My Ubuntu Problem

[3Garrett3]

So I recently dual booted ubuntu on my desktop, to see how it was.

I have developped a list of my percieved pros and cons.

Pros-
Beats windows in performance (says a lot of people)
No annoying antivirus stuff.
Two desktop type things.
Lots of supported games and many apps, available for download, for free.
Many more, but the cons are more important at this time.

Cons-
Wireless won't work
All tech support from any forum assumes that I know how to do things, when I have no idea what to do.
Many of the windows substitutes (msn, office, iTunes) seem really low quality, and I can't understand them.
Seems that windows can't recognize my ubuntu partition, so I can't access any of my Ubuntu files from windows. Ubuntu recognized my windows partitions though. I assume I partitioned it wrong..

My main problem? I can't ever get wireless to work. It obviously works here, I get 4/5 bars of reception from my router when I run windows. When I run Ubuntu, it finds 40% reception most of the time, but can't ever connect to the wireless network. If it does, it is long enough for me to update, then it crashes, or it will only be 1 bar out of 4 or 5. Can't really remember.

I tried to do a few debug things in my ubuntu terminal, and I copied them to a text editer file, and saved it in my windows partition, so I could post it. But it seems to have lost the spaces in between each line in the process. I will see if I can fix that.

Does anyone have any helpful guidance, or should I quit and hope that my new computer, which I will hopefully be buying, will work with the wireless?

Edit: Might have fixed the file. Attached as a .txt

First debug is a... something.
Second is iwconfig or ifconfig, it tells you in the .txt
Third debug was so long that the terminal cut the top parts off. It was "dmesg"

Edit2: Had to upload as a .rar because the .txt was too big (37mb) sorry guys.

[Wizzup?]

The fact that Windows can't read ext is not the fault of Ubuntu, that is the fault of Windows.
I find OpenOffice better than MS Office...
What's wrong with Pidgin (substitute for MSN?)
Rhythmbox does the job for me. (iTunes replacement)
You can have more than two desktops, plus visual effects.

Let me look at the debug stuff...

EDIT:
You mean kB, not mB.

I think I know how to solve your wireless problem.
Read this: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/WifiDocs/Driver/Madwifi

Madwifi is still better than ath5k and ath9k.

[3Garrett3]

The fact that Windows can't read ext is not the fault of Ubuntu, that is the fault of Windows.
I find OpenOffice better than MS Office...
What's wrong with Pidgin (substitute for MSN?)
Rhythmbox does the job for me. (iTunes replacement)
You can have more than two desktops, plus visual effects.

Let me look at the debug stuff...

EDIT:
You mean kB, not mB.

I think I know how to solve your wireless problem.
Read this: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/WifiDocs/Driver/Madwifi

Madwifi is still better than ath5k and ath9k.

I guess I just need to get used to OpenOffice.
Pidgin has less functions than Msn live, for msn. I tried aMsn too, it sucked.
I haven't used Rythmbox, I couldnt even find one that could update songs on an iPod in the short time my internet worked on it.
I know that there can be more, I just wanted to mention to people who didnt know that there could be more than one.

Yeah, kB, mB, they're the same on 4 hours of sleep.

Reading the link now, thanks :)

Ath5k/9k?? Guess I have to read the link before I know that. Or being smart would help.

Edit: I thought it was a driver set. I just wasn't sure.

And lookie
"You will need a working internet connection to complete this howto"

Well I will have to hope that the planets align in the proper fashion to get ubuntu's internet to work, then install the drivers..

[Nava2]

emesene is basically MSN Live, but without a few small things and the file sharing blows.

But the look and feel is almost identical.

For Wireless, I never have issues. Could be im on a Laptop Though.

[3Garrett3]

Holy crap.. The link for the madwifi drivers.. makes me want to die.

Once again, Linux assumes that I have the ability to work linux before I get it... and the only way to learn to use Linux seems to be by hating it for a while, then getting it to work.

[Buckleyindahouse]

The installing of the driver is pretty straight forward.
Just go in order.

4.1.1. Preparation


Start from there and work ur way down, copy and paste everything into the terminal.

[Wizzup?]

Hmm... The driver is possibly just in the "Hardware Drivers" GUI, try that first!

System -> Administration -> Hardware Drivers.

[3Garrett3]

Hmm... The driver is possibly just in the "Hardware Drivers" GUI, try that first!

System -> Administration -> Hardware Drivers.

No proprietary drivers in use on this system.. It's working for now! 1/4 bars :). Enough to make me happy though.

[Wizzup?]

No proprietary drivers in use on this system.. It's working for now! 1/4 bars :). Enough to make me happy though.

Is the ath9k working, or madwifi-ng?

(atk5/9k is the Open Source Driver.)

[3Garrett3]

Is the ath9k working, or madwifi-ng?

(atk5/9k is the Open Source Driver.)

Right now... ath9k is working, but I'm installing madwifi-ng, it's just taking a little while because I'm not too good at it :P

Edit: It all goes well, I've done all the steps it said, but when I get to the step 4.1.3 Build, it isn't the same as what it says, and I dont know what to do. I tried a couple things, but I get errors at the installing step and then it doesn't work (obviously)

Edit Again: It says I need to be root, but when I go to log in, it says "System administrator cannot log in from this page" so I'm pretty much confused.

Yay. I finally learned two things. What that darn "sudo" thing meant, and how to run as root XD

[Bixby Sayz]

Many of the windows substitutes (msn, office, iTunes) seem really low quality, and I can't understand them.

Amen to that. This is far and away one of my biggest beefs with all the flavors of Linux and MSN is a great example. There must be about 30 alternatives (bit of an exaggeration, but not much). None, not one of them, has all the features.

If all those developers would pools their resources and get a freaking clue you could have a seamless app that actually had full functionality. Instead you have to switch applications according to which features you want to use that day. WTF?

I wound up running the real deal under wine. It's bloated and it's a pig but it WORKS.

Everytime I fire up most of the alternatives one theme song runs through my head over and over (I just can't help myself):

M..I..C..K..E..Y....M..O.U..S..E..

Why do all the interfaces look like they were designed by a kindergartener on acid between nap/potty breaks?

And OpenOffice is EVIL. I stand by this statement. True story: Create a document with MS Office, save it. Open the document with OO, do not make any changes, do not save it, do nothing. Exit OO. The original file (to which I made no changes) is now corrupt and unreadable. I can consistently reproduce this behavior. I have dozens of similar examples that the developers refuse to acknowledge as a bug.


All tech support from any forum assumes that I know how to do things, when I have no idea what to do.

Cute story: I was trying to get something working. The best solution turned out to be 6 mouse clicks, type one line of text, logout then log back in.

The solution presented to me on the forums: Involved downloading a kernel patch, modifying 3 other files, and rebuilding the kernel. The other users were unanimous on the cleverness of the proposed solution. They were completely mystified when I suggested the author of said solution was in fact a moron.

My thought for the day: If you have ever uttered the phrase "read the man page" you should immediately go play in traffic and never ever design or document anything. Nobody loves you. Preferably after you have been humanely neutered so you cannot breed.

[3Garrett3]

Amen to that. This is far and away one of my biggest beefs with all the flavors of Linux and MSN is a great example. There must be about 30 alternatives (bit of an exaggeration, but not much). None, not one of them, has all the features.

If all those developers would pools their resources and get a freaking clue you could have a seamless app that actually had full functionality. Instead you have to switch applications according to which features you want to use that day. WTF?

I wound up running the real deal under wine. It's bloated and it's a pig but it WORKS.

Everytime I fire up most of the alternatives one theme song runs through my head over and over (I just can't help myself):

M..I..C..K..E..Y....M..O.U..S..E..

Why do all the interfaces look like they were designed by a kindergartener on acid between nap/potty breaks?

And OpenOffice is EVIL. I stand by this statement. True story: Create a document with MS Office, save it. Open the document with OO, do not make any changes, do not save it, do nothing. Exit OO. The original file (to which I made no changes) is now corrupt and unreadable. I can consistently reproduce this behavior. I have dozens of similar examples that the developers refuse to acknowledge as a bug.



Cute story: I was trying to get something working. The best solution turned out to be 6 mouse clicks, type one line of text, logout then log back in.

The solution presented to me on the forums: Involved downloading a kernel patch, modifying 3 other files, and rebuilding the kernel. The other users were unanimous on the cleverness of the proposed solution. They were completely mystified when I suggested the author of said solution was in fact a moron.

My thought for the day: If you have ever uttered the phrase "read the man page" you should immediately go play in traffic and never ever design or document anything. Nobody loves you. Preferably after you have been humanely neutered so you cannot breed.

Haha. That was a great post. I simply want a version of msn with working webcams, working display pictures, modern looking graphics, and a good way of sorting people.

Most of the ones I have tried have one or two of those functions.

I'm sortof afraid of using OO now, if it wrecks my school documents, I will be really pissed.

[Bixby Sayz]

I think it was a special case. It is a document created using one of the built-in templates (invoice) to which I added a few formulas to automatically calculate totals. OO does not like this file at all.

But what really gets me is all I have to do is open the file without doing anything else and its toast.

Btw, I meant I have examples of similar issues with other applications. I didn't mean to imply OO was the sole source of issues, or that OO had all those said issues.

[Wizzup?]

Amen to that. This is far and away one of my biggest beefs with all the flavors of Linux and MSN is a great example. There must be about 30 alternatives (bit of an exaggeration, but not much). None, not one of them, has all the features.

And here lies the beauty of GNU/Linux. It doesn't force you to use one client, which utterly sucks. (like MSN)
Perhaps I'm just one of those few lonely people not using webcams... who knows.



If all those developers would pools their resources and get a freaking clue you could have a seamless app that actually had full functionality. Instead you have to switch applications according to which features you want to use that day. WTF?



This is not true. I have never used more than one chat client. It's pidgin for everything except IRC.



I wound up running the real deal under wine. It's bloated and it's a pig but it WORKS.


I don't see a problem if you can run it in WINE.



Everytime I fire up most of the alternatives one theme song runs through my head over and over (I just can't help myself):

M..I..C..K..E..Y....M..O.U..S..E..

Why do all the interfaces look like they were designed by a kindergartener on acid between nap/potty breaks?


I like the interfaces much more than Windows interfaces.




And OpenOffice is EVIL. I stand by this statement. True story: Create a document with MS Office, save it. Open the document with OO, do not make any changes, do not save it, do nothing. Exit OO. The original file (to which I made no changes) is now corrupt and unreadable. I can consistently reproduce this behavior. I have dozens of similar examples that the developers refuse to acknowledge as a bug.


Blame Microsoft for keeping their formats closed.



Cute story: I was trying to get something working. The best solution turned out to be 6 mouse clicks, type one line of text, logout then log back in.

The solution presented to me on the forums: Involved downloading a kernel patch, modifying 3 other files, and rebuilding the kernel. The other users were unanimous on the cleverness of the proposed solution. They were completely mystified when I suggested the author of said solution was in fact a moron.


At least you don't have to pay for help, you should be happy people try to help you.



My thought for the day: If you have ever uttered the phrase "read the man page" you should immediately go play in traffic and never ever design or document anything. Nobody loves you. Preferably after you have been humanely neutered so you cannot breed.

This is the most ridiculous thing I have heard in a long time.

I don't know what you do for a living, but if it has to anything with life, you know you'll have to study stuff before you can start using it.


In other words; my thought of the day: life is a RTFM.

~Wizz

E: Since you seem to take a extreme standing, I tried to do the same. You have some valid points, you but really exaggerate them.

@ Garret: I've never, ever seen OOo mess up any of my documents. And if you really are frightened, make backups.

E2: Garret, if the ath9k drivers really work, stick to them. Don't change a winning team. :p
There are probably some settings for the driver that you could mod. (google for it, and you'll get at their site.)

[3Garrett3]

@ Garret: I've never, ever seen OOo mess up any of my documents. And if you really are frightened, make backups.

E2: Garret, if the ath9k drivers really work, stick to them. Don't change a winning team. :p
There are probably some settings for the driver that you could mod. (google for it, and you'll get at their site.)

They worked for a little while, crashed a couple times while I was getting the other ones ready XD. But since I got the madwifi drivers it's been really stable. I like it better.

I will trust your opinion on the OO, as long as .docs work, and my teachers can open them, I have no problem with it.

I have a couple more questions though.

Is there any way to scroll using the middle mouse button? I have to wheel my way around pages now, not just middle click scroll..
Does your hotmail mess up sometimes? I can't click any of the buttons sometimes, and I have to reload the page.
The music player you told me, Rythmbox, it imports 111 songs of my music, and the other 2000 songs get left out. I needed more plugins or something to import a type, but the auto search couldn't find what it needed. So I might just run iTunes in wine if it works.

[bullzeye95]

Is there any way to scroll using the middle mouse button? I have to wheel my way around pages now, not just middle click scroll..
Does your hotmail mess up sometimes? I can't click any of the buttons sometimes, and I have to reload the page.
The music player you told me, Rythmbox, it imports 111 songs of my music, and the other 2000 songs get left out. I needed more plugins or something to import a type, but the auto search couldn't find what it needed. So I might just run iTunes in wine if it works.

I am on XP right now, so this may be a bit different, but to scroll with the middle mouse button, go to Edit -> Options... -> Advanced -> General -> check "Use Autoscrolling"

Try amarok, you may like it better than Rythmbox.

[Wizzup?]

I am on XP right now, so this may be a bit different, but to scroll with the middle mouse button, go to Edit -> Options... -> Advanced -> General -> check "Use Autoscrolling"

Try amarok, you may like it better than Rythmbox.

Don't install Amarok! It will install all the KDE libs!

What songs does Rhythmbox not import?
AFAIK you just need the mp3 (Lame) etc plugins. (Gstreamer-plugins-*)

[bullzeye95]

Don't install Amarok! It will install all the KDE libs!

Why is this bad? Amarok didn't seem to mess anything up for me. Or is it just an "unneeded clutter" issue?

[3Garrett3]

Don't install Amarok! It will install all the KDE libs!

What songs does Rhythmbox not import?
AFAIK you just need the mp3 (Lame) etc plugins. (Gstreamer-plugins-*)

It asked me for mp3, then mp4, then some random type I hadn't heard of. So I will just have to clean out any files that arent mp3 or mp4.. Is there an easy way to do that? :p

[Wizzup?]

It asked me for mp3, then mp4, then some random type I hadn't heard of. So I will just have to clean out any files that arent mp3 or mp4.. Is there an easy way to do that? :p

Lots, but why not install the plugins for other formats too?
That would be much better.

Try these:



$ aptitude search gstreamer0.10-plugins* | grep -E '^i'

i gstreamer0.10-plugins-bad - GStreamer plugins from the "bad" set
i gstreamer0.10-plugins-bad-multi - GStreamer plugins from the "bad" set (Mult
i gstreamer0.10-plugins-base - GStreamer plugins from the "base" set
i gstreamer0.10-plugins-base-apps - GStreamer helper programs from the "base"
i gstreamer0.10-plugins-good - GStreamer plugins from the "good" set
i gstreamer0.10-plugins-ugly - GStreamer plugins from the "ugly" set
i gstreamer0.10-plugins-ugly-mult - GStreamer plugins from the "ugly" set (Mul

[3Garrett3]

Lots, but why not install the plugins for other formats too?
That would be much better.

Try these:

It searched, and couldnt find the proper plugin, so I dunno. It wont even open now :\

[Boreas]

My brother uses gtkpod for his ipod iirc.

[3Garrett3]

My brother uses gtkpod for his ipod iirc.

I will give that a shot.

@Wizzy

I have this showing up...

http://i25.tinypic.com/huhair.png

Edit: Not too worried about it. I got most of the music imported, and most of the files that couldnt be ended up being .nfo and .dat files that were just included in any .torrents that I downloaded.

[Wizzup?]

So it's fixed? :)


Why is this bad? Amarok didn't seem to mess anything up for me. Or is it just an "unneeded clutter" issue?

Yes. If you install one KDE program, it will install all KDE libs. This can seriously effect performance and memory.

[Bixby Sayz]

Edit: On second thought naw it's not worth it. @ Wizzup?: Sorry if I offended you your highness. Mere mortals should never give an opinion. ;) For god sakes lighten up man.

I do actually like Ubuntu. Started messing around with it back with Breezy Badger. Before that it was versions of RedHat. But it's never been able to 100% support my hardware and replace the current software I need. Usually after 3 months of trying to get everything working I cry uncle and cave and wait for the next release.

Just to clarify: My issue with man pages is not the fact you have to read documentation. I routinely have to read 300+ page documents at work, spend weeks getting it to actually work, then distill it down to 2 pages of instructions that actually work for everyone else to use. My issue is man pages are horrible. They are terse cryptic nonsense. Communication is not a strong point of *nix developers.

[Wizzup?]

I always find the man pages really clear, straight to the point...

Like I said, I tried to take a bit of an extreme view too... :)

[3Garrett3]

Wizzy. It wasn't really broken. When I let it do it's thing, it told me in the end that all the plugins it couldnt find were just for .nfo and things that werent even music. All 2400 songs are now imported :)

Do you know if I can import audiobooks and videos too, or is it only music?

[Smarter Child]

Wizzy. It wasn't really broken. When I let it do it's thing, it told me in the end that all the plugins it couldnt find were just for .nfo and things that werent even music. All 2400 songs are now imported :)

Do you know if I can import audiobooks and videos too, or is it only music?

Well if they have same extensions or are audio files, I don't see why audio books and videos would not be supported.
Cool people use ubuntu :cool:

[3Garrett3]

I have some more questions/ unanswered ones

1- Is there any way to middle mouse click to scroll?
2- Are there actually any good ubuntu games (directly from the add/remove list)
3- What other games would be supported by ubuntu that are good?

Comment:

@ Smarter Child.

The audiobooks are extension .m4b, not the same as music..
The videos are extension mp4, so those should work I think. Let me give it a shot... (again)

Edit:

Audiobooks successfully imported. I have a problem though. It puts them in the music folder, and I don't see a folder that says "Audiobooks" so I don't really want them in the same folder because it clutters everything
Movies wont import.

[Smarter Child]

2- r0b0ts is good i assume.

3- Well WiNe has an App database, you could check that out WiNe AppDB (http://appdb.winehq.org/) , mainly games.

@: There must be a program for ubuntu linux that supports audio books, ill google :p

[3Garrett3]

2- r0b0ts is good i assume.

3- Well WiNe has an App database, you could check that out WiNe AppDB (http://appdb.winehq.org/) , mainly games.

@: There must be a program for ubuntu linux that supports audio books, ill google :p

Read my edit :)

[bullzeye95]

I have some more questions/ unanswered ones

1- Is there any way to middle mouse click to scroll?


I am on XP right now, so this may be a bit different, but to scroll with the middle mouse button, go to Edit -> Options... -> Advanced -> General -> check "Use Autoscrolling"

The message you have entered is too short. Please lengthen your message to at least 3 characters.

[3Garrett3]

Haha. Seems I missed that one. Works now, thanks :)

[Smartzkid]

Blame Microsoft for keeping their formats closed.


They don't...

http://www.microsoft.com/interop/osp/default.mspx
http://www.microsoft.com/interop/docs/OfficeBinaryFormats.mspx
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc313118.aspx

[Craig`]

If you're on the irc you'll know that I now have ubuntu, I also had wireless issues, I've found that setting your SSID to public (so everyone can view it) makes wireless work, this is just my case, but you should try it? :)