OK lets try this again? I have an acer extensa5420 (yes I know how great it is) got hosed by Vista, wiped my harddrive with DBAN, I want Linux OS but I have downloaded 2 different CDs (ubuntu)that supposedly is just supposed to work when you put in in, well guess what..SURPRISE, it doesnt. I have tried F2, F8, F10, F12 and I have clicked all over my DVD drive. Other cds work, (XP) but Linux seems to be "not so cool". Does ANYBODY know how I am supposed to get this ALL wonderful OS????I dont want opinions, I really would like an honest answer please. I hate windows and Mac and I really like the idea of Linux for the people. thanks

Hmm.. We *might* need more details of exactly what's going on, however..

You downloaded an Ubuntu .ISO disc image, yes? And you burned the image to a new CD? Using what program exactly did you burn the disc? And, when you did burn the disc, you used some command or option like "create bootable disc from ISO image" or something like this, as opposed to simply burning the ISO image to the disk (in a storage sort of sense, if you follow)..

OK, so let's assume for a moment that you've burned the disc properly and successfully.. You say you've "clicked all over the DVD drive", but I don't really understand what you mean by that.
If your machine can boot from the optical drive (the DVD or CD drive) and the BIOS is configured to try to boot from that optical device FIRST, then the idea is to stick the new Ubuntu disc into the drive, and reboot the machine. With any luck, Ubuntu will start booting.

If I've misinterpreted exactly what you're trying to do here, please enlighten me.

And, welcome to LQ!!

Sasha

1 members found this post helpful.

...in addition http://www.linuxquestions.org/hcl/ doesn't list any (except circumstantial evidence of an old Extensa 500DX running Redhat 9), http://www.linlap.com/wiki/acer+extensa+5420 shows at least partial compatibility and according to http://hardware4linux.info/system/3360/ there's a near 50 percent chance things work out of the box indicating some more patience might be needed...

I believe that you are on to something with the "burn" part of my problem. I am burning with a Flintstone artifact of a computer, (it only took 3 hours) and I most likely burned it wrong. ( although I wish that they could mention this on the download page). I will try again but its gonna take me 2 days to download it again and the program takes up like half my storage space on this rock. D#$n I cant wait to be zippin with Linux, I am stoked thank you for your input peace.

You can check the md5sum of the burned CD to make sure it matches what you initially downloaded. Sounds like it might be worth looking into doing that.

Small consolation, but I sympathize with you -- until recently, we had only dial-up internet, and combine that with an ancient laptop that would hardly run anything, hardly boot anything, and had no USB and no ethernet port, and a hard disk of less than 6Gib, it was pretty ridiculous trying to get much done with it. Luckily that laptop isn't our only machine.

Anyhow, make sure you burn the ISO correctly; double check here and there, ask on the forums if you're unsure about how to use whatever burner program you're using

And, FWIW, while Ubuntu is a large download, maybe you should consider a smaller distro to get you started? I can't recommend a whole bunch of smaller ones myself, as I haven't used a lot of the smaller ones, but I can say that I was pretty pleased after having installed Puppy Linux on that old laptop of ours. And, for the record, our crappy old laptop will NOT run Ubuntu -- we've tried.

Good luck, keep us posted!

Sasha

PLUS (edit) as rich says above, checking the md5sum to verify the integrity of the disc is always a good idea; I didn't mention it because a) sounds like you've enough new stuff on your plate, and B) Ubuntu will check its own integrity when it boots (it has an option to do so) provided it does boot

I have no idea what a md5sum is but Im sure Ill figure it out AFTER I rip out my eyeballs. ( I will look that up later). I opened the ISO file with Daemon tools lite and loaded into my acer and to my AMAZEMENT it is frickin workin! I dont have "innerweb" yet but I will finger it out. If this works half as good as I read about then I will have ALL of my friends using Linux too. I have a feeling that Windows is going to burn in hell for their sins. (LOL) I wish that I could sue them for my gray hairs.
My next big question is can I get rid of windows garbage from my hard drive without DBAN'ing it? And another thing, How do I ever thank you enough?????

Thats what we're here for! Hence Linuxquestions.org!!

The best way to thank someones is to click the blue thumbs up icon on their post and perhaps a thank you.

But really most of all is to stay here with us. Don't just ask a question then never show your face again...help other people!! Does that sound ridiculous? I can say I thought it did. I mean, I was a newb, and I thought me giving back to the community would not be possible! But instead I often browse the newbie section of this forum looking for people to help, with my meager knowledge. (I'm getting better though!)

DBAN is a bit overkill. Just install Ubuntu. The fact that you will be formatting the hard drive with a completely different filesystem, character encoding and binary, and writing atop of that with other files will definitely do the job.

You don't need to flame Microsoft Windows or their products here on the forums. We all know that story. Just be polite and nice, and you will probably never see another gray hair because of an OS as long as you live.

I'm really glad for you, and you should thank GrapefruiTgirls' helpful posts.

"Peace" (Or in my terminology, "bye")

I'll be honest with you, I'm not familiar with "Daemon Tools Lite", so you're on your own there till someone who knows it can chip in

As for getting rid of Win, well if you have the HDD space (which it sounds like you may not) then you might want to dual boot for a while until you're SURE you won't need Win for anything.

Aside from that, like leopard says, if you want to go ahead and install Ubuntu, just tell the Ubuntu installer to format the whole HDD and install itself, and Win will be gone.

NOTE: You typically need a root partition (where the OS gets installed) PLUS a SWAP partition; however, Ubuntu is pretty clever and automated in its install process, so I'm fairly sure that if you tell it to use the whole HDD for itself, it will create whatever partitions it needs, and Win will be gone.

Before doing anything drastic, make sure you have A) backed up anything you absolutely cannot lose, like personal files or whatever, and B) make sure you are actually able to install Ubuntu, either by using that Deamon Tools thing, or by booting the Ubuntu CD.
You don't want to wipe your HDD and then for some stupid reason discover that you are unable to get Ubuntu installed...


Best of luck!
Sasha

Well, I am grateful to see all of the wonderful responses. I apologise for being so "brazen" in my search for something that works. Its been a long hard journey for this artist and Im not a computer wizard. All I have ever wanted from a computer is to record and produce music but that has been the hardest challenge I have ever faced. Computer dudes dont know music and music dudes dont know computers. I am learning a lot about computers AND music and I would like to help other artists to NOT go through what I have. SO with that being said, you will unfortunately be hearing a lot from me. (I will be more polite)
So I have Ubuntu up and running but I cant get my wireless to work (Acer extensa 5420), I do not have a secured network, it should just read a signal and go right? I dont understand the wireless option window, (seems to be Greek) I also cant get my Fast Track interface to install. It probably wont but maybe there's someone who has a magic wand or some fairy dust that says different?
Can I just sum this up in one paragraph? I want to record (without latency issues) and edit my music and put in online. I have been trying to do this for 2 years now on Windows and Mac but still NO go. I know that Linux is going to be some work but at least its not sucking my wallet. Again I will say that I want to help the artist and When I get this up and running, I will post instructions and answer questions on how I did it. But for right now I am the "new guy" THANK YOU ALL!!

For the record, I for one didn't find you 'impolite' in the least

I understand what it's like getting into something you don't have a freaking clue about, as do all of us in one way or another I'm sure.

Anyhow, If you now have the Ubuntu installed and working (which it appears to be based on your little Ubuntu icon in the left pane there
<----- icon

Then this thread is basically done, having fulfilled it's purpose.

So:

1) What's a fast-track?? Some hardware? Software? I dunno so if it isn't listed in the HCL (see the menus to your right) with instructions allowing you to make it work, then start a new thread (after searching a bit of course) and tell us about this "fast track" thing.

2) Wireless... Always fun! And again, after searching a bit on your own, if you have no idea what to do to get it working, start a new thread. Tell us what exact type of wireless gadget you have, what type of computer, which version of Ubuntu, and give the output of these commands:


And that should get us started.

Cheers!
Sasha

You should find some reference to the md5sum value or an md5sum file from the same web page you got your downloaded iso from... Here's a bit of an explaination of what to do next to make sure you've got a good burn.