Making the Switch to Linux

[CrazyLazy]

I have been considering making the switch to some Linux flavor on my netbook. First question, how does it generally compare speed wise to XP? Do you have a specific distro you would suggest? Also, will I be able to use the following programs without jumping through too many hoops

Internet with Google Chrome
Instant Messaging
Adding/removing music from my iPod
Playing music/movies
Image editing

Any other incompatibility things I should be aware of? Thanks in advance for the help.

 

[IamDavid]

Internet with Google Chrome - No problem
Instant Messaging - No problem
Adding/removing music from my iPod ?? Think this was an issue for awhile, not sure now.
Playing music/movies - No problem
Image editing - No problem

Speed is comparable to XP depending on the setup of course.
Go with Ubuntu to get feet wet.

Enjoy.... Don't get frustrated early, it's a complete change at first.

 

[KeypoX]

songbird works in linux. So ipod shouldnt be a problem.

My sansa works great lol.

microsoft Office doesnt work very well, though. And videos do not play as good as in windows or mac, in my experience. But there are a lot of great things about ubuntu. I would use exclusive on laptop if office worked a bit better.

give a dual boot a try just in case, oh or wubi http://wubi-installer.org/

 

[JD50]

As far as I know there is not a Google Chrome browser for Linux yet, although I think it might work in wine.

 

[CrazyLazy]

Thanks for your thoughts. One additional question.

The netbook doesn't have an optical drive and I don't have an external one. I googled around and apparently you can boot from a flash drive, but it looks like it would be a bitch to set up. Is that my only option here? I don't plan to dual boot the system if it matters.

 

[Colt45]

netboot would be the easiest...

assuming you have a windows machine somewhere on your lan:
https://help.ubuntu.com/commun...n/WindowsServerNetboot

else, on a linux box
https://help.ubuntu.com/commun...tallation/QuickNetboot

Linux way is a bit more convoluted if you aren't used to console much.

 

[JD50]

Originally posted by: CrazyLazy
Thanks for your thoughts. One additional question.

The netbook doesn't have an optical drive and I don't have an external one. I googled around and apparently you can boot from a flash drive, but it looks like it would be a bitch to set up. Is that my only option here? I don't plan to dual boot the system if it matters.

Booting from a usb drive with slax is incredibly easy.

USB-slax

If nothing else, it'll give you a feel for linux.

 

[CrazyLazy]

Finally got the usb boot up and ubuntu installed fine. The problem is trying to set up my wireless. All the tutorials I have seen on the issue mention System->Administration->Networking to get it set up. The problem is I have no Networking button there. Do I need to do something else first to get that set up? I'll google around some more in the mean time to see if I can figure it out.

EDIT: Also it says I have 141 GB of free space on a fresh install out of a 160 GB hard drive. Does this amount make sense? I'm wondering if I have some leftovers from my XP install.

 

[Colt45]

do a 'sudo ifconfig' and post what it returns

as for the 141GB, first off the 160GB drive, isn't. and second, there's probably a several GB swap partition, plus your install... it all adds up.
(linux makes a swap partition, instead of a hidden swap file like in windows..)

 

[KeypoX]

Originally posted by: CrazyLazy
Thanks for your thoughts. One additional question.

The netbook doesn't have an optical drive and I don't have an external one. I googled around and apparently you can boot from a flash drive, but it looks like it would be a bitch to set up. Is that my only option here? I don't plan to dual boot the system if it matters.

lol what, if you google install ubuntu via usb you get some ridiculously easy guides.

i see you got it installed.

 

[Nothinman]

Finally got the usb boot up and ubuntu installed fine. The problem is trying to set up my wireless. All the tutorials I have seen on the issue mention System->Administration->Networking to get it set up. The problem is I have no Networking button there. Do I need to do something else first to get that set up? I'll google around some more in the mean time to see if I can figure it out

What kind of wireless card do you have?

 

[CrazyLazy]

I have a Ralink wireless card and I *think* I finally managed to get the driver installed. The thing is my internet still isn't working. What exactly do I have to do to set up the internet once the driver is installed? All the guides I could find are just about installing various drivers, not what you do after that.

 

[Nothinman]

Most of the time you don't do anything besides activating the interface. Your router, firewall, etc should give it a DHCP address and you're good to go.

 

[CrazyLazy]

Originally posted by: Nothinman
Most of the time you don't do anything besides activating the interface. Your router, firewall, etc should give it a DHCP address and you're good to go.

Yeah it doesn't seem to be doing that. Should I reinstall the driver and see if that helps?

 

[Nothinman]

Yeah it doesn't seem to be doing that. Should I reinstall the driver and see if that helps?

Hard to say. Since you're using wireless are you sure it's associating with your AP?

 

[CrazyLazy]

Originally posted by: Nothinman

Yeah it doesn't seem to be doing that. Should I reinstall the driver and see if that helps?

Hard to say. Since you're using wireless are you sure it's associating with your AP?

Honestly I don't have the slightest idea. My wireless networking skills consist of me clicking on the little computer button in windows and selecting the network I want to connect to.

 

[Nothinman]

Honestly I don't have the slightest idea. My wireless networking skills consist of me clicking on the little computer button in windows and selecting the network I want to connect to.

And the procedure should be about the same, Ubuntu should come with NetworkManager running which should let you do that.

 

[CrazyLazy]

Originally posted by: Nothinman

Honestly I don't have the slightest idea. My wireless networking skills consist of me clicking on the little computer button in windows and selecting the network I want to connect to.

And the procedure should be about the same, Ubuntu should come with NetworkManager running which should let you do that.

It isn't showing up in the network manager. I get VPN, ethernet but no wireless showing up. I'm guessing this means the drivers for my card aren't install correctly. Is there anything else that could cause it to not recognize my network that I should try out as well?

 

[Colt45]

does it show up in system -> administration -> network ?

 

[CrazyLazy]

Originally posted by: Colt45
does it show up in system -> administration -> network ?

I don't have anything called "network" under administration. I have "network tools" but that's it.

 

[compman25]

Does it show up under network tools, under network device? Does it show a wireless interface (wlan0)?

 

[CrazyLazy]

Originally posted by: compman25
Does it show up under network tools, under network device? Does it show a wireless interface (wlan0)?

The only thing I have showing up under Network device is Loopback interface (lo) and Ethernet interface (etho).

 

[Colt45]

do a:
lspci

and a:
dmesg | grep ralink

maybe a 'lsmod' too
and post them here

 

[CrazyLazy]

Okay here you go,

lspci:

00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Mobile 945GME Express Memory Controller Hub (rev 03)
00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation Mobile 945GME Express Integrated Graphics Controller (rev 03)
00:02.1 Display controller: Intel Corporation Mobile 945GM/GMS/GME, 943/940GML Express Integrated Graphics Controller (rev 03)
00:1b.0 Audio device: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) High Definition Audio Controller (rev 02)
00:1c.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) PCI Express Port 1 (rev 02)
00:1c.1 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) PCI Express Port 2 (rev 02)
00:1d.0 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB UHCI Controller #1 (rev 02)
00:1d.1 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB UHCI Controller #2 (rev 02)
00:1d.2 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB UHCI Controller #3 (rev 02)
00:1d.3 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB UHCI Controller #4 (rev 02)
00:1d.7 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB2 EHCI Controller (rev 02)
00:1e.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801 Mobile PCI Bridge (rev e2)
00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation 82801GBM (ICH7-M) LPC Interface Bridge (rev 02)
00:1f.2 IDE interface: Intel Corporation 82801GBM/GHM (ICH7 Family) SATA IDE Controller (rev 02)
00:1f.3 SMBus: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) SMBus Controller (rev 02)
01:00.0 Ethernet controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8101E/RTL8102E PCI Express Fast Ethernet controller (rev 02)
02:00.0 Network controller: RaLink Device 0781

dmesg | grep ralink:

this returns nothing



lsmod:

Module Size Used by
ipv6 263972 10
i915 38528 2
drm 86056 3 i915
af_packet 25728 2
binfmt_misc 16904 1
bridge 56980 0
stp 10628 1 bridge
bnep 20480 2
sco 18308 2
rfcomm 44432 0
l2cap 30464 6 bnep,rfcomm
bluetooth 61924 6 bnep,sco,rfcomm,l2cap
ppdev 15620 0
acpi_cpufreq 15500 1
cpufreq_ondemand 14988 1
cpufreq_userspace 11396 0
cpufreq_powersave 9856 0
cpufreq_stats 13188 0
freq_table 12672 3 acpi_cpufreq,cpufreq_ondemand,cpufreq_stats
cpufreq_conservative 14600 0
pci_slot 12680 0
sbs 19464 0
sbshc 13440 1 sbs
container 11520 0
iptable_filter 10752 0
ip_tables 19600 1 iptable_filter
x_tables 22916 1 ip_tables
parport_pc 39204 0
lp 17156 0
parport 42604 3 ppdev,parport_pc,lp
joydev 18368 0
snd_hda_intel 384176 3
snd_pcm_oss 46848 0
snd_mixer_oss 22784 1 snd_pcm_oss
snd_pcm 83204 2 snd_hda_intel,snd_pcm_oss
wmi 14504 0
ac 12292 0
battery 18436 0
snd_seq_dummy 10884 0
evdev 17696 10
video 25232 0
output 11008 1 video
serio_raw 13444 0
psmouse 45200 0
snd_seq_oss 38528 0
snd_seq_midi 14336 0
snd_rawmidi 29824 1 snd_seq_midi
snd_seq_midi_event 15232 2 snd_seq_oss,snd_seq_midi
snd_seq 57776 6 snd_seq_dummy,snd_seq_oss,snd_seq_midi,snd_seq_midi_event
button 14224 0
pcspkr 10624 0
snd_timer 29960 2 snd_pcm,snd_seq
snd_seq_device 15116 5 snd_seq_dummy,snd_seq_oss,snd_seq_midi,snd_rawmidi,snd_seq
snd 63268 15 snd_hda_intel,snd_pcm_oss,snd_mixer_oss,snd_pcm,snd_seq_oss,snd_rawmidi,snd_seq,snd_timer,snd_seq_device
iTCO_wdt 18596 0
iTCO_vendor_support 11652 1 iTCO_wdt
soundcore 15328 1 snd
snd_page_alloc 16136 2 snd_hda_intel,snd_pcm
intel_agp 33724 1
shpchp 38036 0
pci_hotplug 34976 1 shpchp
agpgart 42184 3 drm,intel_agp
ext3 133256 1
jbd 55828 1 ext3
mbcache 16004 1 ext3
sd_mod 42392 3
crc_t10dif 9984 1 sd_mod
pata_acpi 12160 0
sg 39732 0
usb_storage 82752 0
libusual 30356 1 usb_storage
ata_piix 24580 2
ata_generic 12932 0
libata 178208 3 pata_acpi,ata_piix,ata_generic
scsi_mod 155212 4 sd_mod,sg,usb_storage,libata
dock 16656 1 libata
ehci_hcd 43788 0
uhci_hcd 30736 0
usbcore 149360 5 usb_storage,libusual,ehci_hcd,uhci_hcd
r8169 36100 0
mii 13440 1 r8169
thermal 23708 0
processor 42156 4 acpi_cpufreq,thermal
fan 12548 0
fbcon 47648 0
tileblit 10880 1 fbcon
font 16512 1 fbcon
bitblit 13824 1 fbcon
softcursor 9984 1 bitblit
fuse 60828 3

 

[Nothinman]

It doesn't look like the modules for that card are loaded at all, are you sure you installed them?