UBUNTU LINUX USERS: Help needed!

[psamp14]

greetings to all of you ubuntu linux users...

i want to install linux on my windows xp desktop and powerbook G4 and am stumped about how to do this using the ISO files i've downloaded...

for my desktop i have downloaded the file ubuntu-7.04-desktop-i386.iso, and for the powerbook G4 i have the file ubuntu-7.04-desktop-powerpc.iso

i have the the file for my desktop burned to a dvd (my dvd drive's gone bad...doesnt read cd's anymore) and i dont know how to go further, but i am eager in installing linux on both of these machines

any and all help is greatly appreciated

 

[psamp14]

bump...help please!

 

[damasta55]

just start up the comps with the disc inside. if the disc doesn't immediately start, change your boot uptions to read dvd-rom first.

 

[psamp14]

i will try that but i dont think i have properly burned the ISO file onto the disc...is the disc that you burn supposed to have just 1 file?

for the disc i have burned for installing on my windows xp desktop....it has just one file on it, ubuntu-7.04-desktop-i386.iso....taking just about 700MB space

 

[psamp14]

i have my powerbook G4 open in front of me so i want to see how it goes on that before i try it on my desktop

i am currently burning the downloaded file, ubuntu-7.04-desktop-powerpc.iso, onto a cd and i will shut down and restart it with the cd inside...

 

[psamp14]

alright i started up the powerbook G4 with the burned ubuntu cd inside, i managed to run it, and it miraculously is showing the disc...i am pretty sure i downloaded the correct one...its recognizing the disc as Ubuntu_PowerPC_feisty but i dont know which file to open..they all look like exe's to me, and obviously exe's dont work on macs

please help, i'm getting more and more eager to make this work now!

 

[xtremerunnerars]

I can't claim to be an ubuntu user, but I've dabbled with slax a little. When you burn an ISO, you need a program that won't just do the equivalent of dragging and dropping. Nero is an example, or Alcohol 120% (my favorite--recommended).

I'm willing to bet that you do need to boot off of a correctly burned iso in order to install. If you can't read cds, either get an external drive or find out if you can boot from a USB drive. Install it to there if you have to; whatever it takes!

 

[psamp14]

thanks for responding xtremerunnerars

i do have nero, the disc creating application, and i used that to burn the ISO file onto a dvd since my drive doesnt read cd's anymore

the problem is dealing with this ISO file...there's no application i know of to open it, and its not a thing where i can try to run it...

i am having a little more success on my powerbook G4 right now since after burning the cd with its respective file, its showing as Ubuntu_PowerPC_feisty

now i dont know what file or folder to go thru to start the installation process...they all look to be exe's....

i really want to get ubuntu linux installed and runnign on both of my machines by the end of the weekend....i thought this would be pretty easy like everyone says...

 

[psamp14]

it'd be really nice for some ubuntu linux users to see this thread...

i burned the ISO file using alcohol 120%...surprisingly worked...but i dont see the path to installation...autoplaying the disc drive just opens up this ubuntu 7.04 disc tree where you install firefox, thunderbird, abiword, blender, and clamwin

where's the installation???????????????

 

[psamp14]

disregard my all my installation problems! a simple reboot and i was into LINUX!

now the real puzzle...i accidentally logged off...but when signing back in, i used my same login username and password as for windows and it did not work...why not?

what cool things should i look for/download for linux? i see openoffice is already in, as is firefox

what about music players, instant messenger clients, etc?

 

[richw76]

disregard my all my installation problems! a simple reboot and i was into LINUX!

now the real puzzle...i accidentally logged off...but when signing back in, i used my same login username and password as for windows and it did not work...why not?

what cool things should i look for/download for linux? i see openoffice is already in, as is firefox

what about music players, instant messenger clients, etc?

I congradulate you on learning the wonderful world of *nix. You obviously have a long way to go and lots to learn, but if you like computers it will be fun. Only problem, the more you learn the more you are confronted with your own limitations <shrug> oh well.

I know you fixed the original issue but let us know if you want to know why it finally worked. I'll help if you care.

As for downloads, in Ubuntu if you did the kithen sink install everything is already on there you will ever need. im clients, server apps(apache/bind/postfix,sendmail, Mysql, ipcop, smoothwall, snort, etc.) multimedia etc, etc.

This is the deal with open source whatever you want to do there is a program out there for it. You just need to figure out what/where it is.
Try http://sourceforge.net/softwaremap/
For whatever you want to do there are probably 2-3 active projects. And there will be plenty of step by step howto's for whatever you are trying to do.

Are you just messing around/learning or do you have any specific things you want to do. Run a website etc. ?

Good luck have fun, adn try not to get into too much trouble,

 

[GrassCourtFan]

disregard my all my installation problems! a simple reboot and i was into LINUX!

Congrats!

Have you actually installed it now (over whatever was there before) or are you running it off of the liveCD (i.e. booting off of a CD and not having it on your hard drive yet?) The latter can be a very good idea to check it out, but it isn't the same as actually having it on your hard drive (and thus bootable without the cd, and also able to install extra software).

now the real puzzle...i accidentally logged off...but when signing back in, i used my same login username and password as for windows and it did not work...why not?

There really isn't a way for the Linux OS to know what your passwords were on Windows. At some point in the installation, it should have prompted you to create a username and password to use. ([edit later on] - Nevermind! Apparently it CAN somehow get usernames and passwords from Windows when installing. Freaky, it couldn't do that back when I first got it... it should have still prompted you about this during installation though and should have done it, no idea why it's not working.)

what cool things should i look for/download for linux? i see openoffice is already in, as is firefox

what about music players, instant messenger clients, etc?

I think Gaim should already be installed as an instant messenger client, that works fine for me.

For music players, you definitely want to get mp3s working - they can't distribute the mp3 decoder by default because of licensing issues of some sort, but it's easy to get working.

Instructions for how to do this in a simple way can be found here: http://www.psychocats.net/ubuntu/mp3 . (DISCLAIMER - random tutorial from the web, in no way official. But the site seems to have good instructions for things, and it seems right to me.)

To have access to all the software that is around, you might also want to follow the instructions in http://www.psychocats.net/ubuntu/sources - the part that says "enabling extra repositories the point-and-click way". (Likewise disclaimer because i don't know how current or how correct it is, but those instructions look like they should be right and they don't tell you to do anything that could screw things up)

From what I remember, the default media players that come with Ubuntu aren't that great, so if they don't meet your needs getting something else (VLC?) might be a good idea. But on the other hand, rhythmbox is good enough for a lot of people, I think that comes by default? (Check the applications -> sound and video menu, there's media players there.) So that might be good enough.

Really, if there was anything that was absolutely a must-have, it would probably be included already if it was legally possible, so there isn't too much to recommend.

You can try asking on ubuntuforums.org , there will probably be more knowledgeable people there than here. I'll do my best to respond to things you ask, but I can't guarantee that I'll get to it quickly - you made this post at 12:07 AM eastern time, after I'd last checked this forum before going to sleep

Also - richw76 suggested looking at sourceforge. I would add in the suggestion that whenever you install something, it's much better to go to applications->add/remove OR use system->administration->synaptic package manager (or, if you end up being a command-line guy, apt-get), and finding what you need through those, if it's there, rather than using the instructions online for compiling or installing things manually. It's more reliable and easier to manage, especially for upgrades or uninstalls later on.

On the other hand, if you want to really dive in and get into the nitty-gritty of things, then it's probably a good idea to get involved in some weird not-officially-supported projects that do what you want better than the official ones, and learn to use the command-line for these things instead of the GUIs, but I think the folks at Ubuntu have tried their best to make sure that, as much as possible, this isn't actually required to use Ubuntu. So without knowing what your goals are with using Ubuntu, hard to give any specific suggestions.

 

[psamp14]

richw76, Max G.....thanks so much

i know learning and using linux will be much different than windows, but i am interested in learning this operating system

so last night i suppose i was just running off the disc, but right now an install icon appeared on the desktop so i think i am going thru the official installation process...currently i am just adjusting my existing partitions

i was exploring through and i see the nice apps already installed, firefox, gaim, other nice things, but i dont know why its not recognizing my wireless internet connection

right now i just want to have this installation process completed and then establish my internet connection, so i can really explore all of this opensource stuff...

thanks again for your support and i will surely ask more questions after i go thru the installation

 

[psamp14]

i am creating a new partition....what options should i select?

primary/logical

location for new partition: beginning/end

use as: ext 3/ext2/reiserfs/jfs/xfs/fat16/fat32/swap/efi/dont_use

 

[psamp14]

this is taking much longer than i thought it would...what in the world is a root file system?

i have my partition set up but it says no root file system is defined....whats the deal?

 

[psamp14]

i'm back on windows xp now after successfully installing ubuntu linux

i now have the option of choosing which operating system to boot right when i start my computer

my initial questions and concerns are:

will this affect anything on my windows xp?

on ubuntu i can see my files from windows xp...is there a way to see my files from ubuntu on windows xp?

why doesnt my internet connection work on ubuntu? what steps do i take to set it up?


i think for now my main concern is getting my internet connection established on ubuntu...

thanks in advance

 

[psamp14]

I congradulate you on learning the wonderful world of *nix. You obviously have a long way to go and lots to learn, but if you like computers it will be fun. Only problem, the more you learn the more you are confronted with your own limitations <shrug> oh well.

I know you fixed the original issue but let us know if you want to know why it finally worked. I'll help if you care.

As for downloads, in Ubuntu if you did the kithen sink install everything is already on there you will ever need. im clients, server apps(apache/bind/postfix,sendmail, Mysql, ipcop, smoothwall, snort, etc.) multimedia etc, etc.

This is the deal with open source whatever you want to do there is a program out there for it. You just need to figure out what/where it is.
Try http://sourceforge.net/softwaremap/
For whatever you want to do there are probably 2-3 active projects. And there will be plenty of step by step howto's for whatever you are trying to do.

Are you just messing around/learning or do you have any specific things you want to do. Run a website etc. ?

Good luck have fun, adn try not to get into too much trouble,

thanks for your help richw76,

i see that ubuntu is already pretty loaded with apps...its already got firefox, gaim, and the openoffice pack

i am just looking to explore linux, at most for now i might use ubuntu for simple tasks

i tried doing the same thing (starting computer with burned cd inside) on my powerbook G4, but it just boots up in mac os....

right now i want to get internet connection established on ubuntu on my desktop, and try getting it installed on my powerbook G4

any and all help is much appreciated

 

[richw76]

thanks for your help richw76,

i see that ubuntu is already pretty loaded with apps...its already got firefox, gaim, and the openoffice pack

i am just looking to explore linux, at most for now i might use ubuntu for simple tasks

i tried doing the same thing (starting computer with burned cd inside) on my powerbook G4, but it just boots up in mac os....

right now i want to get internet connection established on ubuntu on my desktop, and try getting it installed on my powerbook G4

any and all help is much appreciated

As for all the running dual boot stuff. Please REad up on Boot loaders or else you will becoem a very unhappy camper when you mess up and can't boot windowz anymore

And also the guy that was suggesting apt-get, yum is rigth on Yum is the way to go to install new apps usually.

On the powerbook it'll work the same you need to go into the system bios and change your boot order. Basically it's booting from Hard drive before the cd so it never looks. I'd DIFINITELY read/learn more before I installed linux on powerbook.... of course not sure why you would want to since OSX is basically super pretty freebsd, which is a better version of unix than Ubuntu.

 

[richw76]

i'm back on windows xp now after successfully installing ubuntu linux

i now have the option of choosing which operating system to boot right when i start my computer

my initial questions and concerns are:

will this affect anything on my windows xp?

on ubuntu i can see my files from windows xp...is there a way to see my files from ubuntu on windows xp?

why doesnt my internet connection work on ubuntu? what steps do i take to set it up?


i think for now my main concern is getting my internet connection established on ubuntu...

thanks in advance

wlan driver may not be built into kernel for wireless not working or you may just need to plumb/bring up teh interface.

 

[psamp14]

As for all the running dual boot stuff. Please REad up on Boot loaders or else you will becoem a very unhappy camper when you mess up and can't boot windowz anymore

And also the guy that was suggesting apt-get, yum is rigth on Yum is the way to go to install new apps usually.

On the powerbook it'll work the same you need to go into the system bios and change your boot order. Basically it's booting from Hard drive before the cd so it never looks. I'd DIFINITELY read/learn more before I installed linux on powerbook.... of course not sure why you would want to since OSX is basically super pretty freebsd, which is a better version of unix than Ubuntu.

i dont quite understand what you're saying about possibly not being able to boot windows anymore...

right now i am booted into windows xp...when i started my computer i was given the option of which OS to boot into

my powerbook G4 is from work so i have no worries of what happens to it...i actually asked my IT team to have it done for me yesterday but it was pretty late so they said to try it myself over the weekend, and if i mess something up they'll take care of it

so i'm just trying to get internet on ubuntu already fully installed on my desktop, and figuring out how to install it on my powerbook G4...

how do you change the boot settings on the powerbook G4?

 

[GrassCourtFan]

i'm back on windows xp now after successfully installing ubuntu linux

i now have the option of choosing which operating system to boot right when i start my computer

my initial questions and concerns are:

will this affect anything on my windows xp?

Unless something goes horribly wrong, the only thing it should affect is the fact that XP will have less disk space, since part will be used up by the Ubuntu partition.

on ubuntu i can see my files from windows xp...is there a way to see my files from ubuntu on windows xp?

Windows XP doesn't know how to read the Linux ext3 filesystem. I haven't personally tried to use this utility, but http://www.chrysocome.net/explore2fs seems like it'll do what you want.

why doesnt my internet connection work on ubuntu? what steps do i take to set it up?

Is it just wireless that doesn't work, or wired as well? I'm going to assume you mean wireless, since that's what you mentioned before, and that you're not using a wired connection since it's a laptop.

The first thing to try is going to system->administration->network and see what you see there - you should see entries for the wireless and wired connections, try clicking on "enable" for them, or click on "properties" for them and see whether there's anything horribly wrong. (I doubt that'll actually help - this is stuff that it should have tried automatically already, but is really quick to check)

What kind of wireless card do you have? https://help.ubuntu.com/community/WifiDocs/WirelessCardsSupported has a list of how well various ones work, as well as (sometimes) how to get it working. I can try to find more specific info if you tell me more.

No experience with getting wired working - that's always just worked out of the box for me, unlike wireless, so I don't have any experience with what kind of problems are common there.

 

[psamp14]

Unless something goes horribly wrong, the only thing it should affect is the fact that XP will have less disk space, since part will be used up by the Ubuntu partition.



Windows XP doesn't know how to read the Linux ext3 filesystem. I haven't personally tried to use this utility, but http://www.chrysocome.net/explore2fs seems like it'll do what you want.



Is it just wireless that doesn't work, or wired as well? I'm going to assume you mean wireless, since that's what you mentioned before, and that you're not using a wired connection since it's a laptop.

The first thing to try is going to system->administration->network and see what you see there - you should see entries for the wireless and wired connections, try clicking on "enable" for them, or click on "properties" for them and see whether there's anything horribly wrong. (I doubt that'll actually help - this is stuff that it should have tried automatically already, but is really quick to check)

What kind of wireless card do you have? https://help.ubuntu.com/community/WifiDocs/WirelessCardsSupported has a list of how well various ones work, as well as (sometimes) how to get it working. I can try to find more specific info if you tell me more.

No experience with getting wired working - that's always just worked out of the box for me, unlike wireless, so I don't have any experience with what kind of problems are common there.

Max G, i dont see any affect of reduced performance in my windows xp which i am currently on right now...i see reduced hard drive space but thats because i allocated it for the partition

i went to the link you provided, and downloaded the program which as i am looking at right now shows my directory on ubuntu...so i think this takes care of seeing each OS's files

i am using a wireless connection on this desktop, using a 802.11g wireless PCI card...

 

[GrassCourtFan]

And also the guy that was suggesting apt-get, yum is rigth on Yum is the way to go to install new apps usually.

Why yum? Apt-get already comes with Ubuntu, as well as the Synaptic front-end. Seems silly to me to go to a non-default package manager, especially without a really good reason. Besides, isn't Yum usually for rpms, whereas Ubuntu usually expects people to have some sort of deb-based package manager (like, the default, apt-get)? I'm sorry, but I think that installing and using Yum on Ubuntu would be a stupid thing to do, unless you really know what you're doing. I could be wrong, I haven't used Yum myself, but I think that experimenting with package management isn't a wise choice for someone having their first experience with Linux.

 

[richw76]

i dont quite understand what you're saying about possibly not being able to boot windows anymore...

right now i am booted into windows xp...when i started my computer i was given the option of which OS to boot into

my powerbook G4 is from work so i have no worries of what happens to it...i actually asked my IT team to have it done for me yesterday but it was pretty late so they said to try it myself over the weekend, and if i mess something up they'll take care of it

so i'm just trying to get internet on ubuntu already fully installed on my desktop, and figuring out how to install it on my powerbook G4...

how do you change the boot settings on the powerbook G4?

I think you hold Option key at boot to select CD.

 

[richw76]

also there seem to be some catches with the g4 so I'd say google and read up or risk wiping your data. This one looked interestign for a non-destructive install.

http://www.simplehelp.net/2007/04/2...ing-parallels-a-complete-walkthrough/#install

 

[GrassCourtFan]

Max G, i dont see any affect of reduced performance in my windows xp which i am currently on right now...i see reduced hard drive space but thats because i allocated it for the partition

i went to the link you provided, and downloaded the program which as i am looking at right now shows my directory on ubuntu...so i think this takes care of seeing each OS's files

Cool! That's good.

i am using a wireless connection on this desktop, using a 802.11g wireless PCI card...

Unfortunately, that doesn't help me... that identifies the type of card, but still isn't specific enough to say what manufacturer it is to find out more info about how to get it to work.

You can find out what it is by, I think, going to system->preferences->hardware information; that'll give you a big list of stuff, and somewhere in would hopefully be a wireless device of some sort. (Mine, for example, has "Device: BCM4306 802.11b/g Wireless LAN" from "Vendor: Broadcom Corporation").

(It's actually probably easier to open a terminal and type "lspci -v" to get the same info, or "lspci -v | less" to see it in a pager program so you can search it for "802" (in less, type "/802" and press enter to search forward in the file for any occurrence of 802, and subsequently "n" to go to the next occurence and "N" to go to the previous one) so you don't have to stare at lists of devices and can just find it. I'm hesitant to tell you to use the terminal, since it tends to scare people away, but it's probably easier in this case.)

FYI, all I'm basically going to do with this info is first try to look at https://help.ubuntu.com/community/WifiDocs/WirelessCardsSupported to see what they say about it; I'll also do a search of ubuntuforums.org for it, and hopefully between the two of those I'll find someone else who has had this wireless card on Ubuntu and thus will say on what to do to get it to work, if possible. (I'd be surprised if neither of those resolved the issue.) You can do that yourself too, though you might have to get through some technical jargon. I'm happy to help, just pointing out that at this point I'm just going to be finding the expertise of others anyway.

 

[superstition]

I've found Ubuntu to be poorly designed and unstable, from an end user perspective (if the end user is not a Slashdot geek). However, I should note that I used the 64-bit AMD version which may account for the poor performance. Even getting audio to work properly (as opposed to swapping the kernal for a realtime version) is a problem and the worst problem of all is the way installing software breaks Ubuntu. It seems like the more software one downloads and installs the more likely the system will go haywire.

Not only is instability a problem, but the interface is not intuitive and browsing the available software is a pain. It can be done in at least two ways, like many things in the OS, and neither of them are pleasant.

The only thing I found the operating system good for was browing the web with Firefox. In every other respect, it was grossly inferior to Mac OS X and even Windows XP. I kept an open mind and I'm pretty tech saavy, but I have to give Ubuntu a double thumbs down, although I like the orange color scheme. If this is the best the there is, Linux on the desktop is half-baked.

 

[richw76]

I've found Ubuntu to be poorly designed and unstable, from an end user perspective (if the end user is not a Slashdot geek). However, I should note that I used the 64-bit AMD version which may account for the poor performance. Even getting audio to work properly (as opposed to swapping the kernal for a realtime version) is a problem and the worst problem of all is the way installing software breaks Ubuntu. It seems like the more software one downloads and installs the more likely the system will go haywire.

Not only is instability a problem, but the interface is not intuitive and browsing the available software is a pain. It can be done in at least two ways, like many things in the OS, and neither of them are pleasant.

The only thing I found the operating system good for was browing the web with Firefox. In every other respect, it was grossly inferior to Mac OS X and even Windows XP. I kept an open mind and I'm pretty tech saavy, but I have to give Ubuntu a double thumbs down, although I like the orange color scheme. If this is the best the there is, Linux on the desktop is half-baked.

ok so Linux is open source aka basically free. You can pay for support usually from a company or from an "expert"... er so maybe not so free. Also, since it's all willy nilly some apps will use different library versions etc. If you hardened your kernel you may have stuff turned off that you need or whatever.

OSX is a Commercial product, with a wide user base.......

I started with Linux about 10 years ago with Redhat version 5.2 . It was great because I was a broke college student and buying a sun sparc wk stat wasn't an option to learn unix. Back then nothing worked

My point...... er I don't think I have a point other than Linux is stable meaning if something is working it will continue to work until You break it ;-)
That said I had many sleepless night trying to fix what I broke. But as the cliche goes I learned 5 times as much tryign to fix something I broke, or trying to get something to work that will never work on current code, than when it was "easy"

Even though there is almost no need I would suggest the OP keep reading, break stuff, and recompile a kernel, and install/compile at least one app from source just for kicks........ Unless you want to be a doctor or lawyer or bartender when you grow up. Then just enjoy OSX and leave Linux alone. Like superstition said it really is superior to every opensource linux distro in almost every way.

 

[superstition]

Then just enjoy OSX and leave Linux alone. Like superstition said it really is superior to every opensource linux distro in almost every way.

And, even it has a lot of big shortcomings, such as the lack of an "uninstall software" control panel. Mac evangelists will reply "all you have to do is drag the program to the Trash". That's not true for software like Virex.

The shortcomings in comparison to Ubuntu Linux for general desktop use, however, are comparatively trivial.

 

[richw76]

And, even it has a lot of big shortcomings, such as the lack of an "uninstall software" control panel. Mac evangelists will reply "all you have to do is drag the program to the Trash". That's not true for software like Virex.

The shortcomings in comparison to Ubuntu Linux for general desktop use, however, are comparatively trivial.

Why would you uninstall your AV? But point taken... I do security and many of my auditing and penetration testing tools are unix based and I us OSX everyday, but I also have virtual pc on there since I have 2 legacy apps that I have to run on xp.

I think to some degree the whole linux/osx/windows is a different tools for different jobs type thing.

Linux is the broom stick... let me explain. When I was a kid my dad would work on our cars. If he changed a fan belt he had this old broom stick we would use to get everything tight and tighten the bolts. Was there a fancy, cool, specialized tool that would have made the job easier.... sure but in a pinch for no cash the old broom stick got the job done that's linux to me.

except ubuntu + Myth so I can watch tv at work, priceless.

 

[superstition]

Why would you uninstall your AV?

Virex has a history of being flaky and incompatible with system upgrades. I never run AV software on Macs, anyway.

I also have virtual pc on there

This is another example of software that isn't removable by simply deleting the application. Virtual PC installs extensions.

I think to some degree the whole linux/osx/windows is a different tools for different jobs type thing.

Linux is great for specific things like servers, but lousy for the general desktop. The desktop requires the following basics:

1. Intuitive operation.
2. Elegance of interface design. There shouldn't be seven ways to do the same thing and it should be quick for a user to accomplish something. Having to browse through pages of cryptic software downloads where they're not even all compatible with the OS is the opposite of this principle.
3. Stability. An operating system absolutely should be impervious to third party software installation, and should at the very least provide an easy way to dispose of problematic software, leaving the operating system stable once it's gone.
4. Flexibility of function. This requires good third party software and the ability of the OS to handle it.

Have I forgotten anything else?

Other operating systems need features a desktop OS needs, like security, and the like, but those above qualities are qualities Ubuntu lacks as a desktop OS.

 

[psamp14]

I think you hold Option key at boot to select CD.

ok, i'll try that out and see what happens

also there seem to be some catches with the g4 so I'd say google and read up or risk wiping your data. This one looked interestign for a non-destructive install.

http://www.simplehelp.net/2007/04/2...ing-parallels-a-complete-walkthrough/#install

this site appears to show you how to install ubuntu using Parallels...i am not very knowledgeable about macs but i dont think Parallels works with the power PC processors...

Cool! That's good.



Unfortunately, that doesn't help me... that identifies the type of card, but still isn't specific enough to say what manufacturer it is to find out more info about how to get it to work.

You can find out what it is by, I think, going to system->preferences->hardware information; that'll give you a big list of stuff, and somewhere in would hopefully be a wireless device of some sort. (Mine, for example, has "Device: BCM4306 802.11b/g Wireless LAN" from "Vendor: Broadcom Corporation").

(It's actually probably easier to open a terminal and type "lspci -v" to get the same info, or "lspci -v | less" to see it in a pager program so you can search it for "802" (in less, type "/802" and press enter to search forward in the file for any occurrence of 802, and subsequently "n" to go to the next occurence and "N" to go to the previous one) so you don't have to stare at lists of devices and can just find it. I'm hesitant to tell you to use the terminal, since it tends to scare people away, but it's probably easier in this case.)

FYI, all I'm basically going to do with this info is first try to look at https://help.ubuntu.com/community/WifiDocs/WirelessCardsSupported to see what they say about it; I'll also do a search of ubuntuforums.org for it, and hopefully between the two of those I'll find someone else who has had this wireless card on Ubuntu and thus will say on what to do to get it to work, if possible. (I'd be surprised if neither of those resolved the issue.) You can do that yourself too, though you might have to get through some technical jargon. I'm happy to help, just pointing out that at this point I'm just going to be finding the expertise of others anyway.

i'm in windows xp right now but i'll explore those areas to identify my wireless card...my dad built this desktop from scratch so i dont know much about the specs besides standard information...i'll try the steps you noted and see how it goes

 

[psamp14]

Max G,

right now i am talking about my desktop, and it uses a wireless connectio

i believe i have a texas instruments wireless card...ACX 111 54mbps wireless interface

i went to system->administration->network....and i see the option for wireless, but what does the option at the top "enable roaming mode" mean?

i typed in my network name and network password, but it doesnt seem to do anything....the areas for ip address, subnet mask, and gateway address and grayed out...

if its faster for you than posting back and forth here, email me and maybe your assistance could help me get my internet connection on here...

 

[GrassCourtFan]

Max G,

right now i am talking about my desktop, and it uses a wireless connectio

i believe i have a texas instruments wireless card...ACX 111 54mbps wireless interface

i went to system->administration->network....and i see the option for wireless, but what does the option at the top "enable roaming mode" mean?

i typed in my network name and network password, but it doesnt seem to do anything....the areas for ip address, subnet mask, and gateway address and grayed out...

if its faster for you than posting back and forth here, email me and maybe your assistance could help me get my internet connection on here....psamp14@gmail.com

Sure, that'll work, I'll send you an email.

 

[psamp14]

this is one is for all ubuntu experts now...

i dont know what i did but i booted into linux just a few minutes ago and it was showing "linksys," an unencrypted wireless connection close by, at 31%....but the browser still displayed no webpage

does this mean that the settings are somewhere close to where they should be?

 

[GrassCourtFan]

this is one is for all ubuntu experts now...

i dont know what i did but i booted into linux just a few minutes ago and it was showing "linksys," an unencrypted wireless connection close by, at 31%....but the browser still displayed no webpage

does this mean that the settings are somewhere close to where they should be?

Maybe. I really have no idea at this point, that does look like it should be working, but it's not. Did you get the email I sent? That covered all I could think of, basically.

 

[richw76]

this is one is for all ubuntu experts now...

i dont know what i did but i booted into linux just a few minutes ago and it was showing "linksys," an unencrypted wireless connection close by, at 31%....but the browser still displayed no webpage

does this mean that the settings are somewhere close to where they should be?

sounds like dns resolution issue. go to a command line and verify you have an ip associated with wlan interface. Then ping you default gw, if that works. ping 4.2.2.2 or something else on the internet. If that also works dhcp isn't pulling everything correctly just hard code it and call it a day.

 

[GrassCourtFan]

sounds like dns resolution issue. go to a command line and verify you have an ip associated with wlan interface. Then ping you default gw, if that works. ping 4.2.2.2 or something else on the internet. If that also works dhcp isn't pulling everything correctly just hard code it and call it a day.

Sounds like good ideas to me. I hadn't even thought of it being just a DNS issue. You should try something like "ping -c 2 4.2.2.2" to see whether that works - if that works and internet doesn't, then maybe it's just not looking in the right places for DNS info.

 

[psamp14]

Max G and richw76,

i'm still at work (working late today) but i'll put those commands to the test as soon as i get home and report back on how it goes

today i was talking to a coworker of mine who had ubuntu linux on his sony vaio laptop but uninstalled it, mostly because he needed space for windows and visual studio, but he said the wireless internet was a bit of a pain

i just hope i dont get discouraged because of a little trouble hooking up to wireless....

 

[psamp14]

well i tried getting the wireless to work on my desktop to experiment with linux but it didnt really work out....so i installed ubuntu on an old desktop with a wired connection and internet works....

which is good because i need to clear a lot of HDD space on my desktop because i'm under 2GB of free space...

so how do you uninstall ubuntu linux? or resize the partition? what is the smallest amount of space i can designate for ubuntu?

 

[meh]

well i tried getting the wireless to work on my desktop to experiment with linux but it didnt really work out....so i installed ubuntu on an old desktop with a wired connection and internet works....

which is good because i need to clear a lot of HDD space on my desktop because i'm under 2GB of free space...

so how do you uninstall ubuntu linux? or resize the partition? what is the smallest amount of space i can designate for ubuntu?

IMO 6-8 gigs is more than enough for your root partition.

you'd get better support on a linux forum...