.
Alan, below are my notes, per your request.
I'm sending this to you via the PLUG list as
some others may be interested.
Now that I've got it all working, I can say that
PCLinuxOS is well worth the effort to get it installed.
As I've said before on this list, pclos is by *FAR* the
nicest Linux distro I've ever seen. I am simply blown
away by how fantastic it is in *every* respect. Far more
"gorgeous" *and* more functional (for me) than *ubuntu
or any other I've tried.
Once I got past Dell's (and M$'s) apparent attempts to
keep us from doing what we want to do with our computers,
the installation went swimmingly and fast. I installed
PCLinuxOS "junion" which seems to work better than their
"big daddy." Everything including wireless work for me
with "junior" both on the live CD and with HD install;
but I was not able to get wireless to work with "big daddy.
Never could figure out why. Complete installation of
"junior' took only 10 minutes and with Synaptic, I added
Firefox, Thunderbird, and lots more in another 10 minutes.
The only thing I have yet to solve is my wife's printer
(HP pcs 1210xi all-in-one) for which I have not yet been
able to find drivers, apparently because of the scanner.
-------------------
On Mon, 07 May 2007 10:50, Alan Dayley wrote
> Josef Lowder wrote:
> > After much searching on the Internet, I learned that this is
> > a known problem with this Dell computer and the solution is to
> > unplug the computer (and if that doesn't work, to also remove
> > and reinstall the battery and/or the memory chips), then the Dell
> > will see the bios again. This may need to be done more than once.
> > After several attempts, that finally worked.
>
-----------------
Alan Daley wrote:
> I have been following this thread with some interest since I have a
> desktop computer with similar symptoms. This computer had some other
> behaviors that point me away from a perfect match, including the fact
> that it is not a Dell. However, I'd be interested in the references
> that you found. If you have the links handy, could you provide them
> here or off list?
---------------------------------------
Joe replied: Here are my rather sketchy, distilled, and incomplete notes:
dell.gx260 -- 0705-07 -- google: GX260 dual boot
== 0301-07 Knoppix, Optiplex - No Boot After load - Knoppix.net
We've got some new Dell Optiplex GX260. After loading Knoppix (which seems to
work ... I then warm-boot (ctrl-alt-del) and finally get the dual boot screen
www.knoppix.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=314
== 0505-26 sir_saucealot I've installed varying versions of debian on a wide
range of Dell machines (GX110, GX240, GX260, GX270, PRECISION 340, PRECISION
520, PowerEdge servers, etc) but not any of the SX series. I beleive the
hardware is very similar, and most things work out of the box with a standard
install of debian sarge. Building a customised kernel is recommended for best
performance (and to get the sound working - that's the only thing that doesn't
work on the GX280 out-of-the-box).
== http://www.people.vcu.edu/~rbreams/linuxinstall
my Dell (Optiplex GX260, Pentium 4, 512MB of RAM, 2.4GHz) computer dual
booted with Windows XP and Suse Linux 9.1 ... with Linux (and nothing else)
on a Western Digital 80GB USB drive (WDC-WD800BB-00DKA0 external hard drive),
and the Windows XP unchanged on the internal hard drive.
The most time-consuming part, after installation from the CD's, was figuring
out how to get the BIOS to boot to linux (on the external hard drive) from the
boot sector of the internal hard drive (instead of from the installation CD's).
I kept getting a kernel panic. (Actually, I was getting "Waiting for device
/dev/sda2 to appear: ... not found --device nodes: console, etc, etc, VFS:
Cannot open root device sda2 or unknown block (0,0) Please append a correct
"root=" boot option Kernel panic: VFS Unable to mount root fs on an unknown
block(0,0)", which was where the booting stopped). I fixed it by recompiling
the kernel.
2. When installing:
Install grub, but DO NOT INSTALL GRUB ON THE MBR!
Install swap at /dev/sda1
Install root at /dev/sda2
Install the grub boot loader at /dev/sda2
Set mount point of /dev/hda1 to /windows/C
Delete windows completely on /dev/sda
Use reiserfs
Hopefully, you can now boot into linux from the CD. Next, edit menu.lst.
3. Insert the panic=10 option in the file /boot/grub/menu.lst at the
appropriate place below as follows:
###Don't change this comment - YaST2 identifier: Original name: linux###
title Linux
kernel (hd1,1)/boot/vmlinuz panic=10 root=/dev/sda2
splash=silent desktop resume=/dev/sda1 showopts
initrd (hd1,1)/boot/initrd
Using the panic=10 option means that if you get a kernel panic the machine
will reboot after 10 seconds (much better than you switching off and on!).
4. In your home directory (in linux) do
dd if=/boot/grub/stage1 of=bootsect.lnx bs=512 count=1
Insert a blank floppy and do
mcopy bootsect.lnx a:
Next, boot into Windows XP.
5. Copy bootsect.lnx from the floppy to the C: drive. Look for the file called
boot.ini in the C: drive (the highest level directory in C:). It may be a
hidden file until you make it visible, but it's there alright. Then remove the
read-only check mark. In the C: drive in Windows XP use notepad to append the
following extra line within the boot.ini file
C:\bootsect.lnx="Suse Linux 9.1".
Now reboot, and you should see two options. Check that booting to Windows XP
is ok by selecting Windows. Reboot, and then select Suse Linux 9.1.
==
http://www.knoppix.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=314&highlight=gx260
I've confirmed this myself on GX260's. Boot from a Knoppix Linux cd, and then
shut down. Then power back on, the dell will not boot up again. It will power
the drives and the fan, but the display will remain black. The status lights
on the back will display "Memory Failure".
You then have to remove AC and remove the CMOS battery, then hit the power
button a few times to discharge and then it will come back on.
I spent an hour on hold yesterday with Dell-Canada support and they decided to
replace the motherboard, it wasn't until I pulled the CMOS battery and did the
above did I get it working again.
This problem does not exhibit itself on the GX240, GX150, GX100, D4500, D8200,
I4100, C610, Precision 340. (Systems I had available to test)
==
http://pclinuxoshwdb.com/hwdb/?View=entry&EntryID=236
Works: Dell Optiplex GX260 5/5 - tested it with PCLinuxOS 2007 xOS .93a
JMiahMan - Rating Scale
1. Does not work at all
2. May work but is not effective, fast enough, etc.. to be acceptable.
3. Works but is maybe slower than usual, or has small to minor discrepancies.
4. Works well but not "out of box" may take some major steps to get working
5. Works either "out of box" or near enough (maybe, simply copying a firmware
file)
==
http://www.pclinuxoshwdb.com/index.php?option=com_jreviews&Itemid=49
== 0704-25 tomgheath@
http://talkback.zdnet.com/5208-12554-0.html?forumID=1&threadID=32878&messageID=608049&start=-9637
Ubuntu upgrades and installation are easy. I tried Ubuntu several years ago
but the install did not go well. A month ago installed Feisty Fawn on a Dell
GX150 Optiplex via cable Internet and the installation went perfectly. Ubuntu
connected itself to the Internet and installed drivers for every device that
was in the Dell. Thurday, I downloaded the 7.04 ISO on our Dell GX260 (WinXP).
Went to bed and when I got up in the morning the upgrade was complete and
working great.
==
http://forums.fedoraforum.org/showthread.php?t=20914
more interesting info.
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