# Ubuntu Installation Problem



## MoonRiver (Sep 2, 2007)

Trying to install Ubuntu 11.04 on Dell laptop (Inspiron 1000). The laptop currently has XP and I want to install Ubuntu as the only OS on the laptop. I'm having 2 problems (that I know of).

b43 not found
authentication failure
Download Ubuntu and burned to a cd.
Set bios to boot from CDROM
Booted system
Displays Ubuntu 11.04 on screen
Then spends many minutes writing to hard drive

Then get Installation Error Message


> The installer encountered an unrecoverable error. A desktop session will now be run so that you may investigate the problem or try installing again.


I click OK

A message displays on black background. It only displays for a few seconds. From what I can tell, it is b43 phy0 and b43/ucodes 5.fw not found.

I'm not a unix guy so I am confused at this point. The fix seems to be to manually load the driver, but I never get Ubunu to finish installing, so I don't have access to the command line. 



> Broadcom BCM4311 on Natty 11.04
> The Broadcom BCM4311 is a PCIe wireless device widely available in laptops sold by many manufacturers.
> 
> In the terminal the following command will provide the pci:id (pci number)
> ...


I've tried the installation several times. This last time I finally got a screen that says Ubuntu and then under it, other. I click other and it asks for a login name. What name does it want? I tried my XP name, but I get authentication failure. I didn't have a password on my xp account so I am just hitting OK when it asks for a password.

I was never prompted for a name and password during the install. Just after install at the login prompt. Everything I find on the web says to enter the name and password you entered during installation, but I was never created one during installation.


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## joseph97297 (Nov 20, 2007)

I had the same issue on a neighbor's laptop, dropped back to 10.4 (at the time the latest stable one) and the installation went on without a hitch.

Not very familiar with the linux based OS, I'm sure some other on here will have more specific advice, but as noted, i dropped back a release and everything works (at least he hasn't brought it back in 2 months or so).


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## MoonRiver (Sep 2, 2007)

I got a little farther, or maybe I just didn't see it last time. 
A menu displays at the top left of the screen with 3 options. 

Applications 
I forget what the 2nd one is
System
If I click on Applications a list of applications is displayed.

I thought I would use system to create a user with admin privileges. I clicked System and User Administration.

Then I get the screen that prompts me for login information, which I don't have.


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## joseph97297 (Nov 20, 2007)

Ok, so you have Ubuntu installed, just for some reason it indicates a user name and password?

Have you looked under System, Admin, User Profile or is that asking for a password as well.


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## MoonRiver (Sep 2, 2007)

joseph97297 said:


> Ok, so you have Ubuntu installed, just for some reason it indicates a user name and password?
> 
> Have you looked under System, Admin, User Profile or is that asking for a password as well.


Once it prompts me for name and password, I'm stuck. Can't get passed it. 

The other thing is that when I reboot without the Ubuntu CD, it tries to boot back to Windows. I was trying to replace Windows. So to get back to where the Ubuntu menu is, it takes about 15 minutes.


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## backwoodsman7 (Mar 22, 2007)

From your descriptions I'm not at all clear on what you've actually done and what's really going on, but I think maybe you haven't installed it, you've just booted the live CD. But if it takes 15 minutes to boot, I'd guess you have a very small amount of RAM; and if so, you might want to either upgrade the RAM, or choose one of the Linux distros that's made for legacy computers. I'd recommend either Puppy or Antix.

With a live CD, normally you boot it, then look around and see if everything works and you like it, then click the Install icon on the desktop when you're ready to install.


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## MoonRiver (Sep 2, 2007)

The laptop only had 256 mb ram, so I ordered 256 mb more. That's max for this laptop. I am holding off on trying to install Linux until I get the memory installed.


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## backwoodsman7 (Mar 22, 2007)

It's a real good idea to check the system requirements before you try to install an operating system. Standard Ubuntu is a poor choice for something so old (and, more to the point, slow) that it can take only 512MB RAM. If you really want to stay with Ubuntu, one of the spinoffs with a lightweight interface would work a lot better, like Xubuntu (XFCE) or Lubuntu (LXDE). Even better would be one of the lightweight distros I mentioned above.
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Installation/SystemRequirements


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## Nevada (Sep 9, 2004)

I'm not familiar at all with Ubuntu, but with Red Hat products there is a way around authentication in an emergency. Just enter 'linux single' (less quotes) for username. Worth a try...


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## Kung (Jan 19, 2004)

If I get the time I will look at it tonight.

In the meantime, I highly suggest you check out www.ubuntuforums.org. It is THE BEST Linux support forum out there.


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## MoonRiver (Sep 2, 2007)

After I added 256 mb ram, the install screens displayed the way the instructions said they should. I've decided to try puppy linux instead. Having a problem with that so will start a new thread.


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