Introducing myself to the group...
 

Hello all!!

I'm VInce LaValle, an announcer and production man of a radio station in Washington, Iowa. I am making my first full foray into the Linux OS via Ubuntu.

Just wanted to ask this question of the Moderators... if I run a Live CD of the Linux OS, can I install outside programs through it as well?

Although I'm not a Mod, I'll try to answer your question. Do you mean that you want to install a new program that isn't included on your distro's live cd?

You could either create a permanent data partition where you could install whatever program you want to install, or you could just install the distro on the drive. It is possible to put a data partition on a flash drive (it's also possible to install the whole live cd on a flash drive).

Which live cd?

slax will let you do what you want to do...you can install programs, write it to a file, then basically reburn the file on the disk...and the programs will be a part of the live cd...

what I'm looking to do is install some Linux-based radio automation somftware. It's a program called Rivendell from SalemRadioLabs.com [Salem Radio COmmunications]. I have an external 20GB drive I want to install the program to, but run the OS from the CD.

Advise....

I would not advise using a live CD for routine usage of a program--its too slow. To me, live CDs are for evaluating Linux distros + various rescue or admin operations.
Are you not able to simply install Linux on something?---Even some relatively old box will be faster than live CD.
Or why not dual-boot? With Live CD, you will be dual-booting....you will not be able to instantly go back to windows.

Well, I tried to install on an external drive that I didn't need the data on anymore, but it wouldn't do an install for Ubuntu because of some drive errors. What do I do in that case, because I have a 20 GB external HD that I want to dedicate completely to Linux.

What are the specific errors that you're getting, that would help us diagnose you're issue.

Vince,

First let me say that I'm not a Linux guru, but I do know a thing or two about computers. If I'm wrong, please feel free to correct as I like to learn anywhere I can.

I'm doing a little bit of speculation, but I imagine that the drive has not been formatted by Linux. Personally, I would just have the distro be installed on to the externall HDD. First, set your BIOS to boot from CD. Second, have Ubuntu format and partition the HDD. Install it there. Assuming everything is well and good with the install, change your BIOS again to boot from the external HDD. If your BIOS does not support this, you will need to find the latest update and flash the BIOS. Then you should be all set to go.

Let me know of your outcome,

Brandon

The specific error says that the install cannot create due to an error with the partition... what I tried to do is what would be the computer version of "flush and fill" - flush the data and then start with a fresh install. Is ther another way I should go about this?