[Discuss] linux install on windows 8.1 laptop

[lconrad at laymusic.org (Laura Conrad)]

>>>>> "Tom" == Tom Metro <tmetro+blu at gmail.com> writes:

    Tom> Laura Conrad wrote:
    >> Does anyone run linux...as a guest in a Windows 8.1 VPN?

    Tom> I'm confused. Either "VPN" was a typo, or I'm unfamiliar with what it
    Tom> means in the context you are referring to. It sounds like you are
    Tom> talking about virtualization.

Yes.  I did type what I thought was the right alphabet soup, but I
likely thought wrong.

    Tom> If so, does that mean you are looking for a guide on how to install
    Tom> Ubuntu to run inside a virtualization system like VirtualBox? 

Yes.   Also, does this get really hairy in real-use cases in ways that
don't show up in the guides?  For instance, in olden days, I know
virtualization sometimes had problems using the sound card.

    >> ...I'm wondering if instead of the dual boot I've always used before...
    >> It looks like the machine won't boot from the SD card reader...

    Tom> It sounds like your first approach was to install Ubuntu onto an SD
    Tom> card, and use that to dual-boot the machine, but your BIOS refused to
    Tom> boot from it.

Actually, I put the Ubuntu install system on the SD card, expecting it
to boot and offer me a chance to install Ubuntu in a partition on the
laptop's hard drive. 

    Tom> I gather you're using an SD card because you don't want to repartition
    Tom> the drive that holds Windows?

I have repartitioned the drive that holds windows.  I've never done an
install that way -- I suppose I make a small partition for the install
disk and tell a usb drive creator to use that?  The dual boot install
guide I found said that repartitioning the drive in Windows sometimes
worked better than relying on the install program to do it.  And I have
had problems with the drive partitioning on my last couple of installs.
They stopped using gparted, which works, and use something else, which
frequently doesn't.

    Tom> Is a USB Flash drive an option for you?

Yes, but I can't find one of those, either.  I do very little sneakernet
-- so what I have are SD cards that I use with cameras and digital
recorders and such.  In a day or two I will have something I can
continue down that route on.

    Tom> Did you accomplish this setup using Ubuntu's installer running
    Tom> on the Windows 8.1 machine?

No, I made the SD card installer on my Ubuntu desktop.  Not without
problems, but it does boot on my old creaky laptop, so I believe it's a
bootable drive, if the hardware would cooperate.

The guides I've found say that the Ubuntu installer that runs on windows
doesn't work on 8.1 or UEFI or something.

    Tom> I think if you use the installer, it'll put a boot loader onto
    Tom> the Windows 8.1 disk, which will prompt you to select the boot
    Tom> OS. That boot loader might be able to hand-off to your SD card,
    Tom> and let you avoid buying additional hardware. (I've rarely done
    Tom> dual-boot setups, and am not up on the current details, such as
    Tom> complications resulting from UEFI.)

Google has found me some stuff on that.  Ubuntu has allegedly tried to
get around as many of the complications as they could.  It isn't really
encouraging about getting it right on the first try, but it sounds like
people manage it eventually.  I've been doing dual-boot since 1995, so
I'm sure I can too.

I'm currently thinking I'll just return this particular laptop.  Even
running windows, it doesn't seem to solve any of the problems I was
thinking about when I bought it.  Printing is at least as flaky as linux
printing, and the sound doesn't seem to get through the (admittedly old)
HDMI cable.  It does boot up faster than the creaky old laptops, and the
screen is better, and I kind of like the touch screen, but I'm not sure
that's worth $600 if it doesn't do something useful.  Like play videos
on my tv and print giant PDF files in one shot and run linux for editing
and music publishing.

-- 
Laura   (mailto:lconrad at laymusic.org)
<https://plus.google.com/u/0/116029698292079786511>
(617) 661-8097	233 Broadway, Cambridge, MA 02139   
<http://www.laymusic.org/> <http://www.serpentpublications.org>

All animals are strictly dry:
They sinless live and swiftly die;
But sinful, ginful, rum-soaked men
Survive for three score years and ten.
And some of them, a very few,
Stay pickled till they're 92.

ANON, quoted in Arnold Silcock's _Verse and Worse_