Success! I've done it.

[Jonti]

One of Ubuntu's slogans is Linux for human beings. So I reckon it's aimed self-confessed fluffy-heads too If you can use an Apple or MS system, you can certainly use Ubuntu just fine. It's cheaper, and will certainly give fewer headaches than one tends to get from MS. I know quite a few, ahem, normal souls (meaning folks who just want to use their computer, rather than tinker with it) who are very happy with it.

It's easy to get the wrong impression, just because one can get into the innards and tinker. But never mind the geeks; it is intended that Ubuntu can be used for all normal tasks from the graphical desktop, using the mouse to point and click, like in MS or Apple. No need to type strange commands at all.

But you can try it out, without installing it! You can run Ubuntu off what's called a liveCD which allows you to see *exactly* what you'll get, and how it will work with your kit.

 

[Chairman Meow]

One of Ubuntu's slogans is Linux for human beings. So I reckon it's aimed self-confessed fluffy-heads too If you can use an Apple or MS system, you can certainly use Ubuntu just fine. It's cheaper, and will certainly give fewer headaches than one tends to get from MS. I know quite a few, ahem, normal souls (meaning folks who just want to use their computer, rather than tinker with it) who are very happy with it.

It's easy to get the wrong impression, just because one can get into the innards and tinker. But never mind the geeks; it is intended that Ubuntu can be used for all normal tasks from the graphical desktop, using the mouse to point and click, like in MS or Apple. No need to type strange commands at all.

But you can try it out, without installing it! You can run Ubuntu off what's called a liveCD which allows you to see *exactly* what you'll get, and how it will work with your kit.

I'm not really a fluffy head, but reading this kind of thread just sends me into a stupor and makes me think why would you put yourself through this. Mind you I have spent a few days trying install a feckin wireless router and that was enough to make me weep and almost throw my new lappy out the window. Some night, probably when suffering from chronic insomnia, I may look into this Linux stuff further.

 

[jæd]

I'm not really a fluffy head, but reading this kind of thread just sends me into a stupor and makes me think why would you put yourself through this. Mind you I have spent a few days trying install a feckin wireless router and that was enough to make me weep and almost throw my new lappy out the window. Some night, probably when suffering from chronic insomnia, I may look into this Linux stuff further.

Well... If you want something thats easier to use than Linux and "just works" why not make your next computer an Apple...? If you're worried about the cost then get one on ebay or one of the Mac Mini line.

Up to you, though. Computers are there to make life easy, not to cause sleepless nights or fly through the air...

 

[Chairman Meow]

Well... If you want something thats easier to use than Linux and "just works" why not make your next computer an Apple...? If you're worried about the cost then get one on ebay or one of the Mac Mini line.

Up to you, though. Computers are there to make life easy, not to cause sleepless nights or fly through the air...

Nooooo, not getting into the Mac/PC thing......*runs screaming from thread*

 

[ChrisC]

I'm just downloading the updates it recommends. It's so good not to have to look through them just to make sure there's no Windows Genuine Advantage thing in there or similar. I was thinking seriously about buying XP soon as I'm just sick of using a pirated copy and tbh I probably still will as I play a lot of games on my pc but even so I'll be using Linux as much as possible in future, it just seems a lot more user-friendly (once you've installed it).

Thanks for the help everyone, no doubt I'll have plenty more questions.

Yeah I didn't like using the pirate copy. No updates.

 

[jæd]

Nooooo, not getting into the Mac/PC thing......*runs screaming from thread*

Oops... Sorry 'bout that...

 

[Jonti]

Heh, I can still remember how I felt like chucking my first 'puter (a Sinclair QL) out of the window. Weeping and raging with frustration, at least occasionally, seems to be par for the course, whatever system you use.

One of the reasons I bother is that 'puters and the net do have the potential to make available all culture and learning at next to no cost. And one of the reasons I support Linux, and Ubuntu in particular, is that powerful corporate interests are doing their best to stop that happening. There are determined attempts by corporates to claim ideas and knowledge as their own private property, and to get laws passed to stop us knowing stuff and using knowledge.

Information technology can be used to liberate; or to enslave. And the fight, unnoticed by the proverbial man on the Clapham omnibus, is going on right now.

 

[ChrisC]

I do have a feeling that Ubuntu will eventually charge for their CD's. However, based on it's performance I still wouldn't mind paying a fair fee.

 

[Chairman Meow]

I do have a feeling that Ubuntu will eventually charge for there CD's. However, based on it's performance I still wouldn't mind paying a fare fee.

*restrains inner spelling-nazi*

 

[ChrisC]

There you go. You don't have to restrain anymore.

 

[Jonti]

Only two more to find

 

[bmd]

What happens if you reboot...? Do you get the same problem, or is it (hopefully) fixed...?

Just tried to reboot and it still won't boot unless I go through the recovery mode. Any idea how to start troubleshooting it?

Also, I have drivers for my gfx card but I'm reading something about compiling them before they'll work. Is there a noob way to do this or should I just rtfm?

 

[jæd]

Just tried to reboot and it still won't boot unless I go through the recovery mode. Any idea how to start troubleshooting it?

Also, I have drivers for my gfx card but I'm reading something about compiling them before they'll work. Is there a noob way to do this or should I just rtfm?

I would try looking at ubuntuforums.org ...

 

[Jonti]

This is following on from #22, as well, I guess. It sounds to me that the graphics drivers are causing some slight problems.

If you open a console and type

dmesg | more

this will give you a screenful of what looks like gibberish, but is in fact the messages written out by the system as it starts. Hit the space bar for another screenful; you are looking for error messages.

Another thing you could try is this. Presumably you are being dumped at a command prompt (blank screen with a flashing cursor). Login as normal (username and password) then type

startx

This will probably give some interesting error messages.

What sort of graphics card do you have?

ETA: does this look useful?

Edgy has decided to switch on compositing for you, which is probably fine for 99% of everyone, but plays merry hell with ATI setups who'd like some real 3D acceleration.

 

[Jonti]

One more thing. Ubuntu is designed to start in the graphical desktop. Until you get the problem fixed, you may want to prevent the graphical shell from trying to start. The idea being that you can tinker (I'd suggest you take notes of what you've tried; and don't delete files but just rename them instead) and then just type "startx" to see if you've fixed the problem.

The easiest way to prevent the graphical shell from trying to start is to get to a command prompt anyway you like, then type

sudo rm /etc/rc2.d/S13gdm

You'll need to give your password. Once the problem is fixed you can reinstate the automatic starting of the graphical shell by typing

sudo ln -s /etc/rc2.d/S13gdm /etc/init.d/gdm

 

[bmd]

This is following on from #22, as well, I guess. It sounds to me that the graphics drivers are causing some slight problems.

If you open a console and type

dmesg | more

this will give you a screenful of what looks like gibberish, but is in fact the messages written out by the system as it starts. Hit the space bar for another screenful; you are looking for error messages.

Another thing you could try is this. Presumably you are being dumped at a command prompt (blank screen with a flashing cursor). Login as normal (username and password) then type This will probably give some interesting error messages.

What sort of graphics card do you have?

ETA: does this look useful?

I have an Nvidia card, a 7800GTX.

I've found a page that thinks it tells me how to install Nvidia drivers and it says this -

sudo apt-get install nvidia-glx nvidia-kernel-common
sudo nvidia-xconfig

I've tried these two lines of code in the terminal and it says -

E: Type 'my password for the system is here' is not known on line 34 in source list /etc/apt/sources.list
E: The list of sources could not be read.

Which is nice.

The thing is I wouldn't bother but I can't get a resolution above 1280x1024 with the default drivers.

This is the error message I get when trying to start Ubuntu btw -

[17179572.892000]PCI: JMB26X: Enabling dual function on 0000.03:00.0
[17179572.916000]PCI: Cannot allocate resource region 0 on device 0000.03:00.0
[17179572.916000]PCI: Cannot allocate resource region 1 on device 0000.03:00.0
[17179572.916000]PCI: Cannot allocate resource region 2 on device 0000.03:00.0
[17179572.916000]PCI: Cannot allocate resource region 3 on device 0000.03:00.0
Error when updating region 0000.03:00.0/0 0000c000!=0 0000000
Error when updating region 0000.03:00.0/2 0000c008!=0 0000000

 

[Loki]

Yeah I didn't like using the pirate copy. No updates.

The patch to fix activation, WGA and running Windows update is out there, or so a friend told me.

 

[bmd]

The patch to fix activation, WGA and running Windows update is out there, or so a friend told me.

I never installed it in the first place, something told me that installing a patch called 'Windows Genuine Advantage' on my pirate copy of XP would be a really bad idea.

But still, it's a bore having to look for a cracked copy of any interesting piece of software that Ms releases for XP.

 

[ChrisC]

I have an Nvidia card, a 7800GTX.

I've found a page that thinks it tells me how to install Nvidia drivers and it says this -

sudo apt-get install nvidia-glx nvidia-kernel-common
sudo nvidia-xconfig

I've tried these two lines of code in the terminal and it says -

E: Type 'my password for the system is here' is not known on line 34 in source list /etc/apt/sources.list
E: The list of sources could not be read.

Which is nice.

The thing is I wouldn't bother but I can't get a resolution above 1280x1024 with the default drivers.

This is the error message I get when trying to start Ubuntu btw -

[17179572.892000]PCI: JMB26X: Enabling dual function on 0000.03:00.0
[17179572.916000]PCI: Cannot allocate resource region 0 on device 0000.03:00.0
[17179572.916000]PCI: Cannot allocate resource region 1 on device 0000.03:00.0
[17179572.916000]PCI: Cannot allocate resource region 2 on device 0000.03:00.0
[17179572.916000]PCI: Cannot allocate resource region 3 on device 0000.03:00.0
Error when updating region 0000.03:00.0/0 0000c000!=0 0000000
Error when updating region 0000.03:00.0/2 0000c008!=0 0000000

You need to sudo edit the sources.list and remove the quotes ---> # = quote to allow the system to update sources. Actually I think it's easier to do this in synaptic. Jonti will know the exact details. Jonti?

 

[Loki]

I never installed it in the first place, something told me that installing a patch called 'Windows Genuine Advantage' on my pirate copy of XP would be a really bad idea.

That's not what the patch is called though...

 

[bmd]

That's not what the patch is called though...

It sounds like we're talking at cross purposes here. I'm talking about the Windows update patch called WGA, I'm guessing you're talking about the one that works around it.

You need to sudo edit the sources.list and remove the quotes ---> # = quote to allow the system to update sources

I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about.

 

[Loki]

It sounds like we're talking at cross purposes here. I'm talking about the Windows update patch called WGA, I'm guessing you're talking about the one that works around it.

I was only ever talking about the patch that works around it though...

 

[bmd]

Right.

Managed to open the sources.list and took out my system password and a url that I'd somehow managed to paste in there and save even though I've never seen the thing before.

And then.

I've got it booting from the main system not the recovery one by unplugging my card reader, don't ask me why I did that I just saw it as the pc was booting and unplugged it for something to do. I won't be posting that one on the Linux dev forums anytime soon...

And then.

I've got a Creative Xfi card which is a Very Bad Idea apparently if I want to listen to anything whilst working in Ubuntu.

And then.

Still not discovered how to install anything.

And then.

I sang "Iiiiiiiiim haaaaaaving the tiiiiime of my li-i-i-iiiii-fe, and I've neeeeeever felt this way befooooore".

 

[Loki]

And then.

I sang "Iiiiiiiiim haaaaaaving the tiiiiime of my li-i-i-iiiii-fe, and I've neeeeeever felt this way befooooore".

he he

And then I looked to see which games that people are raving about will run on it. And er, couldn't find any, so headed back to XP

 

[Jonti]

OK, BMD, it sounds to me as if you are able to use your graphical desktop more-or-less alright, but that you are not getting the full performance from your nvidia graphics card. That should not be a problem.

First start your package manager ...
System --> Administration --> Synaptic Package Manager

Then, in Synaptic
Settings --> Repositories
and select the "Ubuntu 6.10" tab. Ensure that "Proprietary drivers for devices (restricted)" is checked, as well as each of the three check boxes above that. Umm, you may as well choose to download from a UK server while you're at it. Click close, then click on Synaptic's "Reload" button to effect the changes you've made.

Now, let's find that nvidia stuff you need. Click on the "Search" button which you will see at the top of the "Synaptic Package Manager" window. Search for "nvidia" (without the quotes!) within the description and name. When the search completes you will be presented with a list of software. Notice the "installed version" column.

On this (my) nvidia system, the software installed is ...

• linux-restricted-modules
• nvidia-glx
• nvidia-kernel-common
• smart-dimmer
• xserver-xorg-video-nv

If any of the above are not installed, right-click on the missing item and select it for installation, and agree for the system to make whatever other changes are required to comply. Then click on Synaptic's "Apply" button.

Wait for the changes to be made, and you're done

ETA
Please don't dive in and manually edit any files just yet. There's nothing wrong with doing that, but it really is best to find your feet in Ubuntu first.

 

[bmd]

OK, BMD, it sounds to me as if you are able to use your graphical desktop more-or-less alright, but that you are not getting the full performance from your nvidia graphics card. That should not be a problem.

First start your package manager ...
System --> Administration --> Synaptic Package Manager

Then, in Synaptic
Settings --> Repositories
and select the "Ubuntu 6.10" tab. Ensure that "Proprietary drivers for devices (restricted)" is checked, as well as each of the three check boxes above that. Umm, you may as well choose to download from a UK server while you're at it. Click close, then click on Synaptic's "Reload" button to effect the changes you've made.

Now, let's find that nvidia stuff you need. Click on the "Search" button which you will see at the top of the "Synaptic Package Manager" window. Search for "nvidia" (without the quotes!) within the description and name. When the search completes you will be presented with a list of software. Notice the "installed version" column.

On this (my) nvidia system, the software installed is ...

• linux-restricted-modules
• nvidia-glx
• nvidia-kernel-common
• smart-dimmer
• xserver-xorg-video-nv

If any of the above are not installed, right-click on the missing item and select it for installation, and agree for the system to make whatever other changes are required to comply. Then click on Synaptic's "Apply" button.

Wait for the changes to be made, and you're done

ETA
Please don't dive in and manually edit any files just yet. There's nothing wrong with doing that, but it really is best to find your feet in Ubuntu first.

Oooh, cheers for that, it's downloading 42 files atm. I'll get to the rest of your post when it's done.

I didn't want to manually edit anything, from what I remember I was trying to input something into the terminal and it asked for my password and then when I tried to type it in I couldn't, so I presed return and typed it in which completely broke it.

It's my forte, I break things.

e2a: Thanks very much for your help Jonti you're a star.

I already had those apps installed, the thing I'm trying to install is a file I downloaded from Nvidia called "NVIDIA-Linux-x86-1.0-9746-pkg1.run".

Have I got hold of the wrong end of the stick or is that file the most up to date driver package for a 7800GTX?

 

[Jonti]

Ah, yes, I was beginning to wonder.

You're one of those people that can't put a watch on their wrist without it stopping, aren't you?

For now, I'd be cautious about working in the terminal. I mean, do have a good look around, just don't do anything that needs you to give your password.

Um, when you say

when I tried to type it (my password) in I couldn't

what do you mean? Are you saying you pushed the keys and nothing appeared on the screen? 'Cos if so, well, that's how it works. I know it's common for asterisks to appear, one for each keystroke. But think about it. Why tell an onlooker how many keystrokes comprise your password? That's just silly when you *know* if you've hit a key or not, iyswim.

 

[Jonti]

... the thing I'm trying to install is a file I downloaded from Nvidia called NVIDIA-Linux-x86-1.0-9746-pkg1.run

Hmmm.

Up to you, but I wouldn't bother. Just be patient, and in time the Ubuntu folk will integrate that file into the Ubuntu system. When that happens, it will be installed more-or-less automatically.

That may seem disappointing, but the emphasis in Ubuntu is on ease-of-use and stability. Provided you install all your software through the Synaptic Package Manager, niggling incompatibilities between software packages will be avoided. Without going into too much detail, a Linux system is able to keep the size of software packages low by sharing libraries etc, and yet at the same time avoid a lot of the software incompatibility problems that plague windows (you know, when you install something that breaks other software).

The magic is done by having a Package Manager. In the case of Ubuntu, the package manager is something called "apt". Synaptic, which you've now found, is a friendly front-end to apt. Provided you make all software changes through apt (or the various front-ends for it, which comes to the same thing) your system will be coherent and easy to manage.

But start installing software "manually" so to speak, meaning not via apt or its front-ends, and you may well end up with problems further down the line.

 

[bmd]

Ah, yes, I was beginning to wonder.

You're one of those people that can't put a watch on their wrist without it stopping, aren't you?

For now, I'd be cautious about working in the terminal. I mean, do have a good look around, just don't do anything that needs you to give your password.

Um, when you say what do you mean? Are you saying you pushed the keys and nothing appeared on the screen? 'Cos if so, well, that's how it works. I know it's common for asterisks to appear, one for each keystroke. But think about it. Why tell an onlooker how many keystrokes comprise your password? That's just silly when you *know* if you've hit a key or not, iyswim.

Yeah, I have broken many bones and much crockery in my life.

Just found that thing about the invisible pw entry, God it was doing my head in! I even tried typing it in the text editor and then pasting it but it wouldn't let me paste.

Anyway, apparently to install this file I have to change it to an .exe which I've done and now I need to kill Gnome and run it in root. When I used the command 'killall gdm' (or something like that) it said I didn't have permission. Is there another command or am I doing something wrong? Clearly it must be the pc being stupid but I just thought I'd ask...

eta: just seen your above post, I won't bother breaking my shiny new Ubuntu OS just yet then but the thing is it won't let me use a higher resolution than 1280x1024.

 

[jæd]

Anyway, apparently to install this file I have to change it to an .exe which I've done and now I need to kill Gnome and run it in root. When I used the command 'killall gdm' (or something like that) it said I didn't have permission. Is there another command or am I doing something wrong? Clearly it must be the pc being stupid but I just thought I'd ask...

Best to stop what you are doing and follow Jonti's advice...