Amusing Debian install

yashiro · 16 Feb 2009 at 22:43

- Run CD. No problem.
- Can't install wifi driver. Ok, I'll do it later.
- Installed. Runs Ok.
- Can't download driver pre-compiled because there's no network up.
- Ok, I'll build from the source.
- Can't build because no build tools are installed or available on the install disc.

Game over.

What on earth would someone less geeky do in this situation?
Without a second computer you are completely screwed.
Debian 5 Install CD gets 2/10. Try again in two years.

yashiro · 16 Feb 2009 at 23:11

Indeed but a non working system AND with no build tools is a joke.

I used to use Red hat, then Debian (wired) then Ubuntu.

yashiro · 16 Feb 2009 at 23:23

Yes but...
No network = boned and debian doesn't even support wpa out of the box.

Debian+Wireless=Tragic.

yashiro · 16 Feb 2009 at 23:46

Yeah. So common 3com NIC goes in. No worky.
Reads more internet. module is called 3c59x.
Finally works.

I'd forgotten why I dropped Debian tbh. It's all coming back to me now. XD

yashiro · 17 Feb 2009 at 01:02

Debian
Plug in an ethernet card because I cannot use the internet otherwise.
Find the right module, which is fortunately part of the default modules.
Insert it.
Browse the internet to find wtf to use as the main repository because the sources.list is blank. Seriously, why?
Edit the list.
Browse the non free section using 'aptitude' in a terminal.
Install super bad non free firmware module for wlan adapter.
Install network manager gnome.
Install wpa supplicant.
Make sure the ethernet card is disabled.
Reset it all.
Poke the card a bit to get it running at 54G.
Attempt to log in to the Wlan.
Done. Sort of. Doesn't really work too well.

Ubuntu
Poke the card a bit to get it running at 54G.
Attempt to log in to the Wlan.
Done.

Say what?

yashiro · 17 Feb 2009 at 01:44

I'm just pointing out the extreme difference between the two. I just found it funny.
I intentionally setup Debian, Solaris, Ubuntu and WinXP on a very old Pentium3 with a wifi dongle from my box of pap to see the results.

Ubuntu was easiest to setup. Did not work via WEP or No Encryption though, odd. WPA/2 is fine.

WinXP needed drivers installing and a bit of manual poking. Seems the fastest performer once it's setup. Would have been a pain if I did not have the driver CD.

Debian. No driver. No way to set it up. No build tools. Had sources on CD. No external repo sources pre configured.
Required a wired connection to fix and lots of package getting.

Solaris, runs like a dog and I couldn't be bothered getting the driver. It was even more of a chew on than Debian.

All the above run OK on my newer machines, more or less.

yashiro · 17 Feb 2009 at 19:02

I used a normal disc one install for my test.

What's probably more amusing is the fact that even a lean install of Debian or Ubuntu are still slower for desktop work than Windows XP on a 10 year old machine.