I downloaded Kubuntu, Xubuntu and UbuntuStudio. They failed the Gateway
test, almost. I did get Xubuntu to load as a LiveCD by turning off
everything I could under "F6" and setting "F4" to "Safe Video" mode and let
it run several hours in that mode before I decided to do an install into a
blank partition. Then the fun began.

All went well until I got to the partitioning. I have only one question
about the partitioner, "What grade school class did they farm the
partitioner software out to?" The wonderful folks at Ubuntu know you are
too stupid to select a partition, so they do it for you, kinda sorta. But
do they allow you any input? Well, technically, yes. You can select
whether you want the entire disk wiped or to install Ubuntu along side
exisiting OS's. But no control over what partition, file system, Swap
location (I have a large existing Swap partition but it would not use it,
instead created a second Swap partition), left a large section of the HD
without any allocation, gave you no control over how to allocate that
unassigned space. As if that were not bad enough, at that point the system
locked up.

Fortunately, it had not written the bootloader to the disk yet and I could
reboot into my old configuration. Rebooted into PCLinuxOS (2009.1) and
restored the partitions on the HD and consigned Ubuntu OS to where I always
have, "The circular file."


I must say this, just to be honest, it system looks good and might be okay
on a clone, but this Gateway GT5220 of mine is very picky on what it allows
to install. Probably a gift in honor os the folks in Redmond, Wa.

Deb

Responding to Dr. Deb:

> I downloaded Kubuntu, Xubuntu and UbuntuStudio. They failed the Gateway
> test, almost. I did get Xubuntu to load as a LiveCD by turning off
> everything I could under "F6" and setting "F4" to "Safe Video" mode and
> let it run several hours in that mode before I decided to do an install
> into a blank partition. Then the fun began.
>
> All went well until I got to the partitioning. I have only one question
> about the partitioner, "What grade school class did they farm the
> partitioner software out to?" The wonderful folks at Ubuntu know you
> are too stupid to select a partition, so they do it for you, kinda
> sorta. But do they allow you any input? Well, technically, yes. You
> can select whether you want the entire disk wiped or to install Ubuntu
> along side exisiting OS's. But no control over what partition, file
> system, Swap location (I have a large existing Swap partition but it
> would not use it, instead created a second Swap partition), left a large
> section of the HD without any allocation, gave you no control over how
> to allocate that unassigned space. As if that were not bad enough, at
> that point the system locked up.
>
> Fortunately, it had not written the bootloader to the disk yet and I
> could reboot into my old configuration. Rebooted into PCLinuxOS
> (2009.1) and restored the partitions on the HD and consigned Ubuntu OS
> to where I always have, "The circular file."
>
>
> I must say this, just to be honest, it system looks good and might be
> okay on a clone, but this Gateway GT5220 of mine is very picky on what
> it allows to install. Probably a gift in honor os the folks in Redmond,
> Wa.
>
> Deb


I was thinking from the start that this looks like a "Windows ready"
hardware problem.

Have you tried Slackware? Its about as "standard" Linux as you can get,
and at least might highlight what the hardware problems might be?

If you want something that "doesn't bite back", try Zenwalk. Its
Slackware in a smooth French sauce. ;)

Or there's VectorLinux, a similar "lukky whut we dun wiv slak!" thing.

www.zenwalk.org
www.vectorlinux.org

--
*===( http://www.400monkeys.com/God/
*===( http://principiadiscordia.com/
*===( http://www.slackware.com/

Mike Jones <Not@Arizona.Bay> wrote:
> Responding to Dr. Deb:
>
[snip]
>
>
> I was thinking from the start that this looks like a "Windows ready"
> hardware problem.
>
> Have you tried Slackware? Its about as "standard" Linux as you can get,
> and at least might highlight what the hardware problems might be?
>
> If you want something that "doesn't bite back", try Zenwalk. Its
> Slackware in a smooth French sauce. ;)
>
> Or there's VectorLinux, a similar "lukky whut we dun wiv slak!" thing.
>
> www.zenwalk.org
> www.vectorlinux.org
>


Ubuntu gets beat up quite a bit IMO because it's become so popular. I'm
using 9.04 as my main platform simply because there are so many packages
available for it. There should not be any problem with paritioning,
though I have not yet downloaded the 9.10 version [it was just
"officially" released on 10/29, and I wait for others to find the bugs].

You could probably download gparted and do the paritioning manually
first, and *usually* Ubuntu recognizes existing paritions.

Finally, regarding Slackware, it would be wonderful if there were a
repository that had the entire ISO... downloading as a torrent is a
PITA, and the last time I tried I got a checksum error on the resulting
ISO. So I haven't had a chance to try this "wonderful" distro.

I notice the the 64-bit version of zenwalk still appears to be pretty
wobbly, so I'm not going to go that route.

OpenSolaris is pretty nice (is NOT Linux, but deserves to be tried by Linux-lovers),
but, falls way short in the number of packages supported when compared to Ubuntu.

On Fri, 30 Oct 2009 23:35:01 +0000, Jeff Haferman wrote:

> Finally, regarding Slackware, it would be wonderful if there were a
> repository that had the entire ISO...

There are dozens of them. Look here:

http://www.slackware.com/getslack/

> downloading as a torrent is a PITA, and the last time I tried I got a
> checksum error on the resulting ISO.

Torrents are great, and generally the fastest way to download. Perhaps
you need a better client. I recommend 'transmission'.

> So I haven't had a chance to try this "wonderful" distro.

You've had plenty of chances. You've just blown them all.

> I notice the the 64-bit version of zenwalk still appears to be pretty
> wobbly, so I'm not going to go that route.

Perhaps you should try the rock-solid 64-bit version of Slackware, then.

No excuses left...


--
"Ubuntu" -- an African word, meaning "Slackware is too hard for me".
"Bother!" said Pooh, as he garotted another passing Liberal.
Usenet Improvement Project: http://twovoyagers.com/improve-usenet.org/

Dr. Deb wrote:

<all stupid **** snipped>

Do you have a question? Or are you just here to publicly proclaim that
you are too stupid to know how to properly partition a disk?

"Dr. Deb" <debsmail@mon-cre.net> writes:

> I downloaded Kubuntu, Xubuntu and UbuntuStudio. They failed the Gateway
> test, almost. I did get Xubuntu to load as a LiveCD by turning off
> everything I could under "F6" and setting "F4" to "Safe Video" mode and let
> it run several hours in that mode before I decided to do an install into a
> blank partition. Then the fun began.
>
> All went well until I got to the partitioning. I have only one question
> about the partitioner, "What grade school class did they farm the
> partitioner software out to?" The wonderful folks at Ubuntu know you are
> too stupid to select a partition, so they do it for you, kinda sorta. But
> do they allow you any input? Well, technically, yes. You can select
> whether you want the entire disk wiped or to install Ubuntu along side
> exisiting OS's. But no control over what partition, file system, Swap
> location

If you want to specify partitions manually instead of erasing and using
the entire disk you have to choose "Specify partitions manually" instead
of "Erase and use entire disk". That lets you specify manually which
partitions you want to use.

HTH

Florian
--
<http://www.florian-diesch.de/software/pdfrecycle/>

Responding to Jeff Haferman:


[...]
> Finally, regarding Slackware, it would be wonderful if there were a
> repository that had the entire ISO... downloading as a torrent is a
> PITA, and the last time I tried I got a checksum error on the resulting
> ISO. So I haven't had a chance to try this "wonderful" distro.


For your convenience, Slackware.com has a list of working mirrors.

I find that here in the UK, the French ones seem most consistant.

Not had a problem yet with CD or DVD isos.

--
*===( http://www.400monkeys.com/God/
*===( http://principiadiscordia.com/
*===( http://www.slackware.com/

johnny bobby bee writes:
> Do you have a question?

No. It's a troll. Killfile it.
--
John Hasler
jhasler@newsguy.com
Dancing Horse Hill
Elmwood, WI USA

Dan C <youmustbejoking@lan.invalid> wrote:
> On Fri, 30 Oct 2009 23:35:01 +0000, Jeff Haferman wrote:
>
>> Finally, regarding Slackware, it would be wonderful if there were a
>> repository that had the entire ISO...
>
> There are dozens of them. Look here:
>
> http://www.slackware.com/getslack/

doh, not sure how i missed that.


>
>> downloading as a torrent is a PITA, and the last time I tried I got a
>> checksum error on the resulting ISO.
>
> Torrents are great, and generally the fastest way to download. Perhaps
> you need a better client. I recommend 'transmission'.

i've been using utor on a windows box - generally i find that when I try
to download using a torrent, there aren't a lot of seeders out
there...

>
>> So I haven't had a chance to try this "wonderful" distro.
>
> You've had plenty of chances. You've just blown them all.
>
>> I notice the the 64-bit version of zenwalk still appears to be pretty
>> wobbly, so I'm not going to go that route.
>
> Perhaps you should try the rock-solid 64-bit version of Slackware, then.
>
> No excuses left...


I'll give it a shot.