Ubuntu 6.06.1 loaded...no Gui!

Allen Chemist,

 Ok, thanks for the input, Allen. I loaded kubuntu. I chose 6.06.1 just to experiment with older pc equipment. It's a 4-5 yr old pc, and I
want to use linux as a server (file and print server) in the near future.

Ok, I installed the kubuntu - install iso image 6.06.1 -alternate-386 (I think I tried that one because of long term support).
Please let me know exactly what that means! I know the 386 has to do with intel's uprocessors....and the 6.06.1 has to do with the date it was released.
I know very little about linux, but want to learn a lot more. The learning curve is really big.

The user name and password prompts are in text mode. No gui of any kind starts up.

Thanks again. I welcome all input, too!
Thanks

SquirT

If it's a 4-5 year old computer, you may want to try Xubuntu which is not as feature rich, but runs faster on older hardware. The nice thing here, is you don't have to uninstall kde and kubuntu in order to install xubuntu, you can choose before you log in (that is once you have a proper login screen)

LTS means you will receive security patches for a longer time. If I remember correctly, LTS is 5 years, where others are 3 years. 6.06 will be supported until June of 2011 (5 years after its initial release). 7.10, the most recent one will get security patches up until October 2010 (3 years after its release).

You are correct on the 386 :)

-alternate means it doesn't use a GUI install, and it gives you more technical options, like:
* If you are a manufacturer like Dell, you can "preseed" the install ... write an install script once, then install it 1000 times without having to answer the same questions 1000 times over
* full disk encryption (versions 7.04 and later)

So, if you've installed kubuntu-desktop, what happens if you log in in text mode, then type this:
sudo /etc/init.d/kdm start

That *should* happen automatically when you start your computer, and bring up the GUI login.

If you get something similar to "/etc/init.d/kdm: file not found", you probably don't have kubuntu-desktop installed correctly. Try a
sudo apt-get install kubuntu-desktop

again

-allen

Allen,
 Ok, the pc is ok--as far as hardware. It has 512m ram, and a 40g hdd....and an amd uprocessor...about 1.8 ghz.
That should be ok for kubuntu, right?

whoa! HOW can I choose xubuntu from my current install (kubuntu)? Please explain that!

I will try the sudo /etc/init.d/kdm start command in a little while. I'll let you know on that.

Q--- please explain the comment you made...you probably don't have a kubuntu-desktop installed correctly. ...AND (what threw me for a bigger loop) --- try a sudo apt-get install kubuntu-desktop? I have no clue what that means. Thanks

SquirT

Sure, but this may seem a bit unclear until you try it

This is a bit difficult to explain using a windows analogy -- it's just something you *can't* do in windows! Ubuntu is built like lego - it's very modular. Ubuntu "server" is exactly the same underlying pieces as ubuntu "desktop", only without the desktop GUI environment (Gnome) installed. It is fine to install ubuntu server from the cd, then once you have server nicely running, 'install the desktop' and use it as a desktop machine. Doing this will not re-install the base components (since they are already there from the server install), and add Gnome. If you're unhappy with your desktop machine running Gnome, you can try the KDE version of the desktop, by simply installing the "kubuntu" lego block. Now your computer will have three lego blocks stuck together (the base part from the server install, the regular desktop, and the KDE desktop). When you turn it on, just before you log in, you can choose if you want Gnome or KDE.

Gnome and KDE aren't the only ones either, there are tons more for specific purposes. Gnome and KDE are the most user friendly, but use the most resources (and require a newer system -- yours should be fine for this). This will become much more clear (and fun to experiment with) once you have a working GUI, so let's concentrate on that now!

"you dont have kubuntu-desktop installed properly"
Seeing as you are getting the text login prompt, you have a successful base install of Ubuntu (remember, the lego bricks from above). For some reason, the GUI piece is missing, so we just need to install one of them (in your case, the KDE one, or kubuntu-desktop as the Ubuntu installer refers to it).

"try a sudo apt-get install kubuntu-desktop"
This is "unimportant to know what it does", here is what you need to do:
When you get to the login prompt, log in with your username and password you setup during the install. You should then get a prompt like:
yourname@yourcomputer:~$

Here, type "sudo apt-get install kubuntu-desktop" (without the quotes of course). It will then ask for your password, since we are about to install some software. Then it calculates what it needs to do to install kubuntu-desktop (probably a lot), show you, and you type in Y (for Yes, go ahead and do it!). Then it downloads the software from the ubuntu servers and installs it.

Just for interests sake, heres what each of those things mean:
sudo : perform some sort of administrative task (this is equivalent to Windows' "run as Administrator" command)
apt-get install : installs software
kubuntu-desktop : a list of what you want to install (here the list is only one long)

Allen,

Yes, it worked ...the sudo apt-get install kubuntu-desktop ...
Thanks so much.
I just am not very well versed in command line input...although I can navigate through dirs and find files.
I love the way kde looks...so clean and crisp.

SquirT

Thanks Allen Chemist, that solved my question.