Installing Linux on Windows XP Home-based Eee PC 900 Part 2

Installing Linux on Windows XP Home-based Eee PC 900 Part 2
© Winston Davidian

Not finding the default Xandros Linux distribution for the Asus Eee PC 900, I decided to go the Ubuntu route with the latest and greatest version, Hardy Heron 8.04.

First step is to get the installer into a USB thumb drive. After getting the ISO from the Ubuntu mirrors, I managed to get it into a 1GB USB thumb drive using the Pendrivelinux instructions. I created the installer using my Ubuntu 8.04 running as a guest OS on VMWare Fusion on my Macbook Air.
Getting the Eee PC 900 to boot up from Linux on the USB thumb drive is pretty straightforward… or so I thought. The machine just wouldn't boot up. I tried the other 2 USB ports and nothing. All I got was a blank screen. Maybe the problem was with the USB device so I created another version using a 2GB drive. For some strange reasons, it will wouldn't boot. Another 8GB USB drive and still nothing!

Using the same instructions from Pendrivelinux.com, I tried xubuntu, an Ubuntu variant, using the same 1GB, 2GB and 8GB USB thumb drives and no luck! It was frustrating considering that it should be painless.

I also tried tweaking the BIOS – changing the Install status from Finished to Start, changing the boot sequences, etc. No luck! Maybe it was because I was creating the installer using a virtualized OS.

So off I went booting up the Ubuntu workstation just so I can create the installers and lo and behold, still nothing! Frustrating, huh? Are the Pendrivelinux.com files (sysconfig and initrd) the problem?


This entry was posted on Saturday, May 24th, 2008 at 6:17 pm and is filed under Devices. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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