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View Full Version : [ubuntu] [SOLVED] Freezes During Installation



zdunham
August 11th, 2008, 05:13 PM
Alright here is what has been going on:

I'm making an internet kiosk at work using Ubuntu so people can go on sites that are blocked by the rest of the network, emails, etc. This computer is a VERY OLD IBM. First I tried to install Ubuntu and I got to the screen where you select partitioning and such. I told it to just use the whole drive and it failed and wanted to resize the drive. So I used a Windows CD to format the drive and then went back to the Ubuntu disk and now it freezes every time right before it loads up the screen after I choose Install. It also freezes if I try to run from disk right after I choose run from disk. I was thinking this could be due to lack of memory since the machine is so old. I wasn't told how much it has but it's pretty bad, really bad. Any other opinions? Thanks in advance.

snowpine
August 11th, 2008, 05:19 PM
Alright here is what has been going on:

I'm making an internet kiosk at work using Ubuntu so people can go on sites that are blocked by the rest of the network, emails, etc. This computer is a VERY OLD IBM. First I tried to install Ubuntu and I got to the screen where you select partitioning and such. I told it to just use the whole drive and it failed and wanted to resize the drive. So I used a Windows CD to format the drive and then went back to the Ubuntu disk and now it freezes every time right before it loads up the screen after I choose Install. It also freezes if I try to run from disk right after I choose run from disk. I was thinking this could be due to lack of memory since the machine is so old. I wasn't told how much it has but it's pretty bad, really bad. Any other opinions? Thanks in advance.

Ubuntu is not always the best choice for "very old" computers; it is a modern, full-featured OS that is optimized for today's computers. The minimum ram to install Ubuntu from the Live CD is 384mb, and that is no guarantee of "snappy" performance. Without more info, the best recommendation I can give is to try installing Xubuntu using the Alternate CD, which only requires 128mb of ram.

Why don't you find out the specs for this computer (one way to tell if it has no OS installed is by running Setup at the initial bios screen) so we can make a recommendation.

zdunham
August 11th, 2008, 05:27 PM
Well then if memory is the case, (I'll find out the specs in a few), is there a different linux distribution that requires WAY less RAM? I have the feeling this computer doesn't even have 128 MB but I could be wrong.

snowpine
August 11th, 2008, 05:40 PM
Well then if memory is the case, (I'll find out the specs in a few), is there a different linux distribution that requires WAY less RAM? I have the feeling this computer doesn't even have 128 MB but I could be wrong.

DSL (Dam* Small Linux) and Puppy are two of the most popular distros for old computers. They both run from Live CDs so you can test them out. Good luck!

zdunham
August 11th, 2008, 05:47 PM
DSL (Dam* Small Linux) and Puppy are two of the most popular distros for old computers. They both run from Live CDs so you can test them out. Good luck!

Any that you know of that install? I need to make the machine as secure as possible, meaning that the users on it cannot install anything and cannot do anything except browse the internet basically. Except me of course I'll be admin :).

snowpine
August 11th, 2008, 06:05 PM
Any that you know of that install? I need to make the machine as secure as possible, meaning that the users on it cannot install anything and cannot do anything except browse the internet basically. Except me of course I'll be admin :).

DSL and Puppy can both install to a hard drive. I just meant that, because they run from Live CD, you can test to make sure you like them and they run on your hardware, before you go through the trouble of a hard disk install.

I will point out however that running an OS from a Live CD is incredibly secure, since the medium is read-only! :)

ps Try a google search for "kiosk linux" for example: http://www.ehartwell.com/InfoDabble/HowTo:_Create_a_boot-from-CD_browser_kiosk_with_Firefox_and_Linux

zdunham
August 11th, 2008, 06:05 PM
Thanks alot I'll try it out.

zdunham
August 11th, 2008, 06:11 PM
Do you happen to know if I can install KDE on any of those distros?

snowpine
August 11th, 2008, 06:21 PM
Do you happen to know if I can install KDE on any of those distros?

KDE is not light-weight. I imagine you can add KDE to just about any distro, but the question is, will its performance be satisfactory on your system specs? I've only used it once, but I would say IceWM is the lightweight alternative that's most similar to KDE.

zdunham
August 11th, 2008, 06:25 PM
KDE is not light-weight. I imagine you can add KDE to just about any distro, but the question is, will its performance be satisfactory on your system specs? I've only used it once, but I would say IceWM is the lightweight alternative that's most similar to KDE.

Nice I'll try that with DSL. I might be able to limit user permissions enough with whatever DSL comes with I'll have to see. Thanks alot.

zdunham
August 12th, 2008, 05:15 PM
DSL is so annoying to use I just cannot do it. I'm going to try Xubuntu on there, previously Mandriva was successfully installed, although it says it requires more than this computer has. This comp has 128 MB RAM and a 650 MHz processor....don't laugh. Mandriva says it requires more than that but it still worked. It has roughly the same requirements as Xubuntu from what I've seen so I'll try that because the interface is so much nicer.

snowpine
August 12th, 2008, 05:36 PM
DSL is so annoying to use I just cannot do it. I'm going to try Xubuntu on there, previously Mandriva was successfully installed, although it says it requires more than this computer has. This comp has 128 MB RAM and a 650 MHz processor....don't laugh. Mandriva says it requires more than that but it still worked. It has roughly the same requirements as Xubuntu from what I've seen so I'll try that because the interface is so much nicer.

Xubuntu should work, just be sure to use the Alternate Install CD rather than the Live CD. And if you can get an extra stick of ram... :)

snowpine
August 12th, 2008, 05:37 PM
ps You may find some helpful information in this thread: http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=873112

zdunham
August 12th, 2008, 05:59 PM
Thanks alot, I'll post how it all goes after it's installed.

zdunham
August 12th, 2008, 06:48 PM
Thanks Snowpine, it boots up with no problems now I just have to update and install some printing software and limit the guest user :)