[pentatonic145]

Hi folks

n00b here - I saw an article on "Easy Peasy" at Lifehacker that got me interested in Linux on my 1010 - I'm not happy with XP performance or graphics on the 1010.

Unfortunately, based on my searches through this forum and others, it is looking like I have one of the crappiest models when it comes to compatibility with non-XP OSes (OSX, Linux, etc.)

Someone prove me wrong? I saw some posts from "SammyBoy" that seem to indicate he has the same netbook as I, and is successfully running non-XP OSes on it.

What I consider successful is: Everything works - webcam, USB, WiFi, SD... everything.

I have downloaded Easy Peasy and installed unetbootin - but I can't get it to boot via USB - I have had several errors "Invalid Partition Table", "Operating System Not Found", and sometimes it looks like it wants to PXE boot via ethernet?!?!

Anyway, I saw one post on here that indicates Easy Peasy is not compatible with the 1010

SO - to sum up - can someone please point me to a guide where I can install the best possible Linux distro for the 1010 and babystep me through the install at a n00b level? I don't have an external CD/DVD drive so USB boot is a must. Also, I don't have a little USB key - I have a couple WD External HD's that connect via USB 2.0 with a cable. I have tried a number of formatting options BTW - FAT, FAT32, Active, non-Active... no luck with Easy Peasy...

Thanks for your time! I'm excited to see if I can salvage this 1010 - the experience with XP sucks so bad, I may have to eBay it if I can't find a viable solution.

[fdalbor]

The only Linux that works with everything that the 1010 has is Ubuntu 9.04 and thats only after installing the Poulsbo drivers. I duel boot between it and XP. Ubuntu has a IMG file that you can put on a USB flash drive and install directly to the hard drive or to another USB drive or (what I have found works the best) a SD/HC.
It is not difficult to get the Poulsbo drivers if you just follow the directions in Sammyboys post. I have used it several times to install to SD/HC; hard drive and even USB drives. After installing the drivers everything works just fine. The only thing I found that XP does better is video and flash playback. But even then its only if you have the latest drivers for XP. 6-14-11-1012. Is the best I have found.
I have tried other Linux distros on the 1010; but not had near the performance that you get from 9.04 (again after the driver install?. Hope this helps a little. fdalbor

[reflex]

I have a few bits of advice, which hopefully will help.

Frequently, when making an installer on a USB drive (flash or mechanical), the pre-existing formatting doesn't matter. The installer setup overwrites everything. And if the USB installer doesn't work, try booting off it on another PC (without actually proceeding with installation, of course)

As for Linux hardware support on the Mini 10, the main complaint I've heard is about the drivers for the GMA500 graphics. The drivers can be awkward to install, and then they offer poor performance and stability. Like other OSs, Linux has "safe mode" drivers which should work reliably, but performance will be terrible.

And as for Linux distros, most of my experience is with Debian and Ubuntu. I don't know about Easy Peasy. Ubuntu does have an official procedure for installing its Netbook Remix version via a USB drive.

Good luck.

[pentatonic145]

Thanks for the responses folks. I have already run into some brain damage in creating a bootable image on USB of Ubuntu 9.04 - I am following this set of instructions (which is very vague on step

Mac OS X
Command Line Interface
1. Download the desired .img file
2. Open a Terminal (in /Applications/Utilities/)
3. Run diskutil list to get the current list of devices
4. Insert your flash media
5. Run diskutil list again and determine the device node assigned to your flash media (e.g. /dev/disk2)
6. Run diskutil unmountDisk /dev/diskN (replace N with the disk number from the last command; in the previous example, N would be 2)
7. Execute sudo dd if=/path/to/downloaded.img of=/dev/rdiskN bs=1m (replace /path/to/downloaded.img with the path where the image file is located; for example, ./ubuntu.img, /dev/rdiskN is faster than /dev/diskN). If you see the error dd: Invalid number `1m', you are using GNU dd. Use the same command but replace bs=1m with bs=1M.
8. Run diskutil eject /dev/diskN and remove your flash media when the command completes

These instructions came from here: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/In...s#Mac%20OS%20X

Here is what I am getting in Terminal:

Last login: Sat Sep 12 16:16:49 on ttys000
/Users/macowner
$ diskutil list
/dev/disk0
#: TYPE NAME SIZE IDENTIFIER
0: GUID_partition_scheme *250.1 GB disk0
1: EFI 209.7 MB disk0s1
2: Apple_HFS Macintosh HD 249.7 GB disk0s2
/dev/disk2
#: TYPE NAME SIZE IDENTIFIER
0: GUID_partition_scheme *268.4 GB disk2
1: EFI 209.7 MB disk2s1
2: Apple_HFS TimeMachine2 268.1 GB disk2s2
/Users/macowner
$ diskutil list
/dev/disk0
#: TYPE NAME SIZE IDENTIFIER
0: GUID_partition_scheme *250.1 GB disk0
1: EFI 209.7 MB disk0s1
2: Apple_HFS Macintosh HD 249.7 GB disk0s2
/dev/disk2
#: TYPE NAME SIZE IDENTIFIER
0: GUID_partition_scheme *268.4 GB disk2
1: EFI 209.7 MB disk2s1
2: Apple_HFS TimeMachine2 268.1 GB disk2s2
/dev/disk3
#: TYPE NAME SIZE IDENTIFIER
0: FDisk_partition_scheme *500.1 GB disk3
1: Windows_FAT_32 500.1 GB disk3s1
/Users/macowner
$ diskutil unmountDisk /dev/disk3
Unmount of all volumes on disk3 was successful
/Users/macowner
$ sudo*dd*if=/Users/macowner/ubuntu-9.04-netbook-remix-i386.img*of=/dev/rdisk3 bs=1m
-bash: sudo*dd*if=/Users/macowner/ubuntu-9.04-netbook-remix-i386.img*of=/dev/rdisk3: No such file or directory
/Users/macowner
$

"No such file or directory"...? and the description of how to execute step 7 is very weird to me... I did a "get info" on the 9.04 image I downloaded and that's where I came up with the path and the name of the file.

Is anyone able to determine what I've done wrong here, or do I need to provide more info?

PS - I obviously searched the Ubuntu forum first but have not been able to locate a solution...

Thanks again for the advice folks!

-BH

[reflex]

Step 7 involves writing the disk image to the disk, which essentially ERASES anything and everything previously on the disk. Be careful.

Now as for your error message, where are the "*" coming from in your command?
You're trying to execute a program named "sudo*dd*if=/Users/macowner/ubuntu-9.04-netbook-remix-i386.img*of=/dev/rdisk3", which naturally doesn't exist. "bash" is the program that interprets terminal input, so that's why it's the one complaining.

The command you're supposed to execute should look like:

sudo dd if=/WhateverFolder/unr.img of=/dev/some_device bs=1m

Space(s) should be between each argument, so that "bash" knows what is the program name, and what are the arguments.

Here's my explanation of the command. It executes the "dd" program (a simple data mover). "sudo" ensures that "dd" executes with super-user rights. "if=" gives the input file. "of=" gives the output file (or device in this case). "bs=" tells "dd" to move data in big chunks (1MiB).

I hope that info helps.

[fdalbor]

I am not the smartest Linux user in the world; but there are programs that will do what you want much easier than using the command line. To be honest I did not follow what happened in your last post.
There is a program on the Ubuntu forum called win32diskimager. You download it to your desktop (easiest way to work with it)and then run it and it will unzip the files in it and put them in a folder on your desktop. Take the IMG file and then put it in the same folder as the win32diskimager files. Run the exe program in the folder and it will recognize the IMG file you can then click on the IMG file and tell the program to write the file to the USB flash drive you have. It takes a little while but it will then transfer the file to the flash drive and you can use it to install it to your hard drive.
I hope I didnt miss anything. It works and I hve used it several times. fdalbor

[fdalbor]

Sorry I did not explain the last step. You have to tell the 1010 to boot from the USB drive when you have finished creating the image. Win32diskimager creates a bootable file on the flash drive. But you have to still tell the 1010 to boot from it when you reboot.
The program does work and it fits the requirements you posted. A one gig flashdrive is big enough; but I use a 2 as its almost the same price. fdalbor

[pentatonic145]

Hi folks - thanks for the great replies.

I actually tried win32diskimager - but when I get to the part where I select my USB drive from the drop-down, there's nothing there for me to select - the program is not recognizing my USB drive, which is weird, because it shows up under "My Computer" and unetbootin recognizes it.

I dunno folks - is it a problem that I'm using USB-attached external hard drives, rather than a little USB thumb drive which does not require a cable to connect?

The biggest thumb drive I have is half a gig. I have a 2GB SD card, but wouldn't that be a whole 'nother can of worms?

[Sam111111]

pentatonic: Yes, there's a big difference between a USB-attached external HD and a thumb drive.
Do you have an external CD burner? I didn't feel like going through the problems formatting the thumb drive on my mac, so I burned the iso to a CD, and then used the same CD burner to run the CD. :P

[pentatonic145]

Yeah, I don't have an external CD/DVD, so unfortunately that option isn't avaialble to me.

However, Reflex's instructions were correct: by changing the *'s in step 7 to blank spaces, the command executed properly and I am now installing Ubuntu!

Thanks Reflex!

They really should be careful about how they post those steps - a guy like me just copies and pastes the commands and plugs in my own info - I didn't know the asterisks were a problem...