The problem with problem solving is that sometimes, especially with trial and error techniques, the problem solving never ends. Especially when you walk away from a problem and find that actually all along your brain has been chewing on a possible solution, given the changing landscape of options.

So I’m just messing around on the internet, on my functional laptop, various hardware scattered about, and I thought I’d run the “Check CD for defects” option from the Ubuntu boot menu (even though I’ve already admitted to giving up). So it seems to be running ok, then it stalls out on:

Checking ./casper/filesystem.squashfs

…for like 5 minutes. And I just leave it, cause I’m doing other things, and then all of a sudden it continues without complaining. Weird. Bum CD?

What’s strange about this whole experience, is that other than my continued failure to install Ubuntu, the symptoms have all been different. Which is very uncomputerlike, imho. Successfully installed Breezy Badger, but it locked up frequently. Various dead/incorrectly connected hard drives. Install process locks up—while CDROM pages crazily.

Here’s my theory on that last one. My mini-ITX system is sitting in front of me in various stages of dissassembly, such that the CD-ROM drive (again, a lightweight laptop variety) was precariously balanced on everything. Leading me to wonder: perhaps the performance problems from the previous night were CD-disc calibration/data-read errors because the thing was unanchored as it spun?

Well, heck, that’s reason enough to try again, right? This time anchoring the drive in place (meanwhile burning another disk image, just to definitively rule out a bum CD).

So far the install procedure seems to be performing similarly sluggishly. The intensive “Where are you? map for setting the timezone appears to have locked things up again.

Ok, well, let’s try a new CD. No luck. Locks up just before the timezone step.

My 4th post in a series about running Ubuntu on a Mini-ITX.

Part 1: Installing Ubuntu on a Mini-ITX VIA EPIA ME6000
Part 2: Giving Ubuntu another go with Dapper Drake
Part 3: Ubuntu on a Mini-ITX, take 3
Part 4: Slowly chipping away at unknowns
Part 5: Ubuntu up and running!