Ubuntu as an alternative to Windows

[dylan]

May give a distro a go, need to reformat windows soon anway.

Last linux I had was Mandriva 2007 edition I believe.

Will have to look and see if any drivers are available for my wireless dongle, had to use something called ndiswrapper last time.

Which should I use? Ubuntu? Kubuntu (as far as I can see that sued KDE instead of GNOME) or else?

Yeah, you're correct. Ubuntu is Gnome and Kubuntu is KDE and it's really a matter of personal preference. You can run Gnome programs on KDE, and KDE programs on Gnome - Modern computers don't make the overheads noticable either, so you don't have to worry too much.

Personally I've always used Ubuntu (Gnome) as I find it a bit slicker than Kubuntu.

What's the wireless dongle that you're using mate?

[miken]

Thanks,

I've jsut been doing some research into it.

Its a Belkin F5D7050 with the Ralink RT2570 chipset from http://www.wlanfr.net/contenus.php?id=182 it seems there are now linux drivers available but some people may of had problems getting them working and end up using ndiswrapper anyway.

The Linux drivers method

Recent distributions come with precompiled drivers. In such a case, all that you have to do is to load the kernel module with "modprobe" (as the super-user "root"). You can then check that you have a wifi network interface with "iwconfig" (from the wireless-tools package).

~~~
# modprobe rt2570

Are you able to see if ubuntu comes loaded with the precompiled driver?

[dylan]

The problem with a lot of cheaper usb sticks is that the manufacturer releases quite a few revisions of the same product using different chipsets. The easiest way to find out if it's got out of the box support with Ubuntu Gutsy is to try the live cd.

The installer runs as a live cd so download it, burn it, boot your PC off it with the usb stick plugged in, and see if you can connect to the network when the cd has finished loading. It doesn't make any changes to your computer, so its not dangerous ;-)

[dylan]

And what the hell am I on about because you've already just told me it's the RT2570 chipset!!! Doh.... I'll take a look 

[miken]

Ok will do,

Cheating karoo here stuck the karoo proxy on and getting 400 on http downlaod of the cd

If its a live cd aswell how do i install it? does it ask me when i boot what i want to do?

Also do I have to burn it to install? or can i install from usb drive? (saves time writing to cd-rw)

Will probably try it tomorrow.

Mike

PS: Love that warning thing at the top when a reply is posted while im typing
Ye im 100% sure its that chipset, remember form last time and i checked on net.

[dylan]

Ok will do,

Cheating karoo here stuck the karoo proxy on and getting 400 on http downlaod of the cd

If its a live cd aswell how do i install it? does it ask me when i boot what i want to do?

Also do I have to burn it to install? or can i install from usb drive? (saves time writing to cd-rw)

Hi Mike,

It's a live cd and an install disk. When you run it as the live cd, on the desktop there's a icon which says 'Install' or something like that. After you've had a play with the CD, and then decide to install, simply double click on the icon, and it takes you through the install process. One thing I have noticed about the new version, is that the livecd doesn't like some graphics cards. Give it a bash anyway, and if you have an issue then just select 'safe graphics mode' from the screen you get when you put the CD in.

As for running it from usb, I dunno? Can you set your BIOS to boot off a .img file loaded onto a USB stick? It might be easier to burn TBH.

Dyls.

[dylan]

Oh, and as far as I can suss out the rt2570 kernel module isn't present in the Gutsy release. That said, I can see it listed in Gutsy software packages so I guess you might have to just suck it and see 

[miken]

Ok, I'll just stick it on a disc probably much easier.

I've got a spare unused 60GB drive in pc at moment which i will probably use if i install.

I have 3 hard drives,

One is Windows etc. (160GB)
One is currently unused (60GB)
One is storage (500GB)

The 500GB wont be getting formatted just be used as storage of 'things'.

But if I install ubuntu on the 60GB can I then format the windows hard drive into two partitions (wont be happening for a while dont have patience to install everything at moment)
Then transfer ubuntu from the 60GB to the 2nd partition of the main drive? therefore not losing settings etc and having to install both windows and ubuntu again?

I hope I made that clear enough :S

Btw, dam downlaod failed at 70% I'll get it tomorrow instead.

Thanks,

Mike

[dylan]

If I were you, I'd do this:

Assuming all three drives are in your PC, and assuming you're running Windows XP

Run the live cd and start going through the installer.

Part way through, it'll ask you which drive you want to install on - choose the spare 60GB drive (The installer will show three disks, and how big each one is so it should be self-evident which disk you want).

Next, it'll ask you what to do with the disk, DOUBLE CHECK YOU HAVEN'T ACCIDENTALLY CHOSEN YOUR WINDOWS OR STORAGE DISK!!!! then Choose 'erase entire disk'.

The installation should complete, and you're asked if you want to restart.

Now you should be able to choose between Ubuntu and Windows when your computer starts up.

I found a tutorial for sorting all this out on an older version of Ubuntu here;

http://www.ehomeupgrade.com/entry/2622/how-to_dual-boot_ubuntu

I don't reckon the newest version installer will have changed too much,

Now start Ubuntu up, and install the ntfs-config package (the easiest way to do this is to go to Applications > Accessories > Terminal, and type this in to the command line window --- sudo apt-get install ntfs-config)

Now if you go to Applications > System Tools > NTFS Configuration Tool you'll be able to now set up read/write support for your separate 500GB storage drive.

Now you should be able to select which operating system you want to use at boot, and you should also be able to read and write to your storage drive from both Windows and Linux 

[miken]

This has been driving me mad today!

1 reinstall later it broke again and failing something on boot so need to reinstall again, then try get the wireless working so i can download packages i need.

I found a nice guide to getting it all setup though.


Btw, Dylan you go on a ny irc or msn etc? so i can chat on my psp instead of having to restart into windows?

[dylan]

Btw, Dylan you go on a ny irc or msn etc? so i can chat on my psp instead of having to restart into windows?

Yeah, dylan <at> karooforums <dot> net on msn

[stormy]

hehe MSN? Isnt that a windows thing?

(I tried kopete in Kubuntu but was never really happy with it)

[dylan]

hehe MSN? Isnt that a windows thing?

(I tried kopete in Kubuntu but was never really happy with it)

I set it up specially for Miken   

[miken]

You will be glad to know i got my internet working eventually.

Ended up using ndiswrapper to use the windows driver, couldn't get the iwconfig and iwpriv (not sure thats spelt right) setup correctly ended up using wifi radar to scan for networks and setup a connection profile, sometime i need to work out how to get it to work not using the program. Maybe tomorrow.

What should i do next?

How do i get swf support on firefox?
Also happen to know a nice blue background to go with the 'glossy' theme?
Also anyway to play BF2 with latest patch? with working multiplayer and PB?

[dylan]

I'm assuming you're using Gutsy.

SWF support on firefox - Visit a flash based site and it installs automatically ;-)
Java Virtual Machine - Visit a site requiring JVM and it installs automatically
MP3 WMA etc etc, try play something requiring that codec and it'll get them for you.
Glossy theme background, try this one - http://media.arstechnica.com/images/tiger/aqua-blue-tiger.jpg

Battlefield2 unfortunately is a different matter (and the reason I still retain an XP partition on the desktop computer upstairs). The Windows version of Punkbuster is meant to ensure that you haven't modified your system in order to cheat. Obviously, as you're not using Windows to run the software, Punkbuster realises something is a miss, and kicks you