Ubuntu in my desktop (installation)

Tomorrow is an holiday in Portugal and today it was a nice day to start installing Ubuntu in my Desktop :-)

The first reference for my eXPerience is my own post where I address several important points to check before installing and to achieve.

Running the live cd

So, the first thing was downloading Ubuntu 32 bits, checking the downloaded file hash (look for more info here) and burning the cd.

After booting from the cd is important to check the integrity of the cd. Burning cds also fails.

Hardware to check (during the live cd session)

• Sound (check)
• Cable network (check) -- been writing in the blog in the live cd session
• Graphics (not so good)

I have a 800x600 screen resolution in my 19'' monitor, and the image isn't centered...
I installed EnvyNG using the Synaptic Package Manager (look for envyng-gtk) and just had to run it (Applications > System Tools > EnvyNG), after closing Synaptic (important), choose to "Install he NVIDIA driver (Automatic Hardware Detection)" option.
Note: before installing EnvyNG, in Synaptic, go to Settings > Repositories and in the "Ubuntu Software" tab choose every option. Also, in the "Third-Party Software" tab choose the first option.

Because I was in a live cd session I didn't restart to see the effect, but everything looks fine in the log so...

Starting the installation now :-)

Ubuntu install Hard Drive Partition Layout

/dev/sdc
...../dev/sdc1 .....ntfs ................................21476 MB (20 GB)
...../dev/sdc2 .....ext3 ...../.........................15360 MB (20 GB)
...../dev/sdc5 .....ext3 ...../home ...............15360 MB (15 GB)
...../dev/sdc6 .....swap ................................2048 MB (2 GB)
...../dev/sdc7 .....ext3 ...../storage/pool .....27719 MB (27 GB)

Post-install: graphics card

After the Ubuntu installation, I restart the computer and choose to boot from Ubuntu in the Grub menu.
I still don't have the graphic card installed, but the image is centered now.

I installed EnvyNG (like in the live cd session) and restarted.

While restarting a NVIDIA splash screen will be displayed, proofing a successful installation.
I now have a normal 1280x1024 screen resolution and some desktop effects are already active.

Also check the System > Administration > NVIDIA X Server Settings. Pretty awesome. Even my monitor is correctly recognized.

Post-install: wireless network card

A warning in the Notification Area told I had a Proprietary Driver to install. I just had to check Enable and the wireless card was installed.

Ridiculous simple...

To Do: try the wireless network...

Post-install: file system

Besides the / and /home partitions, only root have permissions to write in every other partitions. In my case /storage/pool.

So, we have to add permissions to our user:

sudo chown -R youruser:youruser /storage/pool
sudo chmod -R 755 /storage/pool


Click here for more info.

Post-install: Multimedia

Reference: Complete Streaming, Multimedia & Video How-to

• Repositories

sudo wget http://www.medibuntu.org/sources.list.d/hardy.list -O /etc/apt/sources.list.d/medibuntu.list
wget -q http://packages.medibuntu.org/medibuntu-key.gpg -O- | sudo apt-key add - && sudo apt-get update

• Flash

sudo apt-get purge flashplugin-nonfree gnash gnash-common && sudo apt-get install flashplugin-nonfree

• Codecs and plugins (it will take quite some time)
  

sudo apt-get remove icedtea-gcjwebplugin openjdk-6-jre && sudo apt-get install alsa-oss compizconfig-settings-manager faad gstreamer0.10-ffmpeg gstreamer0.10-plugins-bad gstreamer0.10-plugins-bad-multiverse gstreamer0.10-plugins-ugly gstreamer0.10-plugins-ugly-multiverse gstreamer0.10-pitfdll libflashsupport liblame0 sun-java6-fonts sun-java6-jre sun-java6-plugin unrar w32codecs

Check the reference link, because it as many other things.

Post-install: System > Preferences

List of changed Preferences:

• Advanced Desktop Effects Settings (Compiz Settings Manager)
  
• Keyboard (Layout > Layout Options)
  

Post-install: LAMP Server

To install Apache, MySQL and PHP, check here.

Post-install: Windows Legacy

To install VirtualBox to run Windows, check here.

Post-install: NFS file sharing

To configure two Ubuntu machines to share files using NFS, check here.

Post-install: Syncing Windows Mobile 5/6 with Synce

To sync your phone with Ubuntu, check here.

Post-install: extra software

List of extra installation software installed:

• GVim
• Firefox Foxmarks add-on (can't live without it)
• More Firefox add-ons (BugMeNot, Forecastfox)
• Firefox IMDB search-engine
  
• VLC
• Gmount-iso
• Gmail Notifier
• Gnucash
• Amarok
• Istanbul Desktop Session Recorder
• Sysinfo
• Conky
• Gaupol Subtitle Editor
• VirtualBox
• Acrobat Reader (choose the .deb installer and double click after the download)
• Google Earth (it will download a .bin installation file, run it in the Terminal)
• gPHPEdit
• Screem HTML/XML Editor
• Bluefish Editor
• Gnome Partition Editor (gParted)
• aspell-pt-pt
• Simple Backup
• mdf2iso (sudo apt-get install mdf2iso)
• nrg2iso (sudo apt-get install nrg2iso)
• gFTP
  

last updated: 21-05-2008

Ubuntu in my desktop (status)

I'm preparing to install Ubuntu 8.04 "Hardy Heron" in my desktop machine.

Before starting

• Try, using the Ubuntu live-cd, at least graphics, sound and cable network access (done)
  
• Backup important data (done)
• Decide the partition layout for all my hard drives (example) (done)
• Rethink my home network (IPs, Windows workgroup names...)
• Decide between Ubuntu 32 bits and Ubuntu 64 bits for my AMD Athlon 64BIT X2 DUAL-CORE 4200+ SKAM2 2.20 GB
  • I've decided to go with Ubuntu 32 bits (done)
  • Check if both cores are beeing used (done)

I will be dual-booting (for now) with Windows XP, and in order to release myself from Windows completely, here's a "to achieve" list.
This list doesn't have a significant order of importance.

To achieve (check the installation eXPerience here)

• Internet access using my home network (cable) (achieved)
  
• Internet access using my home network (wireless)
• Read and write support from Linux to my Windows partitions (just in case) (achieved)
• Read and write support from Windows to my Linux partitions (just in case)
• Divx and Xvid playback with subtitle files support (achieved)
• Full browser experience (Java, flash...) (achieved)
• Microsoft Office 100% support (achieved using a virtual machine)
  • it isn't enough .doc support
  • as an example, the Excel formats, graphs, etc. should be exactly the same
  • it could be done using a virtual machine
• Windows XP in a virtual machine (objective - legacy support) (achieved)
  
• Streaming media content (xvid, divx) to my Xbox 360
  • the the content must be converted to the right format in real time
  • it must add subtitles to the media (for instance .srt separated files)
  • in Windows I use TVersity
• Print to PDF (achieved)
• Have a subtitle editor (achieved)
  • a needed feature is to fix the subtitles in order to keep a fixed number of characters for column
  • in Windows I use Subtitle Workshop
• Software to mount cd image files (like .iso) (achieved)
  
• Recording software (CD and DVD support) (achieved)
• Google Earth and Google Notifier (achieved)
• Full iPod Touch support (it could be done using a virtual machine)
• Full Calendar and Contacts sync support for Qtek 9100 (it could be done using a virtual machine) (achieved)
• Apache, PHP and MySQL solution for my home database solution, currently working in Windows (achieved)
• Remote Desktop Connection to other machines, including Windows (it could be done using a virtual machine)
• Home network (at least shared folders) (achieved)
  

Other nice stuff I'd like

• BIOS upgrades (it could be done using a virtual machine)
• System monitor (hard drive free space, cpu, memory, network and temperature)

last updated: 21-05-2008

Apache, PHP and MySQL (updated)

Ok, setting up Apache, PHP and MySQL is super easy. I used this tip from Ubuntu Forum.
I also want to import my site and database from Windows.

Install

• Go to System > Administration > Synaptic Package Manager
  

• Now go to Edit > Mark Packages by Task

• Choose LAMP Server (Linux/Apache/MySQL/PHP server)

In my case, the Ultimate Edition already had this installed :-)
I just updated Apache, MySQL and PHP using System > Administration > Update Manager.

Now I'm going to install PHPMyAdmin (very useful):

• Go to System > Administration > Synaptic Package Manager
  

• Find by phpmyadmin
  

• Install

Get database and site from Windows

Ultimate Edition already had this installed as well :-)
I marked it to update though.

Now I need to install my Apache/MySQL/PHP solution I had under Windows.
How difficult (easy) will it be?

• Get from Windows the PHP folder mysite
  

• Get from Windows the MySQL database folder mydatabase
  

• In the Terminal (this will open the default Apache site location)

sudo nautilus /var/www

• Now copy the mysite folder here
  

• In the Terminal (this will open the default MySQL database location)

sudo nautilus /var/lib/mysql

• Now copy the mydatabase folder here

• In the Terminal (this will change your admin password)

sudo mysqladmin -u root password NEWPASSWORD
-- NEWPASSWORD must be the same from your Windows config

• In your favorite browser type

http://localhost/mysite

Still, there's a problem. The database is read-only. But is easy to fix:

• Go to http://localhost/myphpadmin and login as root
  
• Select your database in the left pane
  
• Go to Export
• Select the Add DROP TABLE / DROP VIEW option
• Click the Go button
• Copy the generated script (it includes the insert statements) to your favorite text editor
• Add the following to the script, before the first drop table statement, replacing mydatabase with your database name and save the script
  

USE mydatabase;

• Delete the mydatabase folder copied from Windows

sudo rm -R /var/lib/mysql/mydatabase/

• In myphpadmin go to the home page (first icon in the left pane)
• Create a New Database with the same name from the previous, mydatabase
• In myphpadmin go to the Query Window (third icon in the left pane)
• In the Query Window go to Import and browse to your script file
• Click the Go button and that's it, your database is ready to go
  

Post Update

After upgrading to Hardy Heron I had to reinstall the LAMP server. After the installation, when I accessed my index.php file, Firefox tried to download it.

I had to link the PHP module files to the mods-enabled Apache directory in order to get it going:

• Link the PHP modules do the mods-enabled Apache directory
  

cd /etc/apache2/mods-enabled/
sudo ln -s ../mods-available/php5.load .
sudo ln -s ../mods-available/php5.conf .

• Restart Apache

sudo /etc/init.d/apache2 restart


• Clean browser cache (Ctrl+Shift+Del in Firefox)
  

And that was it.

original post: 20-03-2008
last updated: 28-04-2008

Upgrading to Hardy

And I'm set. I'm now officially running Ubuntu 8.04 LTS.

The recommended (and easier) way to upgrade from Ubuntu 7.10 is to use Update Manager. But the servers are clotted (April 25th)...
I tried it two times and it just isn't possible at this moment (yes, I want Hardy).

So I downloaded the alternate version of Ubuntu (check bellow the "Start Download" button).
This version isn't a live cd, and it can be used to upgrade Ubuntu.

I installed (Applications > Add/Remove) Gmount-iso. This way I could use the iso file without having to burn a cd.

To make sure cd image isn't corrupted:

• In the Terminal

md5sum ubuntu-8.04-alternate-i386.iso

• You should get the correct hash for the iso you're checking

166991d61e7c79a452b604f0d25d07f9 *ubuntu-8.04-alternate-i386.iso

• Check the hash values here.
  

After an hour I got the alternate version of Ubuntu 8.04, mounted the iso file using Gmount-iso and, in the Terminal:

gksu "sh /cdrom/cdromupgrade"

And off we go. Upgrading to 8.04.


After some time the upgrade was complete and I rebooted the machine. Check bellow the aftermath:

• Several packages were marked to removal at the beginning of the upgrade. My Ubuntu 7.10 installation came from Ubuntu Ultimate Edition. I think that's one of the reasons. I gave it a little look and kept going. If something is missing I will install it later.
  
• The installer asked 3 ou 4 times about replacing configuration files, like smb.conf. It allowed to see the differences between the current file and the new one, and I could choose to keep or replace the files. I backed up the ones I wanted and replaced them all.
• Restarted.
  
• After the restart the Update Manager wanted to do a partial upgrade. It seems the alternate cd didn't cover all packages. More packages where marked for removal.
  
• After the successful partial upgrade, I'm did another one.
• I then restarted again.
• I ran the Update Manager manually and check for updated and there aren't none. I was finished. It was a long run.

Issues

• Issue 1: I was missing some software I wanted to get back. Just went do Applications > Add/Remove and that was it.
• gVim (installed)
  
• vlc player (installed)
• VirtualBox kernel driver (to install)
• LAMP Server (installed - check the link for details)
• Issue 2: All my preferences seems to be ok, except the mouse pointer speed (System > Preferences > Mouse). (solved)
  
• Issue 3: in Places > Network I see my Workgroup, but no computers (in this case a Windows machine). Still the Windows machine is accessing Linux shared folders (that I had to share again). (to solve)
• If I use directly the IP I have no problems, but even in Places > Connect to Server I'm having no luck.
• To pass this "problem" I created a Launcher (Location) in the Desktop to the machine (smb://100.000.0.0/).
• Issue 4: The version of Firefox that came with Ubuntu is the 3.0 beta 5. Unfortunately some of my favorite add-ons aren't supported (just yet), so I'm gonna have to install Firefox 2.0 (to do).
• Issue 5: The time server (ntp) I had defined was gone. I had it again. (solved)
  

ntp02.oal.ul.pt

• Issue 6: I had some custom code in grub. I have to check it out tomorrow. (to check)
• Issue 7: Check if VirtualBox is running. (to check)
  
  
  
  
  last updated: 25-04-2008

Hardy is out

Here it his. Ubuntu 8.04 LTS, codename Hardy Heron, is out.

This is the second Long Time Support (LTS) release from Ubuntu and it will be supported for 3 years (instead of the normal 18 months).

For those who don't want to install a new OS every 6 to 18 months this is a great chance to do a fresh install and keep your desktop up and running, with full support, for a long time.

If you have Ubuntu 7.10 it's easy to upgrade to Ubuntu 8.04. Basically you just need to update your system using Update Manager (check the list of links bellow).

Check your Ubuntu version:

lsb_release -a



I will upgrade my laptop and will be back soon will feedback.

Meanwhile here's some useful links:

• Ubuntu Release Notes


• Upgrading Ubuntu from 7.10 to 8.04 LTS


• Ubuntu Forum announcement (with more links)
  

last updated: 24-04-2008

Firefox Tip: Opening Search results in a new tab

Here's a useful tip to always open your Firefox search results in a new tab:

• In the address bar type about:config
  

• Look for browser.search.openintab
  

• Double click the False value (in the Value column) to change it to True
  

• Now try to search something in your favorite search engine

PS: this works in every OS (at least Linux and Windows).

last updated: 22-04-2008

Conky

Conky is an application that posts system monitoring info onto your Desktop. It is very light-weighted and very cool to play with.

Steps to install

• In the Terminal
  

• install conky
  

sudo apt-get install conky


• get a configuration example file (check a nicer one bellow)
  

zcat /usr/share/doc/conky/examples/conkyrc.sample.gz > ~/.conkyrc

• Run conky in the Terminal
  

• To have conky automatically start when you boot Ubuntu, do the following:
  

• create a script to run conky (vi conky_start.sh), with the following
  

#!/bin/bash
sleep 20 && conky

• make sure the script is executable
  

chmod a+x conky_start.sh

• try it
  

conky_start.sh

• Go to System > Preferences > Sessions and add a new Startup Program with:
  

• Name: conky
  

• Command: /home/your_user/your_script_folder/conky_start.sh
  

• Comment: Start conky
  

• Restart
  

To change the way conky displays information for you, you need to change the .conkyrc file in your home folder (Ctrl+H in Nautilus if you don't see it).

Here's a good configuration file to start, shared in Ubuntu Forums:

# UBUNTU-CONKY
# A comprehensive conky script, configured for use on
# Ubuntu / Debian Gnome, without the need for any external scripts.
#
# Based on conky-jc and the default .conkyrc.
# INCLUDES:
# - tail of /var/log/messages
# - netstat connections to your computer
#
# -- Pengo (conky@pengo.us)
#

# Create own window instead of using desktop (required in nautilus)
own_window yes
own_window_type override
own_window_transparent yes
own_window_hints undecorated,below,sticky,skip_taskbar,skip_pager

# Use double buffering (reduces flicker, may not work for everyone)
double_buffer yes

# fiddle with window
use_spacer yes
use_xft no

# Update interval in seconds
update_interval 3.0

# Minimum size of text area
# minimum_size 250 5

# Draw shades?
draw_shades no

# Text stuff
draw_outline no # amplifies text if yes
draw_borders no
font arial
uppercase no # set to yes if you want all text to be in uppercase

# Stippled borders?
stippled_borders 3

# border margins
border_margin 9

# border width
border_width 10

# Default colors and also border colors, grey90 == #e5e5e5
default_color grey

own_window_colour brown
own_window_transparent yes

# Text alignment, other possible values are commented
#alignment top_left
alignment top_right
#alignment bottom_left
#alignment bottom_right

# Gap between borders of screen and text
gap_x 10
gap_y 10

# stuff after 'TEXT' will be formatted on screen

TEXT
$color
${color orange}SYSTEM ${hr 2}$color
$nodename $sysname $kernel on $machine

${color orange}CPU ${hr 2}$color
${freq}MHz   Load: ${loadavg}   Temp: ${acpitemp}
$cpubar
${cpugraph 000000 ffffff}
NAME             PID       CPU%      MEM%
${top name 1} ${top pid 1}   ${top cpu 1}    ${top mem 1}
${top name 2} ${top pid 2}   ${top cpu 2}    ${top mem 2}
${top name 3} ${top pid 3}   ${top cpu 3}    ${top mem 3}
${top name 4} ${top pid 4}   ${top cpu 4}    ${top mem 4}

${color orange}MEMORY / DISK ${hr 2}$color
RAM:   $memperc%   ${membar 6}$color
Swap:  $swapperc%   ${swapbar 6}$color

Root:  ${fs_free_perc /}%   ${fs_bar 6 /}$color
hda1:  ${fs_free_perc /media/hda1}%   ${fs_bar 6 /media/hda1}$color
hdb3:  ${fs_free_perc /media/hdb3}%   ${fs_bar 6 /media/hdb3}

${color orange}NETWORK (${addr eth0}) ${hr 2}$color
Down: $color${downspeed eth0} k/s ${alignr}Up: ${upspeed eth0} k/s
${downspeedgraph eth0 25,140 000000 ff0000} ${alignr}${upspeedgraph eth0
25,140 000000 00ff00}$color
Total: ${totaldown eth0} ${alignr}Total: ${totalup eth0}
Inbound: ${tcp_portmon 1 32767 count} Outbound: ${tcp_portmon 32768
61000 count}${alignr}Total: ${tcp_portmon 1 65535 count}

${color orange}LOGGING ${hr 2}$color
${execi 30 tail -n3 /var/log/messages | fold -w50}

${color orange}FORTUNE ${hr 2}$color
${execi 120 fortune -s | fold -w50}

Tips

• Look for the free space file systems conf and change it to display your own filesystems

home: ${fs_free_perc /home}% ${fs_bar 6 /home}$color


• Check to see if your using eth0 as your network interface
  

${color orange}NETWORK (${addr eth0}) ${hr 2}$color

• The comments in the configuration file are very useful to get you started in your own conky setup
  

• Check the variables and config file settings available
• variables
• config file settings
  

Flickering problem

If your have a flickering problem with conky add Load "dbe", to your X11 configuration file. It should look like this:

sudo vi /etc/X11/xorg.conf

Section "Module"
Load "dbe"
EndSection

Further reading:

• Conky Documentation
  


• Ubuntu Forums
  

last updated: 02-05-2008