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I am a beginner in the world of Ubuntu (and all forms of Linux OS). I recently was given an old laptop that I would love to bring back to life. The laptop is a Toshiba Portege 3500 tablet laptop (one with rotating screen to use as tablet). It currently has Windows XP installed.

I have very little knowledge of BIOS, but I did make it into the boot menu. I changed the directory to boot from the CD-ROM drive (external, as there is no installed drive). When I attempt to install Ubuntu 14.04.2 from a DVD, it shows a black screen with a cursor on it, but even after a few minutes, nothing appears on screen. Should I be seeing a landing page?

I am also wondering if I should bother updating any drivers. I can't connect wirelessly right now, and I think the card cannot recognize WPA or any "newer" wifi routers. This laptop is circa 2005 iirc. Correct me if I'm wrong.

Any help would be appreciated. I'm new but willing to learn. Thanks!

Michelle
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Portege 3500's have a wide variety of boot options but only through a modified win98 boot disk still available from Toshiba(found it on the first page of search results when looking for how to install a new OPSYS.) It provides numerious options and drivers for USB,cardbus,PCMCIA drives and network installs.You will need a USB floppy drive,mine was a generic NEC drive and of course a blank disk. Unaware if you would need to modify the disks files. I know XP is setup to ignore Linux. As far as WiFi,the solutions I have seen require opening a terminal and utilizing the command line as well as inserting a script to make the connection automatic on boot. The problem seems to have something to do with the Toshiba cards firmware. Ubuntu 14.xx.xx 32 bit might be a bit heavy for the 3500 as it was released in late 2002,has a Early PIII mobile and a max 1 Gig ram. A lighter distro with tablet functionality would most likely give a better result. L.L.G.

Lonny
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