So I installed XP, which was a very simple process, and even went as far as installing Firefox and a few other little thing I like.

So I was deciding whether to trash XP and install Linux on it… Along comes NoMachine. NoMachine is a suite of applications you can install on Linux running it as a server and then you just get the Windows Client, log into the Linux Box with it and Bingo! A lovely Linux Desktop session running on my XP box.

NoMachine is a great thing for us great people who want to use Linux from Windows remotely. Plus I dont have to worry about Synching files etc… Yes, this only works if I’m within wireless range at home (at the moment) but at least I can wonder anywhere around the house and not be stuck at my desktop in the study.

I’m actually outside right now under the verandah enjoying the fresh,the noises of the birds and the occasional car driving by. Ahh what a life

In short.

I’m going to keep XP on this netbook, use my nomachine login into my Linux Box and that’s about it for now. If I do wonder off away from home, I still  have WAMP installed for my website development and notepad++ for my text editor. OpenOffice for all my Documentation,Ebook creation etc. So I’ll still have what I need to do what I have to do. So it’s all good!

Now I have been running Kubuntu 8.04 ( the KDE3.x version of Ubuntu ) for sometime. It’s been upgraded from 7.04 and had a bit of “stuff” kicking about.

Windows 7 and No Printer Drivers

Anyway, my wife went and upgraded from XP to Windows 7. Which by sheer misfortune, there ain’t any drivers available for our Canon Laser Printer LBP5000 ( there was for XP!).

So I’ve raised my hand and said, well Linux can talk to it, let me set it up on mine….. Well that was a mistake. Linux and Ubuntu don’t play nice with setting up printers. As nice as Kubuntu is, it still has some serious issues which Windows has had solved for a very long time…( yes I did just say that!).

Printer Setup on Linux

So here I was, trying to remember how to setup a laser printer… It’s certainly not for the feint hearted when the system doesn’t know about “Your Printer” and I’m figuring those who are not patient or just don’t have the time to bash their heads against a brickwall for a long time.. will promptly run back to Windows…Because – most times – it works. Linux will work – but be prepared to do lots of forum reading… and lots of downloading and command line bashing.

Setting up for a Canon LBP5000 – https://help.ubuntu.com/community/CanonCaptDrv190 (This worked for 9.04)

For 9.10 I followed these destructions and got it up and running real quick smart. I’m guessing it’s all the practice I’ve had..If you need help with this, let me know. Ubuntu 9.10 LBP5xxxx setup can be found at http://www.unixmen.com/linux-distributions/ubuntu/229-installation-canon-lbp2900-on-linux

Continuing on….

I had tried to upgrade my version from 8.04 to the latest 9.10. It’d get so far along then complain about incompatible packages that might break things…. It’s certainly not an easy task to discover and rectify those packages “in dispute”. I must admit though, being under the pump to get somethings done can lead to the dreaded “Sexy Fingers” Syndrome and I’m certain I fell victim to that.u

It’s the old rule  – get what you have to get done, done and don’t get sidetracked fixing other things… Like up-grading Apache etc….And I’m thinking I had a few packages I tried to update that were left over from the attempted update to 9.10 and of course I’ve tried to install some of those…

After messing about a little too much. I attempted a system reboot and my fears were realized…. It wouldn’t.

Error 15: File Not Found

It was very trashed, hosed, cactus, not working, take your pick…. But this particular incarnation of strife was new to me so more learning time coming up…

I’d gone and removed too much of that “old stuff” that removed some vital bits. A bit like if you pull out a nose hair and your brains come out… (I’m tired – give me a break!) How about plucking an eyelash and your eyeball comes out! It’s got to be something painful cause this sure was. Anyway, that’s kind of what can happen and it did!

Just Install Kubuntu 9.10

So my 8.04 System was trashed. No Problem – I’ll just do an install of Kubuntu 9.10….After all, I’ve never had a problem before….

Umm yeah! Famous last words. Instead I did a fresh install of Kubuntu 9.04 and it ran a treat. I had a quick play with it and rather liked it. I found this neat little package called envyNG which correctly and quickly installs your NVidia Drivers and I had my Dual Screens set up in seconds. In the past, that was one of those loooong sessions to get it setup.

Great, how wonderful. That works! So I upgraded straight to 9.10…. EnvyNG wont work in this version, so after a lot of reading etc I ended up installing the NVidia Drivers and the Dual Screen the ole tried and tested way. So that worked…I can’t quite remember what else happened but it was bad enough that I decided to go back to Kubuntu 9.04.

Where did the Steering Wheel Go?

There was lots about it I just didn’t like.I’m not sure why but alot of the functionality I was so used to on 8.04 (KED3.x) just wasn’t there. It was a bit like sitting in a new car and looking for the steering wheel but instead you had to lean in the seat to make it turn. You do that on a motor bike, don’t you? I was thinking some M$ guys had snuck in on the project and added their brilliance on these “Changes”….. Hmmm! I’m sure they had their reasons for leaving them out….

So I went back to Kubuntu 9.04. After which I found the magic guide to installing my Canon LBP5000 and got it working….

I plonked my thunderbird and Firefox back on and had it up and running in minutes…. That’s one of the many things I love about Linux. You can copy and paste most things from the old to the new. Oh, I used to have a Raid1 System so all my “Old Stuff” was backed up on the 2nd drive – Plus I’d copied my home folder onto another Hard disk for safety. I’m not worried about the MySql Databases etc.

I also found that konqueror/dolphin didn’t have the “Right Click” Action -> Edit as Root. This is very useful to make system changes for instance , updating your xorg.conf file once the NVidia Setup tool has done it’s stuff, not to mention udpating your Apache2 virtual hosts file and the systems hosts file….

It seems this feature is not included in Gnomes -  Nautilus 2.28.1. It may have been chopped across all Distros! I’ve not run Gnome for years so can’t remember if it was in earlier versions.

Then came VMWare Server 2.0

Then I tried to reinstall my VMware Server. It used to be painless…… But now – No joy, it bitched and wouldn’t compile and carried on like a bear with a sore head!

In the meantime I thought I’d check out Ubuntu 9.10 which is the Gnome Desktop ( not as fancy… but very solid..) So I re partitioned the Hard Drive (adding a separate / partition and forgetting to partition  my /var/usr separately. I had made the / partition way too small). In the meantime, I’d discovered how to install the latest version of VMware Server 2.0 on 9.10 and it worked straight out of the box – well it did for me….

I installed it off the Live CD and it went through it’s paces and I made those silly diddles to the Disk Partitions .. .and on reboot, the X Server ( The graphical bit ) wouldn’t run… In fact it sat at the text login and with the screen flashing madly. So bad in fact, it wouldn’t accept keystrokes to login…. I’m got in with an F8 on reboot and used the recovery mode.

The problem was the NVidia Driver – I got into the /etc/X11/xorg.conf and renamed the driver from NVidia to NV. (Something I learned from my setting up in 8.04 days)

So here I am – sitting in front of Ubuntu 9.10 with my VMWare Server 2.0 running and was just putting back the VMware files for one of my Windows Installs ( 20Gig HD = 10 x 2Gig Files) and I’d run out of space…. I’d gone and set /usr to be a whopping 10Gigs not considering my VMware OS Files were going to be bigger… Whoops. Isn’t this how you learn stuff?

No VMware running – I’ve since missed two of my Classes this week – two run on consecutive days…Friday and Saturday afternoons Australian time.

This being another lesson in getting distracted and running off doing other things…. which will stop you dead in your tracks in what you were hoping to get done!

“I’ll just do a quick upgrade and get straight back onto my Schedule…” Never more famous words mispoken. It’s now Saturday Afternoon and now I’m trying to decide which version to settle with… I’m going to be doing a fresh install of something. I’m guessing Kubuntu 9.04 at this stage.

It’ll be interesting what happens from now till I get back here up and running again. Well I’m excited! Who knows what will happen.

Cheers

Tim

I still love Ubuntu/Kubuntu. I won’t be going back to Windows as my development system anytime soon ( read – never!)

Resources I found useful through all this….

Printer Setup – https://help.ubuntu.com/community/CanonCaptDrv190 for 9.04. (this worked but the link below is probably much better)

Printer Setup – http://www.unixmen.com/linux-distributions/ubuntu/229-installation-canon-lbp2900-on-linux for 9.04, 9.10 and other flavors.

VMWare Server Setup – how to install the latest version of VMware Server 2.0 on 9.10 (It’s a good idea to set the default /var/lib/vmware folder somewhere where there is a ton of room for your Virtual Machines. – another drive would be good due to their size. That’s if you have them big >20G like I tend to. )

Getting Root Actions back into Konqueror missing in 9.xx (KDE4.x) – https://launchpad.net/~samrog131/+archive/ppa/+files/servicemenu-rootactions_2.4.7.1~karmic~ppa1_all.deb

[UPDATE] I’m running Ubuntu 9.10 – totally repartioned the world – read as done correctly… and I put on Kate, Konqueror and Kwrite. Why? Well because I like them. So I’m running a mix of Gnome and KDE Apps which is pretty neat! Who said this wasn’t fun!

All I really had to do…

Was just get the old drive back up and running on Kubuntu 8.04, do my classes and then attempt an upgrade when I had time. But it was meant to be quick in the first place…..

Conclusion

All Roads lead to Gnome!

Now that I’ve had a baptism of fire with these various distributions, the one that came out on top as to ease of installation and up and running for anyone wanting to use a Liunx based system had to be Ubuntu 9.10. Remember that’s the Gnome Desktop version and not my much favored Kubuntu with the Fancy KDE desktop. There is a very large support base for the Gnome Version and I can see why.

Hmm I might get my VMWare problems sorted out another way – just specify a new folder somewhere else….I was trying to install Gparted but one of the aussie servers seems to have gone offline… It never rains…. I’ll get there through shear determination ( some might call stupidity).

Oh and there is an educational release which I’d like to try out. It’s bundled with all the stuff a student/kid would need…. It’s called Edubuntu.

To check out all the Ubuntu Flavors goto http://www.ubuntu.com/

Time to go and do some more stuff….

Cheers

Tim