Ubuntu 8.10 on a Dell Latitude D420

Thu, 15 Jan 2009 12:00:00 +0000

Here’s the fastest way I’ve found to install Ubuntu on a USB flash drive, for my Dell Latitude D420. (Pendrivelinux.com is a great resource for this sort of thing.)

Ingredients

One large USB flash drive like this one. Not less than 4GB. I’d suggest 8GB or more
One CD (not a DVD)
Ubuntu 8.10 desktop CD ISO
IMGBurn or any other CD burning software
Direct Internet via LAN cable (without proxy, without wireless)

Installation

Burn the Ubuntu ISO file on the CD
Press F12 when the laptop boots up, and select CD/DVD Drive as the boot device
On the Ubuntu splash screen, select “Try Ubuntu without making any change to your computer” and wait
Insert the flash drive
Go to System > Administration > Create a USB startup disk and follow instructions there
Once done, remove the CD and reboot using the USB flash drive (pressing F12 during the boot sequence)

To enable wireless, which won’t work by default

Connect to the Internet using a LAN cable
Go to System > Administration > Hardware devices
Select the Broadcom LAN driver, and activate it

That’s it. It’s been a fairly painless installation.

I do have one big crib. I planned to use Hibernation (or suspend-to-disk on Ubuntu) to switch between Windows and Ubuntu. But there are a couple of problems:

Hibernate doesn’t work on Ubuntu. I need to reboot Ubuntu every time, and that takes 3 minutes
When Windows is hibernating, Ubuntu can’t access any files on the hard disk

This means switching between Ubuntu and Windows is roughly a 6 minute shutdown-one-OS-reboot-the-other process rather than the 1-minute hibernate-one-OS-resume-the-other that I had had hoped for.

Another minor problem I have is that our Exchange server doesn’t seem to have an IMAP interface, at least that I know of. So I can’t check mail. But like I said, it’s minor. I just forward mails from my BlackBerry to GMail.

Comments

deeaycee 19 Jan 2009 10:50 am: Your post is how I got my wireless working. Thank you.
I’m also using a Dell D420. I have 8.10 on a 8g Attache flash drive. I ran into a problem while updating. I’m stuck at kernel 2.6.27-7 and it should be updating to 2.6.27-11. The error it gives has something to do with running from a live-cd. After some research, I found that there is a bug that prevents solid updates from the live-cd. The work-around is to actually do a real install to the flash drive from the live-cd. This presents another problem/bug. The only way to see the flash drive during the install is to disconnect the hd, so the install prg doesn’t see it. It was suggested to physically disconnect the hd, but I wonder if it could be done temporarily through the bios. I’ll try this later today. I haven’t even thought about the hibernation/suspend issues yet. Good luck!
ActionParsnip 30 May 2010 10:22 pm: orks 100% OOTB with Ubuntu Lucid.

Portraits of open source pioneers

Mon, 15 Jul 2002 12:00:00 +0000

In-depth portraits of open source pioneers.

Free software

Tue, 18 Dec 2001 12:00:00 +0000

Why does free software exist? An interesting article.

Freedom to license software

Tue, 04 Dec 2001 12:00:00 +0000

Interesting views on freedom to license software.

StarOffice

Tue, 09 Oct 2001 12:00:00 +0000

Download StarOffice 6.0b if you’re looking for an alternative to Microsoft Office that’s free (at least the beta is).

Why Open Source is better than Windows

Tue, 24 Jul 2001 12:00:00 +0000

David Wheeler’s report shows how open source is quantintatively better than Windows. All it needs is a good user interface, a suite of applications, and a little less fanaticism about keeping it free, in order for it to commercialise.

Crack sites

Sun, 29 Apr 2001 12:00:00 +0000

Some sites with good cracks, thanks to Alok: astalavista.box.sk, wtcracks.com, kickme.to/FOSI, bannerkillers.cjb.net, and start.at/these.urls.first

Free PCs are dead

Sat, 09 Dec 2000 12:00:00 +0000

Free PCs are dead. Freebies are dying, since online advertising is dying. Now, Altavista’s free ISP died. Is this the beginning of the end for free ISPs in India? For that matter, is this the end of free everything? No. Free software thrives (Opera will be free). Why is that?

free-software on S Anand