I got from Shipit.Ubuntu.com. Although since Ubuntu is a relatively young version
of Linux, perhaps it was not meant to be run on a machine this old.

Looking now at my seven year old receipt, it is an AMD K6-2 500MHZ MMX
CPU. If I were to order another CD with 6.10, which particular version should
I ask for?

I am going to click on still having this problem as I would like a little more
information.

Thanks again,
Bart

Revision history for this message
Best williamts99 (williamts99) said : 		#3

Yes it will run, but for snappier performance you may want to look at some of the options I mentioned above.

As far as ordering CDs, ShipIt does not ship 6.10 you would have to download it and burn it yourself, or order it from another supplier. https://help.ubuntu.com/community/UbuntuDistributors

Best Regards,
Williamts99

Revision history for this message
Bart Hansen (vestby) said : 		#4

Thanks again.