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Michael Still
mikal@stillhq.com

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This page documents the various toys I have in my collection, and what I needed to do to get them to work, normally with Linux. I've done this because it's handy to be able to get them to work again with new machines or whatever. I'll be doing a little bit of back capture of old toys over time as I feel in the mood.


Tue, 24 Jan 2006


Update on the Dell e310

    I've just realised that I never got around to commenting on how to get the Dell working with Ubuntu. Here's what I did (I'm hoping I remember it all correctly):

    • Setup network booting
    • Changed the boot config for the network boot to automatically boot into the right install after a small timeout
    • Disabled the onboard USB controller
    • Installed a random PCI USB controller
    • Rebooted the target machine
    • The installer now netboots, and goes into the kernel with no interaction from the keyboard
    • Install like normal


    So, I just leave the onboard USB controller disabled, and use the PCI one.

    Tags for this post: blog(S) toys(S) dell(S) e310(S)

posted at: 09:53 | path: /diary/toys/dell/e310 | permanent link to this entry


Sun, 11 Dec 2005


Update on the Dell

    A previous entry discusses the Ubuntu installer stalling on my new Dell Dimension e310. In that post I decided that it was the USB controller causing pain, but the plot has thickened...

    Knoppix: has no problems booting on the machine.

    Debian's Stable: the installer boots fine, but DHCP doesn't work and it cant find the SATA disk.

    The current Debian Testing: the installer freezes just like the Ubuntu one.

    So, perhaps it's time for a chroot install of Debian from Knoppix? Although qtparted doesn't work on Knoppix properly, so I might have to do the filesystem resizing by hand.

    Tags for this post: blog(S) toys(S) dell(S) e310(S)

posted at: 14:21 | path: /diary/toys/dell/e310 | permanent link to this entry


Fri, 09 Dec 2005


Installing Linux on a Dell Dimension e310

    I got a very good price on a Dell e310, so I have been trying to install Linux on it for about an hour now without much joy. It turns out (or at least this is my current theory) that the USB chipset in the machine isn't supported by the Ubuntu 5.10 installer, and that causes the kernel to crash on boot. There certainly seem to be other people experiencing this as well.

    Unfortunately, I really need USB on this machine, as there are no legacy ports and I really like keyboards. Specifically, the Ubuntu install CD needs me to enter a boot line before it boots the installer kernel, and I can't do that with my spare USB controller installed and the on board one disabled, as the BIOS wont allow me.

    I'll keep you posted when I come up with a solution.

    Tags for this post: blog(S) toys(S) dell(S) e310(S)

posted at: 22:06 | path: /diary/toys/dell/e310 | permanent link to this entry
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