ubuntu install problems on brand new laptop

[kamiisama]

hello, i'm new to the ubuntuforums' community but not to linux/ubuntu. today i bought a brand new laptop:

toshiba satellite l505d-s5983
basic specs - amd II (m300) 2.0ghz dual core cpu, 3 gigs ddr2 ram , 320 gb hd

nothing special. ah and it came with windows 7! yaay....not so much, SO of course the FIRST thing i wanted to do when i got my brand new shiny laptop home was get rid of that pesky POS windows and put a REAL OS onto it! and what a coincidence ubuntu 9.10 just came out!! i figured it was meant to be~! but not so much.

SO here is my problem, tried an older distro (9.04) and didnt work, kept hanging before even getting into the install screen. so i scrapped that and tried 9.10, this time ...same thing, so i went poking around the bios (which has an advanced section about | | <-that big) and found AHCI was messing things up, switched that and rebooted and YES! got to page 1/6 of the install! or so i thought, it locked up...tried restarting locked again...and again....sooo now i'm stuck with a $500 paperweight until the next big update? because i THINK it has to do with the drivers but again i'm not an expert...which is why i'm here..

SO please...any thoughts/advice/help? even stabs in the dark are greatly appreciated at this point!
thanks~

[dvlchd3]

Try alternative disc:

http://www.ubuntu.com/getubuntu/down...rors#alternate

[colinwhipple]

I have the same laptop. After disabling AHCI I was able to use the alternate text-based install. But when I get to the main Ubuntu screen all input, mouse and keyboard, is ignored.

[CalderCoalson]

Do you have an Intel graphics card? If so, you might have the same issue I'm having here: http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1307886

[colinwhipple]

No, my laptop has an ATI video card.

[Dazed_75]

I spent most of today trying to install Fedora 10 or 11 on a Toshiba L505D-S5983 for someone else. When I could not make those work the guy let me try ubuntu 9.10. I did get it to work by adding "acpi=off" to the boot command. Everything then worked fine until you try to shutdown. Then it goes to a graphic pattern indication a graphic mode the cord does not understand and appears hung.

But the install worked and the installed ubuntu works as long as you get the "acpi=off" clause into the boot line. I was not sure the wireless was working either but that was not a priority today.

On the other hand, a clean install of 9.10 puts in grub2 which does not use /boot/grub/menu.lst and I have not yet learned how to edit the equivalent for grub2 to make a permanent fix.

[seenthelite]

[QUOTE=kamiisama;8193470]hello, i'm new to the ubuntuforums' community but not to linux/ubuntu. today i bought a brand new laptop:

toshiba satellite l505d-s5983
basic specs - amd II (m300) 2.0ghz dual core cpu, 3 gigs ddr2 ram , 320 gb hd

nothing special. ah and it came with windows 7! yaay....not so much, SO of course the FIRST thing i wanted to do when i got my brand new shiny laptop home was get rid of that pesky POS windows and put a REAL OS onto it! and what a coincidence ubuntu 9.10 just came out!! i figured it was meant to be~! but not so much.

If you got rid of that pesky POS windows ( which I assume was working perfectly ) have you found a REAL OS yet ? I have the same problem with 9.10 on a Toshiba P500 PSPG8A-01U004. Will 10.04 be any better ?

[kingofnerds]

I am still waiting for a patch or something that will allow me to not have to turn off my acip because like stated earlier in this thread, when I set acip=off, I only get the use of one core, and my cooling fan doesn't ever slow down. Also, in no mode have i been able to get my battery meter working.

Has anyone else been able to get their battery meter working on this laptop?