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| How To Install Ubuntu 12.04 On Non-PAE Capable Hardware |
Physical Address Extension (PAE)
is a feature to allow (32-bit) x86 processors to access a physical
address space, with larger than 4 gigabytes.
Ubuntu 12.04 (as well as
Kubuntu 12.04) uses the PAE Linux kernel by default for 32bit ISOs so
old computers that don't support PAE can't boot the latest Ubuntu version. But there
is a way to install Ubuntu 12.04 LTS Precise Pangolin on computers
without PAE support: using the non-PAE netboot Minimal IS.
The non-PAE netboot mini ISO
lets you install the non-PAE kernel and the desktop environment you
want: you can select to install Ubuntu Desktop , Kubuntu
Desktop and so on. One note though: since the minimal CD will download
packages from online archives at installation time instead of providing
them on the install CD itself, you need a working Internet connection during the installation.
How to Install Ubuntu 12.04 LTS on non-PAE capable systems using the netboot minimal ISO
Download mini.iso from HERE, write it on a CD or USB stick and boot from the ISO like with the regular Ubuntu ISO and select "Install":
Next, you'll be asked to select the Linux kernel you want to use - here, select "linux-generic":
Next, make sure you install the GRUB bootloader (by simply selecting "Yes" when you reach the screen below):
(Direct video link)
- for Unity (and all the default Ubuntu packages):
- for KDE:
Update: there's also an unofficial non-pae Ubuntu 12.04 ISO available for download HERE
The installer will now ask you a
bunch of questions regarding the keyboard, etc. - select the options
you want (use TAB to move through fields, SPACE to select and ENTER to
activate buttons / continue). If you use a proxy, you'll be asked to
enter it before the installation starts:
Basically, all the info available in
the regular installer are also available for the mini ISO, like
selecting your country, choose if you want to encrypt you home
directory, partition the hard disk and so on:
After partitioning your hard disk, the installer will start downloading the core packages:
If some packages fail to download,
you can select to continue and at the end of this step, you'll get to
the Ubuntu Installer Main Menu where you can select "Install the base
system" so the installer will try to redownload the packages for which
the download failed:
Next, you'll be asked to select the Linux kernel you want to use - here, select "linux-generic":
The next important step is to select
the desktop environment you want to use. Select it using the SPACE key
(don't just press enter or else you'll end up with the core system only
and without a graphical desktop environment!):
- for Unity, select "Ubuntu Desktop"
- for KDE / Kubuntu, select "Kubuntu Desktop"
Next, make sure you install the GRUB bootloader (by simply selecting "Yes" when you reach the screen below):
And that's about it, after you
complete the above steps, you should have a working Ubuntu 12.04 LTS
(with Unity or KDE) that runs on non-PAE supported hardware.
You can also watch a video with the whole non-PAE Mini ISO Ubuntu 12.04 installation process, below:
(Direct video link)
Alternatives
Like I was telling you above, using
the non-PAE mini ISO isn't the only way to install Ubuntu 12.04 Precise
Pangolin on computers that don't support PAE. You can also install Xubuntu or Lubuntu since both come with non-PAE Linux kernels, and if you don't want to use XFCE or LXDE, simply open a terminal and type:
- for Unity (and all the default Ubuntu packages):
sudo apt-get install ubuntu-desktop- for KDE:
sudo apt-get install kubuntu-desktopUpdate: there's also an unofficial non-pae Ubuntu 12.04 ISO available for download HERE
