News

The new version 14.04 LTS 'Trusty Tahr' needs no fake-PAE. Use forcepae in the standard installers

The new version 14.04 LTS 'Trusty Tahr', needs no fake-PAE to work with Pentium M and Celeron M CPUs. Instead you use the boot option forcepae and boot from the standard desktop installer and alternate installer for 32-bit systems. I think Lubuntu and Xubuntu will work well in laptops with these CPUs. Xubuntu has a medium light desktop environment and Lubuntu has an ultra light desktop environment. Try both to find what is best for you.

This is a detailed description how to use forcepae.

Some processors need a non-pae kernel

The vast majority of Pentium M and Celeron M CPUs are suitable for fakepae or forcepae and can work with PAE kernels. But some of these processors need a non-pae kernel also for new versions of Lubuntu. There are also other 'not too old' CPUs that lack PAE capability: Transmeta Crusoe and VIA processors around 1 GHz.

Introduction

PAE (Physical Address Extension) is explained here in details.

Lubuntu-fake-PAE offers a method to install Lubuntu 13.10 into computers (mainly if not only laptops) with Pentium M and Celeron M CPUs. Most if not all of these CPUs have PAE capability, but show no PAE flag. This means that these machines can not use any Lubuntu versions after 12.04 and therefore, Lubuntu 12.10, 13.04, 13.10 can not be installed and their kernels can not be upgraded, because the software is checking for the PAE flag. This can be fixed with fake-PAE, developed by Bernd Kreuss prof7bit and described in the Ubuntu Forums.

There are many high-quality professional class laptops around with Pentium M CPUs, for example IBM Thinkpad T40, T41 and T42.

Several methods are described to make the new Ubuntu family 32-bit PAE kernels available for Pentium M and Celeron M, that have PAE capability, but do not show the PAE flag.

'grub-n-iso'

Installed system

One Button Installer

9w installer

Reference to other methods to make Ubuntu USB install drives

Lubuntu 13.10 Fake-PAE described by sudodus

Notice that Lubuntu 13.10 has passed end of life and receives no more security updates. It is safer to use a supported release, either a community re-spin based on Ubuntu 12.04 LTS like Bodhi or LXLE, or if the drivers work with the old hardware, the newer Lubuntu 14.04.1 LTS

The idea is to make it easier for people who want to go directly into a new version of Lubuntu. This is a good alternative for a fresh install (instead of downloading 12.04 and upgrading twice to newer releases).

The image files to download reside on this link

google drive of Nio Wiklund alias sudodus

but notice that the the fake-pae method is deprecated. Use a current version of Lubuntu and the boot option forcepae instead!

Test

Thank you!

Helpful members of the Ubuntu and Lubuntu communities have found that fake-PAE works with almost all Celeron M and Pentium M, and the instructions have been improved.

A Celeron M 1.2 GHz is maybe one year older than a tested Pentium M with 1.6 GHz (Banias) and maybe two years older than another Pentium M (Dothan) with 1.7 GHz. The newest Pentium M CPUs have the PAE flag, and need no fake-PAE. We have found out and need not guess from what we find at the internet, for example: here.

Our test results so far for Pentium M and Celeron M CPUs suitable for fakePAE, 'No PAE flags but 36 bit physical memory address size':

---- CPU name ---- -- CPUID Output of 'cpuid|grep ^00000001' -- Lowest: Celeron M 1200 Mhz 00000001 00000695 00000812 00000000 a7e9f9bf Celeron M 1300 MHz 00000001 00000695 00000812 00000000 a7e9f9bf Celeron M 1.40 GHz 00000001 00000695 00000816 00000180 a7e9f9bf Pentium M 1.50 GHz 00000001 000006d6 00000816 00000180 afe9f9bf Pentium M 1600 MHz 00000001 00000695 00000816 00000180 a7e9f9bf Pentium M 1.70 GHz 00000001 000006d6 00000816 00000180 afe9f9bf Pentium M 1.70 GHz 00000001 000006d6 00000816 00000180 afe9fbbf Highest: Pentium M 2.10 GHz 00000001 000006d6 00000816 00000180 afe9f9bf

Your help and support was highly appreciated and needed.

Our test results so far for Pentium M and Celeron M CPUs not suitable for fakePAE, 'No PAE flags and only 32 bit physical memory address size':

---- CPU name ---- -- CPUID Output of 'cpuid|grep ^00000001' -- Lowest: Pentium M 1200 Mhz 00000001 00000695 00000816 00000180 a7e9fbbf Highest:

Your help and support is still highly appreciated and needed.

If you are a new user, you can check the PAE capability in your own computer. Running Lubuntu 12.04 with a non-pae kernel

cat /proc/cpuinfo

reports 32 bits physical address size for a tested computer with Pentium M, but running Lubuntu 13.10 and 14.04 LTS, it reports 36 bits physical address size. So you need the PAE kernel running to get 36 bits. If you don't get 36 bits with a PAE kernel, your CPU has no PAE capability.

Details: CPU-info & OS-info

The following screen shots were recorded in an IBM Thinkpad T42 and correspond to the information in the 'CPU-info & OS-info' link

Lubuntu 12.04.2 with Pentium M and Lubuntu 13.04 with Pentium M

From the feed-back so far, 'grub-n-iso' seems more popular than 'installed system'. Unless this changes, future versions of Lubuntu-fake-PAE will focus on 'grub-n-iso'.

Checksums and signature

Please use checksums to verify that the download was successful. There is a file md5sums.txt.asc for each of 'grub-n-iso' and 'installed system'. It contains the md5sums of the files to be downloaded, the instructions as well as the compressed image files (.img.gz files). This file is signed with gpg and you can verify it according to the following commands.

gpg --keyserver hkp://pgp.mit.edu --recv-keys EB0FC2C8 gpg --verify md5sums.txt.asc

The warning "This key is not certified with a trusted signature! There is no indication that the signature belongs to the owner." means that there is no chain of trusted keys between your computer's keyring and the key, that was used to sign the checksums (the key of sudodus). Check that the result matches, when you verify it: The text about checksums and signature at the write protected first post of the corresponding Ubuntu Forum tutorial and your output of these commands should match.

lubuntu@lubuntu:~/test/pae4pm/grub-n-iso$ gpg --keyserver hkp://pgp.mit.edu --recv-keys EB0FC2C8 ... gpg: key EB0FC2C8: public key "Nio Sudden Wiklund (sudodus) <address@mailserver.com>" imported ... lubuntu@lubuntu:~/test/pae4pm/grub-n-iso$ gpg --verify md5sums.txt.asc gpg: Signature made Sun 02 Jun 2013 10:20:57 AM UTC using RSA key ID EB0FC2C8 gpg: Good signature from "Nio Sudden Wiklund (sudodus) <address@mailserver.com>" ... Primary key fingerprint: 0303 EA77 E34C 52F2 2958 47C6 BD43 C742 EB0F C2C8

Then there is reason to trust that nobody else has written the checksums. The date of the signature will change at updates, and the text might be translated to your local language, but it should be clear that it is a 'Good signature from "Nio Sudden Wiklund (sudodus)"'.

'grub-n-iso'

Detailed description

You find the detailed description at grub-n-iso

Advantages

Similar to normal installation (via 1GB or 2GB USB drive)

No upgrading between versions is necessary

Full flexibility, for example to make a dual boot system

The official Lubuntu i386 desktop iso file is used, and can be checked with md5sum

5e85e368b6eaf1b9f5cf88467c6570f5 lubuntu-13.10-desktop-i386.iso

according to https://help.ubuntu.com/community/UbuntuHashes

Disadvantages

You do not get a complete worḱing operating system directly

You need to install fake-pae using 7bit's ppa after the installation

It uses the desktop iso file, while the alternate iso file can install to systems with lower RAM.

Warning

This Lubuntu Raring 'grub-n-iso’ system was made for Pentium M and Celeron M, that have PAE capability but no PAE flag. It is harmless for all computers modern enough to have USB. We take no responsibility for any damage, that this software can cause with very old hardware without PAE capability (pre Pentium II).

You find the detailed description at grub-n-iso

Installed system

Detailed description

You find the detailed description at InstalledSystemFakePAE

Advantages

No live install CD/DVD/USB drive is used

No upgrading between versions is necessary

You get a complete worḱing operating system directly

Disadvantages

It is a different way to install a system

13.10 installs into 4 GB (fixed size, can be grown with gparted)

It is easier to use 'grub-n-iso' for a dual boot system

Boots from grub and just works

This Lubuntu Raring 'installed system' can run with Pentium M and Celeron M CPUs. It has been tested from a USB 3 pendrive and from a hard disk drive. It uses the fake-PAE method of 7bit @ubuntuforums to let the 32-bit PAE kernel be updated with CPUs without a PAE flag.

When running Lubuntu 12.04 with a non-pae kernel

cat /proc/cpuinfo

reports 32 bits physical address size for my Pentium M, but when running Lubuntu 13.04 and 13.10, it reports 36 bits physical address size.

So you need the pae kernel running to get 36 bits. If you don't get 36 bits with a pae kernel, your CPU has no PAE capability.

Warning

This Lubuntu Raring 'installed system' was made for Pentium M and Celeron M, that have PAE capability but no PAE flag. It is harmless for all computers modern enough to have USB. We take no responsibility for any damage, that this software can cause with very old hardware without PAE capability (pre Pentium II).

You find the detailed description at InstalledSystemFakePAE

One Button Installer

Detailed description

You find a general description at OBI - Community Help Wiki and more detailed help in this Quick Start Manual

Advantages

It is a simple and fast method to install an operating system from a tarball.

The installation works well also with low RAM

Disadvantages

It is a different way to install a system

The installer boots from 'read/write mass storage devices' (USB pendrives or HDD, SSD, but not from CD, DVD)

Boots from grub and just works

32-bit linux operating systems installed with the OBI can run with Pentium M and Celeron M CPUs. It has been tested from a USB 3 pendrive and from a hard disk drive. They can use the fake-PAE method of 7bit @ubuntuforums to let the 32-bit PAE kernel be updated with CPUs without a PAE flag.

It is easy to install fake-PAE and then upgrade the kernel,

sudo apt-add-repository ppa:prof7bit/fake-pae sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get install fake-pae

but several tarballs come with fake-PAE to make it convenient for the end user (you).

Chapter l (ell) Tweaks and extra application programs in this README file describes which tarballs that have PAE kernels and fake-PAE.

Warning

These installed systems were made for CPUs that have PAE capability (but in some cases no PAE flag). Fake-PAE is harmless for all computers modern enough to have USB. We take no responsibility for any damage, that this software can cause with very old hardware without PAE capability (pre Pentium II).

You find a general description at OBI - Community Help Wiki

9w installer

The 9w (debian) installer is uploaded as hybrid iso files, which can be used from CD, DVD and USB drives.

9w can run in text mode and graphics mode. It works with very low RAM in graphics mode and with extremely low RAM in text mode.

The installer itself is a debian system with a non-pae 32-bit kernel, but it can install any system that is portable enough to be installed by cloning or flashing an image into a drive. In this case (and so far), 9w is used to install Ubuntu based systems. It is not limited to installing debian systems.

9w does not work like standard linux installers. Instead it installs/flashes/clones from a compressed image file to the target drive using the shell script mkusb. This means that the partition table will be overwritten and the whole drive will be used. 9w cannot create dual boot systems. See also this link about alternative installers

The 9w installer can install systems with 80 MB RAM, but Lubuntu Core Trusty needs 128 MB RAM to run and at least 256 MB RAM to be really useful.

You find a general description at

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/9w

You can download the 9w iso files from

http://phillw.net/isos/linux-tools/9w/

Ubuntu 14.04 LTS text non-pae 'Trusty-npae124-text.iso'

http://phillw.net/isos/linux-tools/9w/Trusty-npae124-text.iso

This iso file can install a system with a non-pae kernel for old CPUs based on Ubuntu 14.04 LTS mini.iso and an Ubuntu community non-pae kernel developed by phillw. It is uploaded as an alternative for users with old computers, where a generic pae kernel will not work. But it can used in any Intel/AMD computer where standard 32-bit kernels work, and can be a good alternative for a portable 'installed system' on a USB pendrive. This system can run with 80 MB RAM in some computers. The exact level depends on how much RAM is pre-allocated for example to run the graphics, so 96 MB RAM is 'on the safe side'.

The intention is that this re-spin with the non-pae kernel will follow the updating/upgrading cycle with point releases of Lubuntu 14.04 LTS. See this link.

After booting into this installed Ubuntu mini system with a text interface, if you wish, install

a desktop environment, lubuntu-desktop or xubuntu-desktop or the minimal lubuntu-core or

only lxde or

only openbox or fluxbox.

You can also install server packages and create an Ubuntu Server (in text mode).

You find a general description at https://help.ubuntu.com/community/9w