Installing Ubuntu Dapper Drake on my laptop
Easiest installation so far
Sunday, October 1, 2006 by jelvis | Discussion: Personal Computing
Until this day I have only run Linux on old outdated hardware, primarily for experimenation or for server use. But today I decided to install it on an old but relatively speedy laptop to test the desktop experience. The laptop has a 2Ghz P4 processor, 512MB of ram and a 32MB ATI card. Installing Ubuntu on older hardware before have been difficult so I was a bit weary of spending my entire day of installing it on my laptop.
The overall impression of the installation was very positive. I could use the partitioning program to resize my existing NTFS-partition and I managed to squeeze two additional partitions besides the XP-partition that I am going to keep around for a while. Novice users would probably feel a bit intimidated by the text-based installer and all the questions during the installation process, but for me it worked very well.
The only thing that was really annoying was that Ubuntu did not properly configure my wireless network card. It identified the chipset (Atheros) correctly but there were no WPA options available. More on the wireless issue later.
With the exception of the wireless issue the operating system installed smoothly and upon booting I realized that I had installed from an old beta version of Dapper Drake. A quick search on the Ubuntu forums (which are quite good) revealed that everything I needed to do was to run an update.
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get upgrade
The download of all updates went quite fast using a mirror in Sweden. In contrast to the XP reinstallation I had to do the previous month,it was a real breeze. No multiple restarts, just one download, one reboot and everything was in place. The reboot was probably unnecessary since I did not upgrade the kernel, but I thought that it wouldn't hurt.
I had to do quite a bit of surfing before finding information regarding how to setup my wireless network card. It is a common Netgear WG511T and finally I just surfed by a page that recommended installing network-manager-gnome. A simple installation and a reboot later I had a network-manager symbol in my systray (or whatever its counterpart is called within Gnome) that allowed me to connect to my NetGear router using WPA.
I wish that the installation disk would include that program already, perhaps it does in the 6.06 installer.
A more annoying issue with Ubuntu(and much of the Linux world) is the exclusion of binary software for which the source code is not open. I really like Open Source, I do, and I use a lot of open programs if they are a viable alternative. Sometimes OSS software is superior, sometimes it is a cheaper alternative that proves to be sufficient. But still I want Codecs, Media Players, DVD-support and good graphic drivers available from the start. I don't really care that the OSS community is trying to make a point, I will still need to install this to have a fully functional system.
Fortunately I had heard of a script called Automatix that would install much of this more or less automatically. It worked well and installed all the parts I think should have been included in first place. Not much of a hassle for me but it is still an unnecessary additional step IMO.
The Ubuntu desktop is really nice, IMO. Very clean and simple and I like the brownish colours. This is the first Linux desktop that I would dare to put into the hands of my mother.
Now I will play around a little and see if it is as good as it looks.
Just some random minor notes comparing Ubuntu to XP running on the same laptop:
* XP GUI is a bit snappier to respond to input.
* I really like the update management in Ubuntu. Having all packages under one umbrella ensures that you have the latest software at a simple click. IMO it is long overdue for other ISV's starting to use Microsoft Update on Windows. I don't know if it is Microsoft not allowing ISV's to hook into the system or if it is the ISV's that are unwilling to use Microsoft Update. Either way, it could be greatly improved.
* Using Synaptic in Ubuntu you can point-and-click to install software from a big catalogue.
* XP installation is a bit easier but also slower and more tedious considering the multiple reboots.
* Better performance for my WG511T Netgear card in windows. I wish Netgear would provide a native Linux driver of their own.
* The time needed to get at fully functional Ubuntu system was actually much less than the similar time needed to get an XP system up and running. This surprised me.
The overall impression of the installation was very positive. I could use the partitioning program to resize my existing NTFS-partition and I managed to squeeze two additional partitions besides the XP-partition that I am going to keep around for a while. Novice users would probably feel a bit intimidated by the text-based installer and all the questions during the installation process, but for me it worked very well.
The only thing that was really annoying was that Ubuntu did not properly configure my wireless network card. It identified the chipset (Atheros) correctly but there were no WPA options available. More on the wireless issue later.
With the exception of the wireless issue the operating system installed smoothly and upon booting I realized that I had installed from an old beta version of Dapper Drake. A quick search on the Ubuntu forums (which are quite good) revealed that everything I needed to do was to run an update.
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get upgrade
The download of all updates went quite fast using a mirror in Sweden. In contrast to the XP reinstallation I had to do the previous month,it was a real breeze. No multiple restarts, just one download, one reboot and everything was in place. The reboot was probably unnecessary since I did not upgrade the kernel, but I thought that it wouldn't hurt.
I had to do quite a bit of surfing before finding information regarding how to setup my wireless network card. It is a common Netgear WG511T and finally I just surfed by a page that recommended installing network-manager-gnome. A simple installation and a reboot later I had a network-manager symbol in my systray (or whatever its counterpart is called within Gnome) that allowed me to connect to my NetGear router using WPA.
I wish that the installation disk would include that program already, perhaps it does in the 6.06 installer.
A more annoying issue with Ubuntu(and much of the Linux world) is the exclusion of binary software for which the source code is not open. I really like Open Source, I do, and I use a lot of open programs if they are a viable alternative. Sometimes OSS software is superior, sometimes it is a cheaper alternative that proves to be sufficient. But still I want Codecs, Media Players, DVD-support and good graphic drivers available from the start. I don't really care that the OSS community is trying to make a point, I will still need to install this to have a fully functional system.
Fortunately I had heard of a script called Automatix that would install much of this more or less automatically. It worked well and installed all the parts I think should have been included in first place. Not much of a hassle for me but it is still an unnecessary additional step IMO.
The Ubuntu desktop is really nice, IMO. Very clean and simple and I like the brownish colours. This is the first Linux desktop that I would dare to put into the hands of my mother.
Now I will play around a little and see if it is as good as it looks.
Just some random minor notes comparing Ubuntu to XP running on the same laptop:
* XP GUI is a bit snappier to respond to input.
* I really like the update management in Ubuntu. Having all packages under one umbrella ensures that you have the latest software at a simple click. IMO it is long overdue for other ISV's starting to use Microsoft Update on Windows. I don't know if it is Microsoft not allowing ISV's to hook into the system or if it is the ISV's that are unwilling to use Microsoft Update. Either way, it could be greatly improved.
* Using Synaptic in Ubuntu you can point-and-click to install software from a big catalogue.
* XP installation is a bit easier but also slower and more tedious considering the multiple reboots.
* Better performance for my WG511T Netgear card in windows. I wish Netgear would provide a native Linux driver of their own.
* The time needed to get at fully functional Ubuntu system was actually much less than the similar time needed to get an XP system up and running. This surprised me.
TheD2JBug
Reply #2 Monday, October 2, 2006 12:53 AM
Reply #2 Monday, October 2, 2006 12:53 AM
Installed kubuntu 6.06 on my laptop ( toshiba satellite m50 Celeron-M 1.5Ghz/1GB RAM(128 MB shared ATI ). I have GRUB set up to dual boot Linux/Windows. I thought the installation and the setup process was quitre nice. Linux has come a long way in even the last year in it's ability to install/run on laptops .
You know how many times I've booted to the linux partition since installation. Once.
Why? Because it's patheticallty slow over my wireless network. And mp3 playback is broken out of the box and my efforts to install said support have failed as yet.. Well that's two of the major reasons I use my laptop out the window.
It's easier for me just to pick the Windows partition and go.
You know how many times I've booted to the linux partition since installation. Once.
Why? Because it's patheticallty slow over my wireless network. And mp3 playback is broken out of the box and my efforts to install said support have failed as yet.. Well that's two of the major reasons I use my laptop out the window.
It's easier for me just to pick the Windows partition and go.
dagwud
Reply #3 Monday, October 2, 2006 10:00 AM
Reply #3 Monday, October 2, 2006 10:00 AM
I've played with Ubuntu in a virtual machine for a couple of months. My work computer has a speedy P4, but my laptop won't hack the virtualization (being old and all).
One thing I did find that I appreicate is "Easy (Ubuntu"Link), which includes a number of codecs and media players in a nice, complete package so that you don't have to go searching for each of them individuall.
XP's getting flakey, so I'll be reinstalling soon. When I do, I'll also be triplebooting - Win98 for a few games I still play that XP doesn't like, XP, and Ubuntu.
One thing I did find that I appreicate is "Easy (Ubuntu"Link), which includes a number of codecs and media players in a nice, complete package so that you don't have to go searching for each of them individuall.
XP's getting flakey, so I'll be reinstalling soon. When I do, I'll also be triplebooting - Win98 for a few games I still play that XP doesn't like, XP, and Ubuntu.
jelvis
Reply #4 Monday, October 2, 2006 2:44 PM
Reply #4 Monday, October 2, 2006 2:44 PM
TheD2JBug:
I can understand that. Sorry that it did not work for you. I was simply amazed with how well it worked for me, more or less out of the box. My other installation experiences have been a lot worse. Have you tried Automatix or EasyUbuntu to install MP3-support?
dagwd:
I was considering testing Easy Ubuntu but Automatix did its work nicely. Have seen others recommending Easy Ubuntu as well.
Thank you for your comments!
I can understand that. Sorry that it did not work for you. I was simply amazed with how well it worked for me, more or less out of the box. My other installation experiences have been a lot worse. Have you tried Automatix or EasyUbuntu to install MP3-support?
dagwd:
I was considering testing Easy Ubuntu but Automatix did its work nicely. Have seen others recommending Easy Ubuntu as well.
Thank you for your comments!
kona0197
Reply #5 Monday, October 2, 2006 5:15 PM
Reply #5 Monday, October 2, 2006 5:15 PM
Jelvis:
Try installing the newest Edgy Eft release due out this month. Also try Kubuntu it's so much better. KDE sucks up less memory than GNOME. As far as wifi try installing or looking for a package called "madwifi"
TheD2JBug:
Try Xandros. Damn near everything works out of the box especially MP3's. 4 click install by the way.
Try installing the newest Edgy Eft release due out this month. Also try Kubuntu it's so much better. KDE sucks up less memory than GNOME. As far as wifi try installing or looking for a package called "madwifi"
TheD2JBug:
Try Xandros. Damn near everything works out of the box especially MP3's. 4 click install by the way.
MasonM
Reply #6 Monday, October 2, 2006 5:32 PM
Reply #6 Monday, October 2, 2006 5:32 PM
I'm a long time Slackware user but I play around with various distros. I found Ubuntu to be a decent enough distro although a tad slow for my tastes. But it's stable and works well.
Gnome does use a bit more memory than KDE but I believe that's due to the prelinking of a lot of libraries so as to start applications faster, so it's a bit of a trade.
I like both KDE and Gnome, but tend to use Fluxbox the most.
Ubuntu does configure a lot of functionality automatically during the installation which is a big plus for someone new to Linux. But wih any OS there will always be something or other that has to be tweaked or configured in order to make it work. With Windows you have to search around to find a driver, download it, install it, and then usually reboot before a pesky piece of hardware will work, so no OS is perfect for every piece of hardware out there.
As for the proprietary stuff, GPL licensing issues prohibit free distros from including those although they are readily available to download and install if you need them. It just keeps the distro developers out of legal trouble.
Gnome does use a bit more memory than KDE but I believe that's due to the prelinking of a lot of libraries so as to start applications faster, so it's a bit of a trade.
I like both KDE and Gnome, but tend to use Fluxbox the most.
Ubuntu does configure a lot of functionality automatically during the installation which is a big plus for someone new to Linux. But wih any OS there will always be something or other that has to be tweaked or configured in order to make it work. With Windows you have to search around to find a driver, download it, install it, and then usually reboot before a pesky piece of hardware will work, so no OS is perfect for every piece of hardware out there.
As for the proprietary stuff, GPL licensing issues prohibit free distros from including those although they are readily available to download and install if you need them. It just keeps the distro developers out of legal trouble.
Please login to comment and/or vote for this skin.
Welcome Guest! Please take the time to register with us.
There are many great features available to you once you register, including:
- Richer content, access to many features that are disabled for guests like commenting on the forums and downloading skins.
- Access to a great community, with a massive database of many, many areas of interest.
- Access to contests & subscription offers like exclusive emails.
- It's simple, and FREE!
Reply #1 Sunday, October 1, 2006 2:22 PM
I really love the names they give the various releases. Hoary Hedgehog indeed