Ubuntu installation problem Dell 510m

vedwards

Hi boards,

wiped the HD of a Dell 510M (256Mb) with dban. The tried to install Ubuntu Lucid Lynx but it freezes on installation. Should I abort and try Mint or persist? None of the remedies on the www apply to this situation, or not until I get it up and running.
I selected ONLY NOMODESET and continued to attempt install but to no avail - CD whizzes and the stops - screen is blank
Regards
vedwards

loldog

Ubuntu is much too heavy for a system with 256MB of RAM.

Try something lighter, like Lubuntu or Puppy Linux. You may only be able to get Damn Small Linux working on that yoke.

.

BopNiblets

Also XFCE distros run on 256MBs (Xubuntu or Mint XFCE)
LXDE distros run on 192MBs (according to the Mint LXDE flavour requirements http://www.linuxmint.com/blog/?p=1473)

vedwards

Thanks folks, I thought 256MiB was a little too low for some OS. XP was struggling on it with all the upgrades (SP3)!

Bluefrog

Stuck Lucid on friend's laptop, an old Dell 500m with 512MB RAM, had issues with the installation too but get there eventually - performance is acceptable for her - mainly used for browsing with Chrome and web radio streaming.

Threw up some info here about how I got it installed - http://pragmatec.blogspot.com/2010/05/ubuntu-1004-lucid-lynx-on-dell-inspiron.html

The others are right though, it's gonna struggle on that RAM

Naikon

Puppy Linux is good for older systems.

vedwards

I eventually ended up putting XP back on. I'm struggling with Ubuntu on a desktop but I'm not the sort of person that gives up easily so I'll keep trying. The Dell laptop has 512MB of Ram not 256MB (1.5 Ghz) as I previously indicated . [I upgraded the bios from A5 to A11; would that have had a bearing on the installation? ]
My friends HD is gone in his Acer laptop so I'm going to attempt to run Linux from a CD RW. I'll see how I get on there....any suggestions welcome .

pedz

Xubuntu should be fine. If not heres one way to do it. Worked for me with 128MB of ram on an IBM Thinkpad X30 (Pentium 3, 1.2Ghz).

Download and burn Ubuntu Server edition
Boot up and install

Once done you'll have a server version with no GUI

Log in as a sudoer user and type
$ sudo apt-get install gdm

That will install gnome after the fact

Bluefrog

Had to install on another 510m over the past couple of days - adding i915.modeset=1 to the kernel options at boot will get you into the gdm and then you can install the patched glasen intel drivers that address this issue.

Most stable fix I have found that supports accelerated graphics.