Linux Can Still Frustrate
Posted on July 16, 2007
6 Comments
I swear, my Toshiba laptop just doesn’t want to run Ubuntu Linux. It should — it used to with older versions. Tonight I went through almost the exact same experience as what happened back in April. (failure)
See, I want to do some network bandwidth monitoring this week at work. After a look around, it seems like I have a few more interesting options in the *nix world (that’s foreshadowing for a future article). Thus, tonight’s exercise: Try again to get the latest Ubuntu running on my Toshiba Tecra A4 series laptop.
Starting out, I found this thing called Wubi last month. I’ve been dying for an excuse to try it:
Wubi is an unofficial Ubuntu installer for Windows users that will bring you into the Linux world with a single click. Wubi allows you to install and uninstall Ubuntu as any other [Windows] application.
It’s really quite slick and a great way to set up a dual boot if you’re not sure you’re ready to commit… When done, uninstall it from Windows and Ubuntu is all gone. If talk of creating partitions makes you tense, give this a shot.
The install was easy.
First boot was painless.
Ubuntu runs very fast on this old Centrino based laptop.
But… I had network issues.
To get the wireless to work, I need to flip the little on/off wifi switch to off. Then boot up. After it is up and running, turn the switch on and manually enter the wireless network info.
If the adapter is accidentally left on when booting, it flat out won’t work.
Not the end of the world for my current needs, but tedious. (and yeah, I’m sure it’s a user error on my part — be kind in the comments!)
Unfortunately, I never did get the Ethernet adapter to function. It’s a Marvell 88e8036 and apparently has a bit of a reputation. That pretty much clobbered my short-term plans for using this box.
I wonder if my mighty P2 Xubuntu laptop is powerful enough to do some network monitoring… might give that a shot tomorrow. Hell, at least I can count on the network card working.
Soon I’ll try and write up more details and get a post on the ubuntu support forums and cross my fingers. But not tonight. Tonight I’m just over it and tired.
Tags: laptop, linux, network, Ubuntu, wubi
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6 Responses to “Linux Can Still Frustrate”
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well, you are not the only one out there!
I tried to install ubuntu (i was able to) however, the PCMCIA wirless card just refused to work for me
Wow! This is the first time I have really heard of this trouble. I am not a network guy, and I know you don’t want to hear about how easy it has been for most people I know. But, one thing I would like to mention is that there have been alot of changes between the 7.04(Feisty Fawn) build and the previous one (Edgy Eft).
Even as a radical Linux user, I can understand some of the frustration, specifically over the whole flavor issue. It is one of the last things really holding Linux back, is that there are so many out there.
As a result of trial and error, Ubuntu is the easiest and most user-friendly version. But it is curious that your toshiba is having difficulty, espcecially since (IMHO) Toshiba is one of the better machines (laptop-wise) out there.
My only suggestion would be to wade through the endless morass of forum information, if you post a new thread people are really pretty helpful.
There are live support channels
And the forums
@ReviewSaurus - wifi can be a real challenge, that’s for sure. I’ve never had such a difficult time with an install as I’ve had with this laptop.
@Rob - I’ve installed ubuntu quite a few times — never had this level of challenge!
And you’re right about Toshibas (imho). This is my third tecra in the last 7 years, and I’ve installed quite a few distros to ‘em. Things usually went well. “Fiesty Fawn” is the first one to give me fits. More on this topic to come…