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I've got a Dell Laptop Developer Edition that I want to sell. It just got refurbished and I reinstalled Ubuntu and got everything updated and, more importantly, got the fingerprint reader working and the Dell repositories setup. Before I sell it, I would love to have it setup to do the "first login routine" when the new owner boots it up for the first time, but I'm not sure how. Any advice would be appreciated!

JeepFreak
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  • I think you can do that by installing and running oem-config. – ChanganAuto Mar 20 '22 at 20:19
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    @ChanganAuto Do you need to --reinstall ubuntu desktop first. I just looked at the Apt info, and it mentions the config options, but I didn't see much about removing custom installed apps. Just curious. thx – Nate T Mar 20 '22 at 21:20
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    @NateT AFAIK there's no need to reinstall anything. The purpose is to actually install everything you need/want, drivers, codecs and other software, and then run it to remove the (temporary) user and shutdown. Then it should ask to setup a new user in the first boot after that, just like a new preinstalled Ubuntu from established manufacturers. – ChanganAuto Mar 20 '22 at 21:33
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    Does this answer your question? How do I pre-install Ubuntu for someone (OEM install)? – user68186 Mar 20 '22 at 22:13
  • @user68186 Yes, there used to be an option to start an OEM installation in the live media Grub menu but I haven't seen it for a long time. Running oem-config should do the same after a normal installation. Before we would run it as well when finished but there was a convenient desktop shortcut. AFAIK this is/was the only difference between selecting an oem installation from the start and installing and running the package a posteriori. – ChanganAuto Mar 20 '22 at 22:13
  • @ChanganAuto Thanks for the clarification. – user68186 Mar 20 '22 at 22:16
  • Perhaps this answers your question better How can I factory-reset an OEM install of Ubuntu? – user68186 Mar 20 '22 at 22:32
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    Wait. Did your Dell come from the factory with Ubuntu? If so, that is a different OS. The differences aren't huge, but they are big enough to extremely upset a buyer who is expecting the version that is factory-tuned for your machine. There is a good chance that such a buyer will be buying for that reason alone. – Nate T Mar 20 '22 at 22:54
  • @ChanganAuto I have tested with the Ubuntu 20.04.4 LTS ISO in the UEFI mode. The OEM Install option is very much there. I am ddid an OEM Install in a VM and taking screenshots. I updated the top answer to How do I pre-install Ubuntu for someone (OEM install)? with instructions for Ubuntu 20.04. – user68186 Mar 21 '22 at 02:37
  • I appreciate everyone's help, especially you, @ChanganAuto. I'm not sure how to mark your answer as accepted though... maybe it's posted as a comment instead of an answer?

    Anyway, I tried installing and running oem-config-prepare as it shows in user68186's link, but it froze on reboot and I couldn't get past a blank wallpaper screen. I ended up reinstalling and using the "OEM install" option, which did show up in the Grub menu, I set up the drivers and such again and ran the "prepare for shipping to end user" icon on the desktop. Hopefully it won't freeze for the buyer.

     – JeepFreak Mar 22 '22 at 16:59
  • Indeed these are comments and not answers. – user68186 Mar 22 '22 at 18:29

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