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Lloydb39
February 26th, 2013, 01:17 AM
I've been keeping a 10 year old Dell laptop running with Xubuntu 11.10 pretty well. But it crashed and now I can't get it running. Tried to reinstall. The Dell bios comes up and I can boot to the CD where I have Xubuntu. It will run the trial version of Xubuntu. but on install it (1) has no internet connection (says firmware is missing) (2) shows various error messages such as possible CD problem. Before trying Xubuntu I actually installed Ubuntu 11.10 and it ran except had no wireless connection. (I don't want to use it because it is too slow on this old laptop, which has 1.5 gigs of memory and 30 gigs hard drive.) Should I try to hook up Ethernet and see if that helps..... or?

lmarmisa
February 26th, 2013, 01:49 AM
Xubuntu 11.10 will expire in April 2013. I recommend to install a long term support distribution:

1) Xubuntu 12.04 LTS with 3 years support until April 2015.

http://xubuntu.org/news/12-04-release/

2) Linux Mint 13 Maya LTS Xfce with 5 years support until April 2017.

http://www.linuxmint.com/edition.php?id=113

tgalati4
February 26th, 2013, 02:21 AM
What caused the system to crash in the first place? If the hard disk is bad, you will have a difficult time installing any distribution. Linux Mint Mate 32-bit runs well on older hardware. Always use an ethernet cord when installing, so you can update the packages and install the proprietary firmware needed for many wireless cards.

offgridguy
February 26th, 2013, 02:55 AM
If your Dell runs ok otherwise, maybe consider a new hard drive, I have bought
them fairly reasonably priced on ebay.

claracc
February 26th, 2013, 10:24 AM
I would try to install lubuntu 12.04, I think it is more suitable for such an old hardware. http://lubuntu.net/

I have an 11 years old pIII laptop with lubuntu 12.04 and is usable to surf the web and doing office tasks.

Lloydb39
February 26th, 2013, 12:15 PM
I should have mentioned that while I had Ubuntu 11.10 running I used the disk utility and it said the hard drive was "healthy." But, I'll buy a new one and try Xubuntu or Lubuntu 12.04. Thanks.

lmarmisa
February 26th, 2013, 01:13 PM
I should have mentioned that while I had Ubuntu 11.10 running I used the disk utility and it said the hard drive was "healthy." But, I'll buy a new one and try Xubuntu or Lubuntu 12.04. Thanks.

Do not buy a new hard drive if yours is healthy. The problem could be due to other elements.

You detected a possible CD problem. Try to run the option Check disc for defects. I attach a captute of Xubuntu 12.04 LTS Live CD.