Ubuntu

Unable to install Ubuntu Jaunty using WUBI

Asked by Brijesh

Dear all,

When we tried to install Ubuntu Jaunty Desktop using WUBI on the CD, it gives error and did not install.

Regards

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Brijesh (brijesh-awgp) said : 		#1

An error occurred: Invalid argument.

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Shane Fagan (shanepatrickfagan) said : 		#2

Try install it the normal way. It could be just a problem with Wubi in jaunty but the install cd should work.

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Tom (tom6) said : 		#3

The Wubi install is only meant as a demo version of Ubuntu and its easier to just bootup off the Cd without installing anything to get a proper (but slightly slower) Ubuntu desktop experience. We call this method of trying a linux out a "LiveCd session". From the Live Cd session you can easily install Ubuntu a much better way using these guidelines

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/BootFromCD

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/WindowsDualBoot

It's also easier to get rid of if you decide you don't like it after all. Note that Ubuntu needs about 15Gb of your free hard-drive space but can cope with as little as 8Gb. Although this might seem like a lot compared to Windows it does include a large number of standard packages such as OpenOffice which is equivalent to M$ Office and a lot more.

Good luck and regards from
Tom :)

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Tom (tom6) said : 		#4

Please let us know your processor speed and Ram size and the amount of free-space you are giving to Ubuntu. My Cpu is 1.8GHz, 2Gb Ram and 10Gb for Ubuntu. So i'm quite a long way above min spec but could do with a bit more space although i keep all my data on the Windows partition so that both OS's can read it.

Good luck and regards from
Tom :)

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marcobra (Marco Braida) (marcobra) said : 		#5

https://wiki.ubuntu.com/JauntyReleaseSchedule

Please wait tomorrow March 26.th and download the iso of the incoming Beta release you must download and burn to a cd the jaunty-desktop-i386.iso iso cd image

http://www.ubuntu.com/testing

Then install it not using Wubi but booting your pc from the install disk (you must not see the installed Window start)

Hope this helps

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Brijesh (brijesh-awgp) said : 		#6

Dear Tom & Marcobra,

Thanks for your help. We have already installed many times (~10 times) on a different drive. Tested & updated. But as Ubuntu 8.10 was installed using WUBI easily, the Kubuntu and Jaunty desktop versions do not install from eaither CD or directly from ISO using WUBI. Just to inform Ubuntu personnels. We have 1Gb RAM, 2.4MHz speed with 30Gb space. WUBI help will be easier for novice to linux.

Was trying to install at one platform online and update another PC's offline with many other packages using APTonCD and or Synaptic Package Manager.

Thanks

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Best Tom (tom6) said : 		#7

Wubi may ostensibly be easier in that it's easier to install, however, it relies on Windows systems working particularly ones that are known to be flawed and have been proven to be unreliable by many people many times.

Particular issues that i can think of as a non-techie
- Windows installer
- Windows boot-loader rather than grub (or lilo)
- ntfs rather than ext3
- registry

Installing the Wubi onto Windows is like building a house on shifting sands and is only meant to be a "quick look and feel". Often it does work and lasts well for years but sometimes there are problems with it in which case a proper normal install tends to work easily.

If the underlaying Windows system suffers, particularly from such things as viruses, malware, system-file-fragmentation (especially pagefile.sys) or if the Windows partition becomes over 80% full then Ubuntu will proabably also suffer and may even become completely impossible to boot into. These are common Windows problems that linux rarely normally suffers from - there are many other well documented issues with Windows systems.

Also when uninstalling a program from Windows using a Windows uninstaller there will often be odd traces of the program left cluttering up the system, with a normal program you might notice items left in the "All Programs" sub-menu just off the "Start" button. You probably wouldn't notice messes left in the registry, in "Programs Files" folder, caches, "Windows" folder, "System32" folder, 'temp' folders, dll files in drivers caches, ports left open and a whole slew of other issues. The Ubuntu uninstaller does it's best but basically has to rely on Windows uninstallers which are known to be sub-optimal at best. One thing that is immediately obvious if Ubuntu documentation hasn't been followed during the uninstal is that the Windows boot-loader often keeps the Ubuntu line in the bootup menu - following the Ubuntu menu item usually leads to a normal Windows bootup so this is purely a cosmetic issue.

For some reason migrating the Wubi onto it's own proper ext3 partition doesn't seem to leave behind any of these residual problems but perhaps that's mostly just because it goes unreported.

Taking the time to read a little and make a tiny little bit more effort in order to do a full proper install means that uninstalling is just a case of deleting the Ubuntu partition(s) and resizing the Windows one (or making a 2nd Windows partition for data or something). This would then leave no trace of Ubuntu on the system and would have no future impact on Windows performance on the system.

Note that often people use linux systems to repair/replace damaged Windows systems even on Windows-only systems. For example, the ancient old linux lilo-boot-loader is much more sophisticated than the Windows ones and is built to be able to cope with Windows (and other OS's) and a huge range of quirky, unusual hardware setups. Grub legacy and the new grub (until recently called grub2) are much more robust and flexible even than lilo was/is. Often when the Windows boot loader can't cope or suddenly fails people find the grub can be easily installed to make the Windows system much more reliable.

The amazing thing is that Wubi ever works at all but it usually does and works well. However, when it doesn't work the easiest and best thing to do is to try the normal proper Ubuntu install. It makes for a much stronger, more reliable, safer and yet more flexible system. Windows is often very brittle by comparison.

Good luck and sorry i can't give the answer you want to hear
Regards from
Tom :)

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Brijesh (brijesh-awgp) said : 		#8

Great answer. Thanks Tom. You cleared many things.

We are trying to shift from Windows to Linux platform. Found till date that Ubuntu is one of the best with ease, development and support.

Thanks again.

Could you pls have some time for https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+question/65384 query.

Regards

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Brijesh (brijesh-awgp) said : 		#9

Thanks Tom, that solved my question.

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Tom (tom6) said : 		#10

On any machines near the limits of min.spec for Ubuntu it's worth trying Xubuntu and any machine as far back as PII might enjoy a new lease of life with Wolvix
http://distrowatch.com/table.php?distribution=wolvix
especially if you need wireless or wiifi internet support or bluetooth. It's also good for getting a machine running a lot faster. Below PII consider TinyCore, which again can be used on top-end machines where speed is more an issue than having easy access to tons of applications such as OpenOffice etc.

Thanks and regards from
Tom :)

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Tom (tom6) said : 		#11

Err, my preference is always for a dual-boot system
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/WindowsDualBoot

Even once you're familiar with using Ubuntu linux there are still a few programs where you can't find a better alternative native linux app and some Windows games and a few things don't always run quite as well under Wine or in a Virtual Machine using VirtualBox.

In switching to linux there's no technical reason to 'rush it'. Perhaps some of these links might also help a little, a quick skim through might be helpful

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/SwitchingToUbuntu/FromWindows

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/FreeSoftwareAlternatives

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Medibuntu

http://winehq.org/

Note that the Wine that's in the repositories in Synaptic (or other package managers as they all share the same command-line tools) is the best and most stable Wine worth using but sometimes even then Wine suffers a little from regressions.

Regards again from
Tom :)

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Brijesh (brijesh-awgp) said : 		#12

Yes. In WINE we were unable to install Adobe Type Manager because we wanted to run Pagemaker.

We will have more queries in time. Thanks for prompt support and guidance.

Regards

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Tom (tom6) said : 		#13

VirtualBox i think runs a virtual machine on your machine and i think that you can install Windows to it using the same product key licence that your normal Windows on that machine uses, because it's the same machine. Just be slightly economical with the truth but be sensibly truthful when contacting Windows Customer Support. Don't tell them that you are installing it twice to the same machine and definitely don't confuse them by talking about virtual machines. ;)

Hopefully tho just running one or two apps on the dual-boot will be enough to get around the issue
Regards from
Tom :)