kdeuser:
I got caught in the same trap when I bought my Dell M6600 from a Linux VAR. They too loaded a custom-kernel version of Ubuntu / Kubuntu on the machine, and my hands were tied afterward trying to keep it up to date. I'll never do that again.
However, I kept testing releases, and finally found that the 12.04 alpha would boot on the machine. When 12.04 was released, I moved to that, and was finally able to cut my ties with the VAR.
The easiest solution for you would probably be to write the company -- in English snail mail if needed, and ask them what to do, letting them know of your difficulty with their forum. Perhaps they will have a fully updated OS for you, or at the least, can tell you how to go back to 8.04, and still upgrade Flash.
If that does not work, and you still want to keep the box, then it might be wise to obtain the make and model information on the sat and TV cards, and see if they are currently supported in Linux. The fact that they worked on 8.04, and the GPL which requires that modifications to Linux get posted back to the community suggests that drivers for those cards should be commonly available today.
If the hardware is supported, and there are no custom applications that are needed to make the product work (those can be outside the GPL), then you might want to try installing 12.04.
The third possibility may be to see what is available for media-oriented distros. A quick Google turned up these 5. Media-oriented distros may be packaged to support the hardware better. I've never looked into these, but it gives you an option.
That said, I'm not a linux guru. My abilities probably end here as to being able to help you. Perhaps someone else here with greater understanding than I may jump in here. I'm sorry that I can't help you further, but I just don't know enough. I will continue to monitor this thread, however, and will jump in again if I can contribute something of value.
Frank.
The hybrid is called a Reelbox which is a multimedia including 2 sat cards , 1 tv card and a fully operational kubuntu fiesty 7.04. This was bought in 2008 and a few months later an update to 8.04 hardy .
However, I kept testing releases, and finally found that the 12.04 alpha would boot on the machine. When 12.04 was released, I moved to that, and was finally able to cut my ties with the VAR.
The easiest solution for you would probably be to write the company -- in English snail mail if needed, and ask them what to do, letting them know of your difficulty with their forum. Perhaps they will have a fully updated OS for you, or at the least, can tell you how to go back to 8.04, and still upgrade Flash.
If that does not work, and you still want to keep the box, then it might be wise to obtain the make and model information on the sat and TV cards, and see if they are currently supported in Linux. The fact that they worked on 8.04, and the GPL which requires that modifications to Linux get posted back to the community suggests that drivers for those cards should be commonly available today.
If the hardware is supported, and there are no custom applications that are needed to make the product work (those can be outside the GPL), then you might want to try installing 12.04.
The third possibility may be to see what is available for media-oriented distros. A quick Google turned up these 5. Media-oriented distros may be packaged to support the hardware better. I've never looked into these, but it gives you an option.
That said, I'm not a linux guru. My abilities probably end here as to being able to help you. Perhaps someone else here with greater understanding than I may jump in here. I'm sorry that I can't help you further, but I just don't know enough. I will continue to monitor this thread, however, and will jump in again if I can contribute something of value.
Frank.
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