Linux - Page 4

Ivor the Engineer · 7th April 2011, 02:16 AM

Originally Posted by Mister Earl

Where? I'm never given the option to do that. I get to no GUI, and after selecting ubuntu to load, it runs a bunch of command line stuff, then goes directly to the permanent black screen.

There's usually an option somewhere to press keys before the boot process starts and alter the command line. I've not used wubi, so perhaps someone else here could provide info on how to access it.

Mister Earl · 7th April 2011, 02:27 AM

Ok, I did find a place to alter the command line. I just removed quiet splash, and didn't add nomodeset. Trying that now. Be right back.

Mister Earl · 7th April 2011, 02:39 AM

Good and bad progress made. I go nomodeset to work. The installation progresses up to the point where it looks for the disc I don't have. (Makes sense, I was using Daemon tools to mount the ISO and ran it that way. In windows)

So from here I think I need to get my disc drive working, then burn a disc, then take it from there.

Mister Earl · 7th April 2011, 02:55 AM

ARGH. And [expletive deleted] if I can even upload my drivers anymore. Dell's stupid page makes me use a dell driver download manager thing, and even after selecting what I drivers I need the bloody thing doesn't work!

*facedesk*

Mister Earl · 7th April 2011, 05:05 AM

Ok, patience is gone. I've whipped out the old factory-reset disc and used that with an external drive. I'm in the midst of completely reloading everything. Once that is done, my drive should work like it always has, and then I can try Ubuntu again.

Captain_Snort · 7th April 2011, 05:30 AM

And that is why I never buy Dell.

tuoni · 7th April 2011, 08:59 AM

Originally Posted by Mister Earl

Excellent! Think weekend I'm going to give it a shot. Which flavor of Linux do you recommend using PlayOnLinux on? I've got a pretty high-end Alienware laptop it's going to be going on. I'm worried about drivers and such, but I'm pretty sure while it might be bumpy, it won't be impossible.

Oh, and thank you!

You can run PoL on any flavour you wish, so long as it runs python! I would say probably avoid back|track, it's a custom distro based on ubuntu specifically for pentesting/security auditing etc, I ended up with it as a full-time OS because my hard-drive went pop and literally all of my other CDs are hundreds of miles away, it's not really intended to be used as I'm using it. Other than that, I haven't really used any other Linux distros in the past 5+ years (Solaris and NetBSD for me!) so I can't really help you there.

As others have said, your bet bet is the proprietary NVidia drivers which you can obtain from their driver page and install (drop to terminal, "sudo run NVidi*.sh" in the folder you downloaded it to should do the trick) - it should handle all of the adjusting of config files for X for you - type "startx" and you should be presented with an NVidia logo and then asked to logon or whatever.

Good luck on your happy adventures with beating your machine until it decides it wants to play nice.

The Norseman · 7th April 2011, 09:05 AM

Originally Posted by Alan

I remember it did have NVIDIA in its name but I don't know a lot about drivers or video cards.

I searched online and I heard that Optimus causes problems and they aren't supporting linux.

There are 64 bit drivers for that card too. Since I found the card specifically listed as being supported by NVidia (they make and distribute the drivers for Windows and Linux), I'm a bit confused about what you may be seeing as "not supporting Linux". It might be that there are certain features that may be supported under Windows that the card can perform that they didn't bother to code for the Linux drivers, I guess, though I don't honestly know enough about the particulars of video cards to even do more than speculate.

As commandlinegamer said about the Neuveau drivers -- they are the open-source drivers I was saying normally work on boot but don't support all the fancy bells and whistles that the proprietary NVidia drivers do.

And I have personally had some grief over the Neuveau and NVidia drivers and trying to install one over the other. I had to specifically write down the commands after many hours of searching. I can post what I found to work, but it is aimed at a Debian or Debian-based distro. I know that Ubuntu is based on Debian, though there are a few minor commandline changes which I can figure out for you if you'd like.

Mister Earl · 7th April 2011, 11:43 AM

Computer's playing nice now. Or nicer anyway. Luckily these things come with a little DvD that resets everything to right-out-of-the-box. It's a slightly older version of windows, but I can worry about that later. I should have Ubuntu installed before I even go to work this afternoon.

#EDIT: All right. I'm in Ubuntu now. Not gonna have time to muck around in it... time to go to work =\

#EDIT2: Ok. Tonight I might just make Ubuntu the main OS now that I know I can get it running with little difficulty. I can get to the GUI, I've familiarized myself with it quite a bit. Then I just need to figure out how to install hardware and drivers and the like. I've got a monitor plugged into the laptop that Ubuntu didn't seem to see, so I'll have to sort that out as well. Considering I just did a full whack/reload, I might as well go full Ubuntu as I won't lose anything. If I'm going to learn a full system, I may as well go full immersion with it!

Tsukasa Buddha · 7th April 2011, 01:09 PM

Hm, trying to install Ubuntu on a laptop and the CDs keep booting to the error:
GLib-WARNING **: getpwuid_r(): failed due to unknown user id (0)

The odd thing is that I used the same CD to install on that same computer in the past.

Mister Earl · 7th April 2011, 02:31 PM

I've no idea, unfortunately, Tsukasa.

Bram Kaandorp · 7th April 2011, 03:10 PM

Originally Posted by Mister Earl

Computer's playing nice now. Or nicer anyway. Luckily these things come with a little DvD that resets everything to right-out-of-the-box. It's a slightly older version of windows, but I can worry about that later. I should have Ubuntu installed before I even go to work this afternoon.

#EDIT: All right. I'm in Ubuntu now. Not gonna have time to muck around in it... time to go to work =\

#EDIT2: Ok. Tonight I might just make Ubuntu the main OS now that I know I can get it running with little difficulty. I can get to the GUI, I've familiarized myself with it quite a bit. Then I just need to figure out how to install hardware and drivers and the like. I've got a monitor plugged into the laptop that Ubuntu didn't seem to see, so I'll have to sort that out as well. Considering I just did a full whack/reload, I might as well go full Ubuntu as I won't lose anything. If I'm going to learn a full system, I may as well go full immersion with it!

That's also sort of how I got into it. I tried Ubuntu as a dual boot, but after trying to remove Ubuntu from the disk because I didn't like it enough, I found out (and I think many people will know what comes next) that I couldn't access Windows any more. All I got was a GRUB error. After failing to find a way to mend it (I was using illegal Windows XP at the time, so no hope of recovering), I used a tiny laptop for a while.

After a considerable time of using the laptop, I made the bold move of completely removing Windows, and installing Ubuntu instead. it was probably not the best experience of Linux, since not all the hardware was fully supported (I used a 5/4 screen ratio in stead of the standard 4/3 for some time, because the highest resolution was in 5/4), but really, immersing myself in Ubuntu gave me a sense of freedom and adventure (I was venturing into an area nobody I knew at the time had really gone), it also brought with it the same feeling I had when I first learned to ride a bicycle, the feeling that at any moment, any action can cause you to crash. The feeling is justified though, that is, until you get to know what certain parts of certain commands mean, and where certain settings for programs are stored. Also, getting a god sense of how synaptic package manager works helped a lot.

To me, it was very much like exploring an unknown piece of land, on a different planet, in a different reality; some of the rules you know apply, but you need to learn a heck of a lot more to get along.

Cheers

Alan · 7th April 2011, 03:17 PM

I had a similar situation. I installed Ubuntu alongside Windows 7, decided I didn't like Ubuntu and decided to get rid of it. But the recovery disc I set up before installing Ubuntu didn't work and I had a system without a working OS.

My Windows 7 disc was one of those ones where you upgrade from XP or Vista, so it wouldn't be of assistance. And I don't think I had it with me at the time and still don't.

So I installed the disc I did have: Ubuntu.

And I came to like it a lot, and I tried out a very wide variety of distros and listen to a lot of podcasts and read blogs.

Mister Earl · 7th April 2011, 03:40 PM

I'm not too worried if it takes me a long time to get everything working, either. I've got the feeling Minecraft won't be difficult to get running. That can keep me sane until I've figured out everything else.

Captain_Snort · 7th April 2011, 03:50 PM

Originally Posted by Bram Kaandorp

All I got was a GRUB error. After failing to find a way to mend it (

fdisk /mbr (freedos disc)

dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/sda1 bs=512 count=1 (linux)

Alan · 7th April 2011, 04:04 PM

Originally Posted by Mister Earl

I'm not too worried if it takes me a long time to get everything working, either. I've got the feeling Minecraft won't be difficult to get running. That can keep me sane until I've figured out everything else.

Yes, it's very easy. You just download the linux file from the website, then you right click on it, choose Properties, choose Permissions, click to open as executable, click on the tab about what you open with and pick the java one.

Double clicking on the minecraft.jar file will open it.

That's going from memory...

Mister Earl · 7th April 2011, 04:21 PM

How about getting it to see the monitor plugged in? I'm googling around and reading what I can in preparation for tonight, but no luck so far.

psionl0 · 7th April 2011, 11:49 PM

Originally Posted by Ivor the Engineer

I've started this process this week. I say 'process' because I've never had a Linux install go smoothly. This one was no different.

I'm installing Ubuntu 10.10 on a VIA Epia M10000 ITX motherboard (iirc, circa 2006) with 1GB RAM, 80GB+100GB HDs, on-board graphics (CLE266) and wired internet access.

Why not use slackware? The installation process might not be as basic as some of the other versions (at least until you run into problems with the other versions) but it is simple enough if you have a decent installation guide (eg: http://genek.net/LinuxAdventures/sys...allation1.html).

I have installed slackware on several different machines and been 100% successful every time.

Mister Earl · 8th April 2011, 12:14 AM

Well. Tonight I tried to install straight Ubuntu. A dismal failure, I'm afraid. Several times it wouldn't let me continue the installation. Finally I turned off downloading updates during installation, and the proprietary optional software. It installed then, but booting immediately brought up a disaster recovery prompt. So, back to windows 7 for the time being. When I've got more time and patience I'll give it another go.

Lord Emsworth · 8th April 2011, 03:07 AM

Originally Posted by Mister Earl

Well. Tonight I tried to install straight Ubuntu. A dismal failure, I'm afraid. Several times it wouldn't let me continue the installation. Finally I turned off downloading updates during installation, and the proprietary optional software. It installed then, but booting immediately brought up a disaster recovery prompt. So, back to windows 7 for the time being. When I've got more time and patience I'll give it another go.

I am sorry to hear that the install doesn't just work very well and gives you such headaches. Although, you don't actually have to use Ubuntu, and maybe you have more luck with something else. There are other good and easy distros such as openSUSE or Mint or ...

Mister Earl · 13th April 2011, 06:19 AM

Might give it another shot. Having trouble now with even a fresh install of win 7. After running windows update, it kills my fps for even the simplest 3D games, which is ludicrous. I've got dual Geforce 280Ms in SLI mode on a system with 8GB of 1333mhz RAM. I should be getting more than 60fps, yet it'll drop to 7. I've pretty much had it with windows.

I can't even get the bloody service pack to install! It fails every [expletive deleted] time! And then I gotta go to the microsoft site to download some tool or another that's supposed to fix the problem. I run the tool and it hangs and never does anything.

Mister Earl · 13th April 2011, 07:39 AM

Ok, installed Ubuntu again. It went completely this time, but when it boots, I get a "grub rescue" prompt. Anyone have any ideas?

Captain_Snort · 13th April 2011, 07:47 AM

Did you partition the drive? and where did you install Ubuntu and where did you install GRUB?

Mister Earl · 13th April 2011, 07:54 AM

Fresh install, drive partitioned. Installed Ubuntu on my main hard disk (two SSD drives run in a raid as one drive). Not sure about grub, just ran the live CD and told it to install as the primary OS.

(Edit: I'm posting after booting again from the live CD under run ubuntu without install, so I can get to the net to figure this out)

Mister Earl · 13th April 2011, 08:02 AM

Ok... managed to get to a command line and familiarized myself with basic folder movement. It seems my hard disk is under /media/(long alphanumeric string/. There's a dev folder, but no sda folder.

Captain_Snort · 13th April 2011, 08:04 AM

Hold on, you are playing games and have SSD drives in a RAID setup?

Mister Earl · 13th April 2011, 08:06 AM

I'm not even to that point yet, Captain. Yes, SSD drives, intend on playing games, but cannot yet get a fresh ubuntu install to boot. I'm working off the live CD at the moment. When trying to boot, it takes me right to that recovery prompt. From what I can dig up on the 'net, grub didn't install. Or I think so.

Mister Earl · 13th April 2011, 08:16 AM

Little subnote: Tried to download and install the linux graphics drivers. Got .run files, but can't seem to use them.

tuoni · 13th April 2011, 08:19 AM

Originally Posted by Mister Earl

When trying to boot, it takes me right to that recovery prompt. From what I can dig up on the 'net, grub didn't install. Or I think so.

grub-install from your Live-CD should do the trick.

And to install the drivers, drop out of X, navigate to the folder you downloaded to (~, most likely) and type

sudo sh NV*.run

That should do the installation for you.

Mister Earl · 13th April 2011, 08:21 AM

Awesome! trying now

#EDIT: Hrm. It's saying I need to specify a location. Not sure where to put it.

tuoni · 13th April 2011, 08:22 AM

Originally Posted by Mister Earl

I'm not even to that point yet, Captain. Yes, SSD drives, intend on playing games, but cannot yet get a fresh ubuntu install to boot. I'm working off the live CD at the moment. When trying to boot, it takes me right to that recovery prompt. From what I can dig up on the 'net, grub didn't install. Or I think so.

Give this a go:

How to Restore the Grub Menu after a Re-Ghosting:

1. Boot from a Live CD, like Ubuntu Live, Knoppix, Mepis, or similar.

2. Open a Terminal. Go SuperUser (that is, type "su"). Enter root passwords as necessary.

3. Type "grub" which makes a GRUB prompt appear.

4. Type "find /boot/grub/stage1". You'll get a response like "(hd0)" or in my case "(hd0,3)". Use whatever your computer spits out for the following lines.

5. Type "root (hd0,3)".

6. Type "setup (hd0,3)". This is key. Other instructions say to use "(hd0)", and that's fine if you want to write GRUB to the MBR. If you want to write it to your linux root partition, then you want the number after the comma, such as "(hd0,3)".

7. Type "quit".

8. Restart the system. Remove the bootable CD.

(taken from HERE)

Mister Earl · 13th April 2011, 08:25 AM

no idea what the su pass might be. Tried the pass from my original ubuntu install, didn't work. Also tried both Ubuntu and ubuntu. Didn't work either.

tuoni · 13th April 2011, 08:28 AM

Originally Posted by Mister Earl

no idea what the su pass might be. Tried the pass from my original ubuntu install, didn't work. Also tried both Ubuntu and ubuntu. Didn't work either.

use "sudo grub" instead

Lord Emsworth · 13th April 2011, 08:30 AM

Originally Posted by Mister Earl

Little subnote: Tried to download and install the linux graphics drivers. Got .run files, but can't seem to use them.

You need to have a bunch of tools and "materials" installed. On the tools side there are 'make' and 'gcc' etc and on the "materials" side there are things like kernel-sources.

Next thing is that you probably need to disable the 'nouveau' opensource driver.

(What you precisely need to have installed, and how precisely - if at needed at all - blacklisting of nouveau works on Ubuntu, I don't know. I could point you to some handy articles for openSUSE though.)

And when that is done, simply navigate to the folder that contains the NVIDIA drivers and type: 'sh NV' and then hit TAB to autocomplete and enter to execute.

Mister Earl · 13th April 2011, 08:33 AM

It's telling me grub isn't found.

#EDIT: Ok, navigating around, I found media/(long alphanumeric string)/boot/grub. Sudo grub in there gives me the same error.

tuoni · 13th April 2011, 08:40 AM

Originally Posted by Mister Earl

It's telling me grub isn't found.

"mount" will show you where your (mounted) HDD is located as a device and then

sudo grub-install <device path>

will install it to the MBR of that drive.

Mister Earl · 13th April 2011, 08:41 AM

Mount gives me this:

ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ mount
aufs on / type aufs (rw)
none on /proc type proc (rw,noexec,nosuid,nodev)
none on /sys type sysfs (rw,noexec,nosuid,nodev)
fusectl on /sys/fs/fuse/connections type fusectl (rw)
none on /dev type devtmpfs (rw,mode=0755)
none on /dev/pts type devpts (rw,noexec,nosuid,gid=5,mode=0620)
/dev/sr1 on /cdrom type iso9660 (ro,noatime)
/dev/loop0 on /rofs type squashfs (ro,noatime)
none on /sys/kernel/debug type debugfs (rw)
none on /sys/kernel/security type securityfs (rw)
none on /dev/shm type tmpfs (rw,nosuid,nodev)
tmpfs on /tmp type tmpfs (rw,nosuid,nodev)
none on /var/run type tmpfs (rw,nosuid,mode=0755)
none on /var/lock type tmpfs (rw,noexec,nosuid,nodev)
binfmt_misc on /proc/sys/fs/binfmt_misc type binfmt_misc (rw,noexec,nosuid,nodev)
gvfs-fuse-daemon on /home/ubuntu/.gvfs type fuse.gvfs-fuse-daemon (rw,nosuid,nodev,user=ubuntu)
/dev/mapper/nvidia_aiachche1 on /media/9ce176d0-f6e5-4bd7-ab8b-aeda57a9228e type ext4 (rw,nosuid,nodev,uhelper=udisks)

Information overload heh. Thanks for the help, guys. I really do appreciate it. Sorry to be such a bother!

Mister Earl · 13th April 2011, 08:42 AM

So I'm guessing sudo grub-install /media/9ce176d0-f6e5-4bd7-ab8b-aeda57a9228e.

#EDIT: Which gives me this:
ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ sudo grub-install /media/9ce176d0-f6e5-4bd7-ab8b-aeda57a9228e
/usr/sbin/grub-probe: error: cannot find a device for /boot/grub (is /dev mounted?).

tuoni · 13th April 2011, 08:48 AM

Originally Posted by Mister Earl

So I'm guessing sudo grub-install /media/9ce176d0-f6e5-4bd7-ab8b-aeda57a9228e.

#EDIT: Which gives me this:
ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ sudo grub-install /media/9ce176d0-f6e5-4bd7-ab8b-aeda57a9228e
/usr/sbin/grub-probe: error: cannot find a device for /boot/grub (is /dev mounted?).

grub-install /dev/mapper/nvidia_aiachche1

(/dev/mapper/nvidia_aiachche1 would be your RAID setup)

Mister Earl · 13th April 2011, 08:50 AM

Crud. I think I'm gonna need to divine what the su password is supposed to be. Got this error:

ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ grub-install /dev/mapper/nvidia_aiachche1
rm: cannot remove `/boot/grub/915resolution.mod': Permission denied

#EDIT: Ok, managed to change the pass and login as root. Still got an error...
root@ubuntu:~# grub-install /dev/mapper/nvidia_aiachche1
/usr/sbin/grub-probe: error: cannot find a device for /boot/grub (is /dev mounted?).

7th April 2011, 02:16 AM	#121
Ivor the Engineer Philosopher Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: South Britain, near the middle Posts: 9,553	Originally Posted by Mister Earl Where? I'm never given the option to do that. I get to no GUI, and after selecting ubuntu to load, it runs a bunch of command line stuff, then goes directly to the permanent black screen. There's usually an option somewhere to press keys before the boot process starts and alter the command line. I've not used wubi, so perhaps someone else here could provide info on how to access it.
	__________________ My Blog.

7th April 2011, 05:30 AM	#126
Captain_Snort Muse Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: Scotland Posts: 664	And that is why I never buy Dell.
	__________________ UKLS - 1984-2003, 2007- Girl 6: Besides, it's like he's an absentee landowner... And, I hate slumlords... ;-)

7th April 2011, 08:59 AM	#127
tuoni Thinker Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: England Posts: 228	Originally Posted by Mister Earl Excellent! Think weekend I'm going to give it a shot. Which flavor of Linux do you recommend using PlayOnLinux on? I've got a pretty high-end Alienware laptop it's going to be going on. I'm worried about drivers and such, but I'm pretty sure while it might be bumpy, it won't be impossible. Oh, and thank you! You can run PoL on any flavour you wish, so long as it runs python! I would say probably avoid back\|track, it's a custom distro based on ubuntu specifically for pentesting/security auditing etc, I ended up with it as a full-time OS because my hard-drive went pop and literally all of my other CDs are hundreds of miles away, it's not really intended to be used as I'm using it. Other than that, I haven't really used any other Linux distros in the past 5+ years (Solaris and NetBSD for me!) so I can't really help you there. As others have said, your bet bet is the proprietary NVidia drivers which you can obtain from their driver page and install (drop to terminal, "sudo run NVidi*.sh" in the folder you downloaded it to should do the trick) - it should handle all of the adjusting of config files for X for you - type "startx" and you should be presented with an NVidia logo and then asked to logon or whatever. Good luck on your happy adventures with beating your machine until it decides it wants to play nice.
	__________________ -----BEGIN GEEK CODE BLOCK----- Version: 3.1 GCS d-(++)? s: a-- C++++$ UL++++ P L-(+++) E- W+++$ !N !o K++ w+++$ !O !M-- !V-- PS+ PE++ Y++>$ PGP+++ t- 5- X++ R* tv- b++ DI++ D++ G+ e++ h++(-) r y+ ------END GEEK CODE BLOCK------

7th April 2011, 09:05 AM	#128
The Norseman I Void Warranties Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: The Treasure Valley Posts: 3,236	Originally Posted by Alan I remember it did have NVIDIA in its name but I don't know a lot about drivers or video cards. I searched online and I heard that Optimus causes problems and they aren't supporting linux. There are 64 bit drivers for that card too. Since I found the card specifically listed as being supported by NVidia (they make and distribute the drivers for Windows and Linux), I'm a bit confused about what you may be seeing as "not supporting Linux". It might be that there are certain features that may be supported under Windows that the card can perform that they didn't bother to code for the Linux drivers, I guess, though I don't honestly know enough about the particulars of video cards to even do more than speculate. As commandlinegamer said about the Neuveau drivers -- they are the open-source drivers I was saying normally work on boot but don't support all the fancy bells and whistles that the proprietary NVidia drivers do. And I have personally had some grief over the Neuveau and NVidia drivers and trying to install one over the other. I had to specifically write down the commands after many hours of searching. I can post what I found to work, but it is aimed at a Debian or Debian-based distro. I know that Ubuntu is based on Debian, though there are a few minor commandline changes which I can figure out for you if you'd like.
	__________________ "I have always thought that a wild animal never looks so well as when some obstacle of pronounced durability is between us." "Sticking the flounce is the hardest move in forum gymnastics." -tsig

7th April 2011, 11:43 AM	#129
Mister Earl Master Poster Join Date: Nov 2007 Posts: 2,116	Computer's playing nice now. Or nicer anyway. Luckily these things come with a little DvD that resets everything to right-out-of-the-box. It's a slightly older version of windows, but I can worry about that later. I should have Ubuntu installed before I even go to work this afternoon. #EDIT: All right. I'm in Ubuntu now. Not gonna have time to muck around in it... time to go to work =\ #EDIT2: Ok. Tonight I might just make Ubuntu the main OS now that I know I can get it running with little difficulty. I can get to the GUI, I've familiarized myself with it quite a bit. Then I just need to figure out how to install hardware and drivers and the like. I've got a monitor plugged into the laptop that Ubuntu didn't seem to see, so I'll have to sort that out as well. Considering I just did a full whack/reload, I might as well go full Ubuntu as I won't lose anything. If I'm going to learn a full system, I may as well go full immersion with it!
	Last edited by Mister Earl; 7th April 2011 at 01:06 PM.

7th April 2011, 02:27 AM	#122
Mister Earl Master Poster Join Date: Nov 2007 Posts: 2,116	Ok, I did find a place to alter the command line. I just removed quiet splash, and didn't add nomodeset. Trying that now. Be right back.

7th April 2011, 02:39 AM	#123
Mister Earl Master Poster Join Date: Nov 2007 Posts: 2,116	Good and bad progress made. I go nomodeset to work. The installation progresses up to the point where it looks for the disc I don't have. (Makes sense, I was using Daemon tools to mount the ISO and ran it that way. In windows) So from here I think I need to get my disc drive working, then burn a disc, then take it from there.

7th April 2011, 02:55 AM	#124
Mister Earl Master Poster Join Date: Nov 2007 Posts: 2,116	ARGH. And [expletive deleted] if I can even upload my drivers anymore. Dell's stupid page makes me use a dell driver download manager thing, and even after selecting what I drivers I need the bloody thing doesn't work! facedesk

7th April 2011, 05:05 AM	#125
Mister Earl Master Poster Join Date: Nov 2007 Posts: 2,116	Ok, patience is gone. I've whipped out the old factory-reset disc and used that with an external drive. I'm in the midst of completely reloading everything. Once that is done, my drive should work like it always has, and then I can try Ubuntu again.

7th April 2011, 01:09 PM	#130
Tsukasa Buddha Other (please write in) Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: NeverLand Posts: 9,879	Hm, trying to install Ubuntu on a laptop and the CDs keep booting to the error: GLib-WARNING : getpwuid_r(): failed due to unknown user id (0)** The odd thing is that I used the same CD to install on that same computer in the past.
	__________________ As cultural anthropologists have always said "human culture" = "human nature". You might as well put a fish on the moon to test how it "swims naturally" without the "influence of water". -Earthborn

7th April 2011, 02:31 PM	#131
Mister Earl Master Poster Join Date: Nov 2007 Posts: 2,116	I've no idea, unfortunately, Tsukasa.

7th April 2011, 03:10 PM	#132
Bram Kaandorp Master Poster Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: Netherlands Posts: 2,240	Originally Posted by Mister Earl Computer's playing nice now. Or nicer anyway. Luckily these things come with a little DvD that resets everything to right-out-of-the-box. It's a slightly older version of windows, but I can worry about that later. I should have Ubuntu installed before I even go to work this afternoon. #EDIT: All right. I'm in Ubuntu now. Not gonna have time to muck around in it... time to go to work =\ #EDIT2: Ok. Tonight I might just make Ubuntu the main OS now that I know I can get it running with little difficulty. I can get to the GUI, I've familiarized myself with it quite a bit. Then I just need to figure out how to install hardware and drivers and the like. I've got a monitor plugged into the laptop that Ubuntu didn't seem to see, so I'll have to sort that out as well. Considering I just did a full whack/reload, I might as well go full Ubuntu as I won't lose anything. If I'm going to learn a full system, I may as well go full immersion with it! That's also sort of how I got into it. I tried Ubuntu as a dual boot, but after trying to remove Ubuntu from the disk because I didn't like it enough, I found out (and I think many people will know what comes next) that I couldn't access Windows any more. All I got was a GRUB error. After failing to find a way to mend it (I was using illegal Windows XP at the time, so no hope of recovering), I used a tiny laptop for a while. After a considerable time of using the laptop, I made the bold move of completely removing Windows, and installing Ubuntu instead. it was probably not the best experience of Linux, since not all the hardware was fully supported (I used a 5/4 screen ratio in stead of the standard 4/3 for some time, because the highest resolution was in 5/4), but really, immersing myself in Ubuntu gave me a sense of freedom and adventure (I was venturing into an area nobody I knew at the time had really gone), it also brought with it the same feeling I had when I first learned to ride a bicycle, the feeling that at any moment, any action can cause you to crash. The feeling is justified though, that is, until you get to know what certain parts of certain commands mean, and where certain settings for programs are stored. Also, getting a god sense of how synaptic package manager works helped a lot. To me, it was very much like exploring an unknown piece of land, on a different planet, in a different reality; some of the rules you know apply, but you need to learn a heck of a lot more to get along. Cheers

7th April 2011, 03:17 PM	#133
Alan Illuminator Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Melbourne, Australia Posts: 3,651	I had a similar situation. I installed Ubuntu alongside Windows 7, decided I didn't like Ubuntu and decided to get rid of it. But the recovery disc I set up before installing Ubuntu didn't work and I had a system without a working OS. My Windows 7 disc was one of those ones where you upgrade from XP or Vista, so it wouldn't be of assistance. And I don't think I had it with me at the time and still don't. So I installed the disc I did have: Ubuntu. And I came to like it a lot, and I tried out a very wide variety of distros and listen to a lot of podcasts and read blogs.

7th April 2011, 03:40 PM	#134
Mister Earl Master Poster Join Date: Nov 2007 Posts: 2,116	I'm not too worried if it takes me a long time to get everything working, either. I've got the feeling Minecraft won't be difficult to get running. That can keep me sane until I've figured out everything else.

7th April 2011, 03:50 PM	#135
Captain_Snort Muse Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: Scotland Posts: 664	Originally Posted by Bram Kaandorp All I got was a GRUB error. After failing to find a way to mend it ( fdisk /mbr (freedos disc) dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/sda1 bs=512 count=1 (linux)
	__________________ UKLS - 1984-2003, 2007- Girl 6: Besides, it's like he's an absentee landowner... And, I hate slumlords... ;-)

7th April 2011, 04:04 PM	#136
Alan Illuminator Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Melbourne, Australia Posts: 3,651	Originally Posted by Mister Earl I'm not too worried if it takes me a long time to get everything working, either. I've got the feeling Minecraft won't be difficult to get running. That can keep me sane until I've figured out everything else. Yes, it's very easy. You just download the linux file from the website, then you right click on it, choose Properties, choose Permissions, click to open as executable, click on the tab about what you open with and pick the java one. Double clicking on the minecraft.jar file will open it. That's going from memory...

7th April 2011, 04:21 PM	#137
Mister Earl Master Poster Join Date: Nov 2007 Posts: 2,116	How about getting it to see the monitor plugged in? I'm googling around and reading what I can in preparation for tonight, but no luck so far.

7th April 2011, 11:49 PM	#138
psionl0 Illuminator Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: 31°58'S 115°57'E Posts: 4,753	Originally Posted by Ivor the Engineer I've started this process this week. I say 'process' because I've never had a Linux install go smoothly. This one was no different. I'm installing Ubuntu 10.10 on a VIA Epia M10000 ITX motherboard (iirc, circa 2006) with 1GB RAM, 80GB+100GB HDs, on-board graphics (CLE266) and wired internet access. Why not use slackware? The installation process might not be as basic as some of the other versions (at least until you run into problems with the other versions) but it is simple enough if you have a decent installation guide (eg: http://genek.net/LinuxAdventures/sys...allation1.html). I have installed slackware on several different machines and been 100% successful every time.

8th April 2011, 12:14 AM	#139
Mister Earl Master Poster Join Date: Nov 2007 Posts: 2,116	Well. Tonight I tried to install straight Ubuntu. A dismal failure, I'm afraid. Several times it wouldn't let me continue the installation. Finally I turned off downloading updates during installation, and the proprietary optional software. It installed then, but booting immediately brought up a disaster recovery prompt. So, back to windows 7 for the time being. When I've got more time and patience I'll give it another go.

8th April 2011, 03:07 AM	#140
Lord Emsworth Je ne suis pas une de vos élèves Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Through the Cables and the Underground ... Posts: 2,827	Originally Posted by Mister Earl Well. Tonight I tried to install straight Ubuntu. A dismal failure, I'm afraid. Several times it wouldn't let me continue the installation. Finally I turned off downloading updates during installation, and the proprietary optional software. It installed then, but booting immediately brought up a disaster recovery prompt. So, back to windows 7 for the time being. When I've got more time and patience I'll give it another go. I am sorry to hear that the install doesn't just work very well and gives you such headaches. Although, you don't actually have to use Ubuntu, and maybe you have more luck with something else. There are other good and easy distros such as openSUSE or Mint or ...

13th April 2011, 06:19 AM	#141
Mister Earl Master Poster Join Date: Nov 2007 Posts: 2,116	Might give it another shot. Having trouble now with even a fresh install of win 7. After running windows update, it kills my fps for even the simplest 3D games, which is ludicrous. I've got dual Geforce 280Ms in SLI mode on a system with 8GB of 1333mhz RAM. I should be getting more than 60fps, yet it'll drop to 7. I've pretty much had it with windows. I can't even get the bloody service pack to install! It fails every [expletive deleted] time! And then I gotta go to the microsoft site to download some tool or another that's supposed to fix the problem. I run the tool and it hangs and never does anything.
	Last edited by Mister Earl; 13th April 2011 at 06:20 AM.

13th April 2011, 07:39 AM	#142
Mister Earl Master Poster Join Date: Nov 2007 Posts: 2,116	Ok, installed Ubuntu again. It went completely this time, but when it boots, I get a "grub rescue" prompt. Anyone have any ideas?

13th April 2011, 07:47 AM	#143
Captain_Snort Muse Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: Scotland Posts: 664	Did you partition the drive? and where did you install Ubuntu and where did you install GRUB?
	__________________ UKLS - 1984-2003, 2007- Girl 6: Besides, it's like he's an absentee landowner... And, I hate slumlords... ;-)

13th April 2011, 07:54 AM	#144
Mister Earl Master Poster Join Date: Nov 2007 Posts: 2,116	Fresh install, drive partitioned. Installed Ubuntu on my main hard disk (two SSD drives run in a raid as one drive). Not sure about grub, just ran the live CD and told it to install as the primary OS. (Edit: I'm posting after booting again from the live CD under run ubuntu without install, so I can get to the net to figure this out)

13th April 2011, 08:02 AM	#145
Mister Earl Master Poster Join Date: Nov 2007 Posts: 2,116	Ok... managed to get to a command line and familiarized myself with basic folder movement. It seems my hard disk is under /media/(long alphanumeric string/. There's a dev folder, but no sda folder.

13th April 2011, 08:04 AM	#146
Captain_Snort Muse Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: Scotland Posts: 664	Hold on, you are playing games and have SSD drives in a RAID setup?
	__________________ UKLS - 1984-2003, 2007- Girl 6: Besides, it's like he's an absentee landowner... And, I hate slumlords... ;-)

13th April 2011, 08:06 AM	#147
Mister Earl Master Poster Join Date: Nov 2007 Posts: 2,116	I'm not even to that point yet, Captain. Yes, SSD drives, intend on playing games, but cannot yet get a fresh ubuntu install to boot. I'm working off the live CD at the moment. When trying to boot, it takes me right to that recovery prompt. From what I can dig up on the 'net, grub didn't install. Or I think so.

13th April 2011, 08:16 AM	#148
Mister Earl Master Poster Join Date: Nov 2007 Posts: 2,116	Little subnote: Tried to download and install the linux graphics drivers. Got .run files, but can't seem to use them.

13th April 2011, 08:19 AM	#149
tuoni Thinker Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: England Posts: 228	Originally Posted by Mister Earl When trying to boot, it takes me right to that recovery prompt. From what I can dig up on the 'net, grub didn't install. Or I think so. grub-install from your Live-CD should do the trick. And to install the drivers, drop out of X, navigate to the folder you downloaded to (~, most likely) and type sudo sh NV*.run That should do the installation for you.
	__________________ -----BEGIN GEEK CODE BLOCK----- Version: 3.1 GCS d-(++)? s: a-- C++++$ UL++++ P L-(+++) E- W+++$ !N !o K++ w+++$ !O !M-- !V-- PS+ PE++ Y++>$ PGP+++ t- 5- X++ R* tv- b++ DI++ D++ G+ e++ h++(-) r y+ ------END GEEK CODE BLOCK------

13th April 2011, 08:21 AM	#150
Mister Earl Master Poster Join Date: Nov 2007 Posts: 2,116	Awesome! trying now #EDIT: Hrm. It's saying I need to specify a location. Not sure where to put it.
	Last edited by Mister Earl; 13th April 2011 at 08:22 AM.

13th April 2011, 08:22 AM	#151
tuoni Thinker Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: England Posts: 228	Originally Posted by Mister Earl I'm not even to that point yet, Captain. Yes, SSD drives, intend on playing games, but cannot yet get a fresh ubuntu install to boot. I'm working off the live CD at the moment. When trying to boot, it takes me right to that recovery prompt. From what I can dig up on the 'net, grub didn't install. Or I think so. Give this a go: How to Restore the Grub Menu after a Re-Ghosting: 1. Boot from a Live CD, like Ubuntu Live, Knoppix, Mepis, or similar. 2. Open a Terminal. Go SuperUser (that is, type "su"). Enter root passwords as necessary. 3. Type "grub" which makes a GRUB prompt appear. 4. Type "find /boot/grub/stage1". You'll get a response like "(hd0)" or in my case "(hd0,3)". Use whatever your computer spits out for the following lines. 5. Type "root (hd0,3)". 6. Type "setup (hd0,3)". This is key. Other instructions say to use "(hd0)", and that's fine if you want to write GRUB to the MBR. If you want to write it to your linux root partition, then you want the number after the comma, such as "(hd0,3)". 7. Type "quit". 8. Restart the system. Remove the bootable CD. (taken from HERE)
	__________________ -----BEGIN GEEK CODE BLOCK----- Version: 3.1 GCS d-(++)? s: a-- C++++$ UL++++ P L-(+++) E- W+++$ !N !o K++ w+++$ !O !M-- !V-- PS+ PE++ Y++>$ PGP+++ t- 5- X++ R* tv- b++ DI++ D++ G+ e++ h++(-) r y+ ------END GEEK CODE BLOCK------

13th April 2011, 08:25 AM	#152
Mister Earl Master Poster Join Date: Nov 2007 Posts: 2,116	no idea what the su pass might be. Tried the pass from my original ubuntu install, didn't work. Also tried both Ubuntu and ubuntu. Didn't work either.

13th April 2011, 08:28 AM	#153
tuoni Thinker Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: England Posts: 228	Originally Posted by Mister Earl no idea what the su pass might be. Tried the pass from my original ubuntu install, didn't work. Also tried both Ubuntu and ubuntu. Didn't work either. use "sudo grub" instead
	__________________ -----BEGIN GEEK CODE BLOCK----- Version: 3.1 GCS d-(++)? s: a-- C++++$ UL++++ P L-(+++) E- W+++$ !N !o K++ w+++$ !O !M-- !V-- PS+ PE++ Y++>$ PGP+++ t- 5- X++ R* tv- b++ DI++ D++ G+ e++ h++(-) r y+ ------END GEEK CODE BLOCK------

13th April 2011, 08:30 AM	#154
Lord Emsworth Je ne suis pas une de vos élèves Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Through the Cables and the Underground ... Posts: 2,827	Originally Posted by Mister Earl Little subnote: Tried to download and install the linux graphics drivers. Got .run files, but can't seem to use them. You need to have a bunch of tools and "materials" installed. On the tools side there are 'make' and 'gcc' etc and on the "materials" side there are things like kernel-sources. Next thing is that you probably need to disable the 'nouveau' opensource driver. (What you precisely need to have installed, and how precisely - if at needed at all - blacklisting of nouveau works on Ubuntu, I don't know. I could point you to some handy articles for openSUSE though.) And when that is done, simply navigate to the folder that contains the NVIDIA drivers and type: 'sh NV' and then hit TAB to autocomplete and enter to execute.

13th April 2011, 08:33 AM	#155
Mister Earl Master Poster Join Date: Nov 2007 Posts: 2,116	It's telling me grub isn't found. #EDIT: Ok, navigating around, I found media/(long alphanumeric string)/boot/grub. Sudo grub in there gives me the same error.
	Last edited by Mister Earl; 13th April 2011 at 08:36 AM.