[RESOLVED] Help Zorin 9 Lite and Core Install

Hello,

I have an older laptop--Toshiba Satellite L25-S121 with following specs:

Microsoft® Windows® XP Home, Intel® Celeron® M processor 380, 256MB DDR2,
60GB 5400rpm PATA, CD-RW/DVD-ROM, 15” TruBrite™ XGA, ATI RADEON®
XPRESS 200M, Atheros® 802.11 b/g wireless-LAN

I wasn't using this laptop any longer and I thought I might have some fun and try out Linux. Zorin sounded like a great Linux distro, and I read that it was a great replacement OS for the now defunct XP and that it should work well on an older laptop like my Toshiba. I downloaded the ISO and burned it to a DVD and started the install. First of all, it literally took nearly an entire day to load. I chose to overwrite the disk and eliminate XP, and install it to the hard drive using the full 60GB partition.

Once it finally was loaded and I had a working desktop. I opened the DVD tray and the system immediately crashed. I restarted the PC and all I got is a flashing dash in the upper left on the screen and nothing more. I attempted the install several times, and every time the same. It acts like it is running in sandbox mode off the DVD and not actually installed on the hard drive, yet it did wipe my XP.

Any ideas or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I'd really like to try this out, but at this stage, about ready to forget it and just reinstall XP.

Thanks!

For clarity, was this 'Lite' or 'Core'? In view of the very low specs of the machine I would advise you give Quelitu a try:

http://wavesofthefuture.net/computers/l ... free.shtml

I successfully got a working desktop on Lite. Core never completed install, so I abandoned the attempt and then saw that the system falls below Core's recommended specs. However, the laptop does meet the specs for Lite, and it does work, but it appears that it is not actually running off the hard drive. It seems dependent on the DVD drive even though I select to install it to hard drive. It did wipe my XP install though, so it did something to the hard drive.

Trying Quelitu. It is taking a long time to install just like Zorin OS 9 Lite did, so we'll see. Should Quelitu work better than Zorin? I picked Zorin OS 9 Lite because it sounded like the best option for my older laptop, and I wanted something with a similar look and feel as Windows while I play around with and learn about Linux.

I suggested Quelitu as it only uses about 80 Mb of RAM during operational running time. Going back to Zorin, the team state clearly on the main site that you should try the distro in live mode. As for Windows similarity then it depends on what type of Look you are after - Lite tends to be just Win2k type menu as opposed to XP or 7 of Core. Previous to Zorin, the only other distro to look like Windows was Freespire (community version of Linspire) and a Russian distro that did not last the distance, Linux XP!

I did run Zorin live mode from DVD to first try it out, and it worked fine and I liked it. It is trying to actually install it to the hard drive that is giving me trouble. Like I said, I start the install, go through several option screens like picking the time zone screen, and end up with a fully functioning desktop, but my DVD drive keeps churning away the entire time and never stops. When I open my DVD tray, the entire desktop crashes.

By the way, I tried Quelitu 14.04 and after 24 hours I am still looking at a black screen that says Quelitu 14.04 with the four white/green dots lighting left to right as a progress indicator. However, I hear no spin sounds from the hard drive or DVD drive and it appears that it isn't actually loading at this stage. I will restart and choose the install line that says "try this if previous attempt failed".

Win2k look is fine as a starting point.

OK, just like Core, I would run the installer from the Live Desktop instead of choosing install from the boot menu - is this what you did?

I never actually tried that with Lite. I did have success trying the 2nd option of Quelitu. Had a desktop up and running off the DVD very quickly, and then selected the Install from the Desktop. It seems to be installing, but has now been in progress for several hours. I'll report back if it is successful or not. If it works, and even if it takes a while, I'll go back and try the same with Zorin OS 9 Lite.

The install screens on Quelitu and Zorin look the same other than the color theme.

Well, 24 hours later Quelitu desktop appears to be frozen on the screen, and no sounds of disk activity. There seem to be 7 dots that represent progress on the installation and the first 3 are lit green, same as it was the first hour into installation yesterday. So it appears I'm left with a rather large new paperweight for my desk.

Well, I replaced my 256mb RAM with 2GB RAM and even OS 9 Core loaded right up. I had installer crash issues that suggested it was the write speed at which I burned my DVD, but it really appears that the RAM was the primary issue. So even though it says that 256mb RAM is sufficient, that does not appear to be universally true. Anyway, thank you swarfendor for your replies and willingness to try to help. Greatly appreciated!

Glad you are sorted - for future issues not relating to installation, please post in Help and Support - will mark this thread as [RESOLVED]