Howto: Install Ubuntu without a CD

[tuxcantfly]

I tried this just now, however it said it cannot find any network devices (i have a gigabit onboard network card) so clearly i need some kind of driver.

Is there anyway to load a driver ?



Cheers

Alec

What that means is that the ethernet card chipset isn't supported by the distribution you're attempting to install. Loading a driver on boot is (theoretically) possible by locating a functioning driver, compiling it, and modifying the initrd to use it by replacing the existing module in /lib/modules (google up "initrd customization" if interested, there are a few guides), but it's rather difficult and time-consuming, so I wouldn't recommend it unless you're a Linux expert.

I'd suggest trying out Fedora and openSUSE, and seeing if either of them support your network chipset out-of-the box. If you still have no luck there, you can just pre-download the install iso for Fedora/openSUSE while still in Windows to your hard drive (make sure you do the partitioning beforehand though, and download the iso to a different partition than the one you want to install to), and select "hard drive" as the installation source, to be able to install without a CD without needing to be connected to the internet (or alternatively you could just use the standard CD install process). Then again, in both situations after installation, you'll still be faced with the issue of locating, compiling, and installing the driver for the network card.

An easy way to avoid all this, though, is to see if you can salvage a standard PCI ethernet card from an older computer if you have a spare one, and use it on a temporary basis, since they tend to be better compatible with Linux than some newer chipsets.

[bradley1980]

I encountered the driver issue as well but of a different sort. After the system performed the disk and hardware scan, i got this message:

No disk driver was detected. if you know the name of the driver needed by your disk drive, you can select it from the the list.

Driver needed for your disk drive:

continue with no disk
3w-9xxx
3w-xxxx
53c700
and the list goes on....

I tried to continue with no disk but got a warning message saying that there is no root drive. At the point i had to abort the installation.

Not sure whether my A: drive caused this. Win2k and XP cannot detect my A: drive but WinMe and Win98 can.

Is there a way to solve this problem?

Thanks

[tuxcantfly]

I encountered the driver issue as well but of a different sort. After the system performed the disk and hardware scan, i got this message:

No disk driver was detected. if you know the name of the driver needed by your disk drive, you can select it from the the list.

Driver needed for your disk drive:

continue with no disk
3w-9xxx
3w-xxxx
53c700
and the list goes on....

I tried to continue with no disk but got a warning message saying that there is no root drive. At the point i had to abort the installation.

Not sure whether my A: drive caused this. Win2k and XP cannot detect my A: drive but WinMe and Win98 can.

Is there a way to solve this problem?

Thanks

I've never encountered that issue nor seen that error; sorry, can't help on that. Best solution, I'd say, is just to try a different distribution and see if it likes your disk better. Use whatever works well with your hardware; most of the major desktop distros (Ubuntu, Fedora, openSUSE) are pretty much the same anyhow from an average desktop user's perspective.

Anyhow, unfortunately, I'm not the right person to ask to solve these driver and hardware-specific issues. That's for upstream (the individual distro teams responsible for the kernel and drivers) to solve; perhaps just file a bug report for whatever distribution you had trouble with (if it's Ubuntu, see Launchpad.net, and remember to mention your hardware of course), they might be able to help you better (and of course, once they've been alerted to the issue, they'll hopefully be able to fix the issue by the next release, so other users of your hardware won't have issues).

Same goes for other general distribution-specific hardware issues. If there's an issue with the UNetbootin loader itself (basically the Windows and GRUB part, before the main installer itself starts), I'd be more than glad to help and will try to fix whatever the bug is, but for general issues on specific hardware, I can't help much since it's not my area of expertise; you'll get much better help with the problem by filing a bug report upstream so the teams working on the individual distros will be able to fix their bugs, and if you must, you can settle for using a different distro in the meantime.

[Eric Weir]

My IBM X40 arrived yesterday. Even though I've been using Ubuntu -- actually, Kubuntu -- pretty much exclusively since September, I almost hate to wipe out the XP install. It includes a full install of MS Office Professional. But I'm going to do it.

One more question -- well, maybe just one more: Instead of giving you an XP CD with this system, IBM has created a hidden partition from which it's possible possible to restore the OS if necessary.

As I said, I'm not looking to create a dual-boot system, but I wonder if it's possible to preserve this hidden partition while doing an Ubuntu-only install.

Thanks in advance,

[tuxcantfly]

My IBM X40 arrived yesterday. Even though I've been using Ubuntu -- actually, Kubuntu -- pretty much exclusively since September, I almost hate to wipe out the XP install. It includes a full install of MS Office Professional. But I'm going to do it.

One more question -- well, maybe just one more: Instead of giving you an XP CD with this system, IBM has created a hidden partition from which it's possible possible to restore the OS if necessary.

As I said, I'm not looking to create a dual-boot system, but I wonder if it's possible to preserve this hidden partition while doing an Ubuntu-only install.

Thanks in advance,

Yes, but in that case make sure you do NOT use any of the "Guided Partitioning" options. Just use the "manual partitioning" option when you get to the partitioning stage, and delete every partition except the hidden one (it should be labeled as type W95 FAT32 Hidden, hex code 1c or 1d), then create the appropriate filesystem layout for Ubuntu (swap partition, / partition, and optionally a /home partition).

If Ubuntu's partitioner doesn't show the hidden partition, or you can't determine it's corresponding partition number, manually use GParted or fdisk (same procedure, delete all partitions except the hidden one) instead (PartedMagic, on the UNetbootin download page, will allow you to run GParted to do your partitioning without a CD).

[Eric Weir]

Yes, but in that case make sure you do NOT use any of the "Guided Partitioning" options. Just use the "manual partitioning" option when you get to the partitioning stage, and delete every partition except the hidden one (it should be labeled as type W95 FAT32 Hidden, hex code 1c or 1d), then create the appropriate filesystem layout for Ubuntu (swap partition, / partition, and optionally a /home partition)....

Thanks. Which raises still another question. [Hopefully these will end someday.] How much should I allow for a swap partition?

The machine has 512 MB of RAM at this point, but I plan to add another 512 MB. Most of my work is text processing, web browsing, and email. There is little to no graphics processing.

[tuxcantfly]

Thanks. Which raises still another question. [Hopefully these will end someday.] How much should I allow for a swap partition?

The machine has 512 MB of RAM at this point, but I plan to add another 512 MB. Most of my work is text processing, web browsing, and email. There is little to no graphics processing.

Swap size should be equivalent or just slightly larger than the amount of RAM, so assuming the 1GB of RAM, you should have around 1024MB, or (slightly larger to allow for hibernation) approx. 1100MB.

PS: if the size of all these individual partitions is really bothering you, you can opt to just go for the LVM (Logical Volume Manager) option (80MB /boot, all the rest as LVM pool, within the LVM pool you can just define a /home, swap, and /, and just resize each when needed); that way you can safely change how much of the LVM pool goes to /, /home, and swap logical volumes on the go (basically the equivalent of resizing partitions), even without unmounting or rebooting, whenever you need more space on an individual logical volume (basically the LVM equivalent of a partition, only it resides within the LVM pool not the physical disk). I'm not sure about how good Ubuntu's support for it is (all I know is there's an option in the partitioner for LVM, never actually tried it), but Fedora 8 uses LVM by default and even provides a nice GUI for managing the volume groups; it worked well in my experience. More info at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Logical...er_%28Linux%29

[Eric Weir]

Swap size should be equivalent or just slightly larger than the amount of RAM, so assuming the 1GB of RAM, you should have around 1024MB, or (slightly larger to allow for hibernation) approx. 1100MB.

Thanks.

PS: if the size of all these individual partitions is really bothering you, you can opt to just go for the LVM (Logical Volume Manager) option (80MB /boot, all the rest as LVM pool, within the LVM pool you can just define a /home, swap, and /, and just resize each when needed)....

No, I can't imagine that the size you suggested -- 8 GB /, 30+ GB /home -- wouldn't be adequate.

I'm going to take a little time to make sure the machine is uptodate before installing Ubuntu. I understand an update to the BIOS is available, and I'd like to take care of that while I've still got XP. I'm new at this sort of thing, so I'll need to go slowly, make sure I understand instructions, etc.

I'm taking it when I'm ready I'll be able to install any of the Ubuntu flavors, which In my case will be Kubuntu.

Thanks again,

[NoNameforMe]

Hey folks, i've got a very strange problem o.O

Installation with UNetbootin worked perfectly, but i've got a problem to start Ubuntu (7.10)

When I choose Ubuntu in the Grub-boot loader it loads the driver, then stops an it expects Username and Password.

So I type in the Username I choosed while the installation and then I can't type in the password o.o

It looks like the keyboard isn't connect, it doesn't matter which key I press on my keyboard (I've tested all of 'em), it is impossible to type in my password an therefore impossible to start Ubuntu.

But Ctrl+Alt+Del for restart works fine...

What's the problem and do I fix it?

[tuxcantfly]

Hey folks, i've got a very strange problem o.O

Installation with UNetbootin worked perfectly, but i've got a problem to start Ubuntu (7.10)

When I choose Ubuntu in the Grub-boot loader it loads the driver, then stops an it expects Username and Password.

So I type in the Username I choosed while the installation and then I can't type in the password o.o

It looks like the keyboard isn't connect, it doesn't matter which key I press on my keyboard (I've tested all of 'em), it is impossible to type in my password an therefore impossible to start Ubuntu.

But Ctrl+Alt+Del for restart works fine...

What's the problem and do I fix it?

Are you attempting to login through the console (no GUI), or through GDM (the GUI login screen)? Correct me if I'm wrong, but from the sound of it, it seems like you forgot to select a desktop environment during installation (from post 1:If you're installing *Ubuntu, make sure to mark one or more desktop environment using the space button when asked by the installer, so that it's marked with an asterisk (*), or else you'll be left with a commandline-only environment.), and are attempting to login from the console. If it's through the console that you're attempting to login, the password is being entered in fine, you just don't see the characters themselves for security reasons. Just enter the password, hit enter, and it'll login fine.

Since you didn't select a desktop environment to install, you're going to have to install one after logging in to be able to use a GUI. Just enter the following commands:

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install ubuntu-desktop

Then wait as the packages are installed, reboot, and all should work fine.

Since this isn't the first time users have encountered this problem of forgetting to select a desktop environment, I've updated the instructions in the first post and the website to have the instructions appear more noticeable