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Re: New laptop

__/ [ The Ghost In The Machine ] on Saturday 01 July 2006 03:00 \__

> In comp.os.linux.advocacy, Roy Culley
> <rgc@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>  wrote
> on Sat, 1 Jul 2006 02:52:08 +0200
> <oitgn3-sj2.ln1@xxxxxxxxxx>:
>> I've recently received a new company laptop (a Dell Precision M65).
>> So first thing I want to do is zap windows and install Gentoo. I
>> insert the Gentoo LiveCD and power on. What happens? System boots
>> windows.
>>
>> So I power off and on and go into the BIOS setup. The laptop was
>> configured to boot from 4 devices: floppy, disk, usb and CD. Guess
>> which one was last? Yup, CD.
>>
>> This is the first system I have come across where by default the
>> internal disk is before the CD in the boot sequence. Why have Dell
>> done this? To stop people trying LiveCD's perhaps?


I actually tried a Live CD in a modern Dell machine some months ago. Needed
BIOS intervention. BIOS was password-protected if I recall correctly...
*sign* No other machine had CD-ROM at such a low priority. Not my parents'
machines, not my friends' machines and not my old laptop, either.


> Can't be too careful with al Qaeda running about, it might
> lead to dancing. :-)


Dance, gypsy, dance. (the song)


> Oh..wait..wrong newsgroup. :-)
> 
> Anyway, I suspect a techie type just didn't do it
> quite right when he set up the master burn image; never
> ascribe to malice that which can be explainable by simple
> stupidity. :-)  In any event, there's an easy workaround,
> which you described above.


The workaround will not be easy to Joe Average, at whom Ubuntu is targetted
(among others, of course). There is also the issue of burning ISO's, which
can be circumvented owing to ShipIt. But will Joe, who is less than excited
about doing a 180 and trying Linux, bother to phone someone and enquire
about BIOS? The short timespan at which BIOS can be accessed, as well as the
non point-and-drool UI, makes this a real obstacle.


> Of course, Dell might have been....persuaded.


Bingo. But it's a bold speculation.


Best wishes,

Roy

-- 
Roy S. Schestowitz      |    Bring home the world cup, England!
http://Schestowitz.com  | Free as in Free Beer ¦  PGP-Key: 0x74572E8E
Cpu(s):  20.2% user,   3.6% system,  16.9% nice,  59.4% idle
      http://iuron.com - semantic engine to gather information

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