Can't install Ubuntu 9. anything on Toshiba laptop

Factual Questions
1

Running win 7 with a dual boot 2.1 and 3 g of mem.

win runs fine, I just like linux, and would like to try 9.10 or 9.04, as they were awesome on my last stolen machine.

booting from disk gets me nothing, nor does running inside win and dual booting.

created partition by shrinking the win, but no deal, as i can’t start linux at boot. gets hung up on usb or video or something…

all over the web, people are doing it, what am I doing wrong?

Checked the ‘if it is a computer question’ and don’t see anything apropos…

Help?

Thanks!

My last (stolen) xp computer loved linux…

2

Is it possible to install it on a virtual machine, such as VMWare or Microsoft Virtual PC?

3

How, exactly, are you trying to install it? From a USB thumb drive, or from a bootable CD/DVD?

What errors are you getting? Any? Or does it just show a black screen? If you’re just getting a black screen, you may need to check in your BIOS settings for boot options.

4

What model Toshiba is it? I’ve got Ubuntu 9.10 running on my Toshiba laptop. You could try using the alternative install CD.

5

What do you mean by “booting from disk”? You installed it to hard disk and can’t boot, or you’re trying to run a Live CD and can’t? If you mean the former, can you boot from a Live CD?

6

Look here for some of the boot time options that may help - try safe graphics mode first, then maybe noapic.

We would need your specific model to dig any deeper.

Si

7

Sounds like you burned the iso as a data file instead of using it to make a bootable cd. look at this site and see if you did it right.
http://neosmart.net/wiki/display/G/Burning+ISO+Images+with+ImgBurn
I just put Ubuntu 9.1 on my laptop two days ago and it went fine. Found all my hardware and I was up and running NP. I do have a problem with resume though, still looking into that.

8

I really think we need the answer to this question if the OP hasn’t been able to fix the problem given the answers right now in the thread.

9

I tried booting from a thumb drive (wouldn’t even see it), I tried burning to dvd (let me install, see below), I tried installing inside windows (let me install, see below), all of the above.

It allows me to repartition the drive, it installs successfully, then when the grub loads and I select linux, it partially loads, gets stuck on one or another driver (varies based on different things I have tried) and then just stops, with terminal commands on screen. I can’t even boot into safe mode- I can boot to terminal window, but I don’t know enough non-GUI commands to get it fixed. If I boot from the dvd, it will let me run linux from the dvd VERRRRRRY slowly.

I really don’t get it, and I can’t find anything online where anyone else has had these problems.

Toshiba laptop
Windows 7 Home Premium
AMD Turion II Dual Core Mobile M500 2.20ghz
Ram 3.00 gb, 2.75 usable
32 bit operating system

Thanks guys, sorry it has taken so long for me to get back to this…

10

Probably the best option is to pose your question on the Ubuntu Forums where they are as helpful as the SDMB but have more direct knowledge of Ubuntu specific problems.

11

Did you check the disc for errors before you installed? I have heard that dvds are less than ideal for burning images to as they run at a higher speed and so have a higher chance of errors.
The first time I tried installing Ubuntu I left the write speed where it was and the disc had errors when I checked it. Ubuntu forums advised to use the lowest burn speed on a cheap cd, which I did and it worked fine with no problems.

12

No idea about Linux but some systems will have serious bellyaches trying to boot a burned DVD vs a burned CD.

13

Have you tried a commercial CD of 9.10?
Obtainable free through Shipit. There will be a new version (10.04) in about six weeks time!

I find delivery is usually made in around 4~7 days.Additional info.

Note: I am running 9.10 on a home-built desktop and a Toshiba laptop (Equium) and my wife runs it on her Advent laptop.

14

In my experience, faulty installation media will usually fail during install - so I don’t think his choice of installation media is the issue. I would re-iterate two suggestions above:

15

I will do both of these things in further depth, I am sure, but for now I am sticking with Win 7.

I initially finally made the switch to Linux because Vista sucked so bad, but this is okay, although it is still so sickeningly patronizing…

Thanks, all! I will let you know if/when something pans out.