HOWTO Install Ubuntu Netbook Remix 9.10 from USB Stick & Get Wireless Working

For the past 2 days I had been playing around with installing the new Ubuntu Netbook Remix 9.10 OS and getting the Broadcom BCM 4312 based wireless working on the Lenovo S10-2 netbook. After several tries, I finally worked out a procedure on getting this combo to work. There are 2 scenarios - installing from a USB stick and installing from an external CD or DVD drive. There are slight differences between these two. Anyway, there are bound to be users of the Lenovo S10-2 out there that wants to try out the new UNR 9.10. To save them some frustration (and from uttering some swear words - satisfying but unproductive :)) I will now list out the steps required for the installation. The first part is installing from a USB stick and the second part (which will be in a forthcoming blog post) will be installing from an external CD or DVD drive.

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How to install Ubuntu Netbook Remix 9.10 on the Lenovo S10-2 Ideapad Netbook from a USB Drive and get the Broadcom wireless to work.

Author: Ridzwan Abdullah (ridz1a_AT_yahoo_DOT_com)
Last Updated: 13th November 2009

This howto is for guiding users who wants to install the Ubuntu Netbook Remix 9.10 (codenamed Karmic Kaola) onto their Lenovo S10-2 Ideapad netbook as well as getting the Broadcom chipset-based wireless on the netbook to work.

This version of the howto assumes you already have a bootable USB stick containing the Ubuntu Netbook Remix 9.10 (henceforth referred to as UNR). For those who does not have this item, visit the Ubuntu web site (http://www.ubuntu.com/getubuntu/download-netbook) and download the iso image of the UNR, and then use the image to create the bootable USB stick using an available PC. The instructions on how to do this can be found at https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Installation/FromUSBStick. Note that, instead of a USB stick, you can also use an SD or SDHC flash drive as the boot device (via the Lenovo S10-2 built-in memeory card slot). The instructions for creating such a device is the same as for a USB stick.

This version also assumes that UNR is the only OS you plan to install on your S10-2 netbook. If you have just installed a new (blank) hard disk into your netbook, then you are set to start installing the UNR. If an OS is already present on the hard disk in your netbook (for example, Windows XP Home) and you want the ability to dual-boot, then you need to refer to instructions how to dual-boot (not covered in this howto). Should you wish to wipe the current OS from the hard disk before installation, then you need make sure to delete all partitions and reset the MBR on the hard disk. Use an available PC to do this - there are lots of free utilities that allow you to do this. You can also wipe the hard disk using the 'cfdisk' or 'fdisk' utility found on the UNR - run the "Live CD" to access this utility.

One last assumption is that internet connection is via wireless NOT through a wired LAN. The majority of people who buys a netbook is for reason of portability, i.e., not tied down to a wired LAN for internet connection.

Here are the steps required to install the Ubuntu Netbook Remix 9.10:

1) Make sure that the S10-2 netbook is powered off. Unplug any ethernet network cable from the netbook (this howto assumes that you do not have internet access via an LAN but through a wireless AP). Plug the bootable USB stick into any of the 3 available USB ports and power up the netbook.

2) The netbook will automatically boot up from the USB stick - you do not have to press any keys during boot. The first screen that appears is where you choose the installation language. Select one and press Enter. On the Ubuntu Installation Menu that appears next, select the item "Install Ubuntu Netbook Remix" and press Enter. The installer will then start loading - wait until the first installation screen (the Welcome screen) appears. Do not be alarmed if you see a blank screen - it is still loading.

3) Follow the 6 steps as shown on the screen and set your choices - language, location, keyboard layout, prepare disk space, enter personal information and lastly, confirm the install using the information that you have provided. When you press the "Install" button on step 6, the installer will begin the process of actually installing UNR on your netbook. With no LAN access to the internet from the netbook, the whole installation will be completed within 7 minutes typically. When completed, a message box will appear to this effect with a "Restart Now" button which you need to click.

4) DO NOT unplug the bootable USB stick. Press F12 after the restart and at the Lenovo screen. Select item 2 IDE 0 (the hard disk) from the Boot Manager and press Enter (the netbook will start from the hard disk).

5) The netbook will now start the newly installed UNR. The GRUB loading message will appear briefly and then UNR will start loading. If you have selected starting with a password during install, then the Login screen will appear. Enter your password and click OK. If you had selected automatic startup during install, then the Login screen will be skipped. The UNR desktop will now appear to the accompaniment of the "startup sound" - indicating that the sound hardware on the Lenovo S10-2 netbook is fully working. At this point, there is no internet access. In fact, there is no network connection whatsoever and this can be verified if you hover the cursor over the network icon (between the speaker icon and the battery icon) on the top panel, a message saying "No network connection" will appear. To get the wireless network to work, we need to install some software packages manually. Ubuntu's philosophy forbade them from doing this automatically - as a result, it just makes things harder for the average user.

6) Click on 'Files & Folders' on the left-hand pane. Under the 'Volume' section you should see your USB stick. Click on that and a file browser screen will appear showing all the files on the USB stick.

7) Double-click on the 'pool' folder icon, then the 'main' folder icon and then the 'f' folder icon and lastly the 'fakeroot' folder icon. Only one file 'fakeroot_1.12.4ubuntu_i386.deb' will be present - double-click on this and the Package installer screen will appear. Click on the 'Install Package' button. Enter your password when prompted (you need administrative rights for all the packages to be installed) and click OK. Click the 'Close' button when finished and then close the Package installer and you will be back at the file browser.

8) Go back to the 'main' folder (click on the 'main' tab) and open the 'd' folder, followed by the 'dkms' folder. Double-click on the only file there (dkms_2.1.0.1-0ubuntu1_all.deb) to install it via Package manager. After this has been installed, close the Package manager.

9) Go back to the 'main' folder. Open the 'p' folder, followed by the 'patch' folder and then double-click on the only file there (patch_2.5.9-5_i386.deb) to install it. After this has been installed, close the Package manager.

10) Go back to the 'pool' folder. Double-click on the 'restricted' folder, the 'b' folder, and the 'bcmwl' folder. Double-click on the only file there (bcmwl-kernel-source_5.10.91.9+bdcom-0ubuntu4_i386.deb) to install it via Package manager. After this has been installed, close both the Package manager and the file browser. Note that there should not be any errors in installing all the 4 files mentioned above. If there is, then there is something wrong with the files (corrupted maybe?). You need to fix this as these files are important to get wireless working on the netnook.

11) Restart the netbook by clicking on the top right-most icon and selecting 'Restart...'. Then Click the 'Restart' button on the dialog box that appears and the netbook will restart. Press F12 and boot from the hard disk. Log in and at the UNR desktop, click the network icon and your wireless AP (along with other AP's within range) will appear in a list. To connect to the internet via the wireless just click on your AP, enter the password (if authentication is required) and you will be connected. You can eject and remove the USB stick at this point if you wish.

12) There will be updates available - use the Update Manager to apply the updates. The update manager can be found in 'System' section. Click on the item and when Update Manager screen appears, click the 'Check' button. Enter your password and the process will start. Update manager will refresh the package information from the remote repositories. Once this is finished a list of available updates will be shown. Click on the 'Install Updates' button to start the actual downloading and installation of updates. This may take a while.

13) The Lenovo S10-2 Ideapad netbook is now ready for use, either on your desk at home or on the road. Enjoy!

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Users of the S10-2 may wonder whether the steps above will work - rest assured that I have tested them out - once on my own netbook and 2 other times on friend's S10-2 netbooks. They all work - so go ahead and try out the new UNR.

Stay tuned for the next part...