72 replies to this topic

[chaos angel]

I'm downloading Ubuntu, and I've never used linux. Can you recommend useful and easy-to-understand manuals or tutorials for getting started? I'm gonna use it mostly for home desktop usage, not very much hacking. Can I run Windows programs on it?

I want to dual boot windows and linux on a hdd. I've got my regular 240 gig one, and an old 20 gig. I want to install it on the 20 gig. What do I need to know about dual booting and setting it up? What file system does te 20 gig need for Ubuntu to run on it? Also, I don't know anything about boot loaders. I have wi-fi, is that going to change how I configure my internet connection on Ubuntu?

[SiDaFaLiCKNo]

The ubuntu forums have alot of information, The ubuntu install is pretty simple, Everything is pretty and it explains what your doing through the process.

[Drake Anubis]

Google is your best friend when it comes to linux, like if you want to play mp3 just google "ubuntu play mp3" and your bound to find instructions. Also try here: https://help.ubuntu....de/C/index.html

Keep in mind ubuntu 7.10 is coming out in june and its fantastic.

[matt]

He first needs to install it on his 20 gig hard drive.

Anyone with experience have any tips for him? Such as: How to work the bootloader (or if it does it for him) or what filesystem to use.

I remember installing Fedora Core 4 and I tried using NTFS at first, then when it didnt work I tried FAT 32 when really I needed ext2 or ext3.

Anyone know what he needs to do? I havent done anything with linux in a long long time and I'm also thinking about Ubuntu.

[Octal]

http://www.amazon.co...l/dp/1590596277
^For stricly Ubuntu
http://www.amazon.co...e...9500&sr=8-1
^For the linux kernel
http://www.amazon.co...D...9526&sr=1-1
^Good info about the shell

[LUCKY_FUCKIN_CHARMS]

ok it dosnt look like anyone is gonna give you a straightforward answer so i'll try to be of some help. first of all before you create a seperate partition for ubuntu you should defragment your ntfs partition in windows so that youll have nice continous blocks of free space to install linux. second, you need to burn the .iso that you downaded onto a cd, "imgburn" is probably gonna be the
easiest program to do this with. now after youve done that, then you need to restart your computer and change your bios settings so that your computer will boot from the cd/dvd drive, after that you can restart your computer with the disk in the drive and it will automatically bring up an ubuntu menu with options to choose from. you can pick start/intall ubuntu and youre off. once ubuntu starts up you can use Gparted (a partitioning tool) to create a partiton for ubuntu. youll need to make a root partition and a swap partition. after that its pretty much downhill. and you should still be able to use your wireless internet in ubuntu just fine.

[matt]

For a very nice looking 3D Visual environment, try XGL(wiki) and Beryl(wiki). This tutorial will get you started with that.

Also, if you want to run Windows programs, you can use WINE(wiki) for most stuff. This is useful for games and what not.

I think you can use VMWare(wiki) as well and install Windows XP or Vista, or OSX86(wiki) if you want, and run that in a virtual environment, where you'd be able to play whatever game you want. (If your system can handle all that stress)

[chaos angel]

When the new Ubuntu comes out, will I be given the option to upgrade to 7.10 (or whatever the new version number is) within the os, or will I have to wipe and reinstall with the newer version? Also, while looking up windows program compatability (WoW, specifically) it went into detail about installing it inside Ubuntu. Will I be able to use Ubuntu on my 20 gig hdd to access all of my windows files on my 240 gig hdd? Will it be a basic Ubuntu feature, or will I need a specialized program? Or, am I going to need to install WoW on that hdd with Ubuntu like the page was saying?

[WhatChout]

When the new Ubuntu comes out, will I be given the option to upgrade to 7.10 (or whatever the new version number is) within the os, or will I have to wipe and reinstall with the newer version? Also, while looking up windows program compatability (WoW, specifically) it went into detail about installing it inside Ubuntu. Will I be able to use Ubuntu on my 20 gig hdd to access all of my windows files on my 240 gig hdd? Will it be a basic Ubuntu feature, or will I need a specialized program? Or, am I going to need to install WoW on that hdd with Ubuntu like the page was saying?

1. Of course you'll be able to upgrade to 7.10 without reformatting.
2. The ability to access your files on Windows partition fully depends on the partition type.
3. If the page says so - it probably is so.

[arewhyainn]

ok it dosnt look like anyone is gonna give you a straightforward answer so i'll try to be of some help. first of all before you create a seperate partition for ubuntu you should defragment your ntfs partition in windows so that youll have nice continous blocks of free space to install linux. second, you need to burn the .iso that you downaded onto a cd, "imgburn" is probably gonna be the
easiest program to do this with. now after youve done that, then you need to restart your computer and change your bios settings so that your computer will boot from the cd/dvd drive, after that you can restart your computer with the disk in the drive and it will automatically bring up an ubuntu menu with options to choose from. you can pick start/intall ubuntu and youre off. once ubuntu starts up you can use Gparted (a partitioning tool) to create a partiton for ubuntu. youll need to make a root partition and a swap partition. after that its pretty much downhill. and you should still be able to use your wireless internet in ubuntu just fine.

defragmenting when out with the windows 98 box, no need to anymore.

[chaos angel]

Is Gparted a tool within the Ubuntu installation, or an external program? Also, what are root and swap partitions? (I've never partitioned before, so I figured that a partition was a just partition)

[BigBrother]

Gparted is both

Ok the root partition is the primary place where the operating system in installed. Now what cool about linux is you can have seperate partitions for the root and home directories. What that means is say you have an account named "User001" well you screwed something up on that account somehow. Well because it's on a seperate partition than your Root partition you can still have the main OS going, log in as root and either
1) Fix the problem
or
2) make a new user, remove the old.


Now the swap partition, if your familiar with page files on windows. It's the same thing.

EDIT: Also here is a link for you
http://www.ubuntugee...eisty-fawn.html
Upgrading from 6.10 Edgy EFT to Feisty 7.04.
I'm on 7.04 right now and love it.
http://la.gg/upl/Screenshot_33.png I've got desktop effects and the Avant Window Manager (Google's linux only dock)

Edited by BigBrother, 08 April 2007 - 05:12 PM.

[LUCKY_FUCKIN_CHARMS]

ok it dosnt look like anyone is gonna give you a straightforward answer so i'll try to be of some help. first of all before you create a seperate partition for ubuntu you should defragment your ntfs partition in windows so that youll have nice continous blocks of free space to install linux. second, you need to burn the .iso that you downaded onto a cd, "imgburn" is probably gonna be the
easiest program to do this with. now after youve done that, then you need to restart your computer and change your bios settings so that your computer will boot from the cd/dvd drive, after that you can restart your computer with the disk in the drive and it will automatically bring up an ubuntu menu with options to choose from. you can pick start/intall ubuntu and youre off. once ubuntu starts up you can use Gparted (a partitioning tool) to create a partiton for ubuntu. youll need to make a root partition and a swap partition. after that its pretty much downhill. and you should still be able to use your wireless internet in ubuntu just fine.

defragmenting when out with the windows 98 box, no need to anymore.

ah yes well you know, old habits die hard.

[arewhyainn]

ok it dosnt look like anyone is gonna give you a straightforward answer so i'll try to be of some help. first of all before you create a seperate partition for ubuntu you should defragment your ntfs partition in windows so that youll have nice continous blocks of free space to install linux. second, you need to burn the .iso that you downaded onto a cd, "imgburn" is probably gonna be the
easiest program to do this with. now after youve done that, then you need to restart your computer and change your bios settings so that your computer will boot from the cd/dvd drive, after that you can restart your computer with the disk in the drive and it will automatically bring up an ubuntu menu with options to choose from. you can pick start/intall ubuntu and youre off. once ubuntu starts up you can use Gparted (a partitioning tool) to create a partiton for ubuntu. youll need to make a root partition and a swap partition. after that its pretty much downhill. and you should still be able to use your wireless internet in ubuntu just fine.

defragmenting when out with the windows 98 box, no need to anymore.

ah yes well you know, old habits die hard.

Maybe it's just me but I learned quick not to waste time.

[Drake Anubis]

defragmenting when out with the windows 98 box, no need to anymore.

Some things still need defraging, I had to defrag my TI-89 a couple times. [Thats not a joke by the way, it kept forcing me].

[arewhyainn]

defragmenting when out with the windows 98 box, no need to anymore.

Some things still need defraging, I had to defrag my TI-89 a couple times. [Thats not a joke by the way, it kept forcing me].

like it went out when 98 did, a slide rule would be better then that.

[matt]

How big does each partition need to be? Half and half?

[BigBrother]

Well how much RAM does he have?
If he's putting it on the 20 gig HDD what I would do is make a swap partition at least half as big as his RAM, then allocate the rest to EXT3 for his root. It's going to be a single user computer I am assuming so a separate partition for Home wouldn't be needed.

EDIT: I forgot to add
For GRUB he'll need to make a seperate partition called /boot
http://video.google....490811311898236
Check that link for a more indepth HOW TO for dual boot windows and Linux.

Edited by BigBrother, 08 April 2007 - 07:08 PM.

[LUCKY_FUCKIN_CHARMS]

yea i wouldnt go smaller than 256mb for his swap.

[matt]

I just tried installing Ubuntu, but when I stuck the CD in and rebooted it started to do some stuff, then it stopped and had an error.
I read the error report and it said "No Screen Detected"
I may be having a problem with my graphics card, I have the newest NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GTS (the one with 768MB of memory)
What can I do?