Installing Ubuntu Linux on my old laptop wasn’t in the plan for today, but one thing kind of led to another, and here I am, watching the Ubuntu Configuration program do its thing.
It started innocently. While doing some other cleanup in my study, I turned on the old laptop and launched Windows Update. The laptop has been off for several months, so I knew there were going to be a few updates, but 27 Critical ones?!? Eeek! Most were of the “remote exploit” variety, so installing them was a no-brainer.
Midway into the 26th of the 27 updates, the laptop froze. When I rebooted the box, it blue-screened. Several times. Not good. My old Dell 600m was now effectively a brick.
I’d still be storming around blaming Microsoft if I hadn’t thought to Google for the error code that was on the blue screen. The concensus opinion was that the code (”pfn_list_corrupt”) indicated bad RAM. Popping out one of the two sticks of RAM cleared up the problem. Microsoft was off the hook.
This opened up the door to an opportunity. Besides replacing the bad RAM with a larger-capacity stick (costing far less than the original), I could pick up a larger hard drive (also costing far less than the original). And before going through the hassle of migrating XP to a new drive, it might be interesting to see if Ubuntu would install… So, off to Fry’s Electronics for parts.
As I was typing this, Ubuntu finished installing, and asked to be rebooted from disk, which it did with a nice startup sound. Sound! Getting laptop sound working from Linux has historically been a major hassle. And it sees the wireless access point. Sweet.
So installing Critical Updates from Microsoft can lead to Linux. Not in the plan when I started the day, but there it is.
Postscript: The first clue that something wasn’t quite right was when I couldn’t find the pretty desktop background that comes with the latest Ubuntu release. After a few more clues tapped me on the shoulder, I checked the install CD. I’d accidentally installed the previous release. (Note to self: Do not operate light machinery without sufficient caffiene.) Easily fixed. Now, suspend works.