Onbuddy’s Blog of tips and tricks.

Hey buddy! The Ubuntu Live CD is a good way to explore Ubuntu without changing anything on your hard drive. I’ll explain how to get up and running with the Live CD, and even shows you how to use it with a memory stick to keep your settings and documents around between reboots. You’ll also learn how to install Ubuntu, whether you want to make it the sole operating system on your computer or want to dual-boot between Ubuntu and Windows. You’ll even learn how to install Ubuntu on a Macintosh.

You can use the Ubuntu Live CD to get to know Linux before installing it on your system. This is simply the fastest and safest way to try out Linux.

Downloading the Live CD

You can obtain the Ubuntu Live CD from the main Ubuntu web site. The file you want to download is the ISO image that corresponds to the computer type you are using. If you’re on a PC, this probably means the x86 version, but if you happen to be using a 64-bit AMD or Intel processor, you want to download the 64-bit PC version. Finally, if you’re a Mac user, you want to get the PowerPC version. It is unknown at the time of this writing if Ubuntu will support the new Macintoshes with Intel processors.

Then, you can burn the ISO image to disc using any CD-burning software you have installed on your computer. Make sure you choose the option that burns the image to disc; don’t select the option to burn a data CD that will just copy the image over as a file. The difference is that the former will create a bootable disc, and the latter will not.

Booting the CD

If you are using a Mac, you need to hold down the C key to boot from a CD. If for some reason your Windows computer doesn’t want to boot from the CD, the fix is usually quite easy. You need to boot into your computer’s BIOS and modify the setting that specifies the boot order. Getting into the BIOS usually requires you to press a key early on in the boot sequence. The key you press depends on the make of your computer and BIOS, but it is typically displayed on the splash screen that comes up when your computer starts. If your splash screen doesn’t tell you this information, try one of these keys: Esc, Del, F2, F10, or F12.

If you’ve configured the BIOS correctly, shortly after boot you should see a splash screen with the following options:

Run preinstalled live system

This option loads the Live CD environment so you can test-drive Ubuntu. If you don’t press any keys within 30 seconds of getting to this screen, this option will automatically execute.

Rescue a broken system

Choose this option to load a minimal Linux enviroment that you can use to troubleshoot a nonworking Linux installation.

Memory test

You can use this option to run a test of your computer’s RAM. Many people don’t realize it, but many odd computer problems can be traced to bad RAM modules. If your computer exhibits erratic behavior, such as frequent freezes or an inability to consistently finish booting, your RAM may be the culprit, and running this program may save you hours of frustration.

Boot from the first hard disk

Select this option to continue booting from the hard drive.

Unless you’re troubleshooting, about the only other option of interest right now is pressing F2 to select a language. This setting determines the language and keyboard layout that will be used for the rest of the test-drive; the default is English.

Once you’ve made any necessary language selections, you should use the arrow keys to select “Run preinstalled live system,” and press Enter. This begins the loading of Ubuntu. You’ll see a lot of messages flash by on the screen and eventually be faced with a text dialog to configure your screen resolution. You can use the Tab and arrow keys to move the selection cursor, the spacebar to toggle a selection, and Enter to accept your input and move on to the next screen. You can select multiple entries, depending on what your monitor supports. Ubuntu will use the highest selected and supported resolution as the default.

If all goes well, you’ll automatically be logged in to a GNOME desktop less than a minute later. Depending on your hardware (network, sound, printer, etc.), you may find everything preconfigured and working. If you don’t, some of the hardware-configuration hacks later in this book may be useful even in the Live CD environment.

Filed under: Linux