My Intel NUC (Next Unit of Computing) mini-PC arrived today. Installing the
RAM and M.2 card was super-simple. Then I tried to install Debian.
Okay folks, it looks like Microsoft and Intel are playing Hardball on people installing Linux on Laptop Computers.
First I used unetbootin to create a Testing (Buster) netinstall USB drive.
First of all, it's hard to get it to boot from a USB drive. You have to get
into the BIOS, which on this device by default is not prompted when you
power it up. You have to use Intel's secret handshake: turn off the NUC,
then hold the power button down for three (but not four!) seconds, which
gets you their special power-button menu, where you can turn on the BIOS
prompt (and also change the BIOS directly from that menu). You also have to
turn on legacy boot, of course, to boot from the USB drive.
[Sarcasm] How hard can you make it, for someone to figure out how to use their Computer in the way they want to? [/Sarcasml]
... and when the installer got to installing kernel modules, it could not do
that because the kernel version on the downloadable image doesn't match the
version in the repository. I'm assuming this is a transient thing with this
particular weekly image.
I suspect that Microsoft likes Ubuntu more than Debian. As an administrator of
eyeblinkuniverse.com, I have to work with my superiors (some of whom aren't Linux-Friendly). I will be extremely interested in your experiences. (and yes,
eyeblinkuniverse.com is on Ubuntu 16.04.5).
So I downloaded the DVD image, and used unetbootin to put that on the USB
key. Now the installer failed with the message that it could not mount the
install CD ... which was imaged onto the same USB drive I had just booted
from, so ... something weird there.
I flashed the Intel BIOS to the latest version. This had no effect I could
see.
Finally, rather than try to figure out the installer issue, I dug out my DVD
burner (not used for over a year), burned an actual DVD image and plugged
the USB optical drive into the NUC, which detected it, and the install then
ran smoothly. Aside from HDMI audio not working, I mean, and restarting
PulseAudio fixed that.
Good.
Before anyone asks: yes, I'm going to submit this through reportbug. I
wanted this here as well, at least partly to help anyone experiencing the
same problems (since this mailing list is more likely to turn up in web
searches than Debian bug reports).
--
I thank you for that.
Carl Fink carl@finknetwork.com
Thinking and logic and stuff at Reasonably Literate
http://reasonablyliterate.com
Kenneth Parker