gOS Space Cannot Save the CloudBook. What Can?
April 14th, 2008 by Joanna Stern
After reading Jeff’s post on the new gOS Space 2.9, I was psyched to try and port it over to the CloudBook. The operating system looked sick (as in awesome, not physically ill) on his desktop. The transparent dock on the bottom made the whole screen look sleek and the celestial wallpaper gave the system a more futuristic aura.
I figured if any system needed a refreshed gOS, it was the CloudBook (which came running gOS Rocket). Therein lay my mission: become the Joan of Arc of the CloudBook and get gOS Space to run on the ailing system.
I downloaded gOS Space 2.9 to my desktop computer and burned it as an image file to a DVD. I had no problem then plugging in an external optical drive to the CloudBook and booting up the disk from the BIOS on the system.
After a few minutes of processing, the system prompted me with a gOS menu page and asked if I would like to install the OS to the hard drive and boot up. I selected Yes. However, after about 2 minutes an error screen appeared. It reads:
The display server has been shut down about 6 times in the last 90 seconds. It is likely that something bad is going on.
Something bad, indeed. With an emoticon for emphasis, no less. I then repeated the process, but instead of selecting the Install option, I selected the Boot in Safe Mode option. I got the same error message.
Any ideas of how to avoid this error and continue the installation process on the CloudBook?
April 15th, 2008 at 10:11 pm
OK, you say gOS and Cloudbook don’t fly.
I can’t tell you about the Cloudbook, because I don’t have one, but I can tell you that gOS is a very functional and interesting OS.
I had a Compaq V2000 laptop with a bad hard drive, so downloaded the gOS ( a few weeks ago now, so don’t know what ver.), burned the image to a DVD and booted the V2000 from the DVD drive.
It came up nicely and performed flawlessly, with the limitation of it running off the DVD and not installed on H/D.
The icon bar on bottom does look like a rip-off from a Mac, however, I’ve seen add-on software to do this for a winx, which worked just fine, if you like this type of launcher.
So, bad- mouthing gOS along with the Cloudbook is unfounded and unwarranted!
I was impressed with the simplicity and performance of gOS (Linux variant) along with all the other Linux distros I tried and have recommended then profusely to anyone who wants to hear.
In summary, I’m not using Linux presently only because I have a Konica/Minolta Magicolor 2400W Laser printer I like, and naturally no Linux driver is available.
If that printer quits on me, I’ll switch to a Linux OS instantly!
April 17th, 2008 at 11:21 am
A Cloudbook doesn’t meet the minimum requirements:
We recommend running gOS Space 2.9 on a computer with at least the following hardware specification:
* 700 MHz x86 processor
* 384 MB of system memory (RAM)
* 8 GB of disk space
* Graphics card capable of 1024×768 resolution
* Sound card
* A network or Internet connection
Note: All 64-bit (x86-64) PCs should be able to run gOS Space 2.9.
The resolution of the cloudbook is to low, and thats the thing where you are getting problems with (resolution/video driver), so try Ubuntu hardy on your cloudbook and install the AWN dock by yourself and pick a nice theme.
April 17th, 2008 at 1:20 pm
>>>Therein lay my mission: become the Joan of Arc of the CloudBook
Well, Joanna, given the comment stating the CB won’t run that OS, you have indeed had your wish!
Burned at the stake of Linux!
I admire your pluck, though!
>>>I downloaded gOS Space 2.9 to my desktop computer and burned it as an image file to a DVD. I had no problem then plugging in an external optical drive to the CloudBook and booting up the disk from the BIOS on the system.
Few women could boast of writing sentences like that, btw!
April 21st, 2008 at 3:44 am
actually the graphics card IS capable of displaying that 1024×768 of yours the only thing is the screen is not.
and since there is clearly stated that:
* Graphics card capable of 1024×768 resolution
I was a bit dissapointed about this not working on my packard bell XS20 (same as cloudbook with one gig ram)
and i tried gOS V2 Rocket G too but i got the same crash about 6 times in 90 seconds.
So What WILL actually work good out of the box??
I’m eager to boost off Vista and XP and adopt linux but this way ill never learn how to use it
April 29th, 2008 at 4:56 am
Hi Joanna, thanks for valiant efforts! The reason your install did not work on the Cloudbook was not because of gOS Space itself, but it is because we use a specialized version (with the correct drivers and settings) for specialized hardware like the Cloudbook
If you send me an email I’ll see if I can send you a private link to download it. Thanks for the article! I think it is always tough to bring a new form factor and device experience into market, kind of like how tough it was for St Joan of Arc to be embraced by people of her day… revolution, or anything new, interesting, uncharted… is not easy to pull off, but we’re working very hard with our hardware partners to perfect 
be prepared for more!
May 29th, 2008 at 7:28 pm
@David Liu
I would also like to download the cloudbook version of gOS Space, right now my cloudbook is collecting dust, and I’d really like to use it, it has less than 40 hours on it as it sits.
Thanks for all your hardwork and efforts.
Sincerely,
Rob