Eureka!

This guide is meant to assist in the installation of Ubuntu Linux for desktop use. The intended audience are users new to Linux, hopefully illustrating that Linux isn’t so hard.

The system I am installing on has the following:

• AMD Athlon64 3500+
• 200GB Harddrive
• 2GB RAM Memory
• NVidia 6800 Ultra (2 cards in SLI mode)
• 10/100 Mb Network card

Note that harddrive space and RAM don’t need to meet my specs, nor do CPU or graphic card capablities. However, please be aware that there are certain minimum requirements your computer should have. I wouldn’t recommend anything lower than the following:

• Pentium III or AMD Athlon class CPU
• 20GB Harddrive
• 512MB RAM Memory
• A rudimentary 3D-accelarated graphics card, no older then 2 or 3 years
• You must have a network card or a modem installed (with an available internet connection) to take advantage of online updates (STRONGLY recommended).

Thid portion of the guide will deal with installing the base system so that you have a Linux desktop. Following guides will deal with customizing the desktop environment and installing specific hardware.

1. Download Ubuntu (text install) from http://releases.ubuntu.com/6.06/. Note that you will want to download the 64-bit release if your CPU supports it, otherwise download the standard PC Intel version. The notes for each version should be self-explanitory.
2. Burn the downloaded image to CD with your favorite burn utility (Nero is great for this if you have a copy).
3. Reboot your computer and start up with the newly burned CD inserted. Make sure your boot options in your BIOS specify to boot from CD prior to booting from the harddrive.
4. Install Ubuntu by choosing “Install to the hard disk” option after booting up into the Linux splash screen.
5. Choose your preferred language for your desktop. This will be your default language once the system is installed. (Default is English.)
6. Choose your country.
7. The previous two choices will establish your default keyboard layout. If you wish to change this select the option “Select from full keyboard list”.
8. Next the installer will go through a series of hardware detection routines. Sit back and watch it go!
9. When done it will ask you to enter a hostname. Default is “ubuntu”, however you can change this to whatever your fancy strikes you. This entry will be the name your computer will be known as on your network.
10. Now for the difficult part: partitioning the harddrive. If you want to do a linux-only installation on your computer, this is easy (also the route I will take in this guide). This screen will list all available harddrives for you (should you have more than one in your system). Choose the appropriate one.
11. Partition the disk: You have 3 (really 4, but the fourth is complicated) options here. The first will resize the harddrive partition to use the remaining free space for your linux install (and preserve whatever you have on the drive at this time); the second will erase the entire disk for use with Linux; the third is the same as the second with the addition of adding Logical Volume Management to your install. In my opinion this is for advanced installation where there are certain requirements that may call for storage re-allocation later on. However, with the option of having GParted on your system, you can resize your partitions at will anyway. The fourth option is setting up your partitions manually. For the purpose of this tutorial, I am choosing option two: erase the entire disk.
12. Verify your settings and hit “Yes” to continue.
13. Again, sit back and watch Linux do its thing. So far the installation has been very similar to the windows installations you may have had experience with in the past. Nothing too daunting, I should think.
14. Select your time zone.
15. Enter your full name.
16. Enter your user name for your account.
17. Enter your password.
18. Enter your password again.
19. Take a breather and pat yourself on the back. You’ve made it this far, and things should be going smoothly. Linux is copying all its files over while you sit back and drink your beer. Life couldn’t be better!
20. Next up: select your video resolution(s). Restrict yourself only to resolutions your know both your video card and your monitor support. General rule of thumb: if you have an LCD screen that is 17″ or 19″ do not exceed 1280×1024. I have a 19″ LCD and will check the following resolutions: 1024×768, 1280×1024.
21. The installer will now install the remaining files needed.
22. Once prompted, remove the install CD from the drive and continue. The installer will now reboot and load Ubuntu Linux from your harddrive.
23. After it reboots, Ubuntu will load its graphical logon screen. Enter your username and password that you selected above here.
24. Your desktop will look similar to windows, but be arranged slightly different. Explore and play with various utilities and programs to get a feel for your new environment. Congratulate yourself on a Linux install well done!

That concludes this guide. I hope you had fun installing Linux and see how easy it really is!

This entry was posted on Monday, May 8th, 2006 at 11:47 am and is filed under Desktop, Ubuntu. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.