Give Ubuntu another chance

Posted by: Don Phillips on 02 January 2010

Hi guys,
I read through again the previous thread on Ubuntu (a free Linux based operating and software system) which is now closed and views seemed divided between those who wanted to give it a go and those who want to chuck it.

My plea is... give it a go. You have nothing to lose.

It started for me a few weeks ago when I set about upgrading the family computers from the dreaded Vista to Windows 7 (much better in every way).
I had intended to get the three registration family pack. Found that Microsoft had stopped doing this. Presumably too popular!
So I reluctantly bought one upgrade kit and installed it on my main PC.

I had a further read about Ubuntu, downloaded the disk and gave it a good airing on my wife's old laptop. Looked good. Within the hour I had it installed and was acquainted with all the supplied software, including equivalents of Office, Outlook, Photoshop, iTunes, &c. I am not a computer expert but it was simple.

Since then I have it on my laptop. And most recently I have partitioned my hard drive on my main PC, and can choose to boot between Windows 7 and Ubuntu. Could not be simpler. (I am not in their pay - it is, err, free software!).

This morning I installed their audio recorder/editor, Audacity. Was able to record a track from the rerun of Sound of the Sixties which had always elluded me into Flac format, within minutes.

I stress, I am not a computer guru, and have no formal training in computers.

So what is wrong with Ubuntu? It looks nice, is quick, is versatile, you don't need to have Antivirus software. And it does not hold up proceedings, threatening to reboot every five minutes to download yet another fix.

So if you have a spare or an old computer stick it on, get used to it. You need never spend any more money on software.

Happy new year

don, snowy downtown York

Posted on: 08 January 2010 by BigH47

OK thanks for that Peter. I'll try another machine then.

Posted on: 08 January 2010 by Johnhgy

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Roy T:
[QUOTE]Originally posted by BigH47:
OK 3 attempts to burn the ISO file have failed. It says it has done it but there is nothing on the CD-r, my external drive won't even try to burn it.

This may be a silly question,are you using the burn image(ISO) option in your cd burner or just copying the ISO file to the cd? the latter will not produce a bootable disk,you must use the burn image option or you will just make beer mats

Posted on: 08 January 2010 by HIghfid3l_IT

Skip the silver media and move on to USB sticks; the fast and flexible way to go.
There are programs to prep the Stick and install an ISO on it. It can even download an ISO with the distro of your liking or just for testing on the fly

Posted on: 08 January 2010 by BigH47

Not sure my old PC would load from a USB stick. I have ? made another CD, iMAC says it's verified I'll try it later.

Posted on: 09 January 2010 by BigH47

OK todays update.
iMAC succeeds where MS PC fails, nothing new there then.

Booted PC with Ubuntu disk and surprise it is running, seems very good and useful looking.

This is probably a really stupid question but how do I get on to the WWW?
Normally it is via a BT USB Adapter Voyager 1055 wireless dongle thingy.
What do I need to D/L for it to work?

Posted on: 09 January 2010 by Roy T

Looking good, You could access the net via the Mozilla Firefox browser via the main menu accessed at the top left of the screen.

Applications > Internet > Firefox Web Browser

Let me know what happens.
The Network app located on the system menu on the top line of the screen will show wireless networks that are visible to you, so pick your one and click away. IIRC the first time through you will be asked for passwords and such so ad your details and continue on to the net.

Posted on: 09 January 2010 by BigH47

I just says "server not found" message, as there is no access to the internet. I have no connection from the PC to the www.

I guess what I'm saying is I need an application for the wireless dongle on my PC accessable via Ubuntu S/W.

I just looked on the forum and it looks like BT stuff don't work with Linus(easily) what I have read just makes my head spin.

Back to MS methinks.

Posted on: 09 January 2010 by Roy T

My condolences for the use of the BT USB Adapter Voyager 1055 wireless dongle thingy, truly the spawn of the devil. A device that relies upon vendor authored close code can be a problem to emulate but if you get the chance to run (if only for a short period) by cable thus bypassing the wireless then you may well see the OS in a different light.

Posted on: 09 January 2010 by BigH47

Is there dongle or other wireless thing that will work to the BT Home Hub down stairs, (I know SOTD etc), that is supported by Linux?

MS PC is in the spare bedroom and BT HH in the living room so a cable connection is difficult. I could bring the PC down stairs I guess for a trial.
Is there a maximum length of ethernet cable?

Seems to bring out a lot of negativity BT broadband products. By and large they seem to work fine. iMAC, wifes Vista L/T and sons XP L/T all seem to work fine wirelessly, they of course have no BT products in them.

Time machine I can only get to work reliably by direct connection to the HH.

Posted on: 09 January 2010 by Peter Dinh

quote:
BT USB Adapter Voyager 1055 wireless dongle...

This is exactly one of the general warnings I gave about Ubuntu / Linux at the beginning of this thread. This OS sometimes is not as user-friendly as Mac / Windows.

However, if you persevere, you can make it work by following this discussion on Ubuntu forum. Actually, it is not that hard to make it work in this case, although things look a bit complicated.

Posted on: 09 January 2010 by BigH47

OK I am writing this from Ubuntu on PC.
Damnned if I know what I installed some ndis wrapper stuff. But gave up as it was getting beyond my comprehension/ability.
I played some patience and was about to close down spotted the wireless icon clicked on it and logged on to BT HH and viola.

Posted on: 09 January 2010 by bhaagensen

quote:
Originally posted by BigH47:
OK I am writing this from Ubuntu on PC.
Damnned if I know what I installed some ndis wrapper stuff. But gave up as it was getting beyond my comprehension/ability.
I played some patience and was about to close down spotted the wireless icon clicked on it and logged on to BT HH and viola.

Like other well-known fine pieces of equipment, perhaps a slight break-in time was called for (its Saturday-evening...)

Posted on: 09 January 2010 by Peter Dinh

congrats! somebody must have fixed it in this ubuntu version. Black magic.

Posted on: 09 January 2010 by Roy T

Well done you have beat the spawn of the devil

the next step is to install all outstanding system software updates that will bring the base software up to date.

System > Administration > Update Manager

May I also suggest that you consider installing the following packages via the Synaptic package manager;

System > Administration > Synaptic Package Manager

Ubuntu-Restricted-Extras - play many audio, video formats.
VLC - VideoLAN project's media player.

Now have a couple of beers, listen to some music - job done.

Posted on: 09 January 2010 by BigH47

quote:
Now have a couple of beers, listen to some music - job done.

You got a camera in place?

Posted on: 12 January 2010 by BigH47

OK Ubuntu loads and runs OK, but after running the updates it can't load them because drive (\) hasn't got enough room.
What/where is drive\ I seem to have 1.3 GBs on the drive as shown on the disk utility.
PC shows 7.3 ish GBs before loading Ubuntu.

I'm having trouble getting my head round it all. Is it possible for a short idiots guide, (although I am not short)?

TIA.

Posted on: 12 January 2010 by Peter Dinh

OK. Are you still using the Live CD?

Posted on: 13 January 2010 by BigH47

Yes,just running from the CD.

Posted on: 13 January 2010 by Peter Dinh

I have never used the Live CD myself, but I think that you cannot update / upgrade the system while you are using the Live CD because the update(s) are meant to change the system files but your system files are read-only because they are on a CD.

I recommend that you install Ubuntu on an old machine and start from there, to see if you like it or not. You will see that it runs much faster if it is installed on a HD.

As it was said before, Ubuntu is fast and lightweight. It can give your old machine another life.

Posted on: 13 January 2010 by BigH47

Thanks for that Peter, I thought that may be the case.
I was following Roy's advice (at the top of page).I have probably not fully understood, I'm not being ungratefully.

I'm just plucking up the courage to to a full load and say good bye to the XP.

Does one use the same ISO file, to do a permanent load?

I've re-read an earlier post and have downloaded the Ubuntu guide.

Posted on: 13 January 2010 by Roy T

Now you are going to do the deed may I suggest the following;

Backup any data from the XP machine.

This is a video of the install process using the Alt Install disk (not the one you have), it is being installed via a virtual machine so skip this bit and start viewing at about 1:30, you will now have an idea of what to expect.
9.10 alt install video

You can also install from a live cd (the one you have) you should now know what to expect.

I would recommend an entire disk / default install for your first trip into the unknown.

Any questions?

Posted on: 13 January 2010 by BigH47

Thanks Roy, I m pretty sure that most of what I want is on the extra drive I installed in the PC.
That (those) drives will still be accessible from Ubuntu yes?

My hesitation is that I don't have a copy of XP as it was OEM, for my machine, should I have to revert.
I do have a few other MS O/Ss though.

Posted on: 13 January 2010 by Roy T

If you XP recovery is via an encrypt recovery partition then going for a full disk install will overwrite it when you format the disk during the install process, the practice of not giving a couple of silver disks as recovery disks is IMHO out of order but that is what some OEM sellers do. If you are happy about using XP recovery media not tied to your machine then you may have nothing to loose installing Ubuntu. Ubuntu should discover the additional disks on install and adjust the grub (booting mechanism) as appropriate.

Posted on: 13 January 2010 by BigH47

At the end of the day it doesn't matter too much if XP disappears. I have/will have back ups of stuff I want, it will be getting UB to do the same functions as I'm used to, and hopefully more.
If not a good excuse to get a S/H lap top.
I'm doing some backups and disc maintenance ATM.

quote:
I would recommend an entire disk / default install for your first trip into the unknown

Is this explained in the video and/or is it an option when installing from the live CD?
I haven't watched the video yet.

Posted on: 13 January 2010 by Roy T

@ about 3:12 disk partitioning is examined, you may well have to use the advanced options if you wish to use legacy data held on your machine otherwise install on whole file system. See grhaphical install and have a good think.

PS iirc best to install by cable not wireless.