installing Ubuntu Netbook Remix on the Acer Aspire One

Yesterday a client asked me to install the Ubuntu Netbook Remix on his Acer Aspire One. I have to say that this version of Linux is a significant improvement from teh Linpus 'Limpy' Light that comes as standard on these tidy little netbooks. There's a lot more applications included, and in my opinion it looks and handles a lot better than the stock Linux. From the Canonical website:

Ubuntu Netbook Remix is optimised to run on a new category of affordable Internet-centric devices called netbooks. It includes a new consumer-friendly interface that allows users to quickly and easily get on-line and use their favourite applications. This interface is optimised for a retail sales environment.

And here's a nice video that gives you a sneak peak:



So the procedure for doing this is straightforward, but because the Aspire One doesn't have an optical (CD/DVD) drive, you have to be a bit clever and install from a USB stick (aka memory key, pendrive, thumb(?)drive, etc.). I found that the easiest way to do this was to install Ubuntu to a standard PC with an optical drive first, and then I used that Ubuntu system to prepare the flash drive. Now, there's probably a quicker way to do this, but I tried to prepare the flash drive in Windows first, using Linpus to make the USB stick bootable, but this didn't work. So here's how I did it:

1. installed Ubuntu Netbook Remix on an old PC (with optical drive)
2. downloaded the installation image (here) to the desktop
3. used usb-creator to make the usb stick bootable, choosing the image file from the desktop
4. booted from the USB stick on the Acer Aspire One and installed Ubuntu Netbook Remix as the primary operating system

And that was it! Some post-install updates, and I was away with a much better Linux for this netbook, in my opinion.

And you can read the installation guide I used here.

I hope you find this useful! Please comment if you have any questions or would like more information.


Sean Loewen
Owner
The PC GP Computer Services

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