Looking to use Linux (Ubuntu?)

KNiVES

KNiVES

KNiVES

Soldato
Joined
4 Jan 2005
Posts
14,951
My Windows 7 RC expires in a couple of days, and instead of sticking with it, I'm considering making the move to one of the Linux operating systems, namely Ubuntu. I'm well aware of the compatibility issues, but I only use my PC for internet browsing, instant messaging and music, so why waste money on Windows.

Is it possible to download Ubuntu or the like and simply reformat and install over W7 or do I have to burn it to disc and reformat from bootup? I'm basically just looking to do a quick download-install deal but if I need to burn to disc I'll do that.
 
In the meantime you could try wubi to have a quick look at what it's like. I'd start by downloading the relevant iso, latest is Karmic (9.10) and it's available in 32 and 64-bit flavours.

Burn off the disc if you like it, and then follow the install instructions after booting from CD and choosing to install. At the partitioning stage you can get it to manage the whole drive and partition it for you, or you can read up on how to partition it manually and do it yourself. Beware about overwriting your data though. Make absolutely sure it's all backed up before installing.

You can also use a tool called Unetbootin (I think - sp) to prep a USB boot drive if your PC can boot from USB. You can then install from that. You can also look here.
 
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I found a Windows installer for Ubuntu that makes a partition for itself so I'll try that in the meantime :)

I'm not too worried about old data, I'm looking for a new OS with the intent of starting completely from scratch with a blank slate anyway. Am I right in assuming most modern Linux OS' have a general variety of network card drivers included? I'm worried that I may have to figure out a way to get my wireless network card to work.

edit: never mind, this page shows that my wireless network card runs out of the box with it :)
 
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Good stuff. I found ubuntu's hardware support is pretty good out of the box. That windows installer sounds a lot like wubi IIRC.

I've just been getting things up and running with Ubuntu netbook remix on my eee pc and have been pleasantly surprised just how much things have come on since I first tried ubuntu. I'm also dual booting XP and it feels just so dated in comparison.
 
Having slight issues - I downloaded the iso and burnt it to disc. Thing is, I get as far as the Ubuntu menu on bootup, but selecting any of the options such as demoing it or installing it makes it freeze. I tried the boot helper option inside Windows, and that freezes on bootup too. So I'm trying installation inside windows as a last resort now.

edit:

Well, nothing works. Booting from disc doesn't work, using boot helper doesn't work, trying to install doesn't work. Not a great start. Either it freezes or it gives an error, all on bootup. Errors like unaligned pointer, or something along the lines of ms skip or something like that. Totally vague and unhelpful.

Freezes when I select any of the options here
GraphicalInstall

(taken from here)
 
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core 2 duo 6300
4GB memory
4870
7200rpm 250GB hdd

That's all I can remember. It's been such a long time since I cared about PC gaming that I've long forgotten the specifics.

Would it help any if I just took the plunge, reformatted the HDD and took a try at installing from scratch? I may as well, as Windows will stop working completely in a couple of days.
 
Woohoo!

I got it working. I am now posting from Ubuntu - completely reformatted and started from scratch. It installed and picked everything up like a dream, including my wireless network. It's very smooth and responsive I must say, and the image is astonishing clear.
 
I'd have guessed that was a dodgy cd more than anything else. Regardless I'm glad you've solved it.

Compatibility errors with linux are mostly a thing of the past. Printers can be very trying indeed, but network cards, graphics cards and the like aren't much hassle anymore. Ubuntu is a very friendly starting OS, has very good support forums.
 
I can't get any of the IM clients to work with my windows live account. I've tried empathy, pidgin and amsn. They all simply don't connect, as if the email address account never existed in the first place. Some sites say I need to install SSL for pidgin but I have no idea where to start. The documentation is in complete jargon and is essentially useless for a beginner like myself.
 
knives, go to applications > Accessories > Terminal

Then type:

Code: 
sudo apt-get update
Type your password in and it will update all of ubuntu's mirror's so it knows what the most upto date software there is for you. I would say that this can all be done by GUI, but don't be scared, it's easier for me to explain by using terminal commands!!! :)

Back to the point, now type:

Code: 
sudo apt-get install openssl
It will now install openssl.

PS: For you reference, if you go System > administration you should see synaptic package manager, I don't run ubuntu but i'm sure it's there! Synaptic is the GUI for installing new programs and stuff. If you wanted a program you can type it in the search box and it install it in the gui.

Personally I would say don't be scared of the terminal, respect it but try to use it, it's an amazing tool that will really help when you need to trouble shoot. I found it hard crossing from windows as well, it just takes time, a desire to learn and pacience (spelling).

EDIT: Also in the top right of ubuntu have you seen the restricted drivers icon flashing? It should ask you if you want to activate your ATI drivers, wireless card etc etc
 
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Thanks for the help dude - I entered those commands in, a bunch of lines appeared and such. But unfortunately it hasn't fixed the issue - I still get authentication failures. It's a nice OS though and I would be over the moon if I can get the instant messaging to work.
 
As a slight variation on Oxy's command, anything on a line beyond a # is ignored. No idea if you've met programming in any form or not, but this piece works exactly like you'd expect it to.

Code: 
sudo su #enter password at this point
for i in update upgrade dist-upgrade "install openssl"; do apt-get $i -y; done && exit

There's two lines there. Update updates the lists of where software can be found, upgrade advances them to the newest stable version, dist-upgrade upgrades your kernel if a newer one is out. for i in *** *** ***; do command $i; done is much as it sounds.

Can't say offhand if it'll fix your problem or not, but at least you'll be running the most recent code available to ubuntu, so if it's a bug and someones noticed it and uploaded a fix all is well. It'll probably want you to reboot after that runs.
 
ok dude. Go back to terminal, thats adminstration > accessories > terminal

Now type:

Code: 
sudo apt-get upgrade

Maybe pidgin needs updating.

Doh jon posted before me... Jon does ubuntu have a software firewall that needs configuring?

I have never had this problem in any OS, seems odd. Knives sure your e-mail and password are correct? Have you selected the right protocol?
 
I'm very sure. It works on the Windows laptop downstairs.

Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
Click to expand...

That's what happens when I enter your command. It seems everything is up to date. It still doesn't work :(

When it says update manager on that page there, does that mean the synaptic package manager?
 
Same fault accross multiple programs means it's probably not pidgin thats the problem. Ubuntu comes with iptables (firewall), but not really configured, so pretty much lets the user do whatever they wish. I don't think this will be the problem either.

^Yep, that definitely means it was all up to date. By package manager it probably means aptitude or apt-get rather than synaptic, but I'm not sure there's a great difference between the three.

Beyond this I can't really help I'm afraid, instant messaging has always worked out of the box for me. A useful error check would be booting from a livecd and checking if the version of IM on that works, if so it suggests something configured wrong on your computer. If it doesn't, it suggests that the ubuntu team have dropped the ball.
 
Just booted ubuntu 9.10 livecd and it doesn't even have pidgin installed, is that normal? I thought it came by default?

Anyway installed it and ran it, working with my @hotmail.co.uk account.

Are you sure you have the protocol set to msn, your e-mail and password are correct? delete them and type them in again.
 
Believe me, I must have tried that like a hundred times now :p
It came with Empathy by default - which didn't work so I removed that and installed AMSN which didn't work, then I moved on to Pidgin, which isn't working either.
So it seems like there's a fundamental underlying problem which has nothing to do with the instant messaging clients themselves.

Could it be that the problem lies with the msn protocol itself? Any packages or software that could be updated or changed for it?

Another problem seems to have crept up on me as well, none of my usernames and passwords for websites are being saved, for Firefox
 
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The thought occurs that dodgy ram would explain struggling to install ubuntu and a corrupted install throwing strange errors.

Pidgin was dropped for 9.something, no idea why.
 
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