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So, the season of giving has just come and gone, and you’ve received a Linux-based netbook—the popular new class of ultra-cheap, ultra-portable computer. By definition, netbooks are very limited in what they can do; they’re primary meant for accessing the web as well as some moderate office and multimedia use. Their low-speed processor and minimal memory means that they’re just not suited for more intensive applications like gaming or video editing.
However, there are things you can do to get the most out of your little machine. For instance, you can swap out the limited OS that comes packaged with most Linux-based netbooks for a much more versatile distro like Ubuntu, which can be customized specifically for netbooks. It’s a somewhat complicated process, but in this guide we’ll walk you through it, step by step, and then we’ll show you how to get around in Ubuntu.
Before we get started, there’re two things you’re going to need to have. First, you’ll need a copy of the Ubuntu 8.10 live CD ISO, which can be found here. It’s about 700 MB, so the download might take a little while, depending on your connection. Second, you’ll need a USB thumb drive with at least 2 GB of space. This drive must be configured to use the FAT32 file system. To change the file system of the USB drive, you just need to right-click on the drive icon in the My Computer screen and select “Format.” Of course, reformatting your drive means nuking any data on it, so save whatever you need.
Note: If you’re using an Asus EeePC, you can save yourself a lot of headache by using the Eeebuntu distribution instead, which is preconfigured to solve a lot of hardware problems that EeePCs face when using Ubuntu. You can get either the regular Eeebuntu (which is nearly identical to Ubuntu) or the Eeebuntu Netbook Remix, which is preloaded with the Netbook Remix packages. In either case, follow the instructions below, substituting the Eeebuntu ISO for the Ubuntu ISO. If you use the Eeebuntu Netbook Remix ISO, you can skip the part about how to set up the Netbook Remix packages.
Additional Note: The Samsung NC10 has some major issues with Ubuntu. You can run the OS from a thumbdrive, so there’s no real harm in trying it out, but consider yourself warned.
Once you’ve got the ISO downloaded and your thumb drive configured properly, you’ve got two options for how to create the bootable drive. The first is easier, but involves burning a CD. If you think you might have use for an Ubuntu Live CD, or if you’ve already made one for some other purpose or just have a ton of extra blank CDs, this is probably the way to go for you.
Simply burn the ISO disk image onto a CD using your burning software of choice (if you need a free burner, we recommend CDBurnerXP), then boot to Ubuntu off the CD. Recent versions of Ubuntu, such as 8.10, come preloaded with an app that allows you to create a bootable thumb drive from a live CD, such as the one you’re running off of. To access this app, simply click on System->Administration->Create a USB startup Disk. This tool is about as easy as it gets—just select your CD drive, your USB drive, and click Make Startup Disk.
If you don’t want to (or can’t) burn a CD, there’s still a way to manually create an Ubuntu live thumb drive. You’ll need to download the Syslinux boot loader, which you can download here, and you’ll also need a program capable of opening ISO files, such as 7-Zip.
Once you’ve downloaded Syslinux, unzip it to a directory on your desktop called Syslinux. Insert your thumb drive, and make note of its drive letter. Then, open a command prompt and navigate to the directory that contains the Windows Syslinux executable. If you’ve been following along, this directory should be C:\Documents and Settings\[your user name]\Desktop\Syslinux\win32. Install the boot loader on the thumb drive by entering the command syslinux –ma e: where e: is the drive letter of the thumb drive. If your drive has a different letter, use that instead.
Now that the thumb drive has the Syslinux boot loader installed, it’s time to copy over the Ubuntu files. Start by extracting the files from the Ubuntu live ISO to the thumb drive. There will now be a folder called isolinux on the drive. Move the contents of this folder to the root of the thumb drive. Finally, rename the files isolinux.bin and isolinux.cfg to syslinux.bin and syslinux.cfg, respectively, and you’re ready to roll.
All that’s left to do is to insert the now-bootable thumb drive into your netbook and boot from it. How this is done varies from model to model, though the most common method is to press the f12 key while booting. Once you manage to boot off the USB drive, you’ll see the Ubuntu boot screen and you’ll be able to run in live mode. For the time being it’s best to run in live mode (which is to say, off the thumb drive) so you can make sure that you’re able to get everything up and running smoothly and that you like the interface before you commit to a full installation. However, note that any changes you make to Ubuntu in live mode will be temporary, and will be lost when you restart your machine.
Comments are closed on this article
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gojiin
December 07, 2010 at 9:30am
Thanks for your sharing the great tips. Since I have own Asus Eee PC Netbook and will try to test following your instruction soon.
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teeri
September 02, 2010 at 3:43am
Nice work! i like this.Their low-speed processor and minimal memory means that they’re just not suited for more 1Y0-A05 Testking and 642-813 Testkingintensive applications like gaming or video editing.
George Batey
August 13, 2010 at 3:09am
The first is easier, but involves burning a Testking 70-270 CD. If you think you might have use for an Ubuntu Live Testking 642-746 CD, or if you’ve already made one for some other Testking 1z0-052 purpose or just have a ton of extra Testking NS0-163 blank CDs, this is probably the way to go for you.
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PhoneyVirus
September 04, 2009 at 8:58pm
I like this alot and for a netbook it's good. Trying it soon on my Acer Aspire One but the down side got to install Ubuntu from a USB or network I gues.
adampiter
August 21, 2009 at 11:46am
I’m really very excited to know about Windows 7.Adam I exactly agree with you. I’m not comfortable with Vista. Now I’m using Ubuntu because if I use xp, my pc got infected very rapidly.
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adampiter
August 21, 2009 at 11:46am
Ubuntu is great. Do you know what the most positive think about ubuntu is? The viruses that normally attack windows can’t infect the Ubuntu. That was the primary reason for me to switching from Windows to Ubuntu.
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adampiter
August 20, 2009 at 10:16pm
installing ubuntu came to me with a lot of problems. I failed to install it on my notebook. What can I do?
enorbet1
April 03, 2009 at 10:55pm
For netbooks, older laptops, or resource constrained desktop PCs you owe it to yourself to try Puppy Linux or Slax. Both are available as LiveCDs and lend themselved to thumbdrives so one can try them out before committing to an install. BTW if your only experience with bootable CDs is BartPE (sooo slooow) you really must try one of the above mentioned just to learn how flrxible and snappy Linux can be.
Thanks for the thumbdrive conversion links
Pokedex1010
February 10, 2009 at 1:23pm
I tried to install it, but the thing froze before it even started. All 5 times!! Think I should just order a disk or try redownloading the ISO file?
Bill the clown
January 13, 2009 at 3:11pm
I used this process - and it works and was easier setting up the flash drive. No need for CD and quick and easy - http://photoblogreview.blogspot.com/2009/01/project-eee-pc-remote-capture-part-3.html
HeartBurnKid
January 13, 2009 at 3:08pm
To be quite frank, if you're reading Maximum PC, you have the skills required to install Ubuntu, even if you don't realize it. It's a quick and painless process, as OS installs go. If you've ever actually installed Windows XP from scratch, you're overqualified.
EDIT: Whoops, that was supposed to be a reply to stevemid
jb_nc10ubuntu
January 07, 2009 at 2:40pm
Nice article… I would like to point out, however,
that I don’t think that running Ubuntu on the Samsung NC10 is
problematic. In fact it has been an enjoyable experience for many in
the NC10 community. Please see http://nc10ubuntu.wordpress.com/2008/11/16/a-positive-spin-on-this-blog/
bbzzdd
January 07, 2009 at 7:34am
Nice article. Suprisingly, most of the late 2008 netbooks have the a GMA 950 which is more than capable of running the Compiz effect for Ubuntu Desktop without slowdown.
stevemid
January 06, 2009 at 10:31pm
The person who received a netbook for Christmas should not mess around trying to install another operating system.
In your introductory paragraph you say the netbooks are not suited for more intensive applications like gaming or video editing. Agree. Then you go on to imply that this problem can be solved by installing a much more versatile linux distribution like Ubuntu. Disagree! This is like saying you can't pull a 20 ton trailer with a VW but you might be able to if you swapped in an automatic transmission! None of the low end netbooks are designed to do gaming or video. And they certainly are not targeted to people who like to fool around with linux distributions!
The basic netbooks (512 MB, 8GB SS drive) are very good at doing what they were designed to do: Web, Office Applications, email, etc. I got the Acer Aspire One for $399. for my 13 year old niece and it is perfect for her. I also got one for my wife to travel with, as she can drop it in her handbag and stop lugging around an extra laptop bag. I would suggest that these are the type of users for whom the netbook was designed. Both of them can go a long way with Limpus and in fact they could go a long way and never need to see much of the operating system. That's the whole idea!
ubuwalker31
January 09, 2009 at 10:53am
There is absolutely no harm for anyone, including linux n00bs, from trying to install another OS onto their netbook. Getting a distro like ubuntu-eee or plain ole' ubuntu to work is not usually an issue. In a worst case scenario, at least with an Asus Eee, the user can factory re-set the notebook back to its original settings.
I use ubuntu on my eee primarily because I want the flexibility of being able to use a modern distro that provides regular security updates. Not to mention, I find wireless support much better using wicd on Ubuntu, then on the default Xandros. Plus, the community support is so much better.
The only real disadvantage is that boot up times nearly triple with a vanella Ubuntu OS, rather than the customized OS.
Devo85x
February 14, 2009 at 7:03pm
No matter what its better to mess up a linux distro on a netbook vs a good pc, so i have to agree with ubuwalker31
anonuser
January 06, 2009 at 10:03pm
You should definitelly recommend the unetbootin utility to create live usb's no matter whats your os
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UNetbootin
frumpsnake
January 06, 2009 at 7:16pm
With such limited screen real-estate on most netbooks, why wouldn't you want to use virtual desktops?
Devo85x
January 06, 2009 at 3:28pm
Nice to see some stuff for us linux guys lol thanks for not forgetting us guys
ubuwalker31
January 09, 2009 at 11:03am
...there is nothing wrong with using apt-get. New users should only being installing packages from trusted repositories anyhow, using add/remove programs or synaptic. If a new user really needs to download a program from off the internet, and clicks on a .deb file from firefox, ubuntu will automatically install it using debian package installer. I think apturl is a great program, but asking users to go to appnr.com or other lesser known websites is just asking for trouble.
