Now I know there are 20 different distributions that might better suite this little fitpc2, though not many compare to the amount of updates and available (user friendly) documentation like Ubuntu has it.
That's why I made this Guide to install Ubuntu 12.04 on your FITPC2(i) for both desktop and server use (with and without Gnome environment).
In order to get this working I had to patch together multiple guides from multiple sources.
Now the setup I'm describing can work for Both desktop and server intended use:
Installing Ubuntu as Desktop.
(server install guide below)
Let me start off by saying that by default the Gnome/Unity GUI package offered by Ubuntu is not the most desired desktop environment for the FITPC2.
1. Get Unetbootin to prep a USB stick for installation, minimal size of 1GB recommended, make sure the USB stick is formatted as FAT32, NOT ntfs!
URL : http://unetbootin.sourceforge.net/
2. Start unetbootin, as distribution select Ubuntu and as version select "12.04 Live" (not x64!).
3. Choose the correct USB drive letter and press OK.
[it will now prep the USB stick, if prompted anything, select Yes to All]
4. Once your USB stick is done insert in the back of your FitPC2 somewhere.
5. Start up your FitPC2 and go to the bios, confirm the USB stick appears in the bios boot menu and that it is the first selected boot device
6. It will start the live CD, at this point you will see a splash screen Ubuntu after which the driver will but out and you get either half a screen or no screen at all.
Luckily, Ubuntu documentation offers a fix for this:
Source: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/HardwareSupport ... ktop.29_CDLive (Desktop) CD 12.04
The default Ubuntu 12.04 kernel works, but requires a custom boot option. Without that option, you will either get a black screen or distortions, such as top half of the screen only.
Switch to a console - Ctrl-Alt-F1
Restart X with 'sudo service lightdm restart'
That should bring you back to a functional graphical desktop, so that you can proceed testing or installing.
A more permanent fix is also possible, read on!
7. Install Ubuntu as you normally would walk through the steps and let it install.
[Possible issue] 7a. Now this issue might not occur with everyone, I've had it and will add it to prevent pitfalls here.
In case Grub Refuses to install to your MBR, this is most likely due to the fact that it's detecting your USB-Stick as primary disk, simply remove your USB stick and try again. Removing the USB stick SHOULD not cause any problems.
8. After it installed and rebooted you should again have to do the trick in step 6 to get the screen in order.
[Possible issue] 8a. At this point it could occur that your system reboots and your screen stays completely black.
to fix this, reinsert your Ubuntu Live USB stick, boot it up and open a terminal (alt + ctrl + t) and mount your main harddrive.
Usually this will be something like
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sudo mount /dev/sda1 /mnt
Edit the /boot/grub/grub.cfg file and scroll down until you find a line starting with "menuentry".
not far below this line there should be a line that starts with "linux" and looks like this:
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linux /vmlinuz-3.2.0-32-generic-pae root=UUID=ef8520c1-3870-46f5-9bcf-a5e225c50512 ro quiet splash
Remove the "splash" part at the end of the line and add "console=tty1 nomodeset" (without the quotes of course).
It now should look like:
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linux /vmlinuz-3.2.0-32-generic-pae root=UUID=ef8520c1-3870-46f5-9bcf-a5e225c50512 ro quiet console=tty1 nomodeset
(note: the system isn't actually stuck if this issue occurs, it's booting just fine in the background, you could even SSH into the box.
If you are still having issues and no booting system, scroll all the way down in my post)
9. If you got your system booting at this point it is time to add a permanent fix to your half-monitor / no screen problem.
Open a terminal (alt + ctrl + t) and edit /etc/default/grub file ( sudo nano /etc/default/grub )
find the line:
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GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet splash"
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GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet console=tty1 nomodeset"
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sudo update-grub
Installing Ubuntu as Server.
The setup should be pretty similar to above desktop install, main difference being that we will use 12.04 NetInstall in step 2.
If you dont or cant connect it to the network use HDMedia version of the installer instead.
In this particular guide I'm actually expecting that you do not install any Graphic environment with the installer and go for the "basic Ubuntu" setup with the "OpenSSH Server" package.
1. Get Unetbootin to prep a USB stick for installation, minimal size of 1GB recommended, make sure the USB stick is formatted as FAT32, NOT ntfs!
URL : http://unetbootin.sourceforge.net/
2. Start unetbootin, as distribution select Ubuntu and as version select "12.04 NetInstall" (not x64!).
3. Choose the correct USB drive letter and press OK.
4. Once your USB stick is done insert in the back of your FitPC2 somewhere.
5. Start up your FitPC2 and go to the bios, confirm the USB stick appears in the bios boot menu and that it is the first selected boot device
6. It will start the text-based Installer now, which will require an internet connection depending on whether you're using the netinstaller or HDMedia version. you can walk through all steps without any special instructions.
[Possible issue] 6a. In case Grub Refuses to install to your MBR, this is most likely due to the fact that it's detecting your USB-Stick as primary disk, simply remove your USB stick and try again. Removing the USB stick SHOULD not cause any problems.
7. Your system should now restart, it could be that your screen remains black, in which case please check step 8a. of the 'Installing Ubuntu as Desktop' Guide. Note that you should probably be able to do this step through SSH, as that WILL boot.
[Possible issue]
Another issue I'd like to mention independently of the installation instruction is that I myself had the issue that grub wouldn't boot because it listed my partitions as MSDOS partitions in the in grub setup thus leading to a broken boot and a GRUB ERROR.
I fixed this by booting into Live CD, mounting the main disk and editing /boot/grub/grub.cfg directly.
Changing every instance of:
Code: Select all
set root='(hd0,msdos1)'
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set root='(hd0,1)'
[Something to know]
Do remember, whenever you install a new Kernel version (using 'apt-get upgrade' for example) your grub.cfg WILL reset and may require you to redo some of the fixes mentioned above through either SSH or Ubuntu Live USB stick.
[Some words]
As many others here, I love this little FitPC and has proven to be a very useful homeserver for various purposes.
Recently even put a small Intel SSD in mine since the 2.5"disk broke (which aren't really made for 24/7 operation in the first place), it works very well. I hope this guide helps you get the most out of your old FitPC2 as well!
Sources:
http://askubuntu.com/questions/131125/u ... ation-help
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/HardwareSupport ... ktop.29_CD