Trouble creating a Live CD

[burtonlang]

I'm sorry if a similar question has been posted, but I could not find it by searching. I am trying to create an Ubuntu live CD, but am having trouble. I have tried multiple times in the past, but my internet connection was extremely slow, and it failed to download the ISO.

Now, I have successfully downloaded the disk image, but when I just tried to burn it in Disk Utility (by opening it, selecting it, and then pressing burn), it immediately came up with a loading/progress window, but has not actually done any "loading"—it has, for quite a long time now, been on the "writing track" stage.

Is this what is supposed to be happening? Is it supposed to take this long?

Maybe it's just a problem with the disk image. I use a G4 iMac, so I had to download the PowerPC version of Hardy Heron.

Thank you,
burtonlang

EDIT: I'm kind of disappointed that nobody has answered yet. I'm pretty sure something's wrong; it has just said "Writing track" for over two and a half hours now! Please, somebody help!

Although this will probably not be of any help at all, here's a picture of the burning window:

And it's been like this for two and a half hours!

 

[cyclingplatypus]

Looks like you are trying to use the built in burning utility, I'd suggest trying it with Toast (if you have it) or Burn (free) and see if this helps.

 

[burtonlang]

Thanks! I'll try Burn. I'm not sure why it would be better though... What's different between it and Disk Utility?

Thanks,
burtonlang

 

[Macvillain]

Im not quite sure about on a mac (so this probably wont help) but when I burned the iso to a disk in windows I had to download a specific program that burned iso images. So it could possibly be the same for mac but don't quote me.

 

[burtonlang]

Okay. I tried Burn, but the same exact thing happened: It just got stuck on "Writing track" in a similar window. I'm thinking that it's just my old, worn-out computer. I'm getting a new iMac soon, so I might as well wait till then. I just wanted to try out Ubuntu and see how I liked it.

Thanks for the help. Any more help would be appreciated.
burtonlang

 

[cyclingplatypus]

I've got no more solutions for your problem now but I will say that using VMWare Fusion on your new iMac takes the hassle out of having to burn live cd's, it will mount it and install it as a live view directly from the download iso, very nice and very convenient.

 

[sreedy]

I've just done exactly what you said on my G4 iBook and it's working for me. I did the following steps:

First downloaded the ISO from ubuntu and verified the md5:
(baac0e01ea8337f9725cf750d9a76985 *ubuntu-8.04-desktop-powerpc.iso)
to ensure the download was not corrupted in anyway, then:

1. Insert a blank disc.
2. Start Disk Utility.
3. From the File menu, choose Open Disk Image and select the ISO to be burned.
4. In the list of volumes, you will now see an item representing the ISO file. Select it.
5. Click the Burn button and follow the instructions.

After 10-30 seconds I had the screenshot you posted and then it began writing and is now complete.

Hope these steps help you out.

 

[burtonlang]

First downloaded the ISO from ubuntu and verified the md5:
(baac0e01ea8337f9725cf750d9a76985 *ubuntu-8.04-desktop-powerpc.iso)
to ensure the download was not corrupted in anyway, then:

1. Insert a blank disc.
2. Start Disk Utility.
3. From the File menu, choose Open Disk Image and select the ISO to be burned.
4. In the list of volumes, you will now see an item representing the ISO file. Select it.
5. Click the Burn button and follow the instructions.

After 10-30 seconds I had the screenshot you posted and then it began writing and is now complete.

Hope these steps help you out.

Hmm... This is exactly what I did. You say it took 10-30 seconds for the window to come up, but how long did it take after that for it to start writing?

I have an extremely slow internet connection, and it's been even slower lately—for a time on the download of Ubuntu, it was only going at 10-15KB/s, and it slowly worked up to about 45KB/s. That is probably unrelated, though, because I checked the MD5, like you said, and it was exactly correct.

Should I try again and see if I did something wrong? Does anybody have any idea about what could possibly be wrong?

Thanks,
burtonlang

EDIT: I just noticed that your iBook is 1.2GHz, and running Leopard. Mine's only 800MHz, running Tiger. I doubt the OS has much to do with it (unless the Disk Utility in Leopard is a lot better), but there's a difference of 400 MHz between our processors... You got your iBook at least two years after I got my iMac, there might be some updated features.

 

[burtonlang]

Could the disks be the problem?

I just found a few mini DVD-RWs lying around, and thought that those might be better. They hold 1.2 GB, while the CD-Rs hold 700MB. The other difference I see is that the DVDs say "2x" on them, while the CDs say 52x. My superdrive is, I think, only 8x.

Thanks,
burotnlang

 

[burtonlang]

Okay. I decided to use one more CD before risking one of the DVDs. This time it went through much faster, and I thought it was going to work, but when the disk ejected, I got this:

I'm not sure why this happened. Is it because the disk wants a 52x write speed, but I'm only giving it 8x? If so, the DVD would probably be a better option, only being 2x. I can write at 8x or 4x. Which would be better for the 2x mini DVD-RW?

(Also: Haha! Apple typo—double period.)

Thanks,
burtonlang

 

[burtonlang]

I tried the mini DVD-RW, but it was essentially the same result.

Somebody must have some information or idea about what could be going wrong.

 

[burtonlang]

Okay. I tried to do this with the same CD-R from a different, but identical, iMac. It worked. That must mean there's something wrong with my superdrive. hmm...

Anyway, thanks.
burtonlang