Some Ubuntu-related Problem Solving
I've been using Ubuntu 6.06 - Dapper Drake - on my desktop PC at work since it came out. When I bought a laptot and needed it up and running quickly I again choose Ubuntu. The reason is simple: For both of these machines I needed an OS that works, and I needed it quickly and Ubuntu does this exactly.
Although Ubunu is extremely user-friendly and normally runs out-of the box, one might encounter problems - not big, just small ones like audio not working, cannot set CRT monitor refresh rate higher than 60Hz, etc. Here I collected the problems I faced using Ubuntu together with their solutions, I hope it will help somebody if they face the same problem!
Updating from Breezy Badger to Dapper
This solution is GUI based - but this should not discourage anyone:) - just type this in a terminal window:
$ gksudo update-manager -d...and choose upgrade. It will take some time though - on a Sempron 2200+ with fast internet conncetion it took ~1 hour. It took longer than doing a clean install from the downloaded Dapper LiveCD.
Running VMware on Ubuntu Dapper Drake 6.06
It was impossible to install VMplayer, Synaptic gave up with an "intiscript returned with error -1" or something similar. When running "sudo vmware-config.pl" manually, i had "/usr/lib/vmware/module/vmmon.tar missing" - I realised that for a reason unknown to me - when installing vmplayer using synaptic, these modules were not installed... Solution: download sourcecode, un-tar, run the install script again and it worked!
Compiling a custom kernel
- with synaptic: installed the linux-source-2.6.15-23 package this will save a file called linux-source-2.6.15-23.tar.bz2 in the /usr/src/ directory untar sudo tar -xvjf _yourkernelsource_ then follow the instructions given here: how to install the kernel header files and the kernel: http://www.faqs.org/docs/linux_scratch/chapter06/kernel.html when done, start kernel configuration: $ sudo make menuconfig (you have to have the ncurses libraries installed, you can find it in synaptic!) save kernel config, type: $ sudo make then edit your bootloader config file!Multimedia Playback - Mp3s, DVD, Macromedia Flash, etc...
The answer is from here
Just to propagate this wital information, I give you a summary here - this is enough to get you going:
First of all, enable universe, multiverse and some other free and non-free repositories:
alternatively, enabling all package sources - universe, multiverse, etc - in synaptic should grant you access to these packages, too! the packages to be installed - suggested by the site - are not all necessary, you can leave out - banshee - realplay - personally can't support real products - xmms - if you use another music player like amarok! - f-spot - streamtuner - (skype - this one I like, personally) which leaves you with $ sudo apt-get install totem-xine totem-xine-firefox-plugin libxine-extracodecs w32codecs libdvdcss2 flashplugin-nonfree sun-java5-plugin skype msttcorefontsEnjoy!
removing startup services
sound problems
after installing a custom compiled kernel, sound went away - after working for weeks with no problems 1st question: is the onboard sound recognised by the kernel? "$ lspci" gave the following output( I put here only the line concerning the audio): 0000:00:11.5 Multimedia audio controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT8233/A/8235/8237 AC97 Audio Controller (rev 60) showing that my onboard VIA AC97 sound controller is recognized ok - vendor and chip type well recognised! do I have authorization to use "/dev/dsp", the sound output? $ ls /dev/dsp -l crw-rw---- 1 root audio 14, 3 2006-06-27 09:45 /dev/dsp this mean that root and anyone who is member of the "audio" group have access to sound do I belong to this group? $ cat /etc/group | grep kaszi ... audio:x:29:kaszi,guest ... so this is not a problem either (I removed the other lines for the sake of simplicity & security) what can possibly be wrong? as a last resort, I tried alsamixer - type it in a terminal window: $ alsamixer navigate with arrow keys left and right, increase/decrease volume: up & down arrows, enable / mute : "m". I have only Master, PCM and! VIA DXS (the first one at max, the rest didn't change a thing) enabled. IMPORTANT! the cause of the problem was the "VIA DXS" channel - it must work as an on-board amplifier - without it the sound was barely audible, setting it at near max level solved the problems all what is left to do to save our settings: $ sudo alsactl store enjoy your music!CPU frequency setting from gnome applet
One has to give suid privileges to the binary - this is not good regarding security! if you really like to set tweak things then go ahead...:) $ sudo dpkg-reconfigure gnome-appletsNo USB2 devices work with the EHCI - ICH6 intel USB2 controller
The problem is in the kernel EHCI module, it is buggy? In any case, all you have to do is - if you already have USB1 devices working - to unload the ehci_hcd module. This will make all your USB devices work at USB1 speed, but at least they will work... If USB support is compiled into your kernel - to check: $ cat /usr/src/linux/.config | grep EHCI command returns $ CONFIG_USB_EHCI_HCD=y then you have to recompile the kernel with the USB controller drivers as modules. if the command returns "CONFIG_USB_EHCI_HCD=m", you can just use the "$ sudo modprobe -r ehci_hcd" command and if you want it disabled at startup, then : $ echo "blacklist ehci_hcd" > /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist if you want to start using the module again just remove the "blacklist ehci_hcd" from the "/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist" fileCannot set 1200x800 resolution on LCD screen with Intel 915GM graphics controller
This concerns laptop owners - I had this problem when installing Ubuntu Dapper on my Acer 1642 laptop. You need to install the i915 package - either using Synaptics, or the terminal:
$ sudo apt-get install i915