Computer fun...
May. 3rd, 2009 08:57 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
alexpgpMy attempt the other day to install Ubuntu 9.04 ("Jaunty Jackalope") on an old Dell ultimately failed because it partially succeeded on the first try, as far as I can tell.
That likely sounds paradoxical, but I've seen this problem before - years ago, in fact, during an attempt to install a version of Mandrake Linux - and it's associated with the installer's steadfast refusal to delete or format an existing partition that has the software to be installed (or a part of it) already on it, so if you screw up the initial install, the installer will simply go around in circles until the old software is removed by some agency other than that of the installer.
I solved the problem by booting with an old Knoppix CD and deleting the offending partition, after which the Ubuntu installation went smoothly, if slowly. The Dell is clunky, what can I say?
It also doesn't have wireless capability, so today, I hooked the Dell up to the router I used some time ago in Houston that acted as a bridge to the router I use as my gateway (i.e., the one connected to my broadband provider). But in attempting to link the two, I inadvertently (read: carelessly) caused my gateway router to link to what turned out to be a neighbor's DSL connection (which is quite some distance away, BTW), and nothing I tried would unlink the two.
So, seeing as it's been a couple of years since I refreshed the firmware on my gateway router anyway (I replaced the factory firmware with a package called DD-WRT back when I bought the thing), I went ahead and updated the firmware to the latest stable version, blissfully ignorant of how I might reestablish a connection to my broadband hardware.
Yeah, one of those small details that, left unattended, leave you dead in the water.
I vaguely recall the installers giving me a piece of paper that might have the appropriate instructions on it (including, say, a password). But unsurprisingly, I can't put my hands on that scrap of paper, so recovering my "main" connectivity will have to wait until tomorrow morning.
In the meantime, it's nice to know I have a data plan in place via my BlackBerry! :^)
Cheers...
That likely sounds paradoxical, but I've seen this problem before - years ago, in fact, during an attempt to install a version of Mandrake Linux - and it's associated with the installer's steadfast refusal to delete or format an existing partition that has the software to be installed (or a part of it) already on it, so if you screw up the initial install, the installer will simply go around in circles until the old software is removed by some agency other than that of the installer.
I solved the problem by booting with an old Knoppix CD and deleting the offending partition, after which the Ubuntu installation went smoothly, if slowly. The Dell is clunky, what can I say?
It also doesn't have wireless capability, so today, I hooked the Dell up to the router I used some time ago in Houston that acted as a bridge to the router I use as my gateway (i.e., the one connected to my broadband provider). But in attempting to link the two, I inadvertently (read: carelessly) caused my gateway router to link to what turned out to be a neighbor's DSL connection (which is quite some distance away, BTW), and nothing I tried would unlink the two.
So, seeing as it's been a couple of years since I refreshed the firmware on my gateway router anyway (I replaced the factory firmware with a package called DD-WRT back when I bought the thing), I went ahead and updated the firmware to the latest stable version, blissfully ignorant of how I might reestablish a connection to my broadband hardware.
Yeah, one of those small details that, left unattended, leave you dead in the water.
I vaguely recall the installers giving me a piece of paper that might have the appropriate instructions on it (including, say, a password). But unsurprisingly, I can't put my hands on that scrap of paper, so recovering my "main" connectivity will have to wait until tomorrow morning.
In the meantime, it's nice to know I have a data plan in place via my BlackBerry! :^)
Cheers...
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no subject
Date: 2009-05-04 05:51 pm (UTC)