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Linux - Distro-Junkies Unite!

#141
jp58 said:
yup, and it will let me select to boot from whatever. Then it says it failed after I pick whatever media source I have selected.
Click to expand...

Somewhere in the BIOS there should be an option to select the most conservative parameters the BIOS can use. It should be labelled something like 'default'. Select that and then restart the machine.

If doing so doesn't resolve the problem then perhaps clearing the persistent RAM (it may now be corrupted) will.

On a desktop PC this is done by shutting the machine down, unplugging the AC cord, unplugging the power supply from the motherboard, removing the coin-sized battery from the m/b, and then briefly shorting out the jumper located near the battery as per instructions found in the motherboard's manual.

However, I have yet to clear the persistent RAM on a notebook. Instructions on how to do so should be in your 'book's manual.

The procedure will likely involve unplugging the external power supply (wall wart or line lump) and removing the battery.
 
#142
How to access the BIOS - ThinkPad
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

T61/p

"Press the blue ThinkVantage button when the message "To interrupt normal startup, press the blue ThinkVantage button " is displayed to enter the ThinkVantage Productivity Center, then select Start setup utility to open the BIOS Setup Utility."
 
#143
I gave up on the night I think. I can't come up with a new way to install an OS that I haven't tried, and my presentation is far from finished.

I had to finish it on a mac, running windows software (shudders) never again... never again...

So basically here was how the day worked for me.

12:30 Running SPSS in windows, flying through homework/presentation.

1 pm Stops to take a break to get food and use the restroom

2 pm Returns to see computer has crashed in windows while doing nothing and not connected to internet. ***'s.

2:01 Starts trying to boot windows on computer and resume work at save point

4 pm Realizes windows has bit the dust, tries to boot ubuntu partition

-5pm Ubuntu partition fails to boot for the 16th time

-5:01 pm Starts accessing Bios for probable causes

~5:30 Can't seem to find issue, blanks with defaults and tries a few times to get either or to boot.

~6 Starts trying to boot from linux CD's. Compe still fails.

~7 Starts trying my flash drives with bootable OS's

-8-~11 pm Tries between CD's, USB's, and posting on forum's to get help, also calls hacker buddy for support. All fail.

-11ish pm Goes to school library only to find out that this week was compe delete/restore week and all machines are bare bones (GRR). Smokes with a friend as we walk to the cafeteria because we're starving.

-12 ish Gives up and uses roommate's MAC.

FML


PS: Can anyone thing of a non-bios, cd iso, or usb way of installing an os?
 
#144
It seems that your ThinkPad T61 has a hardware problem. It could be a dead backup battery (persistent memory, the manual shows it as a coin-sized battery with a two conductor lead attached).

Have you tried running your 'book on its AC adaptor after removing the main battery?
Have you tried it on battery power alone?
 
#145
MIJ-VI said:
It seems that your ThinkPad T61 has a hardware problem. It could be a dead backup battery (persistent memory, the manual shows it as a coin-sized battery with a two conductor lead attached).

Have you tried running your 'book on its AC adaptor after removing the main battery?
Have you tried it on battery power alone?
Click to expand...

The battery cell itself has been dead for a while. Its a 5 year old Toshiba Satellite, so that was to be expected considering it had been decaying for months. I have no idea about the "back-up battery."

I've just basically been using it plugged up for months running work and school stuff on it.

I may end up needing to just buy a new system and be done with it.

edit: great, the screws that I need to remove are security torxs...
 
#146
jp58 said:
The battery cell itself has been dead for a while. Its a 5 year old Toshiba Satellite, so that was to be expected considering it had been decaying for months. I have no idea about the "back-up battery."

I've just basically been using it plugged up for months running work and school stuff on it.

I may end up needing to just buy a new system and be done with it.

edit: great, the screws that I need to remove are security torxs...
Click to expand...

From the manual:

Link Removed

There must be a computer club on campus whose members are hardware savvy and toolkit-equipped.
 
#147
MIJ-VI said:
There must be a computer club on campus whose members are hardware savvy and toolkit-equipped.
Click to expand...

Security torxs can be extremely expensive depending on the make/model. I'm hoping these aren't, or that I can rig up a "screwdriver" by melting the end of a toothbrush and molding into one.

This has turned into an exceptionally frustrating endeavor, especially considering how simple it "should" have been.

I'm gonna see if a few compe savvy friends are free tomorrow and brainstorm with them. Until then I'm going to keep toying with the hopes of a breakthrough.
 
#148
jp58 said:
Security torxs can be extremely expensive depending on the make/model. I'm hoping these aren't, or that I can rig up a "screwdriver" by melting the end of a toothbrush and molding into one.

This has turned into an exceptionally frustrating endeavor, especially considering how simple it "should" have been.

I'm gonna see if a few compe savvy friends are free tomorrow and brainstorm with them. Until then I'm going to keep toying with the hopes of a breakthrough.
Click to expand...

The cheap computer toolkit I own can deal with common sizes of torx screws.

You might want to hold off on attempting to remove (and risk stripping) them until you can find a hardware geek who knows about notebooks.

If you do get a replacement notebook PC then I'd say also pick up a cheap, 'obsolete' ATX form factor PC clone mini-tower that's a couple of years old and augment it with an LCD display.

They tend to be GNU/Linux-compatible, they're easy to troubleshoot & repair via component swaps with other machines, they can be cannibalized for spare parts, and any components which must be purchased are readily available and cheap.

Running two or three hard drives (extra drives can be salvaged from discarded machines) ensures a redundant data backup capability.

Online 'cloud computing' file storage would be worth considering as a further hedge against data loss due to PC hardware failure.

http://www.google.ca/search?hl=en&q...orage&btnG=Search&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq=&gs_rfai=

Local geeks should know which of these is the best to use.
 
#149
BTW. You may wish to study the manual re the procedure for removing your notebook's hard drive.

If it's a 2.5" SATA I or SATA II hard drive (it likely is, but check the manual) it can be connected to the SATA 150 (SATA I) or SATA 300 (SATA II) data ports and power connectors found on any SATA I or II-capable PC motherboard. (FTR: The latest SATA standard, SATA 600 aka SATA III, is only backwards compatible with SATA II.)
 
#150
My endeavors are complete. The compe is now 100% Ubuntu thanks to wubi. I have no idea what I was doing wrong before, but it really doesn't matter now.

And I didn't mess with the screws, nor did I melt a toofbrush into the screws.

I know I've probably temporarily fixed it, so tomorrow it will get a good once over. Turns out one of my friends has the security torx set that my compe needs, so we will take a looksie at its innards later today.

Thanks MIJ for the troubleshooting help.
 
#152
jp58 said:
My endeavors are complete. The compe is now 100% Ubuntu thanks to wubi. I have no idea what I was doing wrong before, but it really doesn't matter now.

And I didn't mess with the screws, nor did I melt a toofbrush into the screws.

I know I've probably temporarily fixed it, so tomorrow it will get a good once over. Turns out one of my friends has the security torx set that my compe needs, so we will take a looksie at its innards later today.

Thanks MIJ for the troubleshooting help.
Click to expand...

Nope.

"Wubi is an officially supported Ubuntu installer for Windows users that can bring you to the Linux world with a single click. Wubi allows you to install and uninstall Ubuntu as any other Windows application, in a simple and safe way. Are you curious about Linux and Ubuntu? Trying them out has never been easier!"
http://wubi-installer.org/

To make your notebook 100% Ubuntu then Ubuntu 10.04.1 (the latest version) has to be installed onto a hard drive formatted to .ext4 file system used by Ubuntu 9.10 or later.

WUBI can only install Ubuntu into a disk image file residing on an NTFS (NT File System, introduced with Windows NT 4.0 IIRC) formatted hard drive running under Windows.

Since you've managed to get your machine running again there's a good chance that the boot-loader on the hard drive is corrupted (possibly by a Windows update which automatically downloaded, installed itself, and then tried to overwrite the Master Boot Record in your absence), otherwise it would still offer the option of booting into either Ubuntu or Windows.

Please back up your data ASAP and consider getting a geek to help you with a proper Ubuntu install via the Ubuntu 10.04.1 Desktop Install CD.

Whether you choose the 32 bit or 64 bit version depends upon the specialized applications that you plan on running (please check the applications' web site).

Oh yeah, and don't forget to md5sum the downloaded Ubuntu 10.04.1.iso before burning it to a CD.

BETTER YET: Seek out a GNU/Linux or Ubuntu club on campus and make some new friends. :)

BTW. Did you have Windows' automatic updates enabled before your machine began acting up?

Windows updates are notorious for overwriting the GRUB 2 boot-loader (used by Ubuntu, and which can also recognize Windows) with the NTLDR (used by Windows, and which cannot recognize Ubuntu).
 
#153
Inside of WUBI it gives you the full install option, and that's what I used. So in theory I have a proper 32 bit install instead of running it off of my cd.

I had been getting update notices, but I had it set to where I could pick and choose which ones got installed. I'm guessing you're right and it had something to do with that. If I had blanked the hdd last night, I would post the update log to see.

I've went ahead and backed up my assignments and the like to a flash drive, so if it goes out again, at the very east I have a flash drive and my word documents to work with.

I'm still going to be taking it to a friends place tomorrow so we can properly diagnose the situation, if one still remains.

We don't have a GNU/Linux club on campus. Time to get my leadership shoes on!
 
#155
Are you experiencing audio problems on your recent model PC?

Since Ubuntu 10.10 will be available in less than a month (IIRC) then the easiest course may be to do a clean install of '10.10 in the hope that said audio problems will have been remedied.

However, if you wish to wade into trying to resolve these issues now (please read everything thoroughly before making changes to your PC's OS)...

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

Upgrade Alsa (1.0.23) on Ubuntu Lucid Lynx 10.04
http://monespaceperso.org/blog-en/2010/05/02/upgrade-alsa-1-0-23-on-ubuntu-lucid-lynx-10-04/
 
#156
Link Removed
Sat, 28/03/2009 - 14:46 | tinuz

"A small guide for a better/faster system performance by making changes to the swappiness file using terminal command lines..."

One of many tips courtesy of Link Removed
 
#157
ubuntu-cloud.gif


http://ubuntuweb.com/2010/09/25/using-ubuntu-one/​
 

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