Problem restarting after update

[kslinux]

I have just updated my system to PCLOS-2013.  I also update my kernel.  It's been at six months since I've done an update.  Note, in late July I was diagnosed with renal failure.  I've been in and out of hospitals since then and have been unable to update my system until now.

When I start my computer, I get the following: "Welcome to localhost.localdomain".  I type in my username and password.  I then get a terminal screen with the following:

     [alangrider@localhost "]$

What do I do now?  Forgive me if this has already been addressed.  Direct me with a link and I'll read it.

Thanks in advance for your patience and help!

Alan

[Old-Polack]

I have just updated my system to PCLOS-2013.  I also update my kernel.  It's been at six months since I've done an update.  Note, in late July I was diagnosed with renal failure.  I've been in and out of hospitals since then and have been unable to update my system until now.

When I start my computer, I get the following: "Welcome to localhost.localdomain".  I type in my username and password.  I then get a terminal screen with the following:

     [alangrider@localhost "]$

What do I do now?  Forgive me if this has already been addressed.  Direct me with a link and I'll read it.

Thanks in advance for your patience and help!

Alan

Alan, since you were gone there's been a lot of changes, like three KDE upgrades, and a lot of other stuff. The main repository has been moved, and most of the mirrors have had their directory structure altered.  There would be no clear upgrade path left after this much time. Your best bet, and the quickest would be to download the latest release, and reinstall. If you have a separate /home partition that should still be able to be used, so all your personal settings should stay intact. When first booting to the reinstalled system, first type the root password twice. You can use the same one as before, or a different one. Next, when creating the normal user, choose the same name and UID/GID as used on the previous installation. When you log in as the normal user, all your personal settings and data should be just as you left them.

The latest official release is 2013.02 which means it's only been out for two days and is as up to date as possible. You can download the image from any of the mirror links at the bottom of the KDE page here;

http://www.pclinuxos.com/?page_id=180

...or use the torrent link on that page, if you prefer.

Sorry about the health problems and the hospitals. That always sucks. I hope you are feeling better now.

[kslinux]

I'm sorry not to have responded to your reply sooner - I was in the hospital again for ten days (Feb 9-19).  Since I got back home, I've been working on saving some very sensitive data.  I've found a 2010 version of pclinuxos on a CD and have been using it to boot as a live cd.  I've also downloaded the latest version of pclinuxos.  Since 2013.02 is so large, I've had to put it onto a DVD.

I have a Pentium 4 computer with a CD ROM drive.  I've bought an external Memorex DVD drive.  However, the boot does not recognize the external drive.  Thus, I have not been able to boot the 2013.02 as a live CD nor load the program.

My computer has an Intel Pentium 4 CPU running at 2.80 GHz.  I have 1.5 GB of RAM and a 24 GB Hard Drive.  I have a Samsung CD-ROM SC-148A.

Any suggestions?  Do I swap out the current CD-ROM with an internal DVD?  If this is the solution, do I have to update any other internal components?  If this is not the solution, what should I do to get 2013.02 loaded.

Thanks in advance for your help.  If I have not supplied enough information, please let me know what you need.

Alan

[menotu]

Just a thought kslinux - have you been into your systems BIOS to check the boot sequence for the external DVD drive is listed before other  drives?

I do hop;e you are feeling better.

[Old-Polack]

I'm sorry not to have responded to your reply sooner - I was in the hospital again for ten days (Feb 9-19).  Since I got back home, I've been working on saving some very sensitive data.  I've found a 2010 version of pclinuxos on a CD and have been using it to boot as a live cd.  I've also downloaded the latest version of pclinuxos.  Since 2013.02 is so large, I've had to put it onto a DVD.

I have a Pentium 4 computer with a CD ROM drive.  I've bought an external Memorex DVD drive.  However, the boot does not recognize the external drive.  Thus, I have not been able to boot the 2013.02 as a live CD nor load the program.

My computer has an Intel Pentium 4 CPU running at 2.80 GHz.  I have 1.5 GB of RAM and a 24 GB Hard Drive.  I have a Samsung CD-ROM SC-148A.

Any suggestions?  Do I swap out the current CD-ROM with an internal DVD?  If this is the solution, do I have to update any other internal components?  If this is not the solution, what should I do to get 2013.02 loaded.

Thanks in advance for your help.  If I have not supplied enough information, please let me know what you need.

Alan

Does your computer have the ability to boot from any USB device? If so, you can use the PCLinuxOS Live USB Creator application to create a USB flash drive capable of booting the live session, and installation from that is exactly the same as running from a burned disk, only a bit quicker.

If your computer doesn't allow any USB device to boot, you are pretty much stuck with replacing the internal optical drive. I replaced my internal CD/DVD writer when I last rebuilt this computer. A Samsung unit, fully compatible with all known disk types, including DVD-RAM, featuring LightScribe technology, cost me a whopping $13.99 from Newegg. Hardly a bank breaker, even for me, on a fixed income. This particular unit is a SATA connected unit, and was needed because the previous one was IDE/PATA connected, and the new motherboard had no IDE/PATA controller ports. Both units have the same overall specs, it's just the connection type that is different, and both cost about the same price, give or take a dollar or two.

[kslinux]

Thanks all for the replies.

"[H]ave you been into your systems BIOS to check the boot sequence for the external DVD drive is listed before other  drives?"  Yes.  The external drive does NOT appear as an option in BIOS boot sequence.

"Does your computer have the ability to boot from any USB device?"  Yes, I believe it does.  I have a question.  Can I create a Live USB of the 2013.02 version while running a 2010 version live CD?

Thanks for your continued patience and help.

Alan

[ternor]

I gather that the problem is that you can't log in to your existing operating system in order to create a bootable live disk or usb.  You may be able to log in using the 'failsafe' option.  I have found it be erratic.  You probably don't have the linux_nonfb option unless you modified it when installing.

If you have no operating system to log into you may have to install the 2010 version to give you a platform for burning the new iso to a disk or usb stick.  I don't know whether the PCLOS usb creator existed then but you should have an application for burning the iso to a disk.

[JohnW_57]

A  MiniMe iso (KDE4 or LXDE) still fits on a CD-rom if there's no DVD drive avialable?

JohnW

[Old-Polack]

Thanks all for the replies.

"[H]ave you been into your systems BIOS to check the boot sequence for the external DVD drive is listed before other  drives?"  Yes.  The external drive does NOT appear as an option in BIOS boot sequence.

"Does your computer have the ability to boot from any USB device?"  Yes, I believe it does.  I have a question.  Can I create a Live USB of the 2013.02 version while running a 2010 version live CD?

Thanks for your continued patience and help.

Alan

As a mid step solution, you could burn a MiniMe disk, which is still sized for a CD. You could then boot to that, install the PCLinuxOS Live USB Creator application to the live session, and use the larger full KDE image already on the hard drive to create the liveUSB. The only thing to remember is that if asked to reboot for anything, just log out and back in, as a full reboot will lose whatever else you've done/installed, because it only exists in memory.

[kslinux]

Using your suggestions, I did the following:

1. installed the pclinuxos version (2010.1) that I had on a livecd.
2. used that to ---
     a. download PCLinuxOS-LXDE-2012.12.iso
     b. burned a livecd of this iso
3. installed PCLinuxOS-LXDE
4. updated LXDE using Symnaptic

I chose LXDE over the MiniMe versions because I wanted to try something different.  LXDE fits onto a CD.

Thanks again for your help.

I am marking this as [SOLVED].