Re: Setting up Fedora 7 on a ex-Windows machine (Ottawa)

[sulochan acharya]

G'day
Suggestion: Try installing the OLPC_XS_LATEST and see what happens. If the
installation goes through smoothly then install a GUI of your liking on top
of it.

On Feb 3, 2008 6:02 AM, Brad Paulsen <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:

>
> - Original Message -
> From: "Aaron Konstam" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> To: "M. Edward (Ed) Borasky" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> Cc: 
> Sent: Saturday, February 02, 2008 3:25 PM
> Subject: Re: Setting up Fedora 7 on a ex-Windows machine (Ottawa)
>
>
> > On Sat, 2008-02-02 at 10:39 -0800, M. Edward (Ed) Borasky wrote:
> >> James wrote:
> >> > Hello OLPC people!
> >> >
> >> > I am working on a Snakes and Ladders game for the XO, to help young
> >> > children learn to count.  You can find my first draft of the game
> >> > here: <http://olpc-dev.fuelindustries.com/snakes_080116.zip>.
> >> >
> >> >
> >> > I'm looking for help in getting Fedora 7 to run on a Sony Vaio PCG-
> >> > GRT796HP laptop that used to run Windows.  It's a Pentium 4, running
> >> > at 2.67 GHz, with 512 MB of RAM.  I've spent several hours trying
> >> > various approaches and distributions, without success.
> >> >
> >> > This is my first excursion into Linux territory, and I'm still
> finding
> >> > my feet with Python.  I'm more at ease with development on Macintosh,
> >> > and have only scraped the surface of using the Terminal.  Please
> don't
> >> > hesitate to spoonfeed me in all things Linux and Python.
> >> >
> >> > What I can do
> >> > -
> >> > I'd almost given up hope of getting the Vaio to run Fedora when I
> >> > tried using the XO LiveCD from <http://dev.laptop.org/pub/
> >> > livebackupcd>.  This worked perfectly, which encourages me to believe
> >> > that the issue is not with the machine but with what I am doing to
> it.
> >> >
> >> > Where I get stuck
> >> > -
> >> > I've downloaded the F-7-i386-DVD.iso file from
> >> > <http://torrent.fedoraproject.org/torrents//Fedora-7-i386.torrent
> >> >  >, and burnt it to a DVD-ROM. The initial menu screen appears.  If I
> >> > choose the default (graphic) installation, eventually the screen
> >> > starts to display vibrant pulsing graphics which I do not believe are
> >> > intended.  If I choose the text mode for installation, and step
> >> > through the various screens, I eventually run into a bug in the
> >> > installer script.
> >> >
> >> > Rodney Smith entered a description of the bug into the RedHat bugbase
> >> > on 2007-07-08, but there seems to have been no movement on it since
> >> > then.  This leads me to believe that there must be an obvious
> >> > workaround, so others have just side-stepped the bug and moved on.
> >> >
> >> > The original bug report was marked as NEEDINFO, so I supplied that
> >> > info on 2008-01-21.  You can read the complete report here:
> >> >
> >> > https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=247399
> > First I assuume that you did a sucessfule media check.
> >> >
> >> > What I'm hoping to do
> >> > -
> >> > My aim is to install a version of Linux as close to the XO version as
> >> > possible.  This will make it easier for me to get into the correct
> >> > mindset and best practices for developing for the XO.  I'm not
> married
> >> > to the idea of getting Fedora 7 to run if the line of least
> resistance
> >> > is to install something similar.
> >> >
> >> > In his bug report, Rodney Smith notes that "System previously had fc5
> >> > that was installed using a dvd and the graphical interface without a
> >> > hitch and that ran fine."
> >> >
> >> > I've looked for a downloadable version of Fedora Core 5 or 6 for a
> x86
> >> > machine, but all the links that I have found end up at the Get Fedora
> >> > page, which now limits itself to downloads of Fedora 7 and 8
> >> > <http://fedoraproject.org/get-fedora
> >> >  >.
> >> >
> >> > I get a similar bug when I try installing Fedora 8.  I've also tried
> >> > installing Ubuntu 6, but run into the
> graphic-interface-shows-vibrant-
> >> > pulsing-grap

Re: Setting up Fedora 7 on a ex-Windows machine (Ottawa)

[James]

On 2 Feb 2008, at 19:17, Brad Paulsen wrote:
> On Sat, 2008-02-02 at 10:39 -0800, M. Edward (Ed) Borasky wrote:
> James wrote:
>> I'm looking for help in getting Fedora 7 to run on a Sony Vaio PCG-
>> GRT796HP laptop that used to run Windows.

> Have you tried installing from the LiveCD?

Hi Brad,

Thanks for your suggestion.

What LiveCD do you recommend that I should use?  I've found these two:

http://download.fedoraproject.org/pub/fedora/linux/releases/8/Live/i686/Fedora-8-Live-i686.iso
http://download.fedoraproject.org/pub/fedora/linux/releases/8/Live/i686/Fedora-8-Live-KDE-i686.iso

What is the difference between the KDE and the non-KDE versions?

1) Using Fedora-8-Live-i686.iso, after a certain amount of text  
feedback, I get a screen full of red columns divided by green lines,  
with two black boxes.  This remains for a while; I then get a brief  
glimpse of more text including the word "Werewolf".  The screen then  
changes to a cross between an alert in the Matrix and a neon  
advertisement for pickled Chinese jellyfish.  We then move on to a  
micro-budget sequence from 2001: a Space Oddity.  By the time the disk  
activity has stopped, I get a flashing apricot and saturated blue  
screen.  Pressing the Tab or Enter keys has no observable effect.

My 8-year-old daughter finds all these digital pyrotechnics pretty,  
but they don't help install Linux.


2) Using Fedora-8-Live-KDE-i686.iso, I get the following output:

   ..MP-BIOS bug: 8254 timer not connected to I0-APIC
   Buffer I/O error on device sr0, logical block 3622
   ... (more in the same vein)
   Buffer I/O error on device sr0, logical block 3627
   Bug in intramfs /init detected. Dropping to a shell. Good luck!

   bash: no job control in this shell
   bash-3.2# _


3) Trying again with Fedora-8-Live-KDE-i686.iso, I get:

   ..MP-BIOS bug: 8254 timer not connected to I0-APIC
   Buffer I/O error on device sr0, logical block 

   --
   WARNING: Cannot find root file system!
   --

   Create symlink /dev/root and then exit this shell to continue the  
boot sequence.

   bash: no job control in this shell
   bash-3.2# _

I've found this page:  where a similar issue is discussed, and a solution is  
proposed.  The difference is that the solution expects the source to  
be on a usb key rather than a CD-ROM.  How can I find where the CD is  
mounted?

I've tried using the find command to locate a file which I know exists  
on the CD-ROM, but bash responds:

   bash: find: command not found

Thanks in advance,

James
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Re: Setting up Fedora 7 on a ex-Windows machine (Ottawa)

[sulochan acharya]

G'day
Suggestion: Try installing the OLPC_XS_LATEST and see what happens. If the
installation goes through smoothly then install a GUI of your liking on top
of it. The XS built is a fedora core.
Its hard to replicate problems like this, but you might be able find
something in  fedora and linux question forums for simillar problems.
best,
Sulochan

On Feb 3, 2008 6:02 AM, Brad Paulsen <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:

>
> - Original Message -
> From: "Aaron Konstam" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> To: "M. Edward (Ed) Borasky" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> Cc: 
> Sent: Saturday, February 02, 2008 3:25 PM
> Subject: Re: Setting up Fedora 7 on a ex-Windows machine (Ottawa)
>
>
> > On Sat, 2008-02-02 at 10:39 -0800, M. Edward (Ed) Borasky wrote:
> >> James wrote:
> >> > Hello OLPC people!
> >> >
> >> > I am working on a Snakes and Ladders game for the XO, to help young
> >> > children learn to count.  You can find my first draft of the game
> >> > here: <http://olpc-dev.fuelindustries.com/snakes_080116.zip>.
> >> >
> >> >
> >> > I'm looking for help in getting Fedora 7 to run on a Sony Vaio PCG-
> >> > GRT796HP laptop that used to run Windows.  It's a Pentium 4, running
> >> > at 2.67 GHz, with 512 MB of RAM.  I've spent several hours trying
> >> > various approaches and distributions, without success.
> >> >
> >> > This is my first excursion into Linux territory, and I'm still
> finding
> >> > my feet with Python.  I'm more at ease with development on Macintosh,
> >> > and have only scraped the surface of using the Terminal.  Please
> don't
> >> > hesitate to spoonfeed me in all things Linux and Python.
> >> >
> >> > What I can do
> >> > -
> >> > I'd almost given up hope of getting the Vaio to run Fedora when I
> >> > tried using the XO LiveCD from <http://dev.laptop.org/pub/
> >> > livebackupcd>.  This worked perfectly, which encourages me to believe
> >> > that the issue is not with the machine but with what I am doing to
> it.
> >> >
> >> > Where I get stuck
> >> > -
> >> > I've downloaded the F-7-i386-DVD.iso file from
> >> > <http://torrent.fedoraproject.org/torrents//Fedora-7-i386.torrent
> >> >  >, and burnt it to a DVD-ROM. The initial menu screen appears.  If I
> >> > choose the default (graphic) installation, eventually the screen
> >> > starts to display vibrant pulsing graphics which I do not believe are
> >> > intended.  If I choose the text mode for installation, and step
> >> > through the various screens, I eventually run into a bug in the
> >> > installer script.
> >> >
> >> > Rodney Smith entered a description of the bug into the RedHat bugbase
> >> > on 2007-07-08, but there seems to have been no movement on it since
> >> > then.  This leads me to believe that there must be an obvious
> >> > workaround, so others have just side-stepped the bug and moved on.
> >> >
> >> > The original bug report was marked as NEEDINFO, so I supplied that
> >> > info on 2008-01-21.  You can read the complete report here:
> >> >
> >> > https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=247399
> > First I assuume that you did a sucessfule media check.
> >> >
> >> > What I'm hoping to do
> >> > -
> >> > My aim is to install a version of Linux as close to the XO version as
> >> > possible.  This will make it easier for me to get into the correct
> >> > mindset and best practices for developing for the XO.  I'm not
> married
> >> > to the idea of getting Fedora 7 to run if the line of least
> resistance
> >> > is to install something similar.
> >> >
> >> > In his bug report, Rodney Smith notes that "System previously had fc5
> >> > that was installed using a dvd and the graphical interface without a
> >> > hitch and that ran fine."
> >> >
> >> > I've looked for a downloadable version of Fedora Core 5 or 6 for a
> x86
> >> > machine, but all the links that I have found end up at the Get Fedora
> >> > page, which now limits itself to downloads of Fedora 7 and 8
> >> > <http://fedoraproject.org/get-fedora
> >> >  >.
> >> >
> >> > I get a si

Re: Setting up Fedora 7 on a ex-Windows machine (Ottawa)

[Brad Paulsen]

- Original Message - 
From: "Aaron Konstam" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: "M. Edward (Ed) Borasky" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Cc: 
Sent: Saturday, February 02, 2008 3:25 PM
Subject: Re: Setting up Fedora 7 on a ex-Windows machine (Ottawa)


> On Sat, 2008-02-02 at 10:39 -0800, M. Edward (Ed) Borasky wrote:
>> James wrote:
>> > Hello OLPC people!
>> >
>> > I am working on a Snakes and Ladders game for the XO, to help young
>> > children learn to count.  You can find my first draft of the game
>> > here: <http://olpc-dev.fuelindustries.com/snakes_080116.zip>.
>> >
>> >
>> > I'm looking for help in getting Fedora 7 to run on a Sony Vaio PCG-
>> > GRT796HP laptop that used to run Windows.  It's a Pentium 4, running
>> > at 2.67 GHz, with 512 MB of RAM.  I've spent several hours trying
>> > various approaches and distributions, without success.
>> >
>> > This is my first excursion into Linux territory, and I'm still finding
>> > my feet with Python.  I'm more at ease with development on Macintosh,
>> > and have only scraped the surface of using the Terminal.  Please don't
>> > hesitate to spoonfeed me in all things Linux and Python.
>> >
>> > What I can do
>> > -
>> > I'd almost given up hope of getting the Vaio to run Fedora when I
>> > tried using the XO LiveCD from <http://dev.laptop.org/pub/
>> > livebackupcd>.  This worked perfectly, which encourages me to believe
>> > that the issue is not with the machine but with what I am doing to it.
>> >
>> > Where I get stuck
>> > -
>> > I've downloaded the F-7-i386-DVD.iso file from 
>> > <http://torrent.fedoraproject.org/torrents//Fedora-7-i386.torrent
>> >  >, and burnt it to a DVD-ROM. The initial menu screen appears.  If I
>> > choose the default (graphic) installation, eventually the screen
>> > starts to display vibrant pulsing graphics which I do not believe are
>> > intended.  If I choose the text mode for installation, and step
>> > through the various screens, I eventually run into a bug in the
>> > installer script.
>> >
>> > Rodney Smith entered a description of the bug into the RedHat bugbase
>> > on 2007-07-08, but there seems to have been no movement on it since
>> > then.  This leads me to believe that there must be an obvious
>> > workaround, so others have just side-stepped the bug and moved on.
>> >
>> > The original bug report was marked as NEEDINFO, so I supplied that
>> > info on 2008-01-21.  You can read the complete report here:
>> >
>> > https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=247399
> First I assuume that you did a sucessfule media check.
>> >
>> > What I'm hoping to do
>> > -
>> > My aim is to install a version of Linux as close to the XO version as
>> > possible.  This will make it easier for me to get into the correct
>> > mindset and best practices for developing for the XO.  I'm not married
>> > to the idea of getting Fedora 7 to run if the line of least resistance
>> > is to install something similar.
>> >
>> > In his bug report, Rodney Smith notes that "System previously had fc5
>> > that was installed using a dvd and the graphical interface without a
>> > hitch and that ran fine."
>> >
>> > I've looked for a downloadable version of Fedora Core 5 or 6 for a x86
>> > machine, but all the links that I have found end up at the Get Fedora
>> > page, which now limits itself to downloads of Fedora 7 and 8 
>> > <http://fedoraproject.org/get-fedora
>> >  >.
>> >
>> > I get a similar bug when I try installing Fedora 8.  I've also tried
>> > installing Ubuntu 6, but run into the graphic-interface-shows-vibrant-
>> > pulsing-graphics issue.
>> >  >
>> > If it hadn't been for XO-LiveCD_080130.iso performing perfectly on the
>> > machine, I'd have written off my Sony Vaio as being incompatible with
>> > Linux.
>> >
>> >
>> > If anyone can help me get some version of Linux installed on the
>> > machine, I'd be most grateful.  If there are any Python developers on
>> > this list in the Ottawa area, I'd be interested to hear from them too.
>> >
>> > Thanks in advance,
>> >
>> > James
> Second, I hope you did not do what the bug poste

Re: Setting up Fedora 7 on a ex-Windows machine (Ottawa)

[Aaron Konstam]

On Sat, 2008-02-02 at 10:39 -0800, M. Edward (Ed) Borasky wrote:
> James wrote:
> > Hello OLPC people!
> > 
> > I am working on a Snakes and Ladders game for the XO, to help young  
> > children learn to count.  You can find my first draft of the game  
> > here: .
> > 
> > 
> > I'm looking for help in getting Fedora 7 to run on a Sony Vaio PCG- 
> > GRT796HP laptop that used to run Windows.  It's a Pentium 4, running  
> > at 2.67 GHz, with 512 MB of RAM.  I've spent several hours trying  
> > various approaches and distributions, without success.
> > 
> > This is my first excursion into Linux territory, and I'm still finding  
> > my feet with Python.  I'm more at ease with development on Macintosh,  
> > and have only scraped the surface of using the Terminal.  Please don't  
> > hesitate to spoonfeed me in all things Linux and Python.
> > 
> > What I can do
> > -
> > I'd almost given up hope of getting the Vaio to run Fedora when I  
> > tried using the XO LiveCD from  > livebackupcd>.  This worked perfectly, which encourages me to believe  
> > that the issue is not with the machine but with what I am doing to it.
> > 
> > Where I get stuck
> > -
> > I've downloaded the F-7-i386-DVD.iso file from 
> >  >  >, and burnt it to a DVD-ROM. The initial menu screen appears.  If I  
> > choose the default (graphic) installation, eventually the screen  
> > starts to display vibrant pulsing graphics which I do not believe are  
> > intended.  If I choose the text mode for installation, and step  
> > through the various screens, I eventually run into a bug in the  
> > installer script.
> > 
> > Rodney Smith entered a description of the bug into the RedHat bugbase  
> > on 2007-07-08, but there seems to have been no movement on it since  
> > then.  This leads me to believe that there must be an obvious  
> > workaround, so others have just side-stepped the bug and moved on.
> > 
> > The original bug report was marked as NEEDINFO, so I supplied that  
> > info on 2008-01-21.  You can read the complete report here:
> > 
> > https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=247399
First I assuume that you did a sucessfule media check.
> > 
> > What I'm hoping to do
> > -
> > My aim is to install a version of Linux as close to the XO version as  
> > possible.  This will make it easier for me to get into the correct  
> > mindset and best practices for developing for the XO.  I'm not married  
> > to the idea of getting Fedora 7 to run if the line of least resistance  
> > is to install something similar.
> > 
> > In his bug report, Rodney Smith notes that "System previously had fc5  
> > that was installed using a dvd and the graphical interface without a  
> > hitch and that ran fine."
> > 
> > I've looked for a downloadable version of Fedora Core 5 or 6 for a x86  
> > machine, but all the links that I have found end up at the Get Fedora  
> > page, which now limits itself to downloads of Fedora 7 and 8 
> >  >  >.
> > 
> > I get a similar bug when I try installing Fedora 8.  I've also tried  
> > installing Ubuntu 6, but run into the graphic-interface-shows-vibrant- 
> > pulsing-graphics issue.
> >  >
> > If it hadn't been for XO-LiveCD_080130.iso performing perfectly on the  
> > machine, I'd have written off my Sony Vaio as being incompatible with  
> > Linux.
> > 
> > 
> > If anyone can help me get some version of Linux installed on the  
> > machine, I'd be most grateful.  If there are any Python developers on  
> > this list in the Ottawa area, I'd be interested to hear from them too.
> > 
> > Thanks in advance,
> > 
> > James
Second, I hope you did not do what the bug poster did, that is , allow
the machine to set up a default partitioning. 
If you understand how fdisk works, at the point that patitioning is
asked for, type ctl-alt-F2 which willget you to a termineal then 
remove all partitioning at partition from scratch. Have a swap partition
= to 1 of 2x Ram size and the rest make into /.
Then type ctl-alt-f7 to tqake you back to anaconda and continue.
This is in tex installation. You cna then use the gui partitioning tool
to make any final editing of the partitions. 

It may still fail to install but you have started out without mysterious
partitioning problems which should help.
--
===
Darth Vader! Only you would be so bold! -- Princess Leia Organa
===
Aaron Konstam telephone: (210) 656-0355 e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]

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Re: Setting up Fedora 7 on a ex-Windows machine (Ottawa)

[M. Edward (Ed) Borasky]

James wrote:
> Hello OLPC people!
> 
> I am working on a Snakes and Ladders game for the XO, to help young  
> children learn to count.  You can find my first draft of the game  
> here: .
> 
> 
> I'm looking for help in getting Fedora 7 to run on a Sony Vaio PCG- 
> GRT796HP laptop that used to run Windows.  It's a Pentium 4, running  
> at 2.67 GHz, with 512 MB of RAM.  I've spent several hours trying  
> various approaches and distributions, without success.
> 
> This is my first excursion into Linux territory, and I'm still finding  
> my feet with Python.  I'm more at ease with development on Macintosh,  
> and have only scraped the surface of using the Terminal.  Please don't  
> hesitate to spoonfeed me in all things Linux and Python.
> 
> What I can do
> -
> I'd almost given up hope of getting the Vaio to run Fedora when I  
> tried using the XO LiveCD from  livebackupcd>.  This worked perfectly, which encourages me to believe  
> that the issue is not with the machine but with what I am doing to it.
> 
> Where I get stuck
> -
> I've downloaded the F-7-i386-DVD.iso file from 
>   >, and burnt it to a DVD-ROM. The initial menu screen appears.  If I  
> choose the default (graphic) installation, eventually the screen  
> starts to display vibrant pulsing graphics which I do not believe are  
> intended.  If I choose the text mode for installation, and step  
> through the various screens, I eventually run into a bug in the  
> installer script.
> 
> Rodney Smith entered a description of the bug into the RedHat bugbase  
> on 2007-07-08, but there seems to have been no movement on it since  
> then.  This leads me to believe that there must be an obvious  
> workaround, so others have just side-stepped the bug and moved on.
> 
> The original bug report was marked as NEEDINFO, so I supplied that  
> info on 2008-01-21.  You can read the complete report here:
> 
> https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=247399
> 
> What I'm hoping to do
> -
> My aim is to install a version of Linux as close to the XO version as  
> possible.  This will make it easier for me to get into the correct  
> mindset and best practices for developing for the XO.  I'm not married  
> to the idea of getting Fedora 7 to run if the line of least resistance  
> is to install something similar.
> 
> In his bug report, Rodney Smith notes that "System previously had fc5  
> that was installed using a dvd and the graphical interface without a  
> hitch and that ran fine."
> 
> I've looked for a downloadable version of Fedora Core 5 or 6 for a x86  
> machine, but all the links that I have found end up at the Get Fedora  
> page, which now limits itself to downloads of Fedora 7 and 8 
>   >.
> 
> I get a similar bug when I try installing Fedora 8.  I've also tried  
> installing Ubuntu 6, but run into the graphic-interface-shows-vibrant- 
> pulsing-graphics issue.
>  >
> If it hadn't been for XO-LiveCD_080130.iso performing perfectly on the  
> machine, I'd have written off my Sony Vaio as being incompatible with  
> Linux.
> 
> 
> If anyone can help me get some version of Linux installed on the  
> machine, I'd be most grateful.  If there are any Python developers on  
> this list in the Ottawa area, I'd be interested to hear from them too.
> 
> Thanks in advance,
> 
> James
> 
> 
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> http://lists.laptop.org/listinfo/devel
> 

There are two major Linux community distros now -- Fedora and Ubuntu. 
You've tried both of them and they've croaked. A couple of things you 
can try:

1. In general, more *recent* distros have a better shot at finding and 
dealing with unusual hardware than the older ones. So rather than 
dropping back to Fedora 5 or 6, you're better off trying to get 8 or 
pre-release 9 to work.

2. The major distros all have forums where people who are having 
problems like yours can get help.

3. When you boot a Fedora install DVD, you have an opportunity to do a 
media check to see if the download and burn was correct. If you didn't 
do that, do it now, and if you have a bad DVD, you'll need to download 
again, burn again, and media check again until you have a good one! I 
think you can do this with Ubuntu as well, but I haven't tried it recently.

4. If the graphic *installer* doesn't work, there is a text-based 
installer that might work. You'll have to set up your X and desktop 
later, but it's worth a try if the other things fail.

5. If you can't get Fedora or Ubuntu to work, there are other distros 
you can try. CentOS 5 and Debian "Etch" are solid, stable distros. They 
are probably carrying older packages than what you'd like in the ideal 
case, but if t

Setting up Fedora 7 on a ex-Windows machine (Ottawa)

[James]

Hello OLPC people!

I am working on a Snakes and Ladders game for the XO, to help young  
children learn to count.  You can find my first draft of the game  
here: .


I'm looking for help in getting Fedora 7 to run on a Sony Vaio PCG- 
GRT796HP laptop that used to run Windows.  It's a Pentium 4, running  
at 2.67 GHz, with 512 MB of RAM.  I've spent several hours trying  
various approaches and distributions, without success.

This is my first excursion into Linux territory, and I'm still finding  
my feet with Python.  I'm more at ease with development on Macintosh,  
and have only scraped the surface of using the Terminal.  Please don't  
hesitate to spoonfeed me in all things Linux and Python.

What I can do
-
I'd almost given up hope of getting the Vaio to run Fedora when I  
tried using the XO LiveCD from .  This worked perfectly, which encourages me to believe  
that the issue is not with the machine but with what I am doing to it.

Where I get stuck
-
I've downloaded the F-7-i386-DVD.iso file from 
, and burnt it to a DVD-ROM. The initial menu screen appears.  If I  
choose the default (graphic) installation, eventually the screen  
starts to display vibrant pulsing graphics which I do not believe are  
intended.  If I choose the text mode for installation, and step  
through the various screens, I eventually run into a bug in the  
installer script.

Rodney Smith entered a description of the bug into the RedHat bugbase  
on 2007-07-08, but there seems to have been no movement on it since  
then.  This leads me to believe that there must be an obvious  
workaround, so others have just side-stepped the bug and moved on.

The original bug report was marked as NEEDINFO, so I supplied that  
info on 2008-01-21.  You can read the complete report here:

https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=247399

What I'm hoping to do
-
My aim is to install a version of Linux as close to the XO version as  
possible.  This will make it easier for me to get into the correct  
mindset and best practices for developing for the XO.  I'm not married  
to the idea of getting Fedora 7 to run if the line of least resistance  
is to install something similar.

In his bug report, Rodney Smith notes that "System previously had fc5  
that was installed using a dvd and the graphical interface without a  
hitch and that ran fine."

I've looked for a downloadable version of Fedora Core 5 or 6 for a x86  
machine, but all the links that I have found end up at the Get Fedora  
page, which now limits itself to downloads of Fedora 7 and 8 
.

I get a similar bug when I try installing Fedora 8.  I've also tried  
installing Ubuntu 6, but run into the graphic-interface-shows-vibrant- 
pulsing-graphics issue.
 >
If it hadn't been for XO-LiveCD_080130.iso performing perfectly on the  
machine, I'd have written off my Sony Vaio as being incompatible with  
Linux.


If anyone can help me get some version of Linux installed on the  
machine, I'd be most grateful.  If there are any Python developers on  
this list in the Ottawa area, I'd be interested to hear from them too.

Thanks in advance,

James


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