Can't load Ubuntu

[Ric Moore]

On Sat, 2011-04-23 at 16:32 -0400, Douglas Pollard wrote: 
> On 04/23/2011 02:31 PM, Ric Moore wrote:
> > On Sat, 2011-04-23 at 13:23 -0400, Douglas Pollard wrote:
> >> Hi All,  I have an old Dell computer that had xp on it. I accidentaly
> >> wiped windows out but I don't need it anyway.  It is one Ghz with 512
> >> memory card.  I am trying to install 10.04 with EMC . I have a CNC
> >> milling machine almost finished and want to use EMC as my controler.  I
> >> put a desktop cd in the drive and it ran right to the end but would not
> >> open up in the monitor. After several tries I tried a complete install
> >> of Ubuntu 10.04  from another cd. It seems to install but does not start
> >> up only a blank screen and no sound of starting. In this operation I
> >> accidentally did away with windows.  Grub comes up and I can select
> >> Ubuntu. The monitor is and older one that I have used with Ubuntu before
> >> I Moved it out the the workshop I think I used it with 8.04 so I guess
> >> there are drivers in 10.4 that will work with IT??  The monitor did work
> >> with XP.
> > I just installed 10.10 to an old Dell with a Pentium 4 and 1 gig of ram.
> > I dinked and hammered on it for almost a entire wasted day, and finally
> > noticed that at random times the keyboard didn't respond. It had a USB
> > keyboard hooked up to it. So, I scrounged and found a old PS-2 Dell
> > branded keyboard, plugged it in and the install went forth smooth as a
> > greased eel. I also jammed an elderly nVidia board into it, for better
> > graphics. But, the best resolution I could get was 640/480. So, I
> > replaced that monitor for a newer old one. Now, it runs at 1280/1024.
> > Old Iron can be picky. It sure didn't like that USB keyboard and the
> > monitor was for crap, it's on it's way to the bone yard, to rest in
> > peace.
> >
> > "If thy eye offendeth thee, pluck it out." works on installs.
> >
> > If Ubuntu is the only OS on that machine, I wouldn't think you would
> > have to select it. Now that you've lost that Win partition, just let the
> > installer run on cruise control, let it do the choosing by formatting
> > everything, erasing the all of the old partitions completely, to start
> > over from scratch. Also, check your bios to make sure that it can write
> > to the boot track, with virus protection turned off, before starting.
> > Trouble shooting with a shotgun, Ric
> >
> >
> >
> OK, I do have a new usb keyboard so that may be a problem. When grub 
> starts I get the usual choices of safe mode etc.  But Ubuntu does not 
> start on it's own after 30 seconds or so and I have to click enter.

Sounds close to what I experienced. The USB keyboard might work just
fine, once you're installed. But, in that dark place between booting up
and completely installed, you've entered a strange land. A land where
there is neither sight, nor sound. A strange place called THE
INSTALLATION ZONE! Your Dell bios still calls the shots, while Linux is
trying to take over. 

> After that I get a blank screen. I'll bring the old machine into the 
> house and hook it up to my new monitor.  I also have an old key board, 
> kind of sticky but it will tell me if the keyboard is a problem. Thanks 
> this is all something to work with.    Thanks,    Doug

Tonight's story: Doug, a new user of an OS, feels strangely compelled to
enter that land of darkness, where nothing formatted exists, ...where
email does not send, where browsers are a thing of the past and of the
future, but do not exist in the here and now. His computer no longer
breathes and it's fate is hinged on the reliability of a single CD. 

He has entered ...the Installation Zone. <ZOT!> <poof!> 

-- 
My father, Victor Moore (Vic) used to say:
"There are two Great Sins in the world...
..the Sin of Ignorance, and the Sin of Stupidity.
Only the former may be overcome." R.I.P. Dad.
Linux user# 44256