So the day came when I thought I would make the switch away from Microsoft Windows to Ubuntu Linux. Thinking I would try to take full advantage of what my system had to offer, I wanted to use the 64bit version. I downloaded the LiveCD / Install disc and fired it up. The LiveCD loaded without issue…finding my video, sound and network cards properly. Everything seemed to look great and I thought migration would be a breeze…wrong.
Ran through the install without a hiccup…until the first boot off the hard drive into the new OS. The machine froze while loading the X Window system…hmmm. Since the keyboard was locked, I had to "crash" the system and reboot…same result…hmmm again. At this point I thought maybe the X configurator mis-detected my video card or monitor. I loaded the LiveCD again (which worked fine) and made a copy of the xorg.conf file it generated. I then booted the system into recovery mode and compared the file with what the installer generated…they were exactly the same…hmmm for a third time.
Ok…maybe it was the 64bit version causing issues. I downloaded the 32bit version of Ubuntu 7.10, burnt it to CD and tried that. The result was the exact same thing…freezing while trying to load X…hmmm turned to argh! Well…now what? Maybe it’s something with Ubuntu…so I went to a different system, downloaded OpenSuSE 10.3 and tried that. Install went great, but on first (and subsequent boots) it also froze when loading X…argh with a wtf!
Needless to say, I gave up and am still in the process of recovering my system back to Windows XP. I am a little disappointed and very confused as to why the LiveCD would run fantastic, but not after being installed. To me it makes no sense. I am bound and determined to do this though…just need a bit more research.
For those that care, and perhaps those that can assist, my hardware specs are:
- Dell Dimension 9200
- 2.4Ghz Quad Core
- 4Gb RAM
- nVidia Geforce 8300 GS graphics card
- DVD and DVD RW dual drives
- 13 in 1 media card reader
- 230Gb hard drive
- 20" wide screen monitor hooked in to digital
- 17" LCD monitor hooked into analog
Tags: Linux, Ubuntu, Open Suse, OpenSuSE, Microsoft Windows, X Window, xorg.conf, nVidia, Dell
Hi there,
I think your problem lies in the video card, although I’m not really sure about it. Ubuntu, I think, has an issue with nVidia Geforce 8300. I’ve tried migrating to Ubuntu before and I only managed to get pass the freeze by updating some files related to the nVidia card.
Also, since I was going to use the computer for games, I found out the hard way that wine has not yet reach that stage where they’ll be able to play all the games that I need to install. So, I ended up going back to XP.
Hi Mark
I also believe the issue is with the included nVidia drivers. What amazes me is how booting from LiveCD works fine.