(initramfs) Unable to find a medium containing a live file system - old sony vaio

[gizmo1990]

Hi guys, first post here.

I've an old p3 256mb sony vaio that I'd like to get linux on. This will be my first foray into linux and from what I've read the flavour should be lubuntu for such old hardware?

My problem is that I can't boot from usb nor from dvd since I don't have a CF dvd drive. Can anyone suggest a way I can get Lubuntu onto my laptop?

The only way I can think is if Lubuntu can be installed via a setup file from within winxp? And then delete the xp partition and installation later?

Any advice greatly appreciated.

[grahammechanical]

I would not describe what you want to do as "absolute beginners" stuff. I have never tried it.

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Installation

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/In...llFromInternet

This HOWTO describes one way to do a Netboot install of Ubuntu by booting from files on a hard disk.

You need to have grub or grub2 already installed and bootable in order to use this method. It is therefore suitable for installing Ubuntu over an existing GNU/Linux installation.

Download the appropriate initrd.gz and linux files for your architecture and distribution from

• http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/netboot/

2.- Or from archive.ubuntu.com/ in case you're looking for the development version.
Save them somewhere that grub can read from. Inside /boot is a fine place. (These files are quite small, under 10MB for either architecture.)
2. Reboot your computer and press ESC if necessary to enter the grub menu (press Shift if you use grub2). Now we will get grub to boot from the files you just downloaded.

Like I said, not absolute beginners stuff.

Regards.

[Bucky Ball]

Welcome.

Your other option is a minimal install. That will fit on a CD.

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/In...tion/MinimalCD

Once you have the minimal installed, you would simply install lubuntu-desktop via Synaptic Package Manager (keeping it minimal) and you would have Lubuntu.

The minimal install installs just the kernel, you reboot to the terminal/CLI with the login prompt. At that point you login 'sudo apt-get install the-apps-you-want'. In your case, 'sudo apt-get install lubuntu-desktop' would pretty much do it I think.

Also not absolute beginner's stuff, but straightforward enough.

The install is text based rather than disco bells and whistles, but apart from that, the same things pretty much.

[kansasnoob]

Both the desktop and alternate Lubuntu images are CD size:

http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/lubuntu/re...14.04/release/

[Bucky Ball]

Both the desktop and alternate Lubuntu images are CD size:

http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/lubuntu/re...14.04/release/

That's what I was thinking to start with. I've never installed it, but I can imagine as much.

Xubuntu is now DVD size so I had to do the minimal install method on an old computer just the other day.

[gizmo1990]

Thanks for the advice guys. I didn't know there was a cd sized iso. I'll have a good look through the options provided.

[Bucky Ball]

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Lu...tu#Standard_PC

694Mb. That will fit.

There's also this:

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Lu...MinimalInstall

Your machine would fly. It's pretty much a version of what I explained earlier. In a round about way.

[sudodus]

Hi guys, first post here.

I've an old p3 256mb sony vaio that I'd like to get linux on. This will be my first foray into linux and from what I've read the flavour should be lubuntu for such old hardware?

My problem is that I can't boot from usb nor from dvd since I don't have a CF dvd drive. Can anyone suggest a way I can get Lubuntu onto my laptop?

The only way I can think is if Lubuntu can be installed via a setup file from within winxp? And then delete the xp partition and installation later?

Any advice greatly appreciated.

Although the previous advice is correct, I did not find anything about the a big problem because of low RAM. With only 256 MB RAM, you can 'use a shoe-horn' and install Lubuntu, but it will not be really useful with less than 512 MB RAM.

An alternative is to get more RAM, upgrade to at least 512 MB (1 GB would make a big difference). But before doing that you should tell us more about the computer. If the processor or graphics card are also problems, it is not worthwhile to add RAM sticks.

- CPU (model and frequency GHz)
- graphics chip/card (name and model)
- wifi chip/card (name and model)

Another alternative is to download and install a really tiny linux version, for example Wary Puppy, Tiny Core or DSL. But do not expect much in terms of browsing the internet with only 256 MB RAM.

See this link for more details Old hardware brought back to life

Edit: In two recent threads I was able to help, in one case with DSL, in another case with Wary Puppy. And I like Tiny Core, so they are all worth trying.

[LastDino]

Although the previous advice is correct, I did not find anything about the a big problem because of low RAM. With only 256 MB RAM, you can 'use a shoe-horn' and install Lubuntu, but it will not be really useful with less than 512 MB RAM.

An alternative is to get more RAM, upgrade to at least 512 MB (1 GB would make a big difference). But before doing that you should tell us more about the computer. If the processor or graphics card are also problems, it is not worthwhile to add RAM sticks.

- CPU (model and frequency GHz)
- graphics chip/card (name and model)
- wifi chip/card (name and model)

Another alternative is to download and install a really tiny linux version, for example Wary Puppy, Tiny Core or DSL. But do not expect much in terms of browsing the internet with only 256 MB RAM.

See this link for more details Old hardware brought back to life

I would +1 this any day. Given the amount of your current RAM, I would suggest you to stick with the options suggested above. While Lubunt is great minimal distro, it is still quite advanced and once you install something like webbrowser (this alone can shoot your ram consumption in 200+MB with just one or two tabs open), you'll be in for ride and lot of disappointment due to slowness. IMO, getting at least 1gb more RAM would do you world of good. I've personally never faced any issues regarding processor or graphics. (I've p4 3.0Ghz single core with on board graphics and 4GB RAM)

[QIII]

You might try Bodhi Linux. It is based on Ubuntu, but uses the Enlightenment window manager instead of a full-blown Desktop Environment.