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This article is part of my series on exploring Linux. Late last year I began experimenting with 64-bit Ubuntu Linux. I decided to try to use it for everything I could think of. I wrote a fair number of articles in this series detailing my experiences, problems, solutions, etc. I went on to do other things with this Linux distro that I never got around to documenting: - I connected an HP flatbed scanner. The built in scanning software recognized the device and instantly scanned a document for me - awesome!
- I used it to connect to my work VPN through a Cisco/Citrix solution. I have to say the user experience far exceeded what I was used to in Windows. (Part of that was the open source client not respecting system requests to disconnect me from my network printer, etc. :-D
But there have been a number of small irritants that I haven't been able to resolve yet. I suspect there are solutions to most of them, but I lack either the time or know-how: - Although the webcam video worked like a charm, I never did get the audio recording to work. The wrong drivers or something kept causing pops and hisses over the audio track.
- I was never able to do anything with the handy buttons around the screen or use the handy wireless media remote. I don't know if anyone came up with drivers for those, but they sure would have been handy.
- I never did install the drivers for the touch screen or the on-screen Wacom pen. The drivers do appear to exist, but they look cludgy and the instructions confusing.
There are other things that used to work, but which eventually stopped working. I never did anything to specifically change the settings in question, but my tinkering and many automatic system updates have exacted their toll: - The thing that upset me most was my video drivers. I spent a lot of time getting them just right. At some point a system update changed the video options and also the behaviour. I could no longer just dsconnect the second monitor and have the system continue working. Instead, the system would only boot to a black screen until I returned the second monitor so that I could disable it in the software. -- Problematic when you take off with the laptop for a trip :-(
- At some point my DNS name resolution started giving me grief. It seems to look to the wrong place for resolution. I have to wait until it times out in 10 seconds before finding a better place to resolve a name. I don't know if this is a result of my VPN tinkering or some system update. Quite irritating though.
- I also seem to have lost connectivity to my SMB shares on my Windows network. It sees the workgroup but will go no further. This is the final nail in the coffin.
I have learned a lot through my Ubuntu experiment. I have been quite impressed at how advanced this operating system is. I can respect the solid foundation the system is built on. But I am being irritated by too many little annoyances. I suspect some of these may be cause by my choice of going 64-bit. I have since learned that 64-bit is a bit early for general consumption. It would be best to wait for applications and drivers to catch up. There was really no need for me to move with my hardware of only 4GB. It's time to wipe this system and start fresh. I'm thinking 32-bit Suse Linux....
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This article is part of my series on exploring Linux. If I am to replace my desktop computer with the Ubuntu OS, I need to be able to do everything I was doing in the Windows days. As a networking guy maintaining servers, I am constantly using RDP to administer servers and lab computers remotely. This is functionality I'm not willing to live without. I didn't need to worry. There's a product for Linux called rdesktop which includes an interface called Terminal Server Client (tsclient). It does exactly what I'm used to with RDP - with a few more options available. The software is available via Ubuntu's package manager. I installed it by simply typing the following command from the terminal window: sudo aptitude install rdesktopWow! the software looks just like the RDP I use in Microsoft land:  It works as you'd expect. I had absolutely no issues accessing Windows computers via the RDP protocol.
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This article is part of my series on exploring Linux. Like every other IT guy on the planet, I must use a word processor to write documents. Naturally, as a Windows user, I have been using MS Word - and for the past couple of years Word 2007 with the docx file format. Let's see how I handle the transition to Open Office... Open Office is a free, open source word processor. It is included with Ubuntu and is also available for Windows. There is no doubt - it is a full featured word processor. It had every feature I was looking for. Perhaps a publisher might need more... but maybe not. I tested it out by creating a document with a complex table (something I can get frustrated by in Windows). I included graphics, hyperlinks, custom styles, cell colouring and split cells. It did quite well:  The table formatting menu that Open Office provided put MS Word to shame!  Although the menu was a pleasure to use, there were some problems. I could easily split cells, but then they became impossible to manage. There was no way I could select a row including split cells (as shown above) to save my life. This prevented bulk formatting, copying, etc. I had to actually copy each row and then manually split cells afterward. Now, how about compatibility with the rest of the world? This isn't as big a problem as you might imagine. For one, my children's school just switched to Open Office (this seems to be a trend) so there is obviously no problem there. For the rest of us using MS Word in the work environment, Open Office supports most common file formats - let's test it! I've heard that Open Office works very well with standard MS Word .doc files, but I've been using MS Word 2007 .docx files for the last while. Despite the docx format being only a couple years old, Open Office did a very good job of converting the file. But that's the problem. Open Office converts the document into something it can understand and it doesn't do a perfect job. I tried editing some guides I had been working on. The documents had the usual headings, table of contents, page headers, cross-references, etc. But things just weren't right. Things like my indents were not the same and the page headers were all buggered. I quickly realized that I couldn't use Open Office to edit my work documents. There was no way I could check a document out from work, edit a couple paragraphs and return it in the same condition. (Here's an example of the results. Open Office on the left, MS Word 2007 in the middle. (I'll discuss the image on the right in a moment.))  I realized I couldn't live without MS Word 2007, but I'm still dedicated to trying to do everything in Linux. It's time to try Wine. Wine is an extremely interesting product. It's a Linux application that creates an environment into which a Windows application can be installed and used. Many people call Wine a Windows emulator, but it really isn't. There isn't the overhead of an emulator. Wine calls itself a "translation layer". It basically provides Windows applications with the Windows services it expects to find (such as the registry) in very much the same way that Windows does it. Apparently Wine is so efficient that people are able to play first-person shooter video games within it! I used Wine to install and run MS Word 2007. I am now able to edit my work documents from my Linux PC and check them back into the office with no issue. Very cool! It's even quite neat how Wine integrates Windows applications with my desktop - it's almost seemless - take a look at the shortcuts:  However, as with everything, I found issues you may want to know about. Before I get to that, I'll cover how to install Wine and Word 2007. To install wine: It looks like my 64-bit version of Ubuntu complicates the installation of Wine a bit. I found some good instructions buried in this forum post that I followed without incident. The first thing to do was to add a repository maintained by WineHQ to my system's list of APT sources for the version I am using (using the Terminal): sudo wget http://wine.budgetdedicated.com/apt/sources.list.d/intrepid.list -O /etc/apt/sources.list.d/winehq.listNext, I added the repository's key to my system's list of trusted APT keys: wget -q http://wine.budgetdedicated.com/apt/387EE263.gpg -O- | sudo apt-key add -Then I update my package information and installed Wine: sudo apt-get updatesudo aptitude install wineInstalling an application (MS Word 2007 for instance) couldn't be easier. You just have to use the Terminal window. Find the Windows commandline for initiating an installation and just preface it with the word "wine" (i.e. wine setup.exe). The Windows application's installer will proceed as you would normally expect. When it is complete you will find shortcuts in the Applications menu under Wine|Programs. I was very pleased. I then ran MS Word and opened one of my test docx files. The results are shown in that third example on the right in the earlier image above. Everything I tried in MS Word 2007 worked flawlessly. All my formatting and 'complex' document features were preserved (this is MS Word 2007 afterall). There were just two small problems... Can you see the problems in the sample on the right as compared to the sample in the middle? For one thing I lost my bullets to some strange numbery thing. After some research I learned that the problem was with Linux/Wine not having the symbol.ttf font that Word uses to display the bullet symbol. Luckily my machine is still licensed for Vista. I simply browsed the Vista NTFS partition for the missing font files and copied them to the folder Wine uses - in my case it was: /home/gordon/.wine/dosdevices/c:/windows/fontsProblem solved. The only other very slight problem that you may have noticed from the earlier sample, is that the pagination / page formatting is out of wack. This seems to be a difference in the way fonts are handled - very much like when you change from one printer driver to another. This isn't a problem as long as I don't worry about the pagination at home and wait until I get to work to make sure things line up. If I don't disrupt the formatting of a document signed out from work, there are no issues at all. As I worked with my documents, I noticed another generic Wine issue. I had troubles pasting screenshots from my Linux environment into my Word documents. It turns out that Linux and Windows handle paste buffers very differently. As a result, they don't always interact as one might hope. I had no troubles handling strings of text, but pictures were a no go. To circumvent this, I just had to save the picture as a file and then import that file into Word the usual way. I was very impressed by what I was able to accomplish in Ubuntu regarding document editing even if it wasn't perfect. I look forward to the continued growth of Open Office both in capability and popularity. I am convinced it is the future.
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I'd like to apologize for my long delays in posting an article. I've actually got 5 articles in the works, but my Linux configuration is getting more complex. It's taking much longer for me to overcome technical hurdles... In the mean time, I found a book I'd like to tell you about:  Linux 101 Hacks is another free online book (pdf) that was published this February. The hacks documented really don't fit my definition of what hacks are. It's more like a book of handy commandline tips, tricks and shortcuts. In my short time working with Linux, it has become quite clear how important a role the terminal plays. Anything that helps me work in that environment is most welcome. Getting the book is a bit awkward. You need to subscribe to a blog written by the book's author. The blog's e-mail subscription will deliver a password for getting the book. A slight pain, but the blog doesn't look half bad either!
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This article is part of my series on exploring Linux. In my last article I played with a thumb drive and a memory card reader in my laptop. I went on to learn about ejecting the devices and formatting them. I've enjoyed writing this blog as I learn Linux and I like to think that I am helping people out there who are going through the same process. But one irritating thing about my blog and others is that it is focused on very small pieces of the Linux puzzle. It is hard to see the big picture or put a lot of the information in context. This week I found a wonderful book that may help. Check out the Ubuntu Pocket Guide and Reference!  It provides a great overview of Ubuntu while also helping a beginner accomplish typical things like actually installing the product. It answers many questions I have and touches many of the areas I have been dealing with. Not only is it a cheap $10 book, but you can also download it as a free PDF with the author's blessing!: http://www.ubuntupocketguide.com/download.htmlGive it a read and then come back to my blog as I continue to struggle with things that don't behave as they should.
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This article is part of my series on exploring Linux. In my last article I had fun using bluetooth to connect to my Nintendo Wiimote. Today I decided to try connecting to some memory devices. I wasn't too worried about connecting to USB thumb drives, but I was wondering if Ubuntu would make use of my memory card reader. First up - the memory card reader! I stuck in an xD memory card from my Olympus camera and instantly received this message:  Nice! A clear message that gave me clear choices. I couldn't ask for more than that. I went on to easily browse and use the memory card. Next up - a USB thumb drive! My laptop came with a free CA Internet Security Suite (for Windows) on an autorun thumb drive. Let's see what happened when I stuck that in:  Another clear message and autorun is supported! This is much better than the behaviour in XP that either just autoruns or doesn't autorun at all depending upon previous settings. Vista also offers a similar message to this; albeit more visually confusing and with more options. It would actually be nice if Ubuntu offered to let me browse the drive like Vista does - but then again, I merely have to click elsewhere on the desktop anyway. I really liked the way these two devices were presented in the File Browser (Ubuntu's version of Windows Explorer):  When the media has no name, the File Browser lists the device's size as a way of identifying it. Makes sense to me. At the top of the viewing pane it leaves the option to autorun the thumb drive just in case. I got the same behaviour when browsing the xD card - the option to open F-Spot was left at the top. The thing I liked best about browsing the media devices was the eject icon next to each device. One should always eject or "safely remove" media to make sure disk caches are flushed, etc. (I don't know that this is a Linux requirement, but I imagine it is). This was an issue I've had with XP. I regularly disconnect media and have to dig down through a context menu or task bar icon to get the job done. In Ubuntu I just click the eject icon. It knows what to do differently if it is a CD, USB or memory card. No muss, no fuss - it doesn't even ask for confirmation. If you clicked eject in error, just click on the device entry that is still listed and it will automatically remound it for you. This is such a little detail, but I really liked it. I should also mention the eject icon on my network share (called "netware" above). That icon lets me quickly unmount my network connection as well. I did manage to find a slight hitch with my memory exploration however. Remember how my thumb drive came with an autorun of CA on it? I just wanted a blank drive. I could have just delete the files, but I decided to format the drive instead so I could remove the CA label it had. I couldn't find any way within the File Browser to format or rename the device! At first I thought that was rather dumb, but then it made sense. The only things we really needed to format regularly were floppies - when was the last time you held one of those? Maybe I should be asking why Windows still gives me the option of formatting... So how do I format my thumb drive? Apparently there are the typical commandline methods, but I read about a graphical interface called GParted and decided to give that a try. I fell into a very typical Linux/Ubuntu routine: - I couldn't find a shortcut to GParted. That isn't unheard of for a GUI app - particularly an administrative type app like this.
- I brought up a Terminal window and tried "gparted".
- It wasn't present, but Ubuntu provided this helpful message: "The program 'gparted' is currently not installed. You can install it by typing: sudo apt-get install gparted"
- Isn't that helpful! So I did just that. The application came tumbling in.
- I typed "gparted" once again. This was the response:
 - Again, very helpful. GParted is treating this very much like an admin task because floppies just aren't the norm anymore. I knew how to become root. I put sudo to good use once again by typing "sudo gparted". I was rewarded with the GParted interface:
 - The graphic jumps ahead a little bit. In the graphic I have already asked to have my drive formatted as FAT32. It is just waiting for me to confirm the action.
There were actually some interesting choices from this interface: You may notice that I am formatting the device /dev/sdc. That label was new to me. At first the only way I could tell it was my thumb drive was by the size. But there was a subtle detail a neophyte like me missed. GParted listed information about the various partitions - including its Mountpoint ( /media/disk-1 in this case). This is the same information File Browser presented in the Location field at the top of the interface. Very subtle, but it is enough and from now on I'll know. The second interesting choice was for the type of Filesystem. Rather than just FAT, FAT32 or NTFS as I am used to in Windows, I get a whole lot more in Linux! Here were my choices: EXT2, EXT3, FAT16, FAT32, Linux-Swap, ReiserFS. That is quite the selection! There were even 7 other partition types that didn't apply in this situation. (I think I'll just stick with FAT32 :-) In the end, I'm very impressed with the way Ubuntu handled my access to my memory card and thumb drive. I'm fine with the way it handles formatting. I'm very impressed with the way the operating system held my hand through the formatting process. Let's face it, my hand was definitely held through what could be a daunting process - and all without the help of an annoying wizard!
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This article is part of my series on exploring Linux. In my last article I was pleased at how well Linux handled the docking/undocking of my laptop. My network and dual monitor settings were reconfigured optimally for each scenario. Today I came across the blog of Matt Cutts who describes how to connect a Wiimote to a Linux PC (a Wiimote is the game controller from a Wii console). I decided to take time out and give it a try. Long ago I was impressed by the potential of the Wiimote as a control device when I saw Johnny Chung Lee's projects. He came up with some wonderful multi-touch, whiteboard and head tracking VR applications for Windows. More recently, David Phillip Oster, a Google engineer, made an application for the Mac that surfs Google satellite maps using a Wii balance board. I followed Matt Cutts instructions and had my Wiimote connected in no time: - I got and installed the application from the terminal by typing: sudo apt-get install wminput wmgui lswm
- I ran lswm and it returned the message: Put Wiimotes in discoverable mode now (press 1+2)...
- lswm was able to properly detect my Wiimote when I pressed 1+2!
- I launched the GUI with the command: wmgui and this is what I saw:
 The application was able to read all the information being sent from my Wiimote and attached Nunchuck! Very cool. Now I just need to wait for people to start writing great applications that use the information - like those above that were made for the Windows and Mac environments. BTW, here is a good articles on how to use a WiiMote in Windows: http://wiihacks.blogspot.com/2006/12/howto-use-wii-mote-in-windows-as-your.html. Here is a Windows application similar to wmgui: WiinRemote. (Reading the Windows how-to is a very good demonstratation of the difference between the Windows and Linux world -- Half the article deals with how to overcome the limitations of the Microsoft bluetooth implementation and various licensing restructions. Those restrictions just didn't exist in Linux. Rather, in Linux the problem is a lack of people generating useful apps for the controller thus far.) Remember my problems getting my dual-monitors to work as one seemless desktop? Well, it's been working great lately, but there are some caveats. The wmgui application triggered some of them... When I ran wmgui, I also got the message: Xlib: extension "RANDR" missing on display ":0.0". The ATI Xinerama feature that allows me to move windows between displays seems to break the RANDR extension (xrandr). The "problem" didn't seem to affect me at all until I did a screenshot for this article. Before I ran wmgui, I could get a screenshot that included my whole desktop spread across both screens. After running wmgui and getting the error, I was only able to get a screenshot of the first monitor and the left half of the second. Not a big problem, but it bears further investigation. I found more details here https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=431727 where others were troubleshooting similar problems. Part of my problem may be that xrandr screens cannot be larger than 1920x1200 but my overall desired size is 2960x1050.
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This article is part of my series on exploring Linux. In my last article I was quite disappointed at how difficult it was to get my dual monitors configured just the way I wanted; although it sounds like a lot of the fault lay at the feet of ATI and their proprietary drivers. My multi-phased procedure for getting a perfect monitor configuration made me doubt whether my settings would be permanent. Would my configuration survive an undocking and redocking of my laptop (my 2nd monitor going away and coming back)? It was time to test! I decided to kill two birds with one stone and test the networking results as well. Up to this point I had been using the internal Wifi features of the laptop and ignoring the wired ethernet port on my docking station. By configuring the laptop to use the wired port, I could see what happens when I undock and leave that port behind. Talk about another easy process! I connected the dock to the wall via RJ-45 cable - Ubuntu immediately noticed and connected to my wired network. Not only did it start to use the wired network, but it remained connected to my wireless network as well:  Interesting result. Not only does the network drop-down give a wonderful summary of my network status, it also lets me disconnect from my wireless connection if I wish. Now that I'm using my dock's wired network connection and a desktop spread onto my dock's monitor, it's time to disconnect. I turned off the laptop and took it out of the dock. I powered it back on and everything worked perfectly! My main desktop panels had moved to the small laptop screen (normally they were on the large LCD) and Ubuntu kept my mouse from wondering off the screen realestate. Clearly the desktop occupied only one screen. The networking also worked flawlessly. I was surfing wirelessly with no configuration required. Satisfied that the test was a success, I was eager to see what would happen once I rejoined my dock. Would the dual-head screen configuration I had worked so hard for be a distant memory? I needn't have worried. When I rejoined my dock, Ubuntu started using my two screens and wired network connection as I had configured previously. This is the kind of professional, smooth experience I expect from my operating system. BTW, have you noticed the screenshots I've been adding to my articles? These come to you courtesy of GIMP, the graphics program bundled with Ubuntu. GIMP really puts MS Paint to shame. Have you ever seen such pretty icons? 
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This article is part of my series on exploring Linux. In my last article I was astounded at how easily I was able to connect to my network printers with duplex and colour printing supported. I still haven't tried to figure out why the touch or Wacom tablet features aren't working. I also haven't testing features like the web cam or thumb scanner or card reader... It was all these extras that attracted me to this HP tx2600 series laptop as a testbed for Linux. It certainly wasn't the call of the 1280 x 800 display occupying only 12.1 inches. Which reminds me... Time to fire up the second monitor, a Samsung T220 22" 1680 x 1050 screen - I want to be comfortable when running these experiments after all. I plugged the D-sub VGA connector into the laptop. I tried a few things and got various results, none of them great. Basically, when I boot the system it thinks it has one desktop of 1440 x 900 pixels. It is mirrored on both screens. The laptop screen is forced to pan around a larger desktop, while the second monitor has vertically stretched an image and is doing the ugly "non-native" thing. What I need is a desktop that is spread across two monitors that are each displaying in their proper native resolutions. Under System|Preferences I did find the Screen Resolution interface. At some point it did display two boxes that could be used to specify a relative position of two monitors, but it never showed the proper resolutions and when I enabled the feature, my second monitor went black. I know I'm in the right area, but I suspect I have a driver issue. I fear I must tell Ubuntu more about my ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3200. BTW, I should mention that Linux is losing at this point. When I booted into my 64-bit Windows Vista, it came right up and supported a dual monitor configuration beautifully. (Mind you, Vista did come pre-configured, so maybe it wouldn't have worked out-of-the-box in that case either). I was pleasantly surprised when I did a search on the ATI site. There I found 64-bit Ubuntu drivers for my card and all other supported ATI cards! They also include something called the ATI Catalyst Control Center. At this point I was in for another pleasant Linux surprise. Before attempting to download and install the driver, I decided to read the documentation. I was instantly able to read the Adobe Acrobat pdf documents. I got no warning about a missing reader and the documents appeared almost instantly - much faster than in Windows. It turns out that an open source Document Viewer was bypassing Adobe's product and just displaying the files - neat. The ATI drivers installed cleanly and I soon found shortcuts to the Catalyst Control Center (CCC) under my Applications menu. The application has a pleasant interface. It provided great system information and accurate information about my attached monitors. It also offers fine-tuning of color and 3D settings. But the part I was interested in was the Display Manager that lets me set my screen resolutions and relative positions. -- This part sucks!Although CCC knew the native resolutions of my monitors, it would not give them to me. I could get different parts of the desktops on each display now, but one monitor is being forced to pan and the other is displaying in a rather low resolution. Playing with it and rebooting multiple times got me a variety of results, but never the results I was looking for. I only got relief from my frustration once I did more research on the web. I lost hours to this research and to endless reboots of my system as I tested various solutions. I'll spare you all the details, but I'll share what I learned in the hopes that I save someone else some time. Of course, everyone has a different set of circumstances, but my combination of steps seemed to be a unique solution I had not found elsewhere. The GUI environment is presented by something called XServer. People just simply refer to it as "X" or "XVideo". As with everything else, the desktop configuration is stored in a config file - xorg.conf in this case. Nowadays drivers/software are supposed to manage this config file for you, but it is obvious that things can go squirly and the file needs to be edited directly. Forums are constantly describing entries for this file and posting the entire text of their files in hopes of troubleshooting things. I'm not entirely convinced that xorg.conf is the only place that stores desktop config information because I was changing resolutions and seeing no changes in the file. The ATI Catalyst Control Center (CCC) is one of the modern tools that is supposed to manage that file. It clearly didn't work properly for me however. Many forums discussed a more traditional tool called aticonfig that my driver download had also installed. This tool was far more sensible and worked more predictably, but it didn't get me all the way to my solution. Many forums talk about using an aticonfig --initial option to reset the xorg.conf file so that you can sort of start things off from ground zero. I found I still had pollution in this file that prevented me from being successful. The best thing I ever did was open the config file and delete all of its contents: - I opened a terminal window (Applications|Accessories|Terminal).
- I opened the file with the command: gksudo gedit /etc/X11/xorg.conf
- I selected everything and deleted it.
- I saved my changes.
I then used the aticonfig tool to reinitialize this file with values that suited me: sudo aticonfig --initial=dual-head --screen-layout=left
(Notice that sudo command again? I learned about it while fixing my sound.) The command told Linux to operate each monitor independently and to put my main screen to the left of my secondary (there may be some reverse logic here due to the way my monitors were detected - you may want to try "right" instead). A quick reboot revealed dual screens but still with the wrong resolutions and some weird behaviour. By the way, rather than going through the entire reboot process, you can just restart the XServer part by hitting CTRL+ALT+Backspace. The following command fixed a lot of the weirdness I was seeing: sudo aticonfig --add-pairmode=1680x1050+1280x800 But I still wasn't getting my native resolution I was after. At this point I resorted to the usual Screen Resolution interface found under System|Preferences. It only offered to configure the resolution of my external monitor - but that was what I needed and it let me choose 1680x1050! Yay! (I would have provided a screen shot, but subsequent config steps seem to prevent this interface from appearing anymore.) There was only one problem left. My mouse could glide between my two screens but I was unable to drag application windows between them. Using the ATI CCC solved this problem. I was able to use it to enable a feature called Xinerama from Display Options|X Configuration|Xinerama. It's hard to tell, but a grayed out square means it is selected. Xinerama is the feature that gets these applications to glide between the screens. There. I'm done. I have the screens configured exactly as I wanted. I could tell it was possible, but it was one hell of a horribly long road to get there. I ended up using all the tools I had seen (xorg.conf, aticonfig, CCC, Screen Resolution), but at least I didn't have to manually insert specific values throughout the file. Obviously, Vista gets a big win in this category. Ubuntu / Linux sucked when it came to my dual monitor config! But apparently this may be largely specific to the ATI drivers and software that ATI provides. It sounds like users with Nvidia graphics cards may fair quite a bit better. Now because this blog article isn't long enough... I'm going to end with a copy of my xorg.conf file - just like all those other Linux bloggers I found. After that, I'm linking to a number of helpful forums I found in case they can be more helpful than I have been. See you soon! Section "ServerLayout"
Identifier "aticonfig Layout"
Screen 0 "aticonfig-Screen[0]-0" 0 0
Screen "aticonfig-Screen[0]-1" LeftOf "aticonfig-Screen[0]-0"
EndSection
Section "Files"
EndSection
Section "Module"
EndSection
Section "ServerFlags"
Option "Xinerama" "on"
EndSection
Section "Monitor"
Identifier "aticonfig-Monitor[0]-0"
Option "VendorName" "ATI Proprietary Driver"
Option "ModelName" "Generic Autodetecting Monitor"
Option "DPMS" "true"
EndSection
Section "Monitor"
Identifier "aticonfig-Monitor[0]-1"
Option "VendorName" "ATI Proprietary Driver"
Option "ModelName" "Generic Autodetecting Monitor"
Option "DPMS" "true"
EndSection
Section "Device"
Identifier "aticonfig-Device[0]-0"
Driver "fglrx"
Option "PairModes" ""
BusID "PCI:1:5:0"
EndSection
Section "Device"
Identifier "aticonfig-Device[0]-1"
Driver "fglrx"
BusID "PCI:1:5:0"
Screen 1
EndSection
Section "Screen"
Identifier "aticonfig-Screen[0]-0"
Device "aticonfig-Device[0]-0"
Monitor "aticonfig-Monitor[0]-0"
DefaultDepth 24
SubSection "Display"
Viewport 0 0
Depth 24
EndSubSection
EndSection
Section "Screen"
Identifier "aticonfig-Screen[0]-1"
Device "aticonfig-Device[0]-1"
Monitor "aticonfig-Monitor[0]-1"
DefaultDepth 24
SubSection "Display"
Viewport 0 0
Depth 24
EndSubSection
EndSection
(See, no mention of my chosen resolutions.) Helpful links: http://wiki.cchtml.com/index.php/Configuring#Troubleshootinghttp://wiki.cchtml.com/index.php/Troubleshootinghttp://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=221174http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=301941http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?p=1773710
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This article is part of my series on exploring Linux. In my last article I experienced some of the difficulties of working with a 64-bit OS when there was no Adobe Acrobat reader available. Luckily I found Adobe's beta product that worked beautifully (and just happened to be available for Linux before Windows). I'm realizing that as I experiment with Ubuntu, I really need to print information I discover. I should setup printing before I try things like handwriting recognition with the touch screen. But I've been dreading this test. I have fairly recent printers (an HP2605dn and HP2600n) and I wonder if there will be drivers to properly support them. To complicate things, these are colour printers - one with a duplexer. They are both acting as print servers over the LAN (one wirelessly). -- see why I'm worried? Well, my fears were unfounded! This was the easiest setup I have ever done - easier than Vista even. Here's how it unfolded: - I went to System|Administration|Printing and clicked on "New".
- The system automatically scanned and found my printers (my wireless one didn't respond until the 2nd attempt however).
- Ubuntu recognized my printer and offered to go out and find drivers.
- It found drivers! It clearly stated that they were provided by HP. It gave me all sorts of details so I could have trust in the driver. It told me what features were supported and what testing had been done by Ubuntu, etc.
- It then downloaded them when I was ready, using the package manager I had encountered in the past. No visits to the printer manufacturer site! How cool is that?!
- I was given a chance to nicely identify the printer's name, location, etc. so that I could more easily work with it in the future.
- I was then able to investigate the printer properties. I was able to set default and sharing options. All very clear and pretty. I was able to setup my colour options and duplex printing preferences no problem at all.
- Then it printed!
It really could not be much easier than that! In truth, there were one or two flow issues. The screens don't hand-hold you very well when downloading the printer drivers. The progress indicator went instantly from 0% to complete. Then I was left at a screen wondering if it was finished - not realizing I needed to click a different button now. Also, the driver for the 2nd printer came in with the first, so there was no need to download it - which the system told me. But the system said I could just continue with the "next" screen but left the "next" button deactivated. It was another flow issue. I just had to cancel the download and choose to use an existing driver. I am not unhappy with the flow issue at all, and it only lost me 10 seconds or so. But I think this printer installation demonstrated a clear difference between Windows and Linux. I know Windows would never allow a flow issue like that, but there are so many other things wrong with its installation that Linux has licked. Linux provided an end-to-end installation experience (no visiting a manufacturer site). Linux communicated clearly in detail so I knew exactly what I was configuring. At the end, I had a printer published the way I wanted, performing exactly as I expected. No surprises, no mystery. I don't know if this experience can be said about all Linux printer installations, but in my case, I was impressed. Emboldened, it's time to configure my second monitor for dual-head display! (Actually, I've already started playing, Ubuntu isn't doing so well with this one...)
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This article is part of my series on exploring Linux. In my last article I had to do some fast learning to resolve some audio issues. I had to learn how to edit a config file with root credentials and find what settings would give me full sound. After that success I decided to reward myself with a little Youtube time... Well, it certainly didn't take me long to stumble into my next problem - no Flash plugin! (Youtube uses flash to play its videos). Firefox helpfully offered me a link to get the plugin. It fired up the same package manager that I had seen for the Ubuntu updates and for the media player plugins. But alas, none of the plugins offered would work. With a bit of research I learned that my problem may be caused by the fact I am playing in a 64-bit world. I had tried to get Adobe Flash, but they haven't actually released a 64-bit version yet. But then I learned some great news - Adobe was currently working on Flash 10 (a 64-bit version) and their first alpha release was for the Linux platform - it was made available only 2 weeks ago! Do I have great timing or what! The download introduced me to a tar.gz file. This is the Linux world's version of a zip or rar file. Firefox helpfully offered to open it for me with an "archive manager" which turned out to be File Roller. It's a world of new file types and applications, but the experience is basically the same. I got an interface that let me extract the files to a location or drag the files somewhere, etc. Now I was faced with a new problem. The only thing in the package was a single .so file. Nothing was helping me to work with that extension. More research revealed that this was an actual plugin file that could be found in (or should BE in) a browser's plugin folder (no installer here)... More difficulty tryng to find a valid plugin folder for my version of firefox... Then trouble trying to copy the file to the folder. I'm glad I just finished learning about Sudo so that I could overcome the security restrictions. The final command I typed into my terminal window was: sudo cp /home/gordon/Downloads/libflashplayer.so /usr/lib/firefox-3.0.5/plugins
This copied my downloaded flash plugin to Firefox's plugins folder desspite security restrictions, When I closed and restarted Firefox, I immediately went to Youtube where it offered its bounty to me. Life is glorious once again. I decided to conduct one more test... I called my 10 year old over and had her fire up her Webkinz account (a rich online world / gaming site for kids that relies heavily on flash). It worked like a charm. We are all smiling here. This little fix took me a couple of hours with all of the research factored in. Again, I don't think this is something our aging parents would succeed with, but on the plus side, our aging parents probably aren't playing in 64-bit so probably wouldn't experience this in the first place. I also like that this fix isn't possible in the Windows world yet - I give Linux the win for this round.
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This article is part of my series on exploring Linux. In my last article I was busy being impressed with how nice and easy the install went and how well everything was working. Even my 720p video sample played well - but I realized that my sound was playing at just a whisper... There was no user setting I could adjust to get my sound up to useable levels. My first Linux glitch! Time to roll up my sleeves and figure out what to do about it. My default approach to any problem is to fire up Google and find a generic expert blog out there like mine. I obviously suspected a bad interaction of Ubuntu with my sound card, but I didn't know exactly what sound card my laptop utilizes. I decided to do a search using the name of my laptop model: "Ubuntu low sound hp tx2604ca". I found nothing. Realizing my highly specific model number defines my RAM options, etc., I generalize it a bit. I had seen my model mentioned as being part of a series, so I tried: "Ubuntu low sound hp tx2600". Still nothing. But I did get results that told me how similar my tx2600 series was to the tx2500 series - you can guess my next search. Suddenly I hit paydirt. Choosing the right amount of generality can avoid either too few or too many results. I suddenly started getting all sorts of valuable results regarding my low sound problem. It seems sound problems are a remarkably common phenomenon in Linux - as evidenced by this long web page: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Gutsy_Intel_HD_Audio_ControllerIn rather short order I had the solution to my problem. This is how I fixed the sound on my laptop so my video sample would play at full volume: - Opened Applications|Accessories|Terminal
- Edited a config file by typing: sudo gedit /etc/modprobe.d/alsa-base
- Pasted to the end of the file: options snd-hda-intel index=0 model=acer
- Saved it, closed it and restarted.
- Done.
I didn't know what the options meant, but it was a remarkably simple solution - the problem was actually knowing enough to execute it. I never did find one all-encompassing clearly described solution. Instead I had to use my technical experience to piece the solution together. For instance, I had found numerous solutions that suggested modifying the alsa-base file and adding various "option" lines to it. I had to try a few options before I got it right. But before I could try a few, I had to figure out how to modify the darn file (doing it through a GUI editor was a no-go). I had to get acquainted with the Terminal window. I then had to learn that "sudo" is a pre-command you use to get full system (root) access when you need to make changes to system files. The lessons I learned were valuable and the skills will clearly be called upon regularly. Everything in Linux can basically be controlled from the terminal (command line) in an environment where security has always been of upmost concern. I'm liking this. But I think that a 'normal' user like our aging parents would never get to the final solution alone and would still be sitting with negligible sound. This could be a problem. Now that I've got sound problem licked, I think I'll go relax with some Youtube videos...
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 This article is part of my series on exploring Linux. In my last article I just finished the Ubuntu installation and was rebooting... I was faced with a multi-boot menu that contained both my new Ubuntu install and my old Vista install. After 9 seconds Ubuntu started automatically. The desktop that greeted me was not altogether foreign:  The only initial indication of something strange was seeing 2 task bars (called "panels" in this world) and no Vista logo. Otherwise things are remarkably similar. Programs I have running are shown in the bottom panel. The Ubuntu logo at the top takes me to my applications and there are also quick launch icons available - very similar to Vista! (Of course, this interface is highly customizable - and if you don't like this Gnome environment, you can swap it out for some other one like KDE.)  I also found a very useful set of icons on the far right:  I like that the power on/off icon is out and easily available. It offers the usual options I've come to expect from a Vista laptop like: Logout, Suspend, Hibernate, Restart, Shutdown - plus a few more I'll have to try. I quickly spotted the bar graph that would indicate WiFi networking. I was met by a very user-friendly interface that allowed me to quickly find my home network and enter my security information. I immediately launched Firefox that came pre-installed and was on the internet - uber cool! (I'm actually posting this article from Ubuntu as I type.) Next was the bluetooth icon. Another simple experience. In two steps I had my Logitech bluetooth keyboard and mouse connected and working. All the buttons and wheels on my mouse are working as they should. This was a sore point for me a few years ago when I tried to use these same peripherals under Windows XP. I wasn't able to use a generic bluetooth receiver, but had to stick with the Logitech version that had other limitations. No limitations now! I don't know if this is a credit to Ubuntu or HP's bluetooth receiver. Things are going way too smoothly... I wonder what that scary looking red arrow with the exclamation point is all about... It turns out that icon is notifying me of system updates. Now that I am on the network I have 189 waiting for me! Another nice interface listing the details of each update and giving me the option to install each one or not. Let's give this a shot... ... I'm back - after 5 hours! Talk about slow data transfer. They must have a lot of people hitting their servers (there does appear to be a way to stage downloads locally for enterprises though). Interesting thing - no automatic reboot of the system. I'm liking this already! I had heard that Linux can upgrade and restart many of its services on the fly. My only indication that something had happened was a request to reauthenticate to my wifi network - obviously the network services had to be restarted. Also, the red arrow icon had now become a refresh icon that was indicating I should restart the system when it was convenient for me. [As a side note, I have noticed that in the past week there have been about 5-10 new patches every day!.) I've been quite impressed that my basic laptop hardware, wifi and bluetooth devices have all functioned perfectly. Very impressive. I have yet to get to the web cam or fingerprint scanner however. I have noticed that my touch screen and Wacom tablet functions elicit no reaction. I will have to look into this. Remember that video sample that was unwatchable in Vista? Let's see how Ubuntu handles that. But first I needed to retrieve the video from a share on my other system. As with Windows, I was able to browse to Network Places, and then find my workgroup, server and shares. It was just as easy as being in windows - maybe easier in fact, because it also displayed the hidden shares on my server. Back to the video test - here are the video's details: - resolution: 1280 x 720
- codec: H264 (mkv file)
- framerate: 24fps
- audio: AC-3, 5.1 surround
I decided to try the preinstalled Movie Player. It claimed to need some new plugins and used the same mechanism as the system updates to get them. After 10 minutes or so (slow updates!) it was ready to play. Wow! Smooth video! Not like the Vista experience at all. But the system is working hard - I notice the occasional frame drop if I have other applications running in the background. But Ubuntu is clearly superior to Vista in this test. -- But hold on a sec! Why is my audio so quiet in the video? Why can't I turn it up past a whisper? hmmm... this bears some investigation...
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As mentioned in my last article My Linux adventure begins..., I am embarking on a Linux adventure. Before I can step through the looking glass I must choose from one of the dozens (hundreds?) of Linux variants available. Choosing a flavour of the Linux operating system is tough when you know almost nothing about the OS. I figure I'd stick with the most popular in the hopes it will have the best features and driver support. Two good choices appear to be OpenSUSE and Ubuntu. I expect to ultimately use an enterprise version of SUSE since I am an enterprise type guy, but I don't feel that would be appropriate at this stage. OpenSUSE is the basis for Novell's Enterprise SUSE and looks very impressive as a personal OS, but I'll take a pass on it as well. I'm going to give Ubuntu a try. My main reasoning is that I have seen Ubuntu in the press a lot lately and it seems very popular. I'm hoping that it's popularity will translate into support for all the hardware I plan to throw at it. It would also be nice to be familiar with an additional Linux distro if I am to eventually end up in a SUSE flavour Linux. So off I go to the Ubuntu site to get a FREE operating system... The current version available is 8.10 released October 27, 2008. This does indeed look promising - look at this feature!: 3G Support
For constant connectivity public WiFi has limitations. Improvements to the network manager in Ubuntu 8.10 makes it simple to detect and connect to 3G networks and manage connectivity. This connectivity is delivered through an inbuilt 3G modem, through 'dongle' support, through a mobile phone or through Bluetooth. It is a complex environment that Ubuntu 8.10 simplifies through a single interface and the auto-detection of many of the most popular devices.
There's my Wifi and Bluetooth mentioned in one spot! I'll have to borrow an iPhone to see how the 3G works out... I chose to download the 64-bit Desktop version. It's a CD ISO image only 699 MB in size! The download page offered all these resources: - Get help:
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- Join the Ubuntu community, there are many ways to get involved.
I'm feeling welcome so far - let's hope this positive energy stays with me :-) I quickly found a document aimed at me: Switching from Windows. A good read. But it is scaring me slightly. I looked at the Dual Booting Windows and Linux section where is talks about how to partition my drive. I don't like that it threatens me with the statement: After finalizing the installation, however, the hard disk will be re-partitioned and all existing data stored on it will be lost. That is a rather blanket statement! I hope to keep my Vista partition and my HP recovery partition for the moment. I'm assuming that statement was overly generalized and that it will in fact only blow away partitions that must be modified in some way (when it makes the Windows partition smaller or something). I retreat. I decide to use a new Windows Vista feature to shrink my Vista partition without losing data - making room for Linux (before Linux touches it). Vista makes this very easy. Under Computer Management | Disk Management I was able to right-click on my primary partition and select Shrink Volume.... From there I was able to reclaim 100GB for my Linux project. Hopefully now Linux will let me keep my "data". Booting Ubuntu was quick and easy. Within 2 seconds I was presented with a colourful logo and great choices. I chose to install Ubuntu rather than just use it as a "Live" CD. I experienced a long period with a black screen as errors like this flowed past: Buffer I/O error on device sr0, sector ...
end_request: I/O error, dev sr0 ... As a normal Windows user, I might have been worried seeing all these "errors" because I am normally isolated from the underlying system. But I remember that Linux users like a verbose world and the systems always seem to spout messages. Linux doesn't just stay silent until it can tell me I have a critical problem, it knows "too much information" can be great when trying to diagnose issues. Eventually the graphic interface appears and starts asking me questions. I am impressed by all the supported languages and keyboards. I like selecting my timezone by choosing a nearby city from an animated map - very cool. The partitioning interface was interesting. It was clear and quite usable but a bit cryptic for a Linux neophyte - so many choices! I felt somewhat better when finalizing my partition choices. The installer tells me: WARNING: This will destroy all data on any partitions you have removed as well as on the partitions that are going to be formatted.
It then proceeds to identify exactly which partitions are going to be formatted. Much better messages than the one I saw earlier in the documentation. I'm not worried at all now. I think it might actually have been able to shrink my Vista partition for me without damaging anything. I'll save that test for another day though. Eventually the install completed and had me reboot. Looks good! I have a multi-boot menu and can see Vista there. Stepping through the mirror into Ubuntu Linux land!...
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( Vista Vitals articles organized by topic) These articles cover anything related to Linux: My Linux adventure begins... - Here I explain what I am up to - exploring Linux. I describe the computer I am using and my goals.
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