Upgrading from Hardy

[Gregory Gamble]

On Friday, February 05, 2016 5:23 AM, Colin Law <clanlaw at gmail.com> wrote:
> Have you checked you have the latest BIOS for the machine?

I should have answered that it was version 1.07 and visiting Dell's site the last release was on 3 Nov 2011 and it's 1.08 ... and no I haven't updated it.
Various instructions for updating methods are at https://wiki.ubuntu.com/DellBIOS
What looks promising is `Upgrading with a FreeDOS USB drive' where I need to first create a FreeDOS USB drive by instructions at: http://chtaube.eu/computers/freedos/bootable-usb/
I have already downloaded a .EXE file from Dell's site ... I plan to copy the .EXE file to the FreeDOS USB drive and then follow the `Upgrading with a FreeDOS USB drive' instructions 
later tonight ... I'll let you know how that pans out.

On 4 February 2016 at 22:33, I <greg.gamble at uwa.edu.au> wrote:
> I've downloaded the .exe file to a flash drive with other things on it. If I boot to it, will it give me a chance to select the file for booting?

And the answer is: No ;-} ... hence the need to create a FreeDOS USB or do something else suggested at http://chtaube.eu/computers/freedos/bootable-usb/

(Sorry for the "top post" ... it was so much easier when we were using elm etc. back in the '90s. Anyway ... I hope this email is a fix for my earlier transgression(s).)

Regards,
Greg G
________________________________________
From: ubuntu-users-bounces at lists.ubuntu.com [ubuntu-users-bounces at lists.ubuntu.com] On Behalf Of Colin Law [clanlaw at gmail.com]
Sent: Friday, February 05, 2016 4:43 PM
To: Ubuntu user technical support, not for general discussions
Subject: Re: Upgrading from Hardy

On 4 February 2016 at 22:33, Gregory Gamble <greg.gamble at uwa.edu.au> wrote:
> Dear Colin
>
> I've never updated it  ... But going to the Dell site ... It says release date:  21 Nov 2007. ... Last updated: 3 Nov 2011 ... So I would say it's certain that it could do with updating. I've downloaded the .exe file to a flash drive with other things on it. If I boot to it, will it give me a chance to select the file for booting?

Could you not top post please, the convention on this list is to
insert your reply at previous points in the previous message so that
it is easier to follow the thread.  Thanks

As for how to update the bios you must look for instructions from
wherever you downloaded it.

Colin

>
> Regards,
> Greg G
> ________________________________________
> From: ubuntu-users-bounces at lists.ubuntu.com [ubuntu-users-bounces at lists.ubuntu.com] On Behalf Of Colin Law [clanlaw at gmail.com]
> Sent: Friday, February 05, 2016 5:23 AM
> To: Ubuntu user technical support, not for general discussions
> Subject: Re: Upgrading from Hardy
>
> On 4 February 2016 at 21:16, Gregory Gamble <greg.gamble at uwa.edu.au> wrote:
>> Dear Nils
>>
>> For my video card ... I get this info:
>>
>> $ sudo lshw -C display
>>   *-display
>>        description: VGA compatible controller
>>        product: C61 [GeForce 6150SE nForce 430]
>>        vendor: nVidia Corporation
>>        ...
>>
>> My PC is a Dell Inspiron 531 S which is an AMD Athlon 64 machine.
>>
>> I didn't have any joy with trying to install Precise from USB ... I got as far as a coloured screen but unadorned
>> otherwise. It just seemed to hang. So this means I have not had any success yet with installation from USB stick.
>> I think I'll try burning two DVDs with Precise and Trusty and see where that gets me ... and after that maybe
>> I'll think of buying a new PC with USB 3 tech.
>
> The one thing you can be pretty sure of is that is nothing to do with
> usb2/3.  Much more likely display interface.
>
> Have you checked you have the latest BIOS for the machine?
>
> Colin
>
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