dell 450 install kubuntu

[citrus]

so have an old dell 450 precision desktop that was running xp for 5 years with no issues ... got some dodgy virus and told my son last time ..now we go to kubuntu ...

got a cannonical release of kubuntu and started to get the install going ...

but ...

when you try to install kubuntu off the disk (or even view it) ... as cd spins up and starts its work then the screen powers off .....

checked on the forum and used this link ...

http://kubuntuforums.net/forums/inde...opic=3099445.0

so chcked the bios and ide was set to AGP so set that to auto
also checked another Video option

rebooted ...

now the screen doesnt light up ... ..its an appian quad card ... and have tried both old skool blue monitor and newer cable ...

so I regret changing two things in bios (try 1 thing at 1 time ...and not writing down the 2nd video option) ..

this is an old work pc so no older classic hardware video output .... (might be able to salvage one from another old dell ......)

any suggestions ...

CHeers

Citrus

[citrus]

Re: dell 450 install kubuntu

ok got an old skool video card out of another dell machine and now i have a screen ... will try and install kubuntu now !!

[citrus]

Re: dell 450 install kubuntu

ok so now i can boot of this 10.04 kubuntu disk and the output stays on teh screen ....


boot: (flashing cursor)
cd winds up

then install prompts ...

so i choose install kubuntu ...

loading /casper/vmlinux.....splash screen ...more cd spinning up

then boom

welcome to linux 2.6.31-21 generic ....blah blah ...

i am at command line ubuntu@ubtunu ... now I can sudo to root (no pwd) ...

but then what ... was really expecting to have some gui out the box ...?

how long do i have to wait ?

[Snowhog]

Re: dell 450 install kubuntu

Going to need more than the 'generic' information on your PC and video card than you've provided.

1) How much RAM is in the PC
2) Exactly what manufacturer / model of video card did you put in the PC

From the command line prompt you are ending up on, type the following:

sudo lspci | grep aphic

This will identify the graphics controller being used.

[citrus]

Re: dell 450 install kubuntu

Hi there ...no hits when i grep for graphic ..

but if | thru more .. I did see VGA compatible controller TEXAS instruments TVP4020 PERMEDIA 2

i guess this is the card ...

any suggestions on where to take this next ?

[vinnywright]

Re: dell 450 install kubuntu

Going to need more than the 'generic' information on your PC and video card than you've provided.

1) How much RAM is in the PC
2) Exactly what manufacturer / model of video card did you put in the PC

From the command line prompt you are ending up on, type the following:

sudo lspci | grep aphic

This will identify the graphics controller being used.

1) How much RAM is in the PC

and CPU ? still nead more info.

VINNY

[askrieger]

Re: dell 450 install kubuntu

A (fairly) easy way to find out how much RAM you have:
(1) Start a konsole (left click on the "K" and type konsole in the search box)
(2) a konsole will appear with a prompt that says something like "Napolean@waterloo:~$ " (with your username and machinename)
(3) type in the word "top" (without the quotation marks). A display will appear with five lines of information above a frequently changing table that tells you which processes are running and how much memory they are using.
(4) The fourth line will be labeled "Mem:" with several entries. Please report the contents of that line here. The fifth line will be labeled "Swap" it will tell you whether you are using disk space to supplement the amount of memory that you are using. (Swapping can slow the response of your system, but if you don't have much memory, you need to use it.)

It might also be useful to look at the output of a command called "df -h". That tells you how much disk space you have available and what it is being used for.

[citrus]

Re: dell 450 install kubuntu

hi ... let me clarify ... the machine has no running xp on it ... its decent hardware ... we have a canonical disc that has kubuntu 1004 on it ..

when we try to use the install option .. we get a splash screen but no nice glossy desktop appears ...

we get ubuntu@ubuntu ..

running top we get

mem = 1025828k total -221044k used -804784 free
swap = 0k total -0lk used -0k free

df -h shows

all use at ~1% (apart from cd rom !)

basically it is a high end dell pc from 4 years ago ... with nothing installed on it ...

we try kubuntu from the cd ... get the command prompt ..run some funky linux commands ...but no sign of the sexy apple like desktop !!

if i type sudo reboot ... the machine shows kubuntu splash screen and then asks to remove the cd .. it reboots but nothing sticks ...no kubuntu install seems to stay on it !

its like the try before you buy option !

do i need to type any commands to get the desktop installed ? and confirm installation ?

yours struggling

[Snowhog]

Re: dell 450 install kubuntu

It is very likely that the video card is giving you the problem. When you boot the LiveCD, look at the bottom of the initial menu screen. You'll see function key options. F4 should provide an option for selecting the Mode to use when booting. You should see the following options: Normal, Safe Graphics, Use driver update disc, and OEM install (for manufacturers). Select Safe Graphics and see if you can get the boot process to get you to the graphical desktop. If F4 doesn't provide this function, let me know what it does offer you.

[citrus]

Re: dell 450 install kubuntu

ok stand by ...testing now

[citrus]

Re: dell 450 install kubuntu

ok so ... first things first

black screen with this text ...

boot:



i hit enter ....

then old skool installer boot menu

Try
Install
Check disc
Test Memory
Boot from first hard disk
Advanced Options
Help

[citrus]

Re: dell 450 install kubuntu

when i look in advanced options ... there is one choice BACK !!

[citrus]

Re: dell 450 install kubuntu

if i choose help

then i get the list of advanced boot options ...

f1
f2 pre requ for running ubuntu
f3 boot methods for special ways of using this sytem
f4 rescue a broken system
f5 special boot params (overview)
f6 special boot params (special machines)
f7 special boot params for selected disk contollers
f8 special boot params for bootstrap

[citrus]

Re: dell 450 install kubuntu

hmmm what about F6 ... "Force use of generic ide driver generic.all_generic_ide=1"

should i try

boot: live generic.all_generic_ide=1 noapic nolapic ?

[citrus]

Re: dell 450 install kubuntu

last roll of the dice before i hit the hay (its late here in london) ....

he presses go on his book command and stands by ......


....

seeminly no different ...no install menu about what language or regiion etc

just ubuntu@ubuntu ....