# Installing Linix



## Deerhunter82 (Mar 18, 2012)

How do I go about getting Linix OS onto my Dell Inspiron 1300, 

I'm running at the moment-

Win7
Intel Pentium M Processor 1.73GHz 1.73GHz
RAM - 2.00GB
System Type - 32-Bit OS

And it's so slow, would Linix run faster than Win7


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## SteveThePirate (Jan 12, 2012)

Hi,

It sure does run a lot faster and stays that way as well. Have you got a Linux Distribution in mind? Installing Linux will be another learning curve for you as well but luckily there are distributions such as Linux Mint and PinguyOS that make it easy for you. Also do you want to dual boot?(install linux beside windows so you have a choice to go between operating systems whenever you want)

Steve


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## Deerhunter82 (Mar 18, 2012)

Well I'm not sure about a duel boot, the Dell Inspiron 1300 is so slow I think if Linix is faster I would just boot the one OS. 
I don't no much about Linix I'm guessing it has the basics, an Internet Browser, etc. 

I'm purely using the Dell for browsing and e-mailing and maybe play small online games like Facebook games. Would Linix allow me to do that?


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## SteveThePirate (Jan 12, 2012)

Yeah it sure would without a doubt. Though regards your computers speed you have decent specs for dual booting if you wanted, it's not your computer thats slow it's windows clogged up as it does :grin: I've only made the switch to Linux in the last 6 months and now i pretty much know my way around so learning isn't hard. Really for what you want it will be a doddle. 

Have you had a look at some distributions that linux has to offer? Unlike windows you actually have a choice of what to run. The amount of choice is also quite daunting but as i suggested have a look at these and ask any questions if you have any.

Main Page - Linux Mint

Pinguy OS

Steve


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## Deerhunter82 (Mar 18, 2012)

Ok that's great, I think looking at your suggestions I think Pinguy OS is the one. 
Now how do I install it, can I do it online, or do I need to get a disk?
And what about drivers, do they all come with the install or do I need to get them separately.


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## SteveThePirate (Jan 12, 2012)

Ok so you need to download the 32 bit version of pinguyOS firstly. Then you need a blank dvd handy and cd burning software such as ImgBurn - Download.com Then you have to burn image to the disk. Once that's completed, reboot the computer with your BIOS boot settings set to boot cd first. This should then bring up some options in which you select boot to Live Desktop (this will give you a feel for it before installation) then follow this tutorial i wrote. It uses linux mint as the screenshots but it will be only slighty different looking in PinguyOS. 

Linux and Manual Partitioning | | Tech Support Forum

Any other questions just post back here.

Steve


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## SteveThePirate (Jan 12, 2012)

Oh and most drivers already come installed


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## Deerhunter82 (Mar 18, 2012)

That's great I'll be making the install later today, just to verify, Linux will be alot quicker than Win7 with the spec I have on my laptop.


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## SteveThePirate (Jan 12, 2012)

Yeah it will be. The filesystem that Linux uses (ext4) doesn't need regular defragmenting and care as windows ntfs filesystem hence making access to files etc much quicker and also your boot up and shut down time should improve as well. Remember it's going to be a bit different to use than windows so if you have an questions about don't hesitate to ask us.

good luck with the install

Steve


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## Deerhunter82 (Mar 18, 2012)

Thanks very much, you've been great.


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## djaburg (May 15, 2008)

And a small caution, just because it's Linux doesn't mean you don't have to backup your important data. Can't stress that enough. The best OS on the best hardware can still lose your data.


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## Deerhunter82 (Mar 18, 2012)

Sure, I've already backed up all important data. Thanks.


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## Deerhunter82 (Mar 18, 2012)

Ok, I've got ubuntu 11.10 on my laptop. I haven't yet installed just running from disk. What won't the wireless Internet work, ive got it hooked up via cable for a connection but it's telling me there's firmware missing for the wireless Internet. 

Please help.


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## SteveThePirate (Jan 12, 2012)

Hi,

Sorry for the delay in replying. Have you solved this problem yet as i know ubuntu 11.10 has some issues with wireless at first on some laptops?

Steve


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## Deerhunter82 (Mar 18, 2012)

I have, I found a code online to solve the problem. 
Just while your here, I've installed ubuntu 11.10 but is that the best Linux platform,


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## Deerhunter82 (Mar 18, 2012)

Purely for surfing and e-mailing.


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## SteveThePirate (Jan 12, 2012)

Ubuntu is good though personally i hate the whole unity and gnome shell desktop environment thing they are doing so i haven't touched it in a while. Though having saying that Linux mint was developed on top of Ubuntu (now doing there own thing for the new version) making it effectively a better version with mint's own tweaks and also so is PinguyOS which is also an improved version of Ubuntu 11.04. 

But for what you are needing the computer for, if you are happy with the Ubuntu interface then yes it should suit your purposes exactly.

Steve


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## Deerhunter82 (Mar 18, 2012)

That's great. You tech guys have been great, and if at a stage I want to upgrade to Mint or Pinguy ill be back. 
Thanks alot.


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## SteveThePirate (Jan 12, 2012)

No problem glad we could help. good luck with your Linux expedition

Steve


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## Deerhunter82 (Mar 18, 2012)

I do have one problem, my wife uses my laptop for Facebook and she plays the stupid Facebook games. 
Shes busting my balls about the Internet browser is slow, more so for the games. Do I need to download something to improve this or is there a code I can punch into the command terminal. Ubuntu 11.10 does everything I need, this is really the only issue, or it's my wife that's the issue, but I think it would be easier to fix ubuntu than her. Lol.


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## SteveThePirate (Jan 12, 2012)

lol i know the feeling and agree with you on that one :grin: is it taking it's time loading the page or is it laggy when she plays the games?

edit: Is it firefox your running as well?


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## Deerhunter82 (Mar 18, 2012)

A little bit of both, but laggy than the loading time.


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## SteveThePirate (Jan 12, 2012)

have you tried installing chromium browser from the software manager/centre? It looks like firefox and facebook don't mix so if you could try chromium or even opera and see if we can rule firefox the problem and not ubuntu. also have you installed any of the updates that might be required when you first install?


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## Deerhunter82 (Mar 18, 2012)

Well i done the updates, 369 if I remember. 
I did download chromium, it was the same. I looked for Opera in the software centre but it wasn't there, so I downloaded it off the web, but I couldn't get the file open,


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## SteveThePirate (Jan 12, 2012)

Thats fine then it's possibly an issue with the flash player installed that facebook uses. I looked online and found someone else's solution but i'm not sure if it will work or not but i'll post the link below

Adobe Forums: Flash games on FaceBook don't work - Ubuntu 11.10 32 bit + Firefox 7.0.1

let me know if it works for you

Steve


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## Deerhunter82 (Mar 18, 2012)

Hey, I done what was in the link and it helped a wee bit. 
Is there anything else I can try, it's still very laggy. 
I seen your profile, your a scot. I love Scotland i'm living in Northern Ireland.


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## SteveThePirate (Jan 12, 2012)

Lol i sure am from the big ol' city of glasgow. I had an idea regards your issue as i was searching through many useless threads on the ubuntu forums on this problem. I'm running Pingeee-OS 11.04 on a netbook i got this week and it's having no problens with facebook. So i was wondering why as it's practically ubuntu 11.04 except pinguy has made major improvements to it (though its nowhere near as good as linux mint) but i still like it. I had a look at the add-ons that were installed by default and one of them is called Flash-Aid. Go to firefox addons and search for this and install it, what it does is it will install the correct flash thats needed for ubuntu. It's worth a shot i think.

Steve


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## Deerhunter82 (Mar 18, 2012)

I think I'm being a real pain in the ***, lol. 
I installed flash aid, and I'm sorry to say it's still a little laggy.
Do you think it's just Ubuntu 11.10, how much of a pain would it be to switch to Mint,


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## Deerhunter82 (Mar 18, 2012)

I'm just looking at the flash aid wizard, there's two options, Adobe Stable, from repositories (32bit) and Adobe Beta, from Adobe Labs. 

Now, I installed the Adobe Beta version. Is that the right one. Sorry to be a pain.


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## Deerhunter82 (Mar 18, 2012)

I've just tried supertuxcart, and it's quite laggy, I don't know if it's the same problem


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## SteveThePirate (Jan 12, 2012)

Hi,

Don't worry your not being a pain at all :grin: It could be the same problem, indicating that it might be a graphics driver issue in which case check hardware drivers in administration to see if that comes up with anything. It's up to you if you want to change to mint though which won't be that much of an inconvenience as long as you can back up any data you have downloaded. Then just download the image and follow the exact same process as installing ubuntu. What to do though is run the live desktop and play one of the facebook games whilst doing so, don't worry if it's a bit laggy as your running from cd but if it's any better then it probably is an ubuntu problem. It might be worth doing so as a bit of troubleshooting.

Steve


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## Deerhunter82 (Mar 18, 2012)

Ok, there has to be a graphics card, I'm unable to locate it. In system info it's telling me GRAPHICS - UNKNOWN. 

How can I locate it or find hardware.

I'm pretty sure this it the problem, browsing is perfect, looking up pages like lightning,


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## wmorri (May 29, 2008)

Hi,

If you haven't figured out what graphics card you have, you can figure this out with the command, lspci. You just need to copy or type the command into terminal and it will output all the the hardware connected via pci to your mobo. If you want to post it in your next reply then we can help you more.


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## Deerhunter82 (Mar 18, 2012)

After typing in lspci I got this:-

00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Mobile 915GM/PM/GMS/910GML Express Processor to DRAM Controller (rev 03)
00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation Mobile 915GM/GMS/910GML Express Graphics Controller (rev 03)
00:02.1 Display controller: Intel Corporation Mobile 915GM/GMS/910GML Express Graphics Controller (rev 03)
00:1b.0 Audio device: Intel Corporation 82801FB/FBM/FR/FW/FRW (ICH6 Family) High Definition Audio Controller (rev 03)
00:1c.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801FB/FBM/FR/FW/FRW (ICH6 Family) PCI Express Port 1 (rev 03)
00:1c.3 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801FB/FBM/FR/FW/FRW (ICH6 Family) PCI Express Port 4 (rev 03)
00:1d.0 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801FB/FBM/FR/FW/FRW (ICH6 Family) USB UHCI #1 (rev 03)
00:1d.1 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801FB/FBM/FR/FW/FRW (ICH6 Family) USB UHCI #2 (rev 03)
00:1d.2 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801FB/FBM/FR/FW/FRW (ICH6 Family) USB UHCI #3 (rev 03)
00:1d.3 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801FB/FBM/FR/FW/FRW (ICH6 Family) USB UHCI #4 (rev 03)
00:1d.7 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801FB/FBM/FR/FW/FRW (ICH6 Family) USB2 EHCI Controller (rev 03)
00:1e.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801 Mobile PCI Bridge (rev d3)
00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation 82801FBM (ICH6M) LPC Interface Bridge (rev 03)
00:1f.1 IDE interface: Intel Corporation 82801FB/FBM/FR/FW/FRW (ICH6 Family) IDE Controller (rev 03)
02:00.0 Ethernet controller: Broadcom Corporation BCM4401-B0 100Base-TX (rev 02)
02:03.0 Network controller: Broadcom Corporation BCM4318 [AirForce One 54g] 802.11g Wireless LAN Controller (rev 02)

Now this is a language I'm not used to. Lol
After doing some online research the Dell Inspiron 1300 has an integrated Graphics Card, but finding it is proving troublesome. Or getting Ubuntu 11.10 to activate it.


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## joeten (Dec 4, 2008)

Did you update it ? what games have you installed java,shockwave or flash 
Adobe - Flash Player
Adobe - Web Players


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## Deerhunter82 (Mar 18, 2012)

I have updated flash and the only games that will be played is Facebook games, other than that, YouTube and things like that.


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## SteveThePirate (Jan 12, 2012)

It's definitely a graphics driver issue. I too have done a bit of looking into it and I don't see any useful answers and there have been a few posts about dell graphics drivers with Ubuntu. I can only suggest looking at this site How to Install ATI drivers in Ubuntu 11.10 Oneric or installing mint if it's not looking good.

Steve


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## wmorri (May 29, 2008)

SteveThePirate said:


> It's definitely a graphics driver issue. I too have done a bit of looking into it and I don't see any useful answers and there have been a few posts about dell graphics drivers with Ubuntu. I can only suggest looking at this site How to Install ATI drivers in Ubuntu 11.10 Oneric or installing mint if it's not looking good.
> 
> Steve



Based on the output for the lspci it doesn't list him having any ATI video card. It does show that he has Intel integrated Graphics. I think that we should go with that and see what we can get for that.


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## Deerhunter82 (Mar 18, 2012)

So should I try downloading ATI drivers


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## Deerhunter82 (Mar 18, 2012)

I tried the manual install, hardware search reviled nothing, manual install didn't work.


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## SteveThePirate (Jan 12, 2012)

wmorri said:


> Based on the output for the lspci it doesn't list him having any ATI video card. It does show that he has Intel integrated Graphics. I think that we should go with that and see what we can get for that.


So it does lol whoops :uhoh:

I wonder if this will help deerhunter [SOLVED] Installing Intel integrated graphics driver Ubuntu 11.04 - Ubuntu Forums this thread shows an update of the Intel drivers then updating the system to install these.

I hope this one will help better than my last suggestion :grin:

Steve


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## Deerhunter82 (Mar 18, 2012)

I tried add the repository, it kept saying command not found. 
I think I'm just doing something wrong.


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## wmorri (May 29, 2008)

What command are you getting an error from?


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## Deerhunter82 (Mar 18, 2012)

Steve posted a solved thread, in there was a command, 
sudo add-apt repository ppa:ubuntu-x-swat/x-updates


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## Deerhunter82 (Mar 18, 2012)

Sorry to pressure you guys, do you's have any more ideas.


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## SteveThePirate (Jan 12, 2012)

Hey, no worries, i was hoping someone else might have had an idea because i really can't find anything else on it and i don't know why the above command never worked but i find that as well sometimes. In my earlier posts i was suggesting trying linux mint but having had a quick discussion with another member on another subject he reminded me of something. If you are liking ubuntu then you can download and install the KDE version of ubuntu (named kubuntu) rather than the main edition which is GNOME (these are just desktop environments by the way) *Kubuntu | Friendly Computing *

I'm afraid thats these are the only suggestions i have left unless you hold on incase someone else has any ideas.

Steve


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## wmorri (May 29, 2008)

Hi,

Let me look into this and I am sure that there is something that can be done so that you don't have to change the GUI that you are using or something similar. 

You said that you were getting an error, but you didn't post anything about the error, I would like you to run that line and then copy the line and all the error information that you are getting. Then I will decipher it and figure out what is going wrong.

@Steve, you are doing a very good job with this thread too!


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## joeten (Dec 4, 2008)

This is another ubuntu based os Zorin OS - Home may be worth a look


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## joeten (Dec 4, 2008)

Hi see here for some info Topic: Ubuntu programs compatibility - Zorin OS


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## Deerhunter82 (Mar 18, 2012)

Ok guys, hit me with OS's that are lightweight and suitable for a 3 year old laptop. Steve, I'm biting the bullet here I was looking at mint and I don't think it's lightweight enough. I'm determined not to throw out my Dell Inspiron 1300 laptop because I love it. 
I need an OS I can download onto USB using Ubuntu 11.10 and I only have a 2GB USB stick, which was enough for 11.10. 
Preferably an OS that has very little issues, like Ubuntu wasn't allowing the laptop to run Facebook game, miniclip games and YouTube videos. And that's after updating Flash. Ubuntu is just driving me crazy, lol


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## SteveThePirate (Jan 12, 2012)

Hi,

I have mint 12 running on an 8 year old 1gb RAM desktop without any issues. Your laptop is still pretty good and would run mint without an issue. But recently I acquired a netbook and at one point installing different netbook/laptop orientated OS's on it (tried peppermint, pinguyOS netbook version) finally i stuck with one that despite the user interface was new to me, i love as it's stable and all i had to do was install that flash aid and run it for firefox to get youtube videos to work. It's called easypeasy and it's based on ubuntu netbook remix 10.04 which was the last decent ubuntu to come out i think. EasyPeasy its good for battery life as well and fits on to a 2gb usb drive no bother. But for a full featured OS i still recommend Mint without a doubt.

Steve


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## hal8000 (Dec 23, 2006)

The place to look is Linux on Laptops:

Linux on Laptops

See if your model is listed and how other users have found it.

PCLinux runs happily on my HP Compaq nc6220 about 5 years old running
KDE4. Performance depnds on hardware and the nc6220 I have has 1G RAM,
Intel Penium M 1.73GHz CPU and Intel 915 Graphics chipset. It will display
the compiz cube, though I've disabled most of the3D effects as it was impacting
on performance.

Before I ran PCLinux I ran Ubuntu 10.10 for a couple of years with no problems.


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## SteveThePirate (Jan 12, 2012)

PC Linux does look quite good, well the gnome version at least. What DE do you run Hal? I've been meaning to try it but it doesn't like my old desktop computer but i think thats partly the fussy cd-rom's fault. But yeah PC Linux is definitely an option too.


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## SteveThePirate (Jan 12, 2012)

typo meant the KDE version at least lol


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## Deerhunter82 (Mar 18, 2012)

Steve, when looking at mint I started downloading it, it was a very big file, well bigger than 2GB. 
Unless I was downloading the wrong file, can you post a link to the correct download. 
I think I'll try Mint. 
Cheers v


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## Blue Polo (Mar 31, 2012)

Like SteveThePirate, I'd also suggest trying PCLinuxOS. I have found it to perform well on the 4 laptops I've tried it on. It comes in a few different flavours that will easily fit on your memory stick (KDE Gnome LXDE to name a few). On this laptop I have PCLinuxOS, Zorin and Windows 7 triple booting. If the live CD seems to perform on the facebook games ok, and you have the hard drive space, you could try dual booting with your Ubuntu installation. Then your wife could use PCLinuxos whilst you you could keep using Ubuntu if you prefer it.

I don't know if you're aware of distrowatch , but you can download lots of different Linux distro's from there to try.


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## SteveThePirate (Jan 12, 2012)

Hi, 

The mint .iso is over 4gb yes so that would need a dvd but the performance i was meaning would be no bother on your laptop, other than that if you want it to fit on the usb i would suggest easypeasy.

Steve


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## hal8000 (Dec 23, 2006)

SteveThePirate said:


> PC Linux does look quite good, well the gnome version at least. What DE do you run Hal? I've been meaning to try it but it doesn't like my old desktop computer but i think thats partly the fussy cd-rom's fault. But yeah PC Linux is definitely an option too.


I'm running KDE4 (default) with PCLinuxOS. If your old computer is too slow you can always install Xfce4, or something lighweight. PCLinux has, E17, fluxbox, openbox, IceWM, LXDE, windowmaker, FVWM so there's plenty to choose from.


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## Deerhunter82 (Mar 18, 2012)

I've copied easypeasy to USB, why when I reboot and F12 it doesn't give me the option to select USB Boot.


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## SteveThePirate (Jan 12, 2012)

Hi,

Usb boot may have to be enabled in the BIOS settings. Have a look and see if thats the case.

Steve


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## Deerhunter82 (Mar 18, 2012)

How do I do that


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## SteveThePirate (Jan 12, 2012)

when you restart just before the OS boots up you should see an option to enter BIOS. Think it's F2 for dells, once in the settings looks for boot order and either select usb to boot first or enable usb boot if it's not already


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## Deerhunter82 (Mar 18, 2012)

I'll check now.


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## Deerhunter82 (Mar 18, 2012)

Ok, I done that and it wouldn't boot. Now maybe I done something wrong. 

I downloaded easypeasy OS and copied it to a mult-card reader with a 2GB card in it. 
When looking in the folder it's telling me the file is there. What am I doing wrong?


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## joeten (Dec 4, 2008)

See if this helps Create a Bootable Ubuntu USB Flash Drive the Easy Way - How-To Geek


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## SteveThePirate (Jan 12, 2012)

Yeah use unetbootin you can get it from the software centre then follow the tutorial joe gave.


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## Deerhunter82 (Mar 18, 2012)

I don't it that way, still nothing. This is annoying. I think I'll leave it and get a blank DVD and try it that way. Grr


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## SteveThePirate (Jan 12, 2012)

I know unetbootin isn't the best for it, it's still very rough around the edges for my liking. I actually used my girlfriends laptop which has win7 on it and used linux live usb, they only do a windows version i think which is unfortunate and odd as it's a good program.


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## joeten (Dec 4, 2008)

Something else you could look at Universal USB Installer – Easy as 1 2 3 | USB Pen Drive Linux


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## Deerhunter82 (Mar 18, 2012)

I'm just laying in bed thinking, we've kinda came to the conclusion that the problem I'm having with ubuntu 11.10 is the integrated graphics card. If I was to play a DVD and it played perfectly would that rule out the graphics card as an issue.


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## joeten (Dec 4, 2008)

Interesting test


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## Deerhunter82 (Mar 18, 2012)

Ok, I played a DVD, and that's it, movie played but stalled on every frame, 
So, hardware updates I'm hoping will fix it. Is there any codes


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## joeten (Dec 4, 2008)

There is a great deal of info on many different drivers how to update drivers in ubuntu 12 - Google Search


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