migration windows to linux

[JamesF]

Hmmm.  Do you know that the machine will actually boot from a USB stick at all?  Not that I'd expect any moderately recent machine to have a problem with it.

James

[Stub Mandrel]

7 minutes ago, JamesF said:

Hmmm.  Do you know that the machine will actually boot from a USB stick at all?  Not that I'd expect any moderately recent machine to have a problem with it.

James

Press F12 and I can choose a 1-time boot from USB or go into the BIOS settings and set it to boot from USB. Neither route recognises it as bootable.

Edited August 26, 2018 by Stub Mandrel

[Stub Mandrel]

More promising:

And yes, it's booted.

Now will it be pain or joy?

Pain! A crop of errors telling me I must visit some long URLs taht only stay on screen for a few seconds.

Now asking me for a password ... I remember seeing something about this, astonomylinux has a password... I saw something about this but I can't find it on the astronomylinux website...

[JamesF]

user: astronom and password 12341234 perhaps?

James

[Stub Mandrel]

Typical, you can get the password at Sourceforge.net, the Astronomylinux website doesn't say anything about it.

What next joy or pain?

Pain .. the password '12341234' doesn't work.

Also it isn't recognising mouse or touchpad... (touchpad is probably broken)

 

[Stub Mandrel]

2 minutes ago, JamesF said:

user: astronom and password 12341234 perhaps?

James

Yes, except it doesn't work, just flashes purple and makes a badoing noise...

But it doesn't give me a wrong password message, just says 'guest session'. But with no mouse I have no idea if I'm in or not.

It gives a bad password message if I type anything else.

So what do I do after putting in the password. Is there a way to control it using keyboard shortcuts so I can activate the mouse driver (like I would in windows...)

[Stub Mandrel]

Perhaps I need to solve those errors it flashed past me on the screen... if I do manage to take a photo of the screen and find the files it links, what do I do with them?

HMM the tab key lets me select a footprint that then lets me choose two desktop environments. They appear to be identical and equally non-functional.

I'll try another mouse.

Edited August 26, 2018 by Stub Mandrel

[The Admiral]

10 minutes ago, Stub Mandrel said:

Perhaps I need to solve those errors it flashed past me on the screen... if I do manage to take a photo of the screen and find the files it links, what do I do with them?

HMM the tab key lets me select a footprint that then lets me choose two desktop environments. They appear to be identical and equally non-functional.

I'll try another mouse.

I admire your persistence Neil!

Ian

[Stub Mandrel]

Apparently if the mouse doesn't move in Ubuntu 16.04 I need to try booting up with an older kernel...

[Stub Mandrel]

I've (politely) asked for advice on the Ubuntu pages on Stackexchange. Sit back and wait to be flamed...

[Stub Mandrel]

Wow that's not like Windows!

I try and force it to power down and it fights back, end up having to do a full 8-second hold.

?

The missing files seem to be something to do with ;'wireless kernel' so it looks like I won't have any internet...

Keep trying! Now I have a mouse and I enter the password  and... something happens.

Spends a minute or so cycling between a blank desktop and blackness.

Now I have a desktop with 'install astronomy linux' and a few things to click...

Let's see what happens....

I click an icon on the toolbar and ... the toolbar disappears.

Right click and it comes back, but now I've lost the install icon.

Click wifi icon and everything disappears except the desktop.

This time no amount of right or left clicking will bring it back?

[Dr_Ju_ju]

Remember, on a new clean install, the keyboard may well not be mapped correctly, they are usually set to US style, so some of the keys will be different....

[Stub Mandrel]

Claims to be EN according to the status bar...

Where's the egg timer? I haven't seen the egg timer? Now I see why it's nice to have a 'don't worry I'm doing something indicator...

Lesson learned. Don't click icons... or at least don't hold your breath if you click one.

I can get the calendar and clock bit to appear. But no wireless connection, four attempts at clicking the edit network connections and nothing happens.

No point trying to run a program...

Is it really this slow and unstable or is that just because I'm running from a USB stick?

I've double clicked 'install astronomy linux'. Perhaps if installed to the HDD it will work better?

> Time passes ... ... ... ...

Well looks like that doesn't do anything either.

I can get lots of things up on menus buy they don't seem to open anything.

In for a penny, in for a pound, I'll try installing from the USB key. (Yes I do have a Vista recover partion AND the original media AND (if I get really desperate) XP disks.

 

[Stub Mandrel]

Wait, it's about five minutes after clicking all those things and a shaded rectangle has appeared!

I was excited there, I thought something might be about to happen...

I should admit I did get Firefox to open, but it was dog slow (typing a letter every few seconds in the task bar... then couldn't find a connection)

Now it's 100% unresponsive, no icons or menus will do anything.

Looks like the clock is stuck on 2:31 but the mouse pointer is still moving?

Not really surprised that ctrl-alt-delete doesn't do anything. What's the Linux equivalent?

Time to hit the power button again.

 

[Stub Mandrel]

Right, 'starting the installer directly' I'm prepared to forgive and assume all these issues are because it's running of a USB key.

Let's see how it goes... yes those errors again, too slow with the camera.

Won't let me download updates while installing. I guess this means I'm going to struggle to get the internet working.

I've checked install third party stuff, apparently that's what your supposed to do although it doesn't make it clear what to choose.

Right I've told it to delete Vista. Now that's a leap of faith (it takes a whole day to reinstall and update it).

I'll settle for an English UK keyboard...

I hope this has a Helpful Paperclip Animation. I like Helpful Paperclip Animations.

Oh no! It has a helpful 'features' presentation, just like Windows!

Not quite like Windows ... it plays through but doesn't show me anything, just a series of blanks with back and forwards controls...

 

Edited August 26, 2018 by Stub Mandrel

[Stub Mandrel]

What a load of crap Linux is.

It's installed, rebooted and stopped at the error again:

So, I visit the website. It says:

Quote

For relicensing, the content of this page was removed.

The old website for now has a copy of the old content:

http://linuxwireless.sipsolutions.net/en/users/Drivers/b43/

b43 and b43legacy are wireless drivers for Broadcom SoftMAC chipsets. Kernel will automatically pick a proper module for you:

• b43 for any new (supported) hardware
• b43legacy for BCM4301 and early BCM4306 versions

Summary

• You need to have firmware files (usually in /lib/firmware/) so b43(legacy) can upload them to the card and run properly.
• For FullMAC devices support see brcmfmac and rndis_wlan

Known problems & limitations

• Some stalls (on G-PHY only?) possibly related to CCK vs. OFDM, see WRT54g / b43 / mac802.11 BREAKTHROUGH
• N-PHY: 5 GHz support requires kernel 3.17+
• HT-PHY: no support for 5 GHz
• No support for 802.11n features (HT, aggregation, 40 MHz width)

Resolved problems

• G-PHY devices: not working with kernels 3.15 and 3.16-rc1 (a regression). This was fixed in 3.15.5 (6f3f164) and 3.16-rc3 (2fc68eb).
• Scanning/connectivity problems: caused by b43 bug exposed with kernel 3.8 (by 0172bb7). Fixed in kernel 3.14 (by 64e5acb) and backported to 3.13.2, 3.12.10, 3.10.29.

List of hardware

To check for a present hardware model execute following command:

lspci -nn -d 14e4:

If the chipset isn't listed, check if it's connected via SSB (Sonics Silicon Backplane). Such connected chipsets only become visible after the ssb kernel module has been loaded.

So I need to know what chipset I have AND let 'kernel' choose the right drivers for me.

But Ubuntu won't start so I can't even use a cabled connection to connect to the internet.

In short, it looks like Ubuntu has effectively bricked itself.

 

EDIT: Restart and it seem to be loading now. I must admit though I am far from filled with confidence.

Edited August 26, 2018 by Stub Mandrel

[Stub Mandrel]

How do I look for a wifi network?

It's decades since I had to do all this WEP WPA nonsense?

I need beer...

OK I've found  instructions for finding a wireless driver if you haven't got direct access to internet.

They tell me to type a complicated command into terminal to identify my chipset.

A link that explains terminal sayst hat undfer Gnome (good job I accidentally discovered that this is Gnome Ubuntu...)  I go to Applications --> Accessories --Terminal.

Except it isn't there...

Found it under system tools...

So now I need to type: "lspci -vvnn | grep -A 9 Network"

But despite setting up my English keyboard the "|" key gives me a greater than symbol.

Any suggestions?

Edited August 26, 2018 by Stub Mandrel

[Davey-T]

Don't stop now Neil I'm relying on you having it all figured out before I start 

Dave

[Stub Mandrel]

Well I found the | key.

I hate that non-intuitive command. Why can't it be meaningful?

Writing this here as a notepad:  BCM4311 14E4:4311 b43-pci-bridge

Can someone take a look at https://help.ubuntu.com/community/WifiDocs/Driver/bcm43xx#b43 - Internet access

And explain what I need to do because it doesn't make any sense to me at all.

 

How can I download a package from here: https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/b43-fwcutter

and run it on the laptop?

And I need the driver from here: https://wireless.wiki.kernel.org/en/users/Drivers/b43

but I can't see it? And if I can find it, what do I do with it?

>sob<

 

Edited August 26, 2018 by Stub Mandrel

[Stub Mandrel]

I understand it now.

If I can figure out how to run the package, as I don't have internet on the laptop I have to get the driver from a page. That page tells me the package will automatically find the driver on  the internet. If I don't have internet I should refer to another page.  That page is the first one that just tells me to go to the second one in an infinite loop.

 

And I still can't make head nor tail of how to download the package. I found instructions for a run package but it appears to be three separate files, two of which are tarballs.

 

HELP!!!!!!!

[alacant]

23 minutes ago, Stub Mandrel said:

explain what I need to do

Where you typed:  lspci -vvnn | grep -A 9 Network

type this instead:

sudo apt install b43-fwcutter
 

1 hour ago, Stub Mandrel said:

What a load of crap Linux is.

C'mon... You're nearly there. Crippling hardware notwithstanding...

Here is the package you need. Try:

sudo dpkg -i b43-fwcutter_019-2_i386.deb

** Where? How? What does it do?

After that you'll discover you need firmware. Get back to us then and we'll supply more meningless nonsese to type......Yeah. Well on your way now!

 

b43-fwcutter_019-2_i386.deb

Edited August 26, 2018 by alacant

[Stub Mandrel]

6 minutes ago, alacant said:

Where you typed:  lspci -vvnn | grep -A 9 Network

type this instead:

sudo apt install b43-fwcutter
 

C'mon... You're nearly there. Crippling hardware notwithstanding...

But that requires an internet connection?

"unable to locate package b43-fwcutter"

 

(a) how can I find and download the package (I don't understand the download sites)

(b) doesn't it need to be able to find the driver locally?

(c) how do I connect to a wired internet connection?

Edited August 26, 2018 by Stub Mandrel

[alacant]

6 minutes ago, Stub Mandrel said:

unable to locate package b43-fwcutter

I've just sent it to you. Look here. Use a usb stick to copy it from wherever you are now to the ubuntu box...

Here's another you'll need:

firmware-b43-installer_019-2_all.deb

and guess what you have to do...

sudo dpkg -i firmware-b43-installer_019-2_all.deb

Or just double click it.

Edited August 26, 2018 by alacant

[Stub Mandrel]

Looks like it was trying to use the internet connection of whoever built Astronomy linux 'wired connection last used 5 months ago'

I deleted it and a new connection immediately appeared and connected to the net.

 

I typed lspci -vvnn | grep -A 9 Network

Now I get:

E: Could not get lock /var/lib/dpkg/lock - open (11:resource temporarily available)

ER: Unable to lock the administration directory (/var/lib/dpkg/), is another process using it?

[Stub Mandrel]

28 minutes ago, alacant said:

I've just sent it to you. Look here. Use a usb stick to copy it from wherever you are now to the ubuntu box...

Here's another you'll need:

firmware-b43-installer_019-2_all.deb

and guess what you have to do...

sudo dpkg -i firmware-b43-installer_019-2_all.deb

Or just double click it.

I copied both files to the desktop

If I type it in terminal, it throws an error.

If I double click a window opens, I click 'install' and nothing happens.

Do I need to be internet connected? - Yes.

Installed, but no internet.

Had to fiddle with the Bios, Dell advise disabling the wifi switch.

Yes telling me wifi available!

One minor problem, the password entry window was off the screen to the right... discovered why Linux has a 'move' option...

 

BIG THANKS!