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I'm new to Ubuntu and a little too old for computers...

I have an 8 year old HP which crashed on me, so I wiped it out completely and installed Ubuntu 18.04 from USB; that installation seemed to be successful.

However, it does not want to boot up right. It takes forever with a black screen; 5-10 min later, the cursor appears on the bottom right, then 1 more min later, the log in box shows up.

Sometimes it doesn't even boot up at all, and I have to turn the PC off the hard way (no, not with a hammer...) and do it 2-3 times.

Once it's on, it works OK, but is slow. Sometimes I get a message:

system problems detected

but it does not say what to do.

Info: CPU: Intel Celeron 2.20 GHz CPU 450@2.20 GHz
Memory: 2.9 GiB
Disk: 491 GB

Thank you very much!!

K7AAY
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shamu
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    Possible duplicate of How do I find out which version and derivative of Ubuntu is right for my hardware in terms of minimal system requirements? Your computer is way below the recommended system requirements for Ubuntu 18.04. You can install it on this computer, but it is suffering. The correct OS for your hardware is Lubuntu 18.04. – karel Aug 14 '19 at 23:50
  • Lubuntu https://lubuntu.me/ is the lightest version of Ubuntu but will run Ubuntu apps. Try it. – K7AAY Aug 15 '19 at 00:01
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    Welcome to Ask Ubuntu. I agree with prior comments in that a flavor would be better suited to your low-spec'd machine. You can download Ubuntu flavors from https://ubuntu.com/download/flavours; Lubuntu is probably the lightest (with Xubuntu being second I'd say). The Lubuntu manual can be found at the link @K7AAY provided (my first ubuntu.com link will send you there to download). Lubuntu switched from LXDE (as used in Lubuntu 18.04 LTS or the latest long-term-support release) to LXQt in all more recent releases, so the manual I provided is for Lubuntu 19.04 onwards. – guiverc Aug 15 '19 at 00:20
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    If you install a LTS or long-term-support release (eg. 18.04 LTS from 2018-April), you can skip upgrading until beginning 2021 as it has 3 years of support (for flavors), where as installing 19.04 (2019-April release) not being a LTS release only had 9 months of supported life, so you'll have to move to 19.10 (release-upgrade) by end of the year. The non-LTS path gives you later software, but at the cost of more regularly upgrades. The change of desktop also complicates things, so Xubuntu maybe worth considering. The best for you, only you can decide. You could download both and try each.. – guiverc Aug 15 '19 at 00:24
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    You guys are good! Thanks all of you! I'm downloading Lubuntu right now. – shamu Aug 15 '19 at 07:04

1 Answers1

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Lubuntu is the lightest (least memory, lowest CPU load) of the supported flavors of Ubuntu. It chooses the best of low-power, low-memory packages, yet you can add packages found in Ubuntu if you need them. I have used it in many older PCs and find it very useful.

The LTS version 18.04.3 (64-bit) (32-bit) is supported until April 2023 and uses the well-known LXDE desktop environment. LTS versions are stabler and, in theory, less problematic.

The latest version, 19.04 (download), is an interim release, and only supported for nine (9) months after its release, January 2020. That doesn't mean it will stop working, but its expected users will upgrade to version 19.10 when it becomes available, then version 20.04 (which will be another LTS). However, there's two things special about 19.04 in this context.

  • It uses the LxQt 'desktop' (desktop environment), which many folks find even faster and lighter than LXDE. It will still run the same programs ('packages') as LXDE Lubuntu and other Ubuntus, but the LxQt folks also made other changes, not replicating the LXDE look-and-feel exactly. That's why guiverc said above in comments "The change of desktop also complicates things.."
  • Like all other Ubuntus now, it is packaged as 64-bit only. Your PC is 64-bit, so it will run, but some folks like 32-bit versions on older PCs because they consume less memory. My personal suggestion is to try 64-bit (either 18.04.3 or 19.04) and see if you need to change to 32-bit to pull every last bit of performance out of your system.

Then, there's Xubuntu, which uses an older desktop, xfce. There is an LTS version (64-bit) (32-bit) with support until April 2023, and an interim 19.04 version (64-bit only) with support until January 2020, the same as all Ubuntus. It is not as lightweight as either Lubuntu with LXDE or LxQt, but as with Lubuntu, you can add other Ubuntu family programs. guiverc mentioned it in that comment above.

You will have questions. We will answer them.

K7AAY
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    Hi Guys, I installed Lubuntu 18.04.3 64-Bit, it WORKS, and I LOVE it! It works almost better then when it was new with Win-7. It does "hesitate" sometimes a little, system info says "disk OK,1 bad sector", it might be the problem. – shamu Aug 22 '19 at 02:24
  • https://www.amazon.com/Samsung-2-5-Inch-Internal-MZ-75E500B-AM/dp/B00OBRE5UE/ref=sr_1_8 is what I'd use for a 2.5" 500GB drive, but let's check: Do Ctrl-Alt-T cat /proc/cpuinfo | grep "model name" && sudo lshw | grep -A5 "Moth" && lshw | grep product | head -n1 && lshw | grep -v "loop" which will tell us whatcha got now. – K7AAY Aug 22 '19 at 18:46
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    I have the pic on imgur but no idea how to post it here. https://imgur.com/Mdt1WEa Is that it? Paste? – shamu Aug 22 '19 at 21:36
  • You have an "Eton" H-I41-uATX motherboard https://support.hp.com/us-en/document/c01903990 with the Intel G41 Express chipset and four SATA ports. 2.5" SATA drives are the way to go. – K7AAY Aug 22 '19 at 22:00
  • That Crucial drive would work, but the Samsung EVO is the cream of the crop in SSDs, and since I started back when a 20 MB HDD was about two grand, the $29 difference seems inconsequential. As to memory, there's only two memory slots in your motherboard, and memory must match; you can only have a maximum of 4GB on that motherboard, so a pair of 2GB PC3-10600 (DDR3-1333) is the best. A picture of what your RAM is now would help. Were it me, I'd start budgeting for a replacement of your uATX motherboard (since uATX is a physical standard, replacing the motherboard is easy). – K7AAY Aug 22 '19 at 22:26
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    Hi K7AAY, Would this work?Samsung 860 EVO 500GB 2.5 Inch SATA III Internal SSD (MZ-76E500B/AM) (Ebay, new, $56) Also, do I need "installation kit"? or old cables can be used? Thank you! – shamu Aug 23 '19 at 18:30
  • Old cables can be reused, and that should work. Kit? With an SSD you can duct tape or carpet tape it in place; velcro is also practical to stick that SSD wherever. – K7AAY Aug 23 '19 at 21:05
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    Hi K7AAY, I installed my new Samsung ssd, out of the box, fresh Lubuntu install. Answers here are so conflicting about optimizing and cloning so I did the easy way-the best way. Well, pc did not get much faster, maybe just a little bit, and I have problems: losing icons from the panel, get massage: system program problems detected, can not install some programs or can not find them or open them or remove them. Can you help please? Thanks – shamu Aug 27 '19 at 22:30
  • Shamu, see how long the comments are? Let's start a new question, something like "Lubuntu (version #) installed but not reliable on HP 'Eton' H-I41-uATX motherboard". If you chose 19.04, well, that is bleeding edge; reinstall with 18.04 LTS Lubuntu and see if that's more stable, before opening that new question. TTYL, 73 & best regards. – K7AAY Aug 27 '19 at 23:09