Ubuntu 7.04 (Feisty Fawn) in Virtual PC 2007
Another Saturday, another OS install... After having installed Ubuntu 6.10 (Edgy Eft) in Virtual PC 2007 a few weeks ago here, I thought I would give the latest release a go.
As you may recall, I ran into some problems with the last install, as Ubuntu defaults to 24-bit color, which Virtual PC 2007 does not support (it does support 16 and 32 bit color, just not 24...).
So far so good... I chose the first option (for a graphical install), and Ubuntu was up and booting from the ISO.
Until it reached the desktop, where I got the familiar "Hey you... your graphics are messed up" screen.
Arrggghh. Rebooted Virtual PC, and selected the 2nd option (safe graphics mode).
This time, I was able to boot all the way to the desktop, and actually see what I was looking at. I don't recall this having worked with Ubuntu 6.10. Good job!
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Except... I can't do anything. Mouse doesn't work. Keyboard doesn't do anything. I tried going full screen, rebooting, no luck. Let's see if we can do this without resorting to editing the xorg.conf
Boot to the first screen again, and hit F4 (VGA). That gives me a menu that will let me select my resolution (perfect!) I choose 800x600x16 (I can always change it after Ubuntu installs).
No luck... still goes to the same messed up graphics you previously saw on picture 2. I tried following the steps that had worked on Ubuntu 6.10 (profiled here), but no go. I end up with the same result as the "Safe Graphics" option. everything works great, but the mouse is unresponsive. I can drop to the command line (Ctrl+Alt+F1), but that is no fun.
After digging around a bit, it turns out that the non-reponsive/working mouse is a bug in the latest Linux kernel. See:
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=223606
and https://bugzilla.redhat.com/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=234348
Arcane Code (great site BTW) has posted a workaround to allow you to use your keyboard as a mouse here: http://arcanecode.wordpress.com/2007/04/25/ubuntu-704-and-virtual-pc-2007-mouse-issue-workaround-sort-of/
I think I will wait until Ubuntu v.next comes out with a fixed kernel before trying again. I am pretty sure that other than the mouse issues, the install will probably go fine with the "Graphics Safe Mode" option. Until next time...
