Ubuntu, Stage One
As per yesterdays post, I’ve been working at getting a Ubuntu Linux system running with very particular requirements (detailed in the above referenced article).
First things first was the media – I downloaded the Ubuntu ISO, ran the checksum and copied it to a CD. Next step was to install an empty 60bg drive into the tower and boot from the CD.
Ubuntu 7.10 has a different installation system than most – the CD itself is a Live install, meaning that you actually can boot your computer and get to a usable Linux desktop to play with before installation. Being a past user of Linux, I didn’t spend too much time fiddling with this mode and jumped right into launching the installer. Here’s the beauty of Ubuntu – it did most of the configuration automatically, saving me from the tedious configuration prompts which can be daunting to the new user.
The only custom option I set was giving it carte-blanch on the 60gb drive and told it to leave the other NTFS drives alone, preserving the existing Windows XP environment. Otherwise, it was much like a Windows XP install – set the regional settings, and it hums away doing it’s thing. Actually, since it was a live install – it was a more pleasant experience than Windows XP – never dumping to text-only at any point including partitioning, and it took less time.
First things first – get the PC online and download / install patches and updates released since the CD image was created. This was tricky – I have a USB dongle that handles my wireless network. Checking settings from Windows, I find it runs on the RealTek rtl8187b chipset which after Googling for a while I discovered needed a slightly hacked set of Realtek drivers to get working. Although they worked just fine – I ended up having to disable WPA encryption on the network (not to enthused about that) to actually get a connection. In addition, connecting requires opening a terminal window and issuing two commands as super user to get online – every time I boot up.
After getting online, I configured the apt-get sources (essentially enabled the main ones) and ran the updater. Next step, I installed Wine to allow Windows integration with Linux. The good news? World of Warcraft runs and allowed me to get online. Performance was choppy and the audio stuttered – but it was working.
I installed the kdetv package and was able to start using my WinTV card immediately.
Ubuntu’s GNOME desktop already had a messenger program, and signing into MSN was no issue.
Just for kicks, I tried running Adobe Photoshop CS2 – and it appears to have worked! This actually surprised me, but it seems Wine has improved in leaps and bounds since I last used it. I say that Photoshop appears to have worked, because after loading and looking like it usually does it complained about not being properly licensed, so I will have to install it from scratch instead of just copying it over from the Windows partition.
No luck yet running Civilization, however.
In summary – everything looks quite positive for this set up. Most of what I want the system to do, it is doing, with further tweaking required to get it all operating smoothly. I’m confident I can get the wireless driver up and running automatically at boot up, hopefully with encryption enabled. The TV mode works perfectly already, and assuming I can run the installer – my beloved Photoshop will be available. My games will require some more tweaking, but look promising.
Themocracy
[...] November 30, 2007 8:14 pm As I’ve mentioned in previous articles (Linux, Ubuntu and Me; Ubuntu, Stage One; and Ubuntu, Stage Two) my network is wireless using a USB dongle that I insist on keeping in the [...]