Need Help With Ubuntu.... I am a Linux NOOB :D

[acousticlemur]

hey i just did a dual boot on my second rig (dell dimension 2400, P4 2.6Ghz 512 DDR 333) to try to familiarize myself with Linux. and i ordered a 64 bit version of Ubuntu from their website to do a triple boot on my main rig (see specs <-------) is there a performance dif between the 2? i have never used Linux before so i know nothing about it, but so far i am liking it. also any tips for customizations and or tweaks would be appreciated. thanks.

 

[zekrahminator]

Good luck getting 64-bit to work on a 32-bit processor .

If it does work, however, you should notice a definite benefit. The reason is quite simple...every program you'll be installing has a 64-bit version.

 

[Jimmy 2004]

It will work 64-bit on your main rig, but not on that P4.

Anyway, when I tried Ubuntu 64 in the past it wasn't noticeably quicker and it was harder to get things like flash working correctly. Stick to 32-bit for now.

 

[Atech]

You can get most of the performance benefits by using apt-build instead of apt-get and adding -msse -msse2 -mfpmath=sse -fomit-frame-pointer -ftree-vectorize to your CFLAGS in /etc/make.conf on x86.

 

[acousticlemur]

Good luck getting 64-bit to work on a 32-bit processor .

If it does work, however, you should notice a definite benefit. The reason is quite simple...every program you'll be installing has a 64-bit version.

the 64bit version will be on my athlon 64 3000+ system.

You can get most of the performance benefits by using apt-build instead of apt-get and adding -msse -msse2 -mfpmath=sse -fomit-frame-pointer -ftree-vectorize to your CFLAGS in /etc/make.conf on x86.

and you are speaking a totally differant language there! i know nothing about linux... and i am also having trouble installing a Belkin 54g wireless adapter on it too.

 

[PVTCaboose1337]

NO MATTER WHAT use the 32 bit version... 64 = buggy... worse than Vista... and thats sayin something.

 

[acousticlemur]

NO MATTER WHAT use the 32 bit version... 64 = buggy... worse than Vista... and thats sayin something.

lol

 

[Atech]

the 64bit version will be on my athlon 64 3000+ system.
and you are speaking a totally differant language there! i know nothing about linux... and i am also having trouble installing a Belkin 54g wireless adapter on it too.

It just means compiling the software instead of downloading binaries

See, normally you'd use apt-get, which uses apt (debian package manager) or use the GUI on top of it, whatever it's called. If you use apt-build it fetches the sources and compiles the software with your options. So if you add that stuff to your cflags in your "options" file (/etc/make.conf) you
*omit the frame pointer, which aids in debugging (not needed & saves a precious register)
*Adds SSE and SSE2 support
*Make floating point math use SSE instead of the x87 unit. Very big gains here
*Vectorize loops which GCC thinks can be vectorized safely into SIMD (SSE) code

And then you compile all your software with these options with apt-build. All of these are used on amd64 builds, aside from -ftree-vectorize, but that's safe with everything aside from zlib.

 

[Ripper3]

64-bit is only really recommended for people who've had some Linux experience/have patience/don't care about bugs.
It's not as buggy as PVTCaboose said, it's the programs that run on it that aren't fully optimised that will give you trouble.
Either way, stick to 32-bit, and about the apt-build commands, you can kind of ignore them for now, but they'll come in handy once you learn to use the command line.
Apt-get is a command that you will grow to love (I did, and it's a wonderful command) it's used to get applications from the internet, and works by searching for the programs by name
using apt-get install will download and install them.
Apt-build is similar, but it downloads the source code for the program then compiles it.
-msse -msse2 -mfpmath=sse -fomit-frame-pointer -ftree-vectorize are used to tell the compiler what to optimise the program for.
Actually, I've got to start doing that at some point, as I usually get pre-compiled programs, cos I'm lazy.

If you still don;t understand, then you'll likely know about the add/remove programs tool in ubuntu. Not as many options, but is simple to use.

EDIT: took too long to respond and to write, lol, you answered before me.

 

[Atech]

See here for a simple CFLAG guide

 

[acousticlemur]

If you still don;t understand, then you'll likely know about the add/remove programs tool in ubuntu. Not as many options, but is simple to use.

just found that and i am going through it right now. so far i am liking it (Ubuntu) although i have only played tetris and got on line to post here. u googled my Belkin 54g USB and i found out that they dont have any Linux drivers no big deal i guess i still have windows xp on here... but thanks for the comments and advise, i will be playing with it more in the next few days and hopefully by then i will understand some of the command stuff you were referring to.

 

[acousticlemur]

admin please rename thread to Need Help With Ubuntu.... I am a Linux NOOB

i tried but all i could do was the title... thx

 

[Ripper3]

just found that and i am going through it right now. so far i am liking it (Ubuntu) although i have only played tetris and got on line to post here. u googled my Belkin 54g USB and i found out that they dont have any Linux drivers no big deal i guess i still have windows xp on here... but thanks for the comments and advise, i will be playing with it more in the next few days and hopefully by then i will understand some of the command stuff you were referring to.

It's do-able, but you need to use Windows drivers. Don't ask me how exactly, as I've never needed to do this.
I've recommended this site loads, and it has alot of good stuff here:
easylinux.info

It's down at the moment, but when it comes back it, it'll be a good place for info.

 

[acousticlemur]

It's do-able, but you need to use Windows drivers. Don't ask me how exactly, as I've never needed to do this.
I've recommended this site loads, and it has alot of good stuff here:
easylinux.info

It's down at the moment, but when it comes back it, it'll be a good place for info.

yeah i saved a forum page from some site i found on google that said how to make a windows driver work for my usb dongle. but i will do it in a while after i familiarize myself with it a bit. so far i am liking it, and it seems pretty straight forward. alot of the stuff reminds me of vista (dont mean to offend anyone ) thanks...


EDIT... one more thing, is there a issue with Flash & Linux? tried to install it when i came to the TPU home page and it never finished so i quit. thanks for tollerating all my NOOBISH questions. i just wanted to broaden my computer knowledge.

 

[Atech]

EDIT... one more thing, is there a issue with Flash & Linux? tried to install it when i came to the TPU home page and it never finished so i quit. thanks for tollerating all my NOOBISH questions. i just wanted to broaden my computer knowledge.

I think you can find Flash in a different repository. I haven't used Ubuntu for a while but in the package management GUI's options there's a tab for custom repositories, one of the repositories is for bad/proprietary software, so you need to add (tick) that and refresh the list of packages, then search for Flash.

Edit: You can't install extensions or plugins through Firefox on Ubuntu because Ubuntu locks Firefox down by default, so you need to do everything via either the package manager or through a command line by sudoing.

 

[zekrahminator]

Wow, you guys are hardcore about linux .

I like the system where you stick a CD in, click "I agree to the EULA", and ten minutes later you can use the software you paid for .

A quick guide to APT for you, acousticlemur.

You've heard of command line, yes? If you haven't, Ubuntu is DEFINITELY the *nix distro for you.

Anyways, assuming you know something about command line, *nix used to be "do-everything-from-command-line". To an extent, this is still true, but mainly for servers and advanced system tasks. In command line, if you type in....

Sudo (which means run-as-admin, you'll be prompted for your password) apt-get install (program name): install something.

Sudo apt-get remove (program name): remove the program.

Keep in mind that you can install most using the "add/remove programs" menu.

I'll let Atech take over from here .

 

[Ripper3]

We all start out as n00bs, there's no shame in it. Heck, I'm nowhere near being a master in anything. Takes time, computers aren't simple.
You might want to take a look at Ubuntu Studio btw, it's a derivative of Ubuntu, sort of, kind-of, almost official, but not quite.
I'm unsure as to Ubuntu 7.04 (haven't touched it much to be fair), but Ubuntu Studio has a new feature that automatically installs proprietary drivers for you. Helped me with the ATi drivers (cba to apt-get at times), but I dunno if it works for using Ndiswrapper, although certainly worked with my graphics card.
Also, Ubuntu Studo is loaded up with loads of the best open-source/free audio/video/graphical editors for Linux that you can find, so alot of the hard work is done for you really in terms of additional media software.

Flash, there are a few problems, but nothing that there isn't a guide for. Again, easylinux.info is your friend, if that fails, just go to the Adobe site, download Flash Player for Linux, then install it. Should be available in a .deb format, which means it'll be installed with the Debian Package Installer, making your life easier.

 

[Ripper3]

Wow, you guys are hardcore about linux .

I like the system where you stick a CD in, click "I agree to the EULA", and ten minutes later you can use the software you paid for .

I have some people you should meet. One did a full compile of Gentoo for his server system. I told him he was nuts. Took a ~26GB download and... can't remember how long it took, but it wasn't quick.
Another spent three weeks building his own Linux distro... then stopped for a while. He had to move partitions, and used the dd command (data duplicator, also known as data destroyer...) lost three weeks of work in less than a minute (he mixed up the command, and copied the data from the empty partition to the full partition... that's why its nicknamed data destroyer)

Yeah, I like easy to install software too, but I also like getting my hands dirty at times. Makes it more fun, more worthwhile I think. I still have a long way to go before I do a full compile though...

 

[acousticlemur]

one more question for the day (i think) how can i put windows xp on the top of the OS choice menu for the dual boot (cause this computer is in the dining room area for everyone to use) so that if it times out XP will load instead of Ubuntu?????

 

[Atech]

one more question for the day (i think) how can i put windows xp on the top of the OS choice menu for the dual boot (cause this computer is in the dining room area for everyone to use) so that if it times out XP will load instead of Ubuntu?????

#nano /boot/grub/grub.conf (or sudo nano /boot/grub/grub.conf)

default x

Where x is the number of entries down Windows XP is, starting with 0 (so entry one is 0, entry 2 is 1 etc)

Just don't mess this file up or you'll be typing manual boot commands on your next boot!

 

[acousticlemur]

#nano /boot/grub/grub.conf

so i type that in the comand line?

 

[Atech]

so i type that in the comand line?

Yep, the hash symbol means as root. So either you'll go

su root
then type in your root password (don't forget to type exit after finishing)

Or you use sudo in front of the command. I think Ubuntu encourages sudo use.

 

[Ripper3]

sudo nano /boot/grub/grub.conf
That would probably be better with Ubuntu.

sudo gedit /boot/grub/grub.conf
That's if you want to use a full graphical (like notepad) text editor. I prefer it, personally.
IIRC, if you haven't updated Ubuntu yet, you'll have 5 total entries in the boot menu. 2 for Ubuntu (main, and recovery), 1 for memtest86, 1 for the useless "Other OS listed here:" and then, last is Windows XP entry, so it should need to be Default 4. Double check though.

 

[acousticlemur]

Yep, the hash symbol means as root. So either you'll go

su root
then type in your root password (don't forget to type exit after finishing)

Or you use sudo in front of the command. I think Ubuntu encourages sudo use.

this is what i have and i cant figure out anythign else so i think i will try the GUI one mentioned above.. hold on...there was supposed to be a pic uploaded.....


EDIT: here is the screen shot, i cant figure out how to view the data and or edit it

 

[Atech]

EDIT: here is the screen shot, i cant figure out how to view the data and or edit it

Type in

ls /boot
and
ls /boot/grub

And post the results here please.

Edit: and add -l
so
ls /boot/grub -l

Just to show permissions. Are you sure you're adding sudo in front of the command?