Let’s be honest – the operating system provided by Asus on the eee PC 701 is a bit rubbish. Sure, the games are fun, but for people like me who like to do ‘advanced’ stuff like using a terminal it just doesn’t cut it. Solution: eeebuntu.
Eeebuntu is basically ubuntu (with gnome) which has been modified to work for the eee PC with little extra configuration. You can also install a stripped-down version of the operating system to make the best use of your 4GB SSD. Exactly what I’m after.
So, on to installation instructions. This how-to assumes that you have access to a portable CD drive. If not, follow instructions similar to those found here to install from a USB drive. First, download an ISO from eeebuntu.org and write this file to a CD or DVD. Obviously the procedure for doing this will vary depending on your operating system.
Now plug in your portable CD drive, insert your newly-burnt CD and restart the computer. As soon as the grey loading screen comes up, repeatedly press F2 until the setup screen comes up. Scroll to the Boot tab and press enter to go to the Boot Device Priority selection. Fiddle with the settings until your CD drive is above [HDD:PM-ASUS_4G_SSD] (or similar). Then press F10 to save and exit.
Your computer should load a menu with the eeebuntu banner at the top. From here choose the installation option and follow the prompts. Once installation finishes, go back to the setup screen (F2 during startup) and put the hard drive back at the top of the list. You will now have a working version of ubuntu on your eee.