Linux users please help me

[dmm26]

So I"ve never used Linux before and it seems rather intriguing to me. So I went on their ubuntu site and downloaded the program, followed all the instructions and, it won't load onto my computer it says kernel panic blah blah blah. How can I get around this?

I have xp home currently on my comp and I have 2 gigs or ram.

 

[Saunterer]

Are you trying to run it as a Live CD or are you trying to install it from scratch over your XP machine?

When you downloaded it, did you download the ISO and then burned it to a CD?

Lastly, what version did you download? 10.04?

Gotta start with the basics first, and we'll get you running shortly. There's a few Linux folks running around here.

 

[AlanL]

My son recently downloaded and installed ubuntu to run Linux on his XP machine. It was pretty impressive. I can't tell you any other details, but I do know there was no CD involved. It's set up to offer the XP/Linux choice at boot time.

 

[dmm26]

Are you trying to run it as a Live CD or are you trying to install it from scratch over your XP machine?

When you downloaded it, did you download the ISO and then burned it to a CD?

Lastly, what version did you download? 10.04?

Gotta start with the basics first, and we'll get you running shortly. There's a few Linux folks running around here.

Ok so here's what I did exactly, I went to the site and it said download ubuntu so I did, then I downloaded the windows installer, then I burnt ubuntu to a disc with infra recorder and x8, moved disc from burner to rom, double checked disc and it was all correct,then restarted computer as per instructions and got the error message. I downloaded 10.04 yes.


Here's the exact message it gives when trying to load the disc:
[0.044001] kernel panic-not syncing: IO-APIC + timer doesn't work! boot with apic=debug and send report. Then try booting with noapic option [0.44001]

 

[badmammajamma]

If you have never used Linux before, I would recommend just downloading the LiveCD first. You can get used to some of the ins and outs of Linux without having to go through all the trouble of installing it yet.

 

[dmm26]

If you have never used Linux before, I would recommend just downloading the LiveCD first. You can get used to some of the ins and outs of Linux without having to go through all the trouble of installing it yet.

That's what I did and it doesn't seem to work. I also downloaded the wubi.exe and tried that way and still the same error message

 

[Saunterer]

From the main screen where it asks to install or run from the Live CD, you should be able to press F6 to pass on commands to boot. Here's a thread that discusses it.

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=500884&highlight=noapic

Just like badmammajamma said, are you trying to install or run it from the CD? If you want to run it from the CD, nothing on your computer or HD will be modified. But if you are going to install it, you WILL lose what is on your HD.

 

[RichGem]

Kernel panics are pretty rare and at that stage COULD mean that it can't find some of the early kernel files that it needs to complete boot. This may be caused by a bad ISO download (corrupted file), corrupted disk burn, or defective disk medium.

My advice is to comptetely redownload and reburn the ISO and go from there.

 

[AlanL]

But if you are going to install it, you WILL lose what is on your HD.

Not necessarily. You have a choice to overwrite your HD, or to use a dual boot so that your computer can boot in Linux or Windows (and you lose nothing). Just be careful.

 

[Saunterer]

Not necessarily. You have a choice to overwrite your HD, or to use a dual boot so that your computer can boot in Linux or Windows (and you lose nothing). Just be careful.

Very true. But if someone is dipping their toes into Linux for the first time and they lose their MBR .... just didn't want the OP just to start installing without a disclaimer that a potential data loss could occur.

But we would help you recover it. Being this is B&B.

 

[badmammajamma]

That's what I did and it doesn't seem to work. I also downloaded the wubi.exe and tried that way and still the same error message

What steps did you take when the LiveCD didn't work? You should download the LiveCD (the file extension should end in .iso). Then you should burn the image to a disc using a burning program such as Nero. After that, you can put the disc in the drive and reboot the computer. It should boot into the LInux OS on the disc.

 

[dmm26]

What steps did you take when the LiveCD didn't work? You should download the LiveCD (the file extension should end in .iso). Then you should burn the image to a disc using a burning program such as Nero. After that, you can put the disc in the drive and reboot the computer. It should boot into the LInux OS on the disc.

That's what I did and what I thought was going to happen but it just gave me the message above. I'll try looking at that link saunterer gave and see how that goes.

I have no idea what I did different but it seems to be working now!