Datasheet
6
3
2
The Ubuntu screen
appears.
3 Choose Try Ubuntu
Without Any Change to
Your Computer.
BOOT FROM THE LIVE CD
1 Start Ubuntu Linux from
the live CD.
Note: See the section “Burn
Ubuntu to a CD.”
The Language screen
appears.
2 Choose your language.
Boot from the Ubuntu Live CD and Verify Hardware
Y
ou can easily check the compatibility of most of
your hardware before you install Ubuntu. The
image that you download in the section
“Download Ubuntu” is what is known as a live CD. This
means that it contains a fully working operating system
and the CD is bootable. This enables you to simply insert
the CD in the computer and boot from it instead of your
hard drive. You can take Ubuntu for a test drive, or you
can check your hardware for compatibility.
Historically, one of the consistent challenges with Linux
was hardware support. This was due to the lack of
support by the hardware vendors, who would not provide
documentation of their drivers or would use driver
software that only ran on a specific operating system.
This is mainly a thing of the past, but if you are installing
on any extremely old, exotic, or cutting-edge hardware, it
is always best to check compatibility prior to performing
an installation of Ubuntu; otherwise, you may lose some
or all of the functionality of that hardware.
After you boot, you will want to verify your computer’s
basic hardware functionality. The video card is one of the
first things you should check. The Screen Resolution
program will enable you to verify that you have the
appropriate resolutions available to you that you want to
use. If the video card does not function at all, you will
know pretty quickly. You will end up with a black console
screen with a login prompt. There are several options
available at the boot that you can try to use a more
conservative graphics mode.
Boot from the Ubuntu
Live CD and Verify Hardware
04_345207-ch01.indd 604_345207-ch01.indd 6 2/19/09 11:38:25 PM2/19/09 11:38:25 PM