The Linux Distro Thread (maybe)

[ej-solutions]

Thought I'd start this one off, rather than continue on another thread.

As a quick catch up for others:

Have a look at Unetbootin, as a means to try out different versions of Linux, without producing numerous coasters (unwanted CDs).
I haven't tried the method of installing to hard drive, only the USB flash drive method (so far).

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Just skimming the surface

Opinions/guidance expressed are intended to benefit the reader (mostly) but no responsibility should be assumed for the accuracy and no warranty is implied/expressed or given - so eBay may pull this post

[otherego]

Thanks for the tidying-up, g-c.

I like the idea of using the bootable flash drive rather than installing anything to any other drives (mentioned it briefly in my depressingly waffly first post this evening, and promptly buried it under other detail - oops.)

Scylla, hope you sort it out. Forgive the usual lengthy posts. I was a little concerned that you were about to rush off and do something which would result in the use of rude words - hence all the detail to try to explain what I was on about.

I'm trying to limit circumferential spread - and we have sadists talking about "evil things to eat." A particularly (inadvertently) tactless poster recently kept referring to her superior cake-making skills.

Enough to make me want to get married or something.

[*scyllabub*]

I had a read of the earlier posts and now have an 8GB flash drive, Fat32, plugged in and Unetbootin open on my desktop... gone back to re-read posts and don't know which version of Ubuntu to go for - there are 6 to choose from, including some Live.  I presume x64 is for 64-bit systems ?:|

Session aborted, back tomorrow 🙂

[grumpy-cook]

Ubuntu may actually be a bit ott, I wonder if you wouldn't be better with something like Puppy. What do you think OE?

[*scyllabub*]

I had hoped to be able to commence "I am communicating with you via my Puppy flash drive...", but no 😞  The thing that finished me off was waiting 2 minutes for the Reply panel to load, and that was after about an hour trying to get an internet connection (had to plug cable in in the end) and a further seemed-like-an-hour during which I had to connect to eBay via Google, the latter being the only site that would load within my life-span 😐

So Puppy will not do for that reason alone, but although it would see my Smartbox USB HDD I couldn't see how to format it - that's what I was trying to get here to ask you.  I couldn't even see Properties ?:|

Anyway, I am at crashpoint now, see ya later 🙂

[grumpy-cook]

I'm not sure why you are worried about internet connection - I thought the idea was to be able to do things with your pvr disk.

In Puppy you should be able to run GParted - the last time I used Puppy I think it was it was on the menu under System.

[otherego]

Puppy seems ideal if all one's doing is copying files - its resource requirements are magnificently low.

I'm out of touch with Puppy - Scyla, just wondering whether you're trying to run a 32-bit version on a 64-bit netbook.

Ubuntu's not really my favourite distro, but if you're comfortable with it, then I'd have thought it would work.

If you've not actually downloaded it yet - you might consider something with better driver support. Mint is less fanatical than Ubuntu vis a vis non-free drivers and I find it pleasanter to use (subjective, of course.)

PCLinuxOS is slowly luring me away from Mint - runs beautifully in a live session and I think it's quicker than Ubuntu.

One of the problems with Linux is the sheer volume of choice. Whichever you decide on, make sure you download a 64-bit version if your computer is 64-bit, a desktop rather than server version if that option arises (not really sure that matters; just never tried a server), and if you're used to the GNOME desktop with Ubuntu up until the latest, you might consider the GNOME version of whatever you choose.

Other than that, I find tossing a coin works pretty effectively in deciding just what to download.

[*scyllabub*]

I'm not sure why you are worried about internet connection - I thought the idea was to be able to do things with your pvr disk.

The intention was to do things with PVR disk - but I'd like to have been able to use it for internet whilst I was "in it".  If I'm going to have to occupy a flash drive with Linux it might as well be a reasonable all-rounder, surely?

Thanks for the info about GParted, I'll give it a go.

[grumpy-cook]

Interesting article here about W7 and grub. Just be careful if you get round to W7 OE.

http://www.zdnet.co.uk/blogs/jamies-mostly-linux-stuff-10006480/windows-7-declares-war-on-grub-10022376/

[otherego]

It reminds one of Windows's inability to play with other operating systems - safest to install it first, or it simply overwrites anything else's MBR. Really pretty much like a dim-witted playground bully, I suppose.

Interesting that it was an HP computer. Wish I could remember where - but I'm sure I read recently that someone has bought one, only to find that HP had already divided the hard drive into four primary partitions. Not sure they weren't dynamic discs - but since I know nowt of such, it didn't really sink in. Complicates things further?

I bought a retail copy of W7 (assuming it turns out to be kosher- got it from the River, and there seem to have been one or two ... difficulties) so that I could try it and transfer it to another machine if necessary. Really should give it a whirl one day.

And will remember this dire warning, for which, many thanks. Obviously worth doing all the Windows updating and stuff before bothering with a Linux installation. (Or just installing it within VirtualBox, perhaps - that'll learn it.)

[*scyllabub*]

I discovered WUBI and am using it to install Ubuntu 11.04 on my rattling MSI Wind U135 netbook, having shrunk the D drive and made the resulting space a new dynamic volume (dynamic, because that's how Windows disk manager did it).

Everything seemed to be going smoothly, then it stopped and reported an error - could anyone spare the time to read  the attached log file and tell me what's gone wrong?

Oh!  I cannot attach the log file, "content is not allowed".  Is there any other way I can show it to you?

[*scyllabub*]

Here's a screenshot of the first instance of the error, hoping it is informative, otherwise I can do more, obviously.

[otherego]

Goodness, Scylla - you do like doing things the hard way.

I think we need to wait on one of the boffins here. I know nothing about dynamic discs, but what I read suggests that they do not always play nicely with Linux installations.

I assume one would only need a dynamic disc as part of a multi-disc setup, anyway.

Have a read here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Logical_Disk_Manager

It looks as if Vista/W7 Disk Management can even confuse other Windows systems...

Intrigued that you used the Windows disc manager, if you had Easeus and GParted available. As far as I can see, the Windows disc manager is a fine thing but holds more traps for the unwary.

Always fun to experiment, though.

I don't know whether you can safely delete a dynamic partition, or whether this now affects the whole disc. g-c? ej? o*a? I'm way out of my depth here.

And I wonder whether your whole drive is not now a dynamic disc?

A much simpler solution would have been to have shrunk D (with Easeus or GParted - keeping things simple...), then used GParted/the Ubuntu partitioner to partition the remaining space - letting Windows nowhere near it.

Not too sure about Wubi, either. I've only tried it once and eventually lost my temper and removed it - just one of those days, on that occasion, but I honestly saw little value in it.

As far as I can see, it's a way to try Ubuntu out - almost like trying it in a virtual machine - and not a way of fully installing it.

Much simpler just to free up some space and then install Ubuntu normally from a live CD/flash drive.

But let's see whether someone can resolve the dynamic disc problem - either suggesting software (hopefully free) to restore it to a basic disc, or a reliable means of installing Linux to it.

Sorry I can't offer more at this stage - but I think you need to be cautious.

If you have the recovery media for the netbook then the simplest thing, of course, might simply be to back up any data and reinstall everything from scratch.

Ain't computers fun?

[*scyllabub*]

Goodness, Scylla - you do like doing things the hard way.

How perfectly howwid of you, OE :_|  It was the easy way at the time - Easeus wouldn't give me a menu to do anything with the unallocated partition.  I won't go any further until someone's read the log file because I've already digressed this thread away from Linux in earlier posts.  I'll have to go back to the "shrink partition" one... oh, I can't cope 😞  Except I'll say - all my partitions appeared to be "dynamic" so I went ahead ?:|

QUOTE OE: Not too sure about Wubi, either.

Much simpler just to free up some space and then install Ubuntu normally from a live CD/flash drive.

Wubi is an downloader/installer, AFAICS.

I've got the Ubuntu .iso on D drive, it's installing from there I think, cos I can see it in the log file ?:| but I actually thought it would download/install all at once.

(I'm sure that

used to work, but it's not working now, hence bold patch to distinguish.)

[otherego]

Interesting.

I'd definitely hang on for one of the experts, Scylla.

Although it looks (from the googling I've done) as if modern Linux kernels might cope with dynamic partitions, there still seems some doubt over installing to these.

(Something way over my head about dynamic partitions, MBRs, Vista/W7 boot manager or whatever it is and so on.)

It might be OK simply to use the unallocated space you have available. See whether Ubuntu will see and install to it from a live flash drive.

Not sure why Wubi's battling. As far as I can see, though, it simply installs as another Windows program - an instant virtual machine containing Ubuntu, so to speak - and doesn't provide a means of actually installing Ubuntu fully to its own partitions.

I'd still be inclined to keep things simple, and try a conventional installation to the currently unallocated space. If the all the dynamic wotsits make that impossible, then a rethink will be needed.

The closest I've found to an effective way of converting back from dynamic to basic disk is using Testdisk - which is freeware. I assume you boot it from a CD, although the article doesn't say:

http://mypkb.wordpress.com/2007/03/28/how-to-non-destructively-convert-dynamic-disks-to-basic-disks/

MS mentions using something called dskprobe.exe:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/913964

The page is all about problems with their old antimalware; the interesting bit is about half way down under "Workaround."

Not sure whether this is available for Vista/W7 - perhaps they already have it. (I'd have a google, but starvation is threatening.)

An interesting problem. I've not used dynamic discs (never had occasion to try RAID and such.) If the netbook is your "Try things out" computer, then it is certainly giving you things to think about.

If worst comes to worst, the simplest thing might still be simply to reinstall everything - hopefully you have the reinstallation media, and it doesn't set up a dynamic disc by default.

Interesting to see what everyone else thinks, and to see how you get on.

[*scyllabub*]

It might be OK simply to use the unallocated space you have available.

I don't have any unallocated space any more - it's now a dynamic partition, New Volume, and appears identical to the shrunken D.

I shall wait and hope that someone reads the log file.

[otherego]

Hopefully the log file might yield the vital clue.

It seemed to come unstuck dealing the BCD (Boot Configuration Data? or something - wot the MBR initially points to in Vista?W7, anyway.)

Normally, I would have expected WUBI to amend the BCD so that when you started the computer, you were presented with the Windows boot manager offering a choice between Windows and Ubuntu (bit like the GRUB menu.)

Since dynamic discs seem to "virtually" expand into whatever space is available - other drives and such - I wonder whether the nature of the BCD is affected? I saw something about the need for 1MB free at the end of each dynamic disc - something to do with MBR/boot, but I can't remember what.

Whether we're looking at a Linux problem here, I don't know. We need g-c or ej to happen on this and comment. If Linux can install to a dual-boot on a dynamic disc, happy days. If not, it might be necessary to do something clever with the disc.

My own suspicion is that the disk needs to be converted back from a dynamic to a basic disk. The only things I've seen so far that look as if they might help are TestDisk and that MS link (hate the way one has to open another tab to find previous posts on these blessed boards - sure you know which I mean!).

Do you have the reinstallation media, Scylla? That remains a handy stand-by - just save any data and reinstall.

Let's hope someone comes up with a simpler answer than that. Useful to have that option available, though.

Hopefully I'm completely mistaken about the dynamic disc (a completely new area for me) being a major impediment to installing Linux. I'll be most interested to see how this works out.

[grumpy-cook]

Scylla, it's time to go back to basics. What are you actually trying to achieve? I know you want to do something with a PVR drive, but I'm not sure what. Start from scratch and detail what you have and what you want to do with it.

[oxieman]

Scylla, Rather than a Screenshot, you could have opened the log file in notepad, saved as 'owt.txt' and attached that as a Doc.

That's not why I am posting, it seems ihe Install has fallen over when trying to honour or invoke the bcdedit /set command [As you have possibly realised].

A long shot I know, but it is trying to write to the boot sector. Have you set in your BIOS 'Boot sector protection enabled' or whatever the terminology is for your PC.

This I would have thought would given you a warning if it were the case.

There is/are lots of info on the MS web site regarding bcdedit commands, pretty scary stuff  - 😄

Oxie...

[*scyllabub*]

I haven't the faintest idea about anything, let alone boot sector protection 😮  However, thank you for the tip about posting the log file as owt.txt, which I am about to do now.  Thanks Oxie! 🙂

[oxieman]

Scylla - You are not alone.

Google:-

"An error has occurred setting the element data.The request is not supported."

Oxie...