After last weeks post on Ubuntu 7.10 (https://arcanecode.wordpress.com/2007/10/18/installing-ubuntu-710-under-virtual-pc-2007/), I had several requests for Kubuntu. Since I’m happy to please, here are the step by step instructions for Kubnutu. By the way, I’ve reduced the screen sizes a little to make them fit the flow of the blog, but you can click any of them to see them in full size should you need to make out any of the details.
If you haven’t already done so, you’ll need to download the latest image of Kubuntu, you can get it from http://www.kubuntu.com/download.php .
Kubuntu has some of the same issues as Ubuntu under Virtual PC when it comes to graphics and the mouse. When you fire up the VPC with the Kubuntu disk in the drive (or you’ve captured it’s ISO image), you’ll want to move the highlight down to “Start Kubuntu in safe graphics mode”. To fix the mouse, at least for this session, press F6 for boot options, and type in “i8042.noloop” after the –. Once your screen looks like the one below, press Enter to continue.
Once Kubuntu boots, click the install icon on the desktop to begin the installation process.
On the Welcome screen, just confirm your language, then press Next.
In this step you get to play Carmen whats-her-name and do the “Where in the world are you” bit. Select a city in the time zone in which you live, then click Next.
Now pick your keyboard, and click Next.
On the disk space screen, just take the defaults and click next.
OK, now we actually have to do some work, and give Kubuntu some info. Make sure to remember your password, not only will you need it to login but you’ll also need it for any commands that need super user privlidges.
OK, Kubuntu finally knows everything it needs in order to install so just hit next.
And wait. And wait. And wait. If you thought Ubuntu took a while to install, just wait for Kubuntu. My experience was a couple of hours, but to be fair I was also playing a couple of Quicktime videos (some of the cool shows from http://www.revision3.com) and testing an openSuse install in another VPC. And I have sloooooooooooow hard disks, so your milage (or kilometers) may vary. But it’ll still take a while.
About 84% or so into it I got this error. This is similar to the error I got with Ubuntu, just click OK to let it keep going. Oh, and wait some more.
Yea! It finally finished the install.
When you get to this screen, just press OK, then reboot Kubuntu. Don’t forget to eject the CD (or release the ISO) during the reboot. But before you press OK, make sure to read the next step!
OK, time for a tricky part. Pay close attention during the reboot. When you get to the screen that talks about the GRUB menu, press the ESCape key. You should see a screen like this:
With the top line highlighted, press the e key to edit the command line.
On the next screen, press the down arrow once to highlight the line that begins in “kernel”, then press e again to edit that line. When the edit screen appears, we need to add the – i8042.noloop to the end of the line. It should look something like:
Press Enter, then when you return to the screen with “kernel” on it, press ‘b’ (just the letter b) to boot Kubuntu. What this will do is enable the mouse for this session only! Once we get booted, we’ll fix the mouse permanently, so hang on.
When the login screen appears, enter your user name and password (the ones you entered on the “Who Are You” screen during the installation) and press enter. Now give it a minute while Kubuntu finishes loading.
OK, now it’s time to fix that pesky mouse issue once and for all. Click on the big K in the lower left (it’s like the Start button in Windows), and go to System, then bring up Konsole.
Now in the Konsole window, type in
sudo kate /boot/grub/menu.lst
and press enter.
Enter your password when prompted, and you should be in the kate editor. Note you may see a few errors on the terminal window. These can be ignored.
Once kate is up, scroll to the very bottom of the editor where you’ll find three sections of “title… kernel… “ etc. In the first section, which is the default, we need to edit the kernel line to add:
— i8042.noloop
to the end of the line, as you see here. Once done, save it by using File, Save on the menu or clicking the floppy disk. Then exit kate (File, Quit) and exit the terminal window (type exit and press enter, or close by just clicking the x button as you would in Windows).
And that’s it, you should be good to go and enjoy Kubuntu 7.10 virtually.
PS If you found this useful, please give it a digg so others can find it too.
Arcane Code 
works great
i installed kubuntu on low memory mode, but works perfectly fine
tangina mo! mag-reply ka nman!
Hi,
I seem to be having a problem trying to enter the “i8042.noloop” into the kate editor. When trying to view “menu.lst” there is no code to edit or view just an empty window.
Anyone else seem to get this problem, or know a solution?
Thanks in advance.
I am in progress of installing it. I can’t wait ’til I get to use it!
Finally had a day to sit back and enjoy a bit of experimentation. Found a copy of Ubuntu 7.04 in the office. Installed it under VPC2007. Updated to 7.10 and everything worked with suggestions based on your article specific to “U”buntu. Saw I was missing KDE. Downloaded KDE packages and installed them. The only challenge I have on the KDE side (“K”ubuntu) is that I don’t have sound. Verified I have the reference to Soundblaster 16 in the right place and sound does work in Ubuntu but not in Kubuntu. Any ideas? Thanks for the article. Love working with linux and K/Ubuntu has been the easiest of all distros to work under VPC2007. Also seeing if I can find a way to get the scroll mouse to work. If you have it fixed. I’ll check back in a day or two. Thanks for the great article.
Stu,
I had the same problem with the “i8042.noloop” in kate until I realised that i was editing a .lst file (LST) and not .1st (as in numeral 1+st). Once entered worked fine.
I installed Kubuntu and everything works except for the audio. I have tried most of the solutions for Ubuntu however they do not seem to work for Kubuntu. Does anyone have any idea how to get the audio to work? Thank you.
Hi, I have a problem installing Kubuntu 7.10. I’m following your advice but whenever I finish the installation, the whole system freezes. And if I force a reboot, the only thing I see is “Starting up …” and this is where it ends. Any help?
i reccomend switching to a vt while installing as it goes a lot faster by pressing Ctrl-F2
im having the same problem as UltamateSephiroth except i have kubuntu installed. everytime i go to edit the boot command then boot again, it just freezes on that whole starting up….. thing. suggestions? thanks
Clavin,
i have had the same problem and I found a workaround: in the boot options remove the splash and quiet options
thanks linuxbot. has anyone figured out a fix for the mouse wheel? nobody at my company has any idea
VPC2007 —
Same issue as Calvin and LinuxBot3k, I took out splash and quiet, added the i8042.noloop and the boot hangs at a line that reads: “[34977.033657] checking if image is initramfs…” (Noted, the first set of numeric values changes)
Suggestions?
Thanks in Advance
Added note: If I leave off the i8042.noloop, the line changes to add “it is” after the ….
I had to back up and punt. So after a bit more searching, I found Innotek’s VirtualBox (Virtualbox.org), and am currently installing K/7.10 on it. At this point, part-way into the installation process, it seems to be running faster than on MS-VPC2007. Shame there doesn’t seem to to be a way to transfer or convert my existing Virtual machines to it. At least, unlike MSVPC, it does have access to the USB controllers.
Still interested in that fix, though, if anyone figures it out.
Thanks Again.
Just a quick thanks – Thanks! – and also to say to others that this also works on Microsoft Virtual PC 2004.
Cheers.
I installed kubuntu just fine with these directions! love it. i have just one problem though. i cant go to full screen mode with the virtual pc. it wont let me, it says that kubuntus screen resolution is too large. i hit ctrl+alt+ (num -) to change it, but i get lines. what can i do to fix it so i can see it better? cant change resolution in kubuntu itself either.
great instructions though
Sorry, but… could you please provide help for installing Kubuntu 8.04?? Thanks!!
Всем привет 🙂
after it has boot I only get a black screen…
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