Mesanna's Weblog

This article documents how I upgraded my EEE-PC to Easy Peasy. I’ve tried to make it as clear and simple as I can, so apologies if it may seem a bit long-winded at times. The article describes how to create a bootable USB flash drive (as the EEE has no CD-ROM drive) and how to install Easy Peasy from there. I already had Ubuntu-EEE installed on my machine, so this was just an upgrade for me, but I believe the same procedure would apply if you were upgrading from the Xandros default installation too. (And I would definitely recommend upgrading from Xandros, cos I found it buggy as hell and it just sucked all round!) I downloaded all software to my main PC (which runs Linux Mint – an Ubuntu derivative) and created the bootable drive from there, so I’ve written the article from that point of view, but it shouldn’t make any difference if you download directly onto your EEE (or a Windows PC for that matter).

Disclaimer: I’m only reciting my experiences here and am not responsible if anything should go wrong with your installation. You should ALWAYS backup any important data before you start in case you manage to bork your system!

Firstly, download Easy Peasy here. I generally use the Bit Torrent download because it’s less load on the servers, though it does sometimes take a little longer.

To create the bootable drive you will also need a program called UNetbootin. There is a Windows and a Linux version of this program. Get it here. Just click the download button at the top of the page for your operating system. (Instead of clicking the big, blue button, I actually clicked on the Ubuntu link, then Downloads on the next page, then the 304 release (the newest) then I selected the i386.deb file which is the correct version for my system (a 32-bit operating system). I do like to make things harder for myself!!)

When the download completes, install UNetbootin. On my system, a window popped up asking if I wanted to install the program (I could either save or install it). I clicked to install and Mint went right ahead and installed it for me and placed the short cut in the Administration menu. I assume Ubuntu-EEE would do the same, though I can’t really recall how Xandros dealt with installing software. I’m sure Windows users know how to install a program!

To create the bootable disk, you will need a 1GB (at least) Flash Drive. The drive is going to be wiped so backup any files that may currently be stored on it.

Open UNetbootin. Ignore the top menus where it says Select Distribution/Select Version. Instead, look about halfway down where it says Diskimage. Click the little circle to the left of DiskImage to select it and choose ISO as the selected format. At the far right, click the box with the three dots then navigate to where you stored the Easy Peasy download and click on it. This tells UNetbootin to create a bootable drive from this file. UNetbootin should automatically pick up the USB drive when you insert it, but if not, you can tick the box that says Show All Drives. As stated, be VERY CAREFUL here, as you could end up formatting the wrong drive. Click OK at the bottom and UNetbootin will do its thang! It can take a little while, so be patient.

One thing I should mention, when you are installing it is easier if you can be connected to the internet with a wired ethernet connection. This allows your new Operating System to easily set up and access the internet for the latest updates etc. I actually forgot to do this and when I first started I got pop ups about language packs which had to be downloaded. Not a big deal if you forget though.

Once UNetbootin is finished, simply plug the USB drive into your EEE and restart/power on. As soon as the initial screen appears, start pressing the Escape key. You will be given a menu which lists all drives you can boot into. On my EEE, there were 3 listed, the two hard drives on the EEE (they have HDD at the beginning of the description) plus the USB drive. Use the arrow keys to select the USB drive and hit enter.

A UNetbootin menu will appear with three options. Select Default and press enter. The Easy Peasy splash screen will be displayed while the files are loaded up. Eventually the Welcome screen will show. The actual installation is fairly straightforward, mostly just following the prompts. I’ve listed the main screens you have to navigate through below.

Firstly, select your language and click Forward.

Next, the world map will be displayed. Point the mouse roughly on your location and the map will zoom in and you can refine your choice. Your selected locale will appear underneath the map, along with the time zone. When you’re happy with this, click forward.

Select your keyboard type. I’m in the UK so the default UK keyboard is fine for me. You can check your choice by typing characters in the box. Click forward.

The partitioner will start up next. This is the only slightly complicated part of the install. I prefer to sort out my partitions manually (it’s really very easy). On most EEE’s there are two disks, a smaller one for the operating system, and a larger one for your data. I put the main operating system files on the small drive and the home partition (where you store your personal files) on the large drive. (Disk sizes may vary depending on which model you have – mine is 8GB & 32GB). This means that if you ever trash your system (been there, done that), you should be able to wipe the Operating System drive, but leave the home partition untouched.

Now to do this, on the partitioning screen click Manual (the bottom choice) and another window will open showing the disks on your machine. On my machine, they are called /dev/sda1 (this is the small disk) and /dev/sdb1 (the large disk). Click on the small disk (sda1) and click Edit Partition.

Select the following options:

1. Leave the partition size as it is – it should be using the maximum space (on mine it is 8068 MB).
2. In the “Use As” box, select Ext2 file system.
3. Tick to format the partition.
4. In the bottom box where it says Mount Point, select the first entry in the list which shows as / then click OK at the bottom.

Back on the main partitioning page, click the second hard drive (sdb1 on my EEE) and click Edit Partition again and enter the following details:

1. Leave the hard drive size unchanged (again, using the maximum size).
2. In the “Use As” box, select Ext2 file system.
3. Leave the format box unticked this time (unless you want to wipe all your data).
4. In the Mount Point options, select /Home then click OK at the bottom.

Your disks will be scanned briefly, then click the Forward button. A warning box will pop up advising that you haven’t set up any Swap space. Just click Continue.

Next screen, fill in your name and password.

You’ll be given a summary screen showing the changes you’re about to make and this is your last chance to chicken out! If you’re happy with what you’ve got, click install.

Easy Peasy will then install itself onto your system and it can take a few minutes. Once it’s complete, you will be given the option to continue with the Live CD (which is actually the USB drive) or to Restart. Click Restart Now then remove the USB drive when prompted.

Your EEE will restart and the Ubuntu splash screen will show while it loads. Enter your name and password when prompted and that is it. Well, almost!

There seem to be a couple of little bugs which I presume will soon be ironed out. Nothing too major, but a bit of a pain in the meantime. When I restarted for the first time, the Live CD installer software tries to run again. This is due to a program called Ubiquity starting up. To prevent this, click on Preferences on the left hand column of the main screen and select Sessions. There is a tab there that shows the Startup Programs. Uncheck Ubiquity (and anything else you don’t think you’ll need) and restart and that problem should be gone.

Another little glitch was the low volume on the speakers. If you look to the top right of the screen, next the the date, there is a little Volume icon. Right click on this and open Volume Control. On the Playback tab, the LineOut option was only at half volume. I moved this up to full and the sound became much louder.

The final thing I noticed was that when browsing through my files and folders, there was no Close Button (the X) or Maximize/Minimize buttons at the top right of the window. After a bit of Googling, it seems this is down to the Maximus program, which maximizes all windows. I must have turned this off in Ubuntu-EEE and forgotten that I’d done it. You can change this setting by once again clicking on Preferences, then Sessions. Untick Maximus and log out

So far, these are the only bugs I’ve spotted but I’ll update this page if I find more.