Installation of Ubuntu on Sam460

Warning!!!

This page will explain how to install Ubuntu either on a blank CD or by someone with good knowledge about the OS which is already installed on the HD! If you install on a harddisk where there is another operating system, be aware that you will probably lose some data. As an example, the Ubuntu installation destroyed my AmigaOS system partition which was first on the HD. So beware!!!

Also I am not responsible for any damage that could happen to your data.

Installation steps

Download this Zip archive (700 MB) from ACube Systems website.
Extract the content and burn the ISO image on a CDROM
Boot your CDROM as explained in the Readme.txt file which is in the same archive.

Sometimes the bootloader on the CD will crash and your Sam460 will reboot. Just try again a few times and it will succeed.

When you reach the Ubuntu desktop and if your computer is connected to the Internet, you may be prompted to update the system. Click on "Ask me later".
Double-click the "Install Ubuntu 10.10" icon on the desktop
Select your prefered language
Change nothing and click on Forward
When this error occurs click on "Go back"
Then you have to select what you want to do about your HD. If you don't care about the data on your harddisk, select "use the entire disk". This will destroy all its content! In the other case, like installing on the same HD as AmigaOS, choose "specify partitions manually". Note: again the installer will destroy the first partition on the HD, even if you don't touch it in the following screens.
On the partition editor, create a partition of the desired size to store Ubuntu:
  • select the size in MB (so use 1000 for 1 GB)
  • Don't change the Location for the new partition
  • select "ext2" as the filesystem to use
  • select "/" as the mountpoint for this partition
Create a partition of the desired size for the swap area. Here I created one with a size of 2GB.
In the end you should have something similar to the image below.
On this picture, the partition where I will install Ubuntu is called /dev/sda2. Remember this name for later.
While the system is being installed, at the bottom of the installation window you can see what process is running: creating the partitions on the HD, copying files... While you wait you are proposed to define your time zone, your prefered language and keyboard. Also you will have to specify the system name, the root password and create a simple user and its password (see screenshot on the right).

If an error occurs while copying files a requester will open saying "the file is different from the one on the CD". Just click Retry. If you have too many of these, it means your CD is not of good quality. burn a new one at slower speed or buy better quality CDs :-)

When you defined all the settings above, open a terminal selecting in the menu Applications / Accessories / Terminal and type the following commands:
wget www.acube-systems.biz/common/file/parthenope-install.tar.bz2
tar xfj parthenope-install.tar.bz2
sudo ./post-install /dev/sdaN (use here the partition name where you installed Ubuntu onto)

This will overwrite any already existing bootloader on the HD (in case AmigaOS was installed, SLB will be gone and you will not be able to boot OS4 until you re-install SLB).

Now wait for the end of the installation process...
When everything is copied on the partition, the installer asks what to do. If you did the previous step, you can safely click on Restart now.

The CDROM will be ejected. Remove it and reset the Sam460 doing a short press on the power button. Parthenope will find your Ubuntu system.