Author Topic: Linux Thread  (Read 20443 times)

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Offline houston-nat

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Re: Linux Thread
« Reply #125: February 03, 2010, 09:52:17 AM »
Okay, geeks, put your geekdom to good use!

Windows 7. 3-year-old Dell laptop.

Mozilla Firefox froze while loading a web page. Okay. Ctrl+Alt+Del didn't work. Pushed the on-off button to force a shut down. Waited a while, turned the computer back on. Two loud beeps: it said "no bootable devices." I had it retry; nothing. Did the disk scan diagnostic thing; everything was successful except that the check for a hard drive failed. Afterwards, I tried turning the computer on and off a few times. Finally, got (forgot how) to a little screen asking, "Start Windows in safe mode?" Cavalierly said, "no, start Windows normally." The "Starting Windows" loadup screen came on ... and stayed there for 10 minutes.

Eventually turned the computer off manually again. Tried again and got the original can't find a disk message with the two loud beeps. (BTW my laptop's speakers are broken.)

Got Windows to start in safe mode. Backed up my hard drive, did a System Restore which made everything work good as ... well not good as new but good as it had been before. "Thanks, system restore!" I said gushingly. Shut the computer down.

Next morning ... bam, "No Bootable Devices." Diagnostic finds that there is no hard drive. Start Windows in Safe Mode again, here I am writing in this reply box.

Time to buy a new hard drive? Any other possibilities? My HD has only 100gb anyway, so I won't mourn the loss.

Offline The Chief

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Re: Linux Thread
« Reply #126: February 03, 2010, 10:36:15 AM »
My guess would be hard drive or possibly memory.  You could try running the Dell system diagnostics on it and check both (or the whole system).

Offline Obed_Marsh

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Re: Linux Thread
« Reply #127: February 03, 2010, 10:41:50 AM »
You might try running fixmbr and fixboot from the recovery console.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/927392

Offline The Chief

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Re: Linux Thread
« Reply #128: February 03, 2010, 11:16:16 AM »
You might try running fixmbr and fixboot from the recovery console.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/927392

It's definitely worth a shot, but based on what he's saying and has already tried I'd be surprised if that fixed the problem for good.

Offline Obed_Marsh

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Re: Linux Thread
« Reply #129: February 03, 2010, 11:23:50 AM »
Hard to tell. He wasn't specific. I've learned not to assume.

Offline The Chief

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Re: Linux Thread
« Reply #130: February 03, 2010, 11:28:12 AM »
Hard to tell. He wasn't specific. I've learned not to assume.

I don't like to assume either - it's why I'm reluctant to send people into the command line :lol:

Offline houston-nat

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Re: Linux Thread
« Reply #131: February 03, 2010, 11:33:26 AM »
You might try running fixmbr and fixboot from the recovery console.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/927392

The first step of the instructions says to insert the install disc. I can't do that; I downloaded Windows 7 from Microsoft ($30 student price deal).

The Dell diagnostic thing says my memory is fine, but that it can't detect a hard drive. I'm now going through Dell's website armed with the error #2000-0141.

Offline Obed_Marsh

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Re: Linux Thread
« Reply #132: February 03, 2010, 11:37:57 AM »
Don't know what to tell you. I'm not familiar with what you can and cannot do with the student download.

Offline PANatsFan

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Re: Linux Thread
« Reply #133: February 03, 2010, 11:39:11 AM »
The first step of the instructions says to insert the install disc. I can't do that; I downloaded Windows 7 from Microsoft ($30 student price deal).

The Dell diagnostic thing says my memory is fine, but that it can't detect a hard drive. I'm now going through Dell's website armed with the error #2000-0141.

The disc was an extra $10 with the student purchase, I believe. You could call Digital River to see if you can get one.

Alternatively, since the first round of downloads didn't work, people found a way to turn the download into an install disc. NatsAddict posted the link.

Offline The Chief

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Re: Linux Thread
« Reply #134: February 03, 2010, 11:46:46 AM »
Just out of curiosity, what model Dell is it?

My money was on the HDD anyway, but especially now.  I see a lot of similar failures at work.

Online blue911

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Re: Linux Thread
« Reply #135: February 03, 2010, 12:00:44 PM »
The first step of the instructions says to insert the install disc. I can't do that; I downloaded Windows 7 from Microsoft ($30 student price deal).

The Dell diagnostic thing says my memory is fine, but that it can't detect a hard drive. I'm now going through Dell's website armed with the error #2000-0141.

probably caused by looking at squiddie pictures.

Offline NatsAddict

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Re: Linux Thread
« Reply #136: February 03, 2010, 01:43:36 PM »
I had a similar problem on XP-era Dell desktop a year or so ago.  I disabled the onboard controller and installed a PCI card to resolved the issue - not a laptop solution.

Also, some Dells seem to develop a tendency not to boot properly if anything is attached to a USB port.  I guess they want to make sure you don't boot from your printer.

Offline The Chief

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Re: Linux Thread
« Reply #137: February 03, 2010, 01:50:59 PM »
Also, some Dells seem to develop a tendency not to boot properly if anything is attached to a USB port.  I guess they want to make sure you don't boot from your printer.

That's a very good point.  You don't by chance have an ipod or a usb flash drive plugged in, do you houston?

Offline JMW IV

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Re: Linux Thread
« Reply #138: February 03, 2010, 05:17:37 PM »
How big is Xubuntu after being fully installed?  I want to try it out. maybe use Xubuntu as my main install, and keep Puppy on a CD/USB

you guys sure it'll work well on this crappy laptop I have?

i'm concerned about HD space, since my current HD is only 18GB, and I can't afford a new one right now.

Offline houston-nat

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Re: Linux Thread
« Reply #139: February 03, 2010, 05:30:52 PM »
Just out of curiosity, what model Dell is it?

Laptop, Inspiron E1505.

No USB plugins, no CDs or DVDs in the drive.

I took the computer to university IT today. They confirmed the diagnosis of hard drive failure, determined that the memory is working just fine, etc. Just one wrinkle: when you put the hard drive into another computer, it works just fine. (Ie, they hooked it up to a desktop with a cable, opened Windows Explorer, and were able to browse through the stuff on my disk.) They told me that they were pretty confident it's not a failure of the connector or controller, most saliently because the error message does not match that scenario and the diagnostic couldn't find the drive independently.

Looks like I'm buying a new HD at this point, but my father wonders: would the computer fail to see a new HD, too?

Offline Nathan

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Re: Linux Thread
« Reply #140: February 03, 2010, 05:31:42 PM »
How big is Xubuntu after being fully installed?  I want to try it out. maybe use Xubuntu as my main install, and keep Puppy on a CD/USB

you guys sure it'll work well on this crappy laptop I have?

i'm concerned about HD space, since my current HD is only 18GB, and I can't afford a new one right now.
18 GB is plenty.  Recommended to have at least 256 MB of RAM and 2 GB of HD space.


Quote
Minimum system requirements

You need 192 MB RAM to run the Live CD or 128 MB RAM to install. The Alternate Install CD only requires you to have 64 MB RAM at install time.

To install Xubuntu, you need 2.0 GB of free space on your hard disk.

Once installed, Xubuntu can run with starting from 192 (or even just 128) MB RAM, but it is strongly recommended to have at least 256 MB RAM.
http://www.xubuntu.org/get

Offline NatsAddict

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Re: Linux Thread
« Reply #141: February 03, 2010, 05:42:49 PM »
Laptop, Inspiron E1505.

No USB plugins, no CDs or DVDs in the drive.

I took the computer to university IT today. They confirmed the diagnosis of hard drive failure, determined that the memory is working just fine, etc. Just one wrinkle: when you put the hard drive into another computer, it works just fine. (Ie, they hooked it up to a desktop with a cable, opened Windows Explorer, and were able to browse through the stuff on my disk.) They told me that they were pretty confident it's not a failure of the connector or controller, most saliently because the error message does not match that scenario and the diagnostic couldn't find the drive independently.

Looks like I'm buying a new HD at this point, but my father wonders: would the computer fail to see a new HD, too?

If I remember correctly, Dell laptop HDDs have a proprietary connection, and are are more expensive than comparable drives for other makes.  Was the drive installed as the boot device in the other computer?  If so, and it worked, can you attempt to boot your laptop with the other computer's drive?  If that doesn't work, I wouldn't bother buying another Dell laptop HDD.

Offline JMW IV

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Re: Linux Thread
« Reply #142: February 03, 2010, 08:42:59 PM »
18 GB is plenty.  Recommended to have at least 256 MB of RAM and 2 GB of HD space.

http://www.xubuntu.org/get

I see.

downloading the torrent for it. never did torrents before, so I don't know what I am looking at. but the numbers are going up, so I'm assuming that the torrent program is working right.

Offline Nathan

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Re: Linux Thread
« Reply #143: February 03, 2010, 08:51:36 PM »
Torrents are a preferred way of downloading large files, helps their server by taking the load off of it plus they have built in integrity checking so there is less risk of having the file be corrupted when you download large files.

You should have downloaded a small .torrent file and then opened that, which would have opened in your client (Transmission maybe?)

Offline JMW IV

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Re: Linux Thread
« Reply #144: February 03, 2010, 09:01:06 PM »


You should have downloaded a small .torrent file and then opened that, which would have opened in your client (Transmission maybe?)

yep.

the client is called "PCTorrent" came default with my installation of Puppy. what's the best program to get? or does it even matter?

Offline JMW IV

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Re: Linux Thread
« Reply #145: February 03, 2010, 09:04:15 PM »
here's a small, miniscule, issue I am having.

Puppy doesn't run CD-rom programs. my primary example is this:

I bought the Superman:Doomsday DVD, and it came with a CD-Rom version of the original Death Of Superman comic book.  now, I know that Puppy reads CDs fine, but it won't run this Bonus CD automatically, and I can't figure out how to launch the Comic Book manually. It reads the CD and acknowledges it, but it doesn't run the contents of the CD.

will this be an issue in Xubuntu as well? or is this just a Puppy Linux thing?

Offline ronnynat

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Re: Linux Thread
« Reply #146: February 03, 2010, 09:04:40 PM »
yep.

the client is called "PCTorrent" came default with my installation of Puppy. what's the best program to get? or does it even matter?

KTorrent?

Offline JMW IV

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Re: Linux Thread
« Reply #147: February 03, 2010, 09:05:38 PM »
here's a small, miniscule, issue I am having.

Puppy doesn't run CD-rom programs. my primary example is this:

I bought the Superman:Doomsday DVD, and it came with a CD-Rom version of the original Death Of Superman comic book.  now, I know that Puppy reads CDs fine, but it won't run this Bonus CD automatically, and I can't figure out how to launch the Comic Book manually. It reads the CD and acknowledges it, but it doesn't run the contents of the CD.

will this be an issue in Xubuntu as well? or is this just a Puppy Linux thing?

nm, i got it. i never mounted the CD drive.

Offline PANatsFan

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Re: Linux Thread
« Reply #148: February 03, 2010, 09:11:40 PM »
nm, i got it. i never mounted the CD drive.

Haha I was just thinking that as I read the first post. That's pretty cool. What's the cartoon about?

It strikes me as I read this that the more you play with that old laptop, the more proficient you get with linux. That's resume material as well as a fun hobby.

Offline Nathan

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Re: Linux Thread
« Reply #149: February 03, 2010, 09:53:47 PM »
yep.

the client is called "PCTorrent" came default with my installation of Puppy. what's the best program to get? or does it even matter?
I like Transmission.  KTorrent is good, but you won't be running a KDE based distro (too heavy for your hardware anyway) so something GTK based would fit better I think.