Installing ubuntu 8.04 to a NEC Ready LT 120

vfrankli,

You didn't include any hardware specifications, these are what I found by googling:

    http://www.bixnet.com/necready120lt.html

The minimum hardware requirements for Xubuntu using the alternate installation cd is 64MB ram:

    http://www.xubuntu.org/get

You may also be able to install Ubuntu using the alternate installation cd with 64MB ram, but I would recommend xubuntu as it will probably provide a better experience.

So the first thing you need to check is how much RAM is installed. If you only have 32MB, then you'll have to upgrade to the maximum the laptop allows which is 64MB. Then you'll need to download the alternate installation cd, not the desktop install cd.

Please report back here and let me know if this Solves your question.

Thanks,

Harvey

regarding to the ubuntu live cd. when it does not work with the live cd you should give the ubuntu alternate cd version a try.
Its text based( and therefore often less critical about specific hardware) and delivers more installation/configuration options
you can download it here:

http://ubuntuusers.de/downloads/

make sure to choose "Alternate CD (textbasierte Installation)" under "Edition"
good luck!
please try to give the error message so people here can help you better

Hello Jonas, thank you for responding. I will try your suggestion soon and if it locks up, I will copy the error message or whatever is on the screen at the time.
  ----- Original Message -----
  From: Jonas Jabs<mailto:<email address hidden>>
  To: <email address hidden><mailto:<email address hidden>>
  Sent: Tuesday, July 01, 2008 8:10 AM
  Subject: Re: [Question #37864]: Installing ubuntu 8.04 to a NEC Ready LT 120

  Your question #37864 on Ubuntu changed:
  https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+question/37864<https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+question/37864>

  Jonas Jabs proposed the following answer:
  regarding to the ubuntu live cd. when it does not work with the live cd you should give the ubuntu alternate cd version a try.
  Its text based( and therefore often less critical about specific hardware) and delivers more installation/configuration options
  you can download it here:

  http://ubuntuusers.de/downloads/<http://ubuntuusers.de/downloads/>

  make sure to choose "Alternate CD (textbasierte Installation)" under "Edition"
  good luck!
  please try to give the error message so people here can help you better

  --
  If this answers your question, please go to the following page to let us
  know that it is solved:
  https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+question/37864/+confirm?answer_id=1<https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+question/37864/+confirm?answer_id=1>

  If you still need help, you can reply to this email or go to the
  following page to enter your feedback:
  https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+question/37864<https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+question/37864>

  You received this question notification because you are a direct
  subscriber of the question.

Harvey, OK, I'll do all of the suggestions and I will document any error messages I find. I believe there is 64 megs of RAM and I upgraded the hard drive a couple of years ago to 20 Gigs. I haven't touched it in a long time, but I got interested (hooked) on Linux and I thought it would be a good idea to convert that little notebook to Linux. I'll get back to you when I have some progress to report. Thanks very much.
  ----- Original Message -----
  From: Harvey Muller<mailto:<email address hidden>>
  To: <email address hidden><mailto:<email address hidden>>
  Sent: Tuesday, July 01, 2008 7:58 AM
  Subject: Re: [Question #37864]: Installing ubuntu 8.04 to a NEC Ready LT 120

  Your question #37864 on Ubuntu changed:
  https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+question/37864<https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+question/37864>

      Status: Open => Answered

  Harvey Muller proposed the following answer:
  vfrankli,

  You didn't include any hardware specifications, these are what I found
  by googling:

      http://www.bixnet.com/necready120lt.html<http://www.bixnet.com/necready120lt.html>

  The minimum hardware requirements for Xubuntu using the alternate
  installation cd is 64MB ram:

      http://www.xubuntu.org/get<http://www.xubuntu.org/get>

  You may also be able to install Ubuntu using the alternate installation
  cd with 64MB ram, but I would recommend xubuntu as it will probably
  provide a better experience.

  So the first thing you need to check is how much RAM is installed. If
  you only have 32MB, then you'll have to upgrade to the maximum the
  laptop allows which is 64MB. Then you'll need to download the alternate
  installation cd, not the desktop install cd.

  Please report back here and let me know if this Solves your question.

  Thanks,

  Harvey

  --
  If this answers your question, please go to the following page to let us
  know that it is solved:
  https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+question/37864/+confirm?answer_id=0<https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+question/37864/+confirm?answer_id=0>

  If you still need help, you can reply to this email or go to the
  following page to enter your feedback:
  https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+question/37864<https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+question/37864>

  You received this question notification because you are a direct
  subscriber of the question.

Jonas, I tried again to load the NEC with Linux, Fedora, this time. I had success until it came time to reboot. For some reason, the system looks for command.com instead of loading Fedora. Here is the dos message on the screen. A> Type the name of the Command Interpreter (e.g., C:\WINDOWS\COMMAND.COM). I would have thought the dos and Windows items would have been deleted during the partitioning. I am planning to use the entire disk for Linux. How do I rid the system of that message and for just a second, I see "loading Windows 98"? I'd like to get rid of that also. Will I have to format the hard drive? If so, how?
  ----- Original Message -----
  From: Jonas Jabs<mailto:<email address hidden>>
  To: <email address hidden><mailto:<email address hidden>>
  Sent: Tuesday, July 01, 2008 8:10 AM
  Subject: Re: [Question #37864]: Installing ubuntu 8.04 to a NEC Ready LT 120

  Your question #37864 on Ubuntu changed:
  https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+question/37864<https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+question/37864>

  Jonas Jabs proposed the following answer:
  regarding to the ubuntu live cd. when it does not work with the live cd you should give the ubuntu alternate cd version a try.
  Its text based( and therefore often less critical about specific hardware) and delivers more installation/configuration options
  you can download it here:

  http://ubuntuusers.de/downloads/<http://ubuntuusers.de/downloads/>

  make sure to choose "Alternate CD (textbasierte Installation)" under "Edition"
  good luck!
  please try to give the error message so people here can help you better

  --
  If this answers your question, please go to the following page to let us
  know that it is solved:
  https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+question/37864/+confirm?answer_id=1<https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+question/37864/+confirm?answer_id=1>

  If you still need help, you can reply to this email or go to the
  following page to enter your feedback:
  https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+question/37864<https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+question/37864>

  You received this question notification because you are a direct
  subscriber of the question.

Harvey, I tried again to load the NEC with Linux, Fedora, this time. I had success until it came time to reboot. For some reason, the system looks for command.com instead of loading Fedora. Here is the dos message on the screen. A> Type the name of the Command Interpreter (e.g., C:\WINDOWS\COMMAND.COM). I would have thought the dos and Windows items would have been deleted during the partitioning. I am planning to use the entire disk for Linux. How do I rid the system of that message and for just a second, I see "loading Windows 98"? I'd like to get rid of that also. Will I have to format the hard drive? If so, how?
  ----- Original Message -----
  From: Harvey Muller<mailto:<email address hidden>>
  To: <email address hidden><mailto:<email address hidden>>
  Sent: Tuesday, July 01, 2008 7:58 AM
  Subject: Re: [Question #37864]: Installing ubuntu 8.04 to a NEC Ready LT 120

  Your question #37864 on Ubuntu changed:
  https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+question/37864<https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+question/37864>

      Status: Open => Answered

  Harvey Muller proposed the following answer:
  vfrankli,

  You didn't include any hardware specifications, these are what I found
  by googling:

      http://www.bixnet.com/necready120lt.html<http://www.bixnet.com/necready120lt.html>

  The minimum hardware requirements for Xubuntu using the alternate
  installation cd is 64MB ram:

      http://www.xubuntu.org/get<http://www.xubuntu.org/get>

  You may also be able to install Ubuntu using the alternate installation
  cd with 64MB ram, but I would recommend xubuntu as it will probably
  provide a better experience.

  So the first thing you need to check is how much RAM is installed. If
  you only have 32MB, then you'll have to upgrade to the maximum the
  laptop allows which is 64MB. Then you'll need to download the alternate
  installation cd, not the desktop install cd.

  Please report back here and let me know if this Solves your question.

  Thanks,

  Harvey

  --
  If this answers your question, please go to the following page to let us
  know that it is solved:
  https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+question/37864/+confirm?answer_id=0<https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+question/37864/+confirm?answer_id=0>

  If you still need help, you can reply to this email or go to the
  following page to enter your feedback:
  https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+question/37864<https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+question/37864>

  You received this question notification because you are a direct
  subscriber of the question.

vfrankli,

First an administrative note: Please return to Launchpad and make comments on the questions and/or bugs there. Launchpad does not always truncate attached email messages, which makes the thread harder to read.

The results you are getting on reboot are symptomatic of an installation that was not successful. If the installation were successful, it would have loaded grub and you would be getting grub messages.

I researched Fedora minimum requirements, and your laptop does not meet the minimum RAM requirements. It requires 128MB minimum for the text install:

    http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Docs/Beats/ArchSpecific#Processor_and_memory_2

My recommendation again, is that you use the alternate Xubuntu/Ubuntu installation cd. I would prefer Xubuntu over Ubuntu only because it is less taxing on your hardware, yet still provides a comfortable desktop environment.

These are links to both iso's for your convenience:

xubuntu
    http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/xubuntu/releases/hardy/release/xubuntu-8.04.1-alternate-i386.iso
ubuntu
    http://releases.ubuntu.com/hardy/ubuntu-8.04.1-alternate-i386.iso

Please try either of those, and if this resolves your question, please return to Launchpad and change the status of the question to Solved.

Thanks!

Hello again,
     While I wasn't able to install either version of Ubuntu on the NEC, I was semi-successful in installing DSL. I believe it's all there, but I have a resolution problem. I set the graphics settings at fb800x600. That seems to get the clearest screen, but I still cannot make out the images due to vertical lines and fuzzy picture. I was able to set a login name and password. Perhaps the computer cannot handle the OS demands and the graphics too? BTW, thanks for the previous help.

vfrankli

vfrankli,

I don't use DSL, so am not familiar with it. But it sounds like a video driver issue to me.

You tried both the Ubuntu and Xubuntu and Alternate Install CDs?

Thanks,

Harvey

Harvey,

   Yes, I tried them all. DSL was able to load but I just can't make out the images. I agree that it looks likd a video driver issue, but when I was booting DSL as a live install, I was able to see the entire desktop and navigate to different menus. Once I installed it as a hard drive install, the images became blurred badly.

Virgil

Virgil,

That would continue to confirm my belief, that it is a video driver issue.

Although DSL is beyond the scope of community support in this forum, I'll provide a suggestion for you to try.

Boot in the DSL LiveCD. Then identify what modules are loaded, and what driver Xorg is using.

To see what modules are loaded, run in a terminal:

    $ lsmod

If you have USB support in the LiveCD and can copy files to a flash drive, then after you have figured out the path to the USB flash drive, run in a terminal:

    $ lsmod > /path/to/flashdrive/lsmod.log

If you don't have USB support, or a flash drive, then manually write down all of the modules.

To see what driver Xorg is using, run in a terminal:

    $ less /etc/X11/xorg.conf

Review the Device section and note the driver that is being used.

Then compare what you find in the DSL system that is installed to your hard drive.

Describe the differences here.

Thanks!

Harvey

First off a commonly known fact to the windows community about the NEC Ready 120 is that it CAN be upgraded to 128 MB of memory. Just pop in a 128 MB sodimm... I have 2 and have both of them up and running 128 MB, one with win98 the other with win 2000. I have been thinking about throwing xubuntu on one of them, as it is very easy to simply unplug the hard drive and plug in another to change the OS (as soon as I find another caddy that is...) So this should take care of your install issues as far as memory goes. Secondly comes a BUT... The sound, display and modem hardware may be an issue as they are very unique in comparison to other hardware. Look up (Idont have the manuals, I bought both of mine second hand) the hardware that is in these machines and check the compatability for the flavor of Linux you are installing. You may lose some of the abilities of the machine or may hve to search out a different distro, possibly just an older version. I picked up my 120s to use with my ham radio equipment in what is called APRS which with a GPS receiver and ham transceiver transmit coordinates of the transmitter to others for tracking purposes. My only complaint is the lack of an internal floppy/CD drive. I have had XP running on one of them but it ran doggy on the stone age proc... win 2000 runs beautifully and of course 98, which the machine was designed for was fine as well. I hope this info helps.

Well! Thank you for responding. I have actually put the LT 120 away,
thinking that it was a useless cause. I will work on it this weekend.
Thanks again!

--------------------------------------------------
From: "Scott Schoemann" <email address hidden>
Sent: Saturday, April 11, 2009 3:26 AM
To: <email address hidden>
Subject: Re: [Question #37864]: Installing ubuntu 8.04 to a NEC Ready LT 120

> Your question #37864 on Ubuntu changed:
> https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+question/37864
>
> Scott Schoemann proposed the following answer:
> First off a commonly known fact to the windows community about the NEC
> Ready 120 is that it CAN be upgraded to 128 MB of memory. Just pop in a
> 128 MB sodimm... I have 2 and have both of them up and running 128 MB,
> one with win98 the other with win 2000. I have been thinking about
> throwing xubuntu on one of them, as it is very easy to simply unplug the
> hard drive and plug in another to change the OS (as soon as I find
> another caddy that is...) So this should take care of your install
> issues as far as memory goes. Secondly comes a BUT... The sound, display
> and modem hardware may be an issue as they are very unique in comparison
> to other hardware. Look up (Idont have the manuals, I bought both of
> mine second hand) the hardware that is in these machines and check the
> compatability for the flavor of Linux you are installing. You may lose
> some of the abilities of the machine or may hve to search out a
> different distro, possibly just an older version. I picked up my 120s to
> use with my ham radio equipment in what is called APRS which with a GPS
> receiver and ham transceiver transmit coordinates of the transmitter to
> others for tracking purposes. My only complaint is the lack of an
> internal floppy/CD drive. I have had XP running on one of them but it
> ran doggy on the stone age proc... win 2000 runs beautifully and of
> course 98, which the machine was designed for was fine as well. I hope
> this info helps.
>
> --
> If this answers your question, please go to the following page to let us
> know that it is solved:
> https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+question/37864/+confirm?answer_id=11
>
> If you still need help, you can reply to this email or go to the
> following page to enter your feedback:
> https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+question/37864
>
> You received this question notification because you are a direct
> subscriber of the question.

Scott, I will try this. I think I can accomplish this with more memory. Thanks!