Interesting Installation

Yesterday, I failed to install Xubuntu on the Mini-ITX board when I found that the kernel was too recent and the CPU was no longer supported.

USB Problems

Today, having downloaded an older version of Xubuntu (10.04, the long-term support release), I attempted another installation from a USB flash disk.

The boot menu appeared as expected, but after selecting 'Install Xubuntu' and waiting a while for something to happen, a message appeared saying that no live file system could be found.

At this point, I was frantically trawling forums for a possible solution to the issue.  I came across some information which indicated that the 'alternate' (not the standard 'desktop') installation used less hard disk space and RAM during the installation process.  It is also possible to use the alternate installation from a separate hard disk partition.  As I knew there were no problems accessing the hard disk, this looked like the best course of action.

Data Transfer Trouble

To copy the alternate install ISO (and associated boot files, described here), I first attempted to boot the live USB from the desktop installation.  This failed with the same error as attempting the installation earlier.  Since there were already some installations, I used a recovery console to attempt to copy the files from the USB disk.

There was a lot of difficulty in copying the files, as the USB controller kept kicking the USB disk off - it did the same with the wireless network adapter.  I eventually reverted to a wired network and used ftp (I run vsftpd on my laptop) to copy the files across.  After checking the MD5 sums were correct, I configured GRUB to boot the installation process, and rebooted.

Installation Issues

During the installation, there were a couple of minor hitches.  Firstly, the installer complained that kernel modules weren't found.  In the past, I've had installations fail to boot after seeing this message.  As I couldn't find an immediate cure, I decided to hit 'Ignore' and hope for the best.  The guide mentioned that the ISO file probably won't be found - I didn't have this problem, it found it without any issue.

After going through the pre-installation steps, I got to the selection of installation components.  I selected 'Xubuntu Desktop' and 'OpenSSH server', as I expected this to be quite useful later in the project.  After a while of doing something, the installation failed.  Thinking that perhaps the OpenSSH server files aren't on the alternate installation image (why is the option even there?), I tried again, this time only selecting 'Xubuntu Desktop'.  The installation worked fine this time, and after a restart booted flawlessly to the desktop.

Information Gathering

Having had a bit of time free during the installation process, I managed to gather some information on the PICs that were in amongst the other bits and pieces I'd been given.  With this data, it will be possible to compare some AVRs against the available PICs.

I managed to find the Mini-ITX mechanical specifications, showing exactly where the mounting holes are.  This should be handy, as I intend to mount the PC board on the bottom of the stack, and make any PCBs fit the same mounting holes, preventing the complicated mess of stand-offs currently holding the boards in place.  My intention is to remove both of the control boards currently installed and replace them with something more suitable.

The next steps in the project are to remove all the excess packages that come with the Xubuntu installation (all of the office programs, for example), get more information on available microcontrollers, and investigate the best way to control the motors (at least in terms of the hardware).

Today was really productive, though it took a lot of energy!