Ubuntu - I haz it

[Perd Hapley]

That 64-bit version I burned onto a disk the other day?  It works.  Sorry if this is a dumb question, but is it faster when installed, versus working from the CD? 

[Perd Hapley]

Like most every good thing that falls into my hands, I managed to break it.     Locked it up, somehow, in the middle of installing Flash Player.  I did something I didn't understand (some non-Windowsy function I hadn't seen before), and then when it recovered, it wouldn't install the Flash plug-in. 

Better luck to me next time. 

[Iain]

It will be considerably faster when installed.

Had you installed to your hard drive before you borked it?

[Perd Hapley]

No, it's not on the hard drive yet.

[Iain]

http://www.ghacks.net/2009/05/04/installing-flash-in-ubuntu-904-with-firefox/

That's from a quick google search.

Start again, install to hard drive to see everything working properly. Not much will be lost except time (and 14,879 posts says you have some of that).

I'm not much of a proper geek, but there is almost nothing that I have run into with Ubuntu that a google search won't solve.

[Perd Hapley]

Thanks.  I quit tinkering with it because it was about 1 am. 

[Iain]

I'll probably out myself as a geek now - but it is quite a lot of fun. I only started playing with it because I had some time on my hands. That was over 3 years ago, and things like flash were notably harder.

With an up to date Ubuntu (and I can only speak for Ubuntu really) if you have an nVidia card, reasonably widely used wireless adapter etc then it is pretty much plug in and play. The only issue is Ubuntu restricting dvd and mp3 playback by default to avoid licensing issues, but that is easily fixed. Some other Ubuntu based distros enable it, think Mint does.

[Perd Hapley]

Ubuntu does the miracles.  My 32-bit Jaunty just arrived in the mail.  I put it in the drive on my old Dell GX240, the drive that Windows no longer recognizes.  Works fine. 

[zahc]

Running from the CD is slower than a thousand suns. I don't even have the patience for it, and I've had system freeze running off the CD....I think...I generally lose patience and pull the plug.

After you install it, consider enabling the medibuntu repositories and installing the following packages

ubuntu-restricted-extras
flashplugin-nonfree
w64codecs
libdvdread

That should get you a start on playing proprietary media formats. Ubuntu only comes with completely free software, which is how you are able to download it, distribute it, and install it without answering any EULAs.

[Perd Hapley]

I haz installeded it on the old Dell.   

It wanted to give me a bunch of Bluetooth updates.  What Bluetooth has to do with my computer, I don't know. 

[go_bang]

I haz Ubuntu too.  It runs as a virtual machine in VMware Player.  I mainly use it for pulling dow torrents.  If Linux had color management and Adobe ported Photoshop to it I would likely switch, but until then oh well.

[Perd Hapley]

Reckon colors aren't much of a concern for me.  Except the "red glass" cursor.  Likez it.

I'm installing the 64-bit Jaunty on the new Dell at this time. 

[Perd Hapley]

Is there any way the dual boot OS decider could give a fellow more time to choose a different operating system?  Or change the default OS? 

[roo_ster]

Is there any way the dual boot OS decider could give a fellow more time to choose a different operating system?  Or change the default OS? 

Most likely, you must edit the grub.conf file located somewhere I can't recall on the fly.

[zahc]

By default I think the grub timeout is 10 seconds, which turns into infinity seconds as soon as you press a key. I usually edit the menu.list, but it's to turn it down to a more reasonable 2-3 seconds. To change the timeout, edit /boot/grub/menu.lst . There is a line that will say timeout 10. Change the 10 to whatever you want. You might want to backup the file first if you are paranoid, because it's a pretty important file.

[roo_ster]

You might want to backup the  any configuration or operating system file first if you are paranoid wise...

A little closer to my POV when it comes to editing system files.

[Iain]

I'm on my fluxbox machine, so I'm not entirely sure where in the menu the following can be found, but there is a gui tool to edit the necessary file.

startup-manager

[Perd Hapley]

To change the timeout, edit /boot/grub/menu.lst . There is a line that will say timeout 10. Change the 10 to whatever you want.

How, with terminal? 

[Marnoot]

How, with terminal? 

I used a text editor in Ubuntu to do this the last time I played with it. It was a little more difficult than just opening the file since you have to sudo it (run it as an admin) when you open the grub conf file in order for it to let you make changes. I don't remember the exact way to do it as I don't currently have an Ubuntu installation (it doesn't like my SATA chipset and/or drives). I'm sure one of our resident Linux gurus will set you right, though.

[Harold Tuttle]

I am mucking about with an older Dell XPS Gen 2 laptop

I have it running Ubuntu but i notice all the blue led lights on the machine are always on
and the hardware controls for volume and what not are non functional

I gather Dell has XP based code that runs the bling

I would like to make it into a dual boot set up and nothing aboard at this point has any value to me.

What's the best method for building up a clean XP/Linux laptop?

[Perd Hapley]

My Dells do a disturbing sort of beep-squeal when Ubuntu shuts them down. 

[roo_ster]

My Dells do a disturbing sort of beep-squeal when Ubuntu shuts them down. 

Just the evil Microsoft daemons howling in agony & frustration that a righteous OS now inhabits the hardware.

Easily rectified by bringing a Roomba or three within Bluetooth range, exorcising the demons from your Dell into them, and sending them over your apartment balcony edge to be smashed on the pavement below.

[zahc]

How, with terminal? 

With the text editor of your choice. I always use nano for this sort of thing, but I think you could use gedit or whatever you want. You will need root permissions to edit the file.

Code: [Select]

sudo <yourtexteditor> /boot/grub/menu.lst

My Dells do a disturbing sort of beep-squeal when Ubuntu shuts them down. 

Try adding running the following line to /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf

Code: [Select]

blacklist pcspkr

[Balog]

Just the evil Microsoft daemons howling in agony & frustration that a righteous OS now inhabits the hardware.

Easily rectified by bringing a Roomba or three within Bluetooth range, exorcising the demons from your Dell into them, and sending them over your apartment balcony edge to be smashed on the pavement below.

Sweet merciful crap that's funny.....

[Perd Hapley]

With the text editor of your choice. I always use nano for this sort of thing, but I think you could use gedit or whatever you want. You will need root permissions to edit the file.

Code: [Select]

sudo <yourtexteditor> /boot/grub/menu.lst
Try adding running the following line to /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf

Code: [Select]

blacklist pcspkr

I've been looking around, trying to figure out how to use the supplied text editor (gedit), but I don't see any "Text Editing for Dummies Who've Never Heard of Text Editing Before" web site.