Installing Linux on a new Partition

[Fillibuster]

Garfunkel, let's do it man.

[Garfunkel]

LOL! OK.

First step, reboot your computer and enter the bios by following the instructions that come up on screen as soon as you turn the computer on, it may say something like "press DEL to enter setup". When in bios, change the boot order so that your computer boots from the CD/DVD drive first, then HDD second. After this is done, save setting and reboot, if you did it right, a little menu should show up on screen giving you some options, select the first one to start or install ubuntu.

Now, when ubuntu is fired up (don't worry, it hasn't touched your HDD at all), you should have a fully functional computer (it will be slow because it is running entirely of the CD), try to open up Firefox and connect to the internet. If you can, post just so i can give you some instructions on installation!

[Fillibuster]

Ok right now I'm posting from my laptop and Ubuntu is loading up.

[Fillibuster]

Alright, I'm on Ubuntu and posting to you...

[Garfunkel]

OK, cool, that was the first test to make sure your network and internet connection works well with ubuntu.

The next step is to install it.

Click on the "install" icon on the desktop, the first steps are easy enough (location, time, user names etc).

When you get to the partitioner step, there should be three options, select the one that says edit the partition table manually.

Then press the printscreen button and post the screen shot.

[Fillibuster]

Alright, here's the screeny

[Garfunkel]

ok, you partition table almost certainly is like that because the company you got the computer from put a recovery/whatever partition or two on their, idiots.

I would leave the fat partitions and even the unallocated space, you never know what they use it for.

If you are sure your NTFS drive is not fragmented, right click it and select resize. resize it so that the drive is still considerably larger then the amount of space taken up by windows, yet still leaving space for ubuntu.

When this is done, you should have a partition known as "unallocated space", right click this and resize it so that it is smaller then before by half the amount of ram you have.

SO say it's 30GB, and you have 1GB of ram, resize it so that it is 29.5GB.

When this is done, you should have an ext3 partition and a "unallocated space" partition that is roughly half the size of your RAM capacity.

Now post another screen shot.

I know this is a long and annoying procedure but it's safer this way :)

[Fillibuster]

NVM

Ok, so it says one operation pending and it when I right click on the resized partition it won't let me resize it again by half my RAM. Do I just need to wait a little bit?

[Garfunkel]

press "apply" then try again, just make sure it's not FORMATTING the ntfs drive ;)

[Fillibuster]

I hit forward and then applied the pending operation and it took me to the Mount Points thing. So I hit back and The unallocated is there but I still can't right click it and resize it. My only options are New and Information...

Edit: Here's what it looks like now

[Fillibuster]

Ok well I figured out what to do because when I selected New it showed the Ext3 filesystem type so I went ahead and did that. Lucky for me I didn't mess it up.

So here I am now...

[Garfunkel]

Good progress :)

Now what you need to do is go back to the stage in the second last screen shot you posted, (i am assuming you have 2GB ram). right click the 1.09 unallocated space partition and select new, and make it a linux-swap. This is basically like using the HDD as RAM when RAM is low. kinda like windows paging file but much more advanced.

then go forward and post another screen, hopefully the last one!

[Fillibuster]

Speed Bump...it says it is not possible to create more than four primary partitions.

[Garfunkel]

oh that's not a bump, make it a logical partition.

[Fillibuster]

Alright, and how might I do that? Cuz the message box telling me about primary partitions is all the pops up when I select new, and then all I can click is ok.

[Garfunkel]

hmmm, it's hard because i am relying of memory but when you have the unnalocated space and format it to linux swap, it should give you the option of changing from a primary partition to a logical partition.

[Fillibuster]

Hmm, well what I'll let you look at these latest screens...

Now in the Partition screen, when I right click and select new on my 1GB unallocated, that is when I get the popup regarding primary partitions. In the next screen, I can select swap from the lefthand drop down menus, but that unallocated 1GB isn't there for me to select as a swap.

[Garfunkel]

ok, before creating a new partition out of the unallocated space, try turning the ext3 partition into a logical partition, then doing the same with unnallocated space, making it linux-swap.

now, if the linux-swap is a logical partition, you should be able to turn the ext3 partition into a primary again.

If this doesn't work, i will try firing it up myself to have a little look.

[Fillibuster]

Alright, I'm sorry this is being kind of a pain in the ass, but how would I turn the ext3 into a logical. Should I delete the partition and restart or what?

[Garfunkel]

delete the partition and create a new one out of it.

Look, i know it is a real pain in the ass, being a first time user and all, but it will soon be over man! just hang in there!

[Fillibuster]

EDIT: Muahaha I think I am in a good spot, I think I figured it out. Screen alright?

[Garfunkel]

Indeed! I think you hit the nail on the head! try continuing to the mount point screen thingy and post one more screen, i think your almost set to go!

[Fillibuster]

Ahhh damn, I was so close!

EDIT: Ok so the problem I'm thinking is that the only way I can figure to do this is to create that 38GB as an extended partition. When I create the 1GB I can set it up as linux-swap, but the ext3 partition I'm only allowed to select as logical. And then after that I got those black diamonds of death or whatever...

[Garfunkel]

I was kinda thinking that may happen, it is because they are embedded in an extended partition.

Maybe the best thing to do is close the installer down, start again and instead of formatting the unallocated space as ext3, leave it and continue to make the linux swap, as logical. Then go back and format the unallocated space as ext3. If that makes sense. lol.

the problem is, you can't have more then 4 primary partitions on one hdd, the ext3 one has to be primary and the linux-swap has to be logical.

[Fillibuster]

Ok, bear with me. I'll try that out.

[Fillibuster]

Ok so I restarted the installer and I have my first 38GB unallocated and then I made that an extended partition. I then created a new partition that was 1GB and was able to make it logical/linux swap. When I got to set up the final 37GB I can still only select logical and Ext3. Maybe I misunderstood what you were telling me to do?

EDIT: I deleted those two partitions and went back to my main unallocated 38. I then tried to make a new 1GB partition out of that (starting with the linux-swap) doing it this way I was also only allowed to choose between primary and extended.

[Garfunkel]

alright you may as well just make the ext3 a logical too, i'm sure if it doesn't like it it will warn you. when the ext3 and linux-swap partitions are set up and are both logical, progress to the mount point screen and post a screen.

It's mainly a pain in the ass because of those recovery partitions that the computer manufacturer puts on there, i hate them.

[Fillibuster]

Yeah their being little bitches.
Here's the screen, but I think I glimpsed those black errors while it was updating the partition table before it came to this screen. I didn't dare click back because I was to o afraid. I guess we'll find out in a minute here...

[Garfunkel]

yep, that's fine, just continue and see what happens, you haven't touched your window partitions so if worse comes to worse we could always just delete the ubuntu partition.

[Fillibuster]

Sorry about that, it was about 7 o clock in the morning here and I just passed out. lol. Hopefully I catch you soon, but I hit forward and here's my last screenshot...

[Khaos]

Garf, Ubuntu has to be on a primary partition?

I've never seen a linux distro that required that...

[Fillibuster]

Khaos you think I can just go ahead and install?

[Khaos]

It looks good to me! If anything goes wrong, Windows has not been touched except for its bootloader, which GRUB will overwrite, but the bootloader can be very easily restored.

GRUB will be your new bootloader now (windows is 'invisible', you usually dont see it unless you have two different versions of windows on a machine).

I am not sure if Ubuntu will configure GRUB for you, or if you have to configure it yourself to add an entry to boot Windows. It's Ubuntu and supposed to be the 'easiest' Linux so I would guess it would configure it all for you..

[Fillibuster]

Ok, I'm going to do it then. Hopefully it works out. I'll post in a bit to let you know. Thanks to you and Garfunkel too. I'm sure I'll have questions in the future.

[Fillibuster]

Ok, already ran into something here...

Some error, you can check out all my other screens to see if it's something I did...

[Khaos]

Hmm, it shouldn't be messing with partition #1. Maybe it is just being informative, in which case I would just click Continue.

If you're sure that you didn't tell it to do anything with that partition, I would just click Continue.

[Fillibuster]

Yeah the only thing I touched was the NTFS to resize it and add room for Ubuntu. I'll click continue and see what happens.

[Fillibuster]

Ok, its installed and I installed all 162 updates. When I restarted to Windows I got a little nervous when it ran a DSKCHECK or whatever, but alas, both run fine. So a few questions. Does Ubuntu support any resolutions higher than 1024x768? I'm running Windows at 1280x1024 and Ubuntu looks kind of funky on my monitor. Also, where should I start? I'd really like to custimize it, I've seen some great videos of Beryl, though I'm assuming that's pretty advanced. Any advice from you guys on where I should start playing around, I'd love to hear them!

[Khaos]

Cool!

About your display, it seems like Ubuntu is running off a generic driver, so you may the appropriate drivers. Beryl is pretty advanced and requires alot of setup, but a great project to play with.

I don't use Ubuntu, I use Gentoo, so I am not sure how to get drivers or Beryl working.. You'll probably have to wait for Garf lol..

Glad you got everything set up. Once you get past the Linux beginners phase, you can move onto more complex distributions that allow for much more control (Gentoo provides the most control over your system out of all the distibutions, but in return is the MOST difficult one to use/understand).

[Fillibuster]

Yeah, I think I definitely need to get all my drivers up and running. Ubuntu doesn't recognize a sound device either...I'll hit this up again when Garfunkel gets on.

[Teh Roxor!]

You may have to edit your /etc/X11/xorg.conf file and add the higher resolutions.

EDIT- Look here: http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=83973

[Khaos]

^That too, hehe. :-[

[Garfunkel]

I'm Back!

hehehehe

Khaos did a good job while i was away, the error that came up really should mean nothing, it may be a false alarm completely, in any case, leaving it as it is won't cause any trouble, you are just "leaving it" after all.

About your resolution problem, i agree with Khaos, it is simply a graphics driver issue. What graphics card do you have? if it's nvidia it will be very easy to fix. AMD....not so.

I should have mentioned something about windows CHKDSK, it is just windows recognising that your partition information has changed (it gets poopy at you when you try competitor's operating systems ;)) It's nothing to worry about.

Beryl, though advanced is very easy to install if you are using a nvidia card. Tell me what card you have and i will show you how.

Before we continue however, i HEAVILY recommend you join up at the Ubuntu forums http://www.ubuntuforums.org/
Very helpful info, searches on the forum can reveal all, many members are skilled etc. Without it i would still be confined to windows.

Very happy you got it working mate! The hardest step is now officially over! In no time at all you will become an expert. Just look at OmniCloud, i showed him how to use ubuntu a few months ago, instead of dual booting, he went the whole hog and removed windows, hasn't been happier since it seems. [/LinuxSuccessStory]

PS: Teh's suggestion is a good one too, you may need to do that, but after installing the driver it should be added to the xorg.conf file automagically.

[Fillibuster]

I already joined up over there, but I haven't really looked at it too much. I thought it'd be easier to learn the basics while I had someone willing to walk through with me...after the beginner shit I'll bounce over there and learn more advanced stuff...

I'm running a GeForce7800GTX. It also can't recognize my sound card, but I can't remember the exact card I have. I know its a Creative X-Fi, I just don't remember which exact one.

[Teh Roxor!]

...uh oh.

According to the ALSA site, it's not supported:

Card delivered to developers. Completely new architecture. Creative actively preventing support due to no datasheets being released to ALSA developers. Reverse engineering work not started due to lack of time.

http://www.alsa-project.org/alsa-doc/index.php?vendor=vendor-Creative_Labs#matrix

I'm not sure if this is insurmountable.

[Garfunkel]

haha! same video card as me! makes it all the more easier.

Here is a link that i used.

http://ubuntuguide.org/wiki/Ubuntu_Edgy#How_to_install_Beryl.2FAIGLX_.28Nvidia .29

Please DO keep this link bookmarked! you have no idea how useful it is, it's like the "ubuntu for dummies guide" it saves sooooo much time! bookmark it now, you will need it! (when bookmarking remove the "#" and everything after it, that's just to show you the section of the page)

I believe there are ways to get the sound card working, but not shore how exactly, i use integrated so mine works out of the box.

[Fillibuster]

Alright, so since I'm a n00b. I'm assuming I open the terminal and c/p all that stuff in? And if I do that will it also fix the resolution issue?

[Teh Roxor!]

If you wait a bit, Creative says they'll release a closed-source driver for your sound card soon.
As of March 2007, there has been no Linux support; Linux users are unable to generate any sound from the card. Creative, on May 18th, 2006 issued a statement that a closed-source Linux driver that works with the Advanced Linux Sound Architecture will be available in the second quarter of 2007.

This would frustrate me greatly... Amarok is the best audio player, period.

[Fillibuster]

Well I'll be a sonofabitch...lol. Well I still have Windows so it's not a huge issue since I'm currently just planning on messing around learning. I can wait if I must.

[Garfunkel]

Yep, what you do is type those commands in to the terminal. This is a good excersize for you because it teaches you how to use the terminal, which is very very important and powerful.

If you are at all unsure of anything, please reply. If you follow the instructions exactly, it WILL work.

[Fillibuster]

Right now I'm trying to install the Nvidia driver...did the generic one work for you? Because I ran the generic one "nv" and my resolutions are still maxed at 1024x768. It said that if that doesn't work to change the nv to nvidia in the xorg.conf

[Garfunkel]

after finishing the instructions correctly, it will turn on the nvidia drivers automatically.

[Fillibuster]

Oh, alright. Well I ran the driver seperatly, but I guess that just means I got some practice. I had to add the resolution I wanted myself however but its working. I'm going to try the beryl and I'll post if I need help. Your seriously a badass Garfunkel!

[Garfunkel]

Excellent! the reason i didn't explain *everything* is because 1/It's great learning practise ofr you! and 2/My fingers are tender form typing out a 29 page assignment in 2 days. I did it thoug!

[Fillibuster]

Ouch 29 pages is rough...
Ok so I think Beryl is working. I have the red jewel up top and when I open windows they kind of jiggle, but the bar at the top with maximize, minimize, and close is nowhere to be found...

Nevermind, for some reason Emerald didn't open, but I found the themes and stuff and I now have that bar. There's way too many settings to choose from!

[Garfunkel]

that is a bug, i get that too sometimes. Beryl is still in very very early development. Glad you got it working mate! fiddle around with beryl a bit, it can do some cool things! Have a look at the setting window, you can do all sorts of things.

you can rotate the desktop as a cube by holding alt+ctrl but moving the mouse. or zoom by holding the super key (same as windows key) and scrolling mouse wheel. There are many more too!

[Fillibuster]

Alright so I was messing around with Beryl and it all froze, and i'm not sure what the ctrl+alt+del is in Linux but nothing would work so I used the power button. I restarted and put in my username and password and then ubuntu never started up. I got stuck at the blank "human" themed screen. I'm on XP right now, I'm going to try to get on Ubuntu again.

EDIT: Well its still getting stuck at the blank screen after the Ubuntu bar comes up and the start up programs load. I guess it didn't take me too long to kill the beast. lol

[Garfunkel]

press ctrl+alt+f1, it will open up a command prompt, type in your name and password if asked, then type "sudo pkill gnome-panel" and "sudo killall gnome-panel" then "sudo /etc/init.d/gdm stop" then "sudo /etc/init.d/gdm start". see what happens.

now that i am thinking about it may not have been such a good idea to start of with beryl straight away lol! we should have worked your way up to it.

[Fillibuster]

Lol yeah I guess not, sorry about that, it had me pumped though...

Ok so I followed your directions and the desktop started to show up but no icons showed up, or the clock, and I can't click on anything. It seems to have almost gotten there and then froze up again.

EDIT: I booted up my laptop so I should be able to keep you updated a little quicker as I try to resolve this...

[Garfunkel]

hmmm, i have had similar issues before but mine were temporary.

I would suggest maybe changing the graphics driver from nvidia back to nv and trying again. After ubuntu has kind froze press alt+f2 and type sudo gedit. then open the file called "xorg.conf" in /etc/X11/, change the driver to nv and save and close it down. then press alt+ctrl+backspace. This will restart the driver and the window manager. Log in and see what happens. If that doesn't work we may have to remove beryl and nvidia.

[Fillibuster]

Hmm, I think I got it to work. I removed the autostarts for beryl and emerald manager. Someone suggested it at ubuntuforums. So does this mean that I should remove Beryl? I'm assuming the driver is still fine, but I must have screwed something up with Beryl...

[Garfunkel]

Oh shit? you had autostarts on? woops, don't do that, yeah, i was assuming you didn't. i wouldn't suggest it either as beryl is unstable and may interfere with startup processes. phew!

don't remove beryl then if it is working, if you want to run beryl, i'd suggest to start it on demand, to start it open up a terminal and type beryl-manager. that will start it.

[Fillibuster]

Lol alright, lesson learned. So when the whole desktop freezes like that, in the future what should I do? I've got a sheet of notes going here, so I can keep track of what to do to fix these issues...

[Fillibuster]

So when I just went to run beryl-manager it came back...
Checking for GLX_EXT_texture_from_pixmap :failed
and then the desktop froze again. I'm not sure if I should just start over with Beryl or not...

[Garfunkel]

the first thing to do would be to simply undo any changes you made, eg; removing new apps etc. Also, attempt to change the driver to nv and see what happens, if it does work under nv then reinstall the driver.

good idea to keep notes.

Ah i like it when things sort themselves out :)

now, you may be wondering why most of your videos and mp3's and stuff don't play. That is because of licensing issues and stuff. just have a look at the link i posted to install codecs ;)

anyway, keep asking questions! it's the best way to learn.

EDIT: just saw your new post. I don't really know what's wrong there, i've never encountered that before. Maybe you should post it at the ubuntu forums.

[Fillibuster]

Alright, I'll leaver Beryl alone until someone over there can help me out with that issue, and perhaps I'll start on the codecs. I won't be able to use them for a bit since Teh let me know that my card isn't supported (lameeee).

[Garfunkel]

i think it's supported, but not shore how to get it working, i'd suggest posting that over their too.

[Fillibuster]

Alright. Well Beryl Manager is fubar now for some reason...everytime I try to launch the manager either through terminal or applications, Ubuntu freezes. How do I go about uninstalling an app?

[Garfunkel]

sudo aptitude remove beryl

(there are lots of other packages besides beryl but you may end up fixing it in the future, the main point is just getting rid of beryl now)

[Fillibuster]

Awesome, thanks a lot Garf. I gotta spread the love first, but you know it's coming...

I'm going to call it a night (or early morning) and get some sleep. I will do some tinkering tomorrow afternoon and if I have questions I'll post them and you can get back to me when you get on the forums next. Thanks again for everything, and I'll be in touch.

[Garfunkel]

no problems man, congrats on making the big step! no matter how challenging it is.

[Khaos]

Haha, very nice! Glad you got a working system!

[Garfunkel]

we could always completely remove beryl and try compiz

[Fillibuster]

Yeah I think I'd like to try that. Definitely get rid of Beryl. I tried to redo the instructions and open it but it froze everything up again so I had to alt+sysrq+k out of it. I wouldn't mind trying Compiz. I would assume that if I plan to use Beryl again it would be best to just completely install it over again as opposed to attempting it with files already on there?

[Khaos]

Yeah.

Compiz should be more stable as it is a much mature project. Beryl is actually a fork of Compiz, started in September 06.

[Garfunkel]

compiz = the original, slower developed, more stable, conservative

beryl = new, flashy, outlandish, faster developed, somewhat unstable.

Hey! it's like gnome and KDE!

[Fillibuster]

So about the sound...I started a thread over at ubuntuforums and there's people looking. Its not looking too promising but we shall see. Now about getting rid of Beryl completely???

[Garfunkel]

where is the link to the thread? just out of interest.

to unninstall it completely, you will need to follow the steps from here:

http://ubuntuguide.org/wiki/Ubuntu_Edgy#How_to_install_Beryl.2FAIGLX_.28Nvidia .29

backwards, so when it say add, remove it instead. here, i will show you exactly what to do:

open System -> Preferences -> Sessions

remove beryl-manager and emerald --replace

in terminal type:

sudo gedit /etc/X11/xorg.conf

remove Option "TripleBuffer" "true"

remove # Enable 32-bit ARGB GLX Visuals
Option "AddARGBGLXVisuals" "True"

# If you are using an older version of compiz that
# does not support rendering into the Composite
# Overlay Window, you will need to disable clipping
# of GLX rendering to the X Root window with this
# option, or you will get a blank screen after
# starting compiz:
Option "DisableGLXRootClipping" "True"

save and close

in terminal type:

sudo apt-get remove beryl emerald-themes

there, all gone. There are actually steps on that page i just linked too that i just noticed that explained two problems with beryl, and fixes for both, take a look.

[Fillibuster]

Alright thanks, Beryl Settings Manager is still listed in the System Tools but I assume thats ok.

Here is my thread on the soundcard issue Creative Soundcards? (http://www.ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=399297)

[Garfunkel]

hmm, one of them refered to "excerpt from ubuntu book" from help, now i'm assuming he is talking about ubuntu's help feature (the life saver icon)...

[Fillibuster]

Eh...looks like I'm shit outta luck. I'm going to try installing Compiz right now. If I can't hear anything I might as well make it look good! lol

[Garfunkel]

wait. do you know if the motherboard in your computer/laptop has an integrated sound card? if it does you may be able to use it instead of the x-fi.

[Fillibuster]

I'n not sure, I should be able to check that in Windows Device Manager right? I'll try to figure that out.

On another not, I followed the directions for Compiz and when I went to open it I got the following...

alex@Fillibuster:~$ compiz-tray-icon
ALSA lib confmisc.c:670:(snd_func_card_driver) cannot find card '0'
ALSA lib conf.c:3479:(_snd_config_evaluate) function snd_func_card_driver returned error: No such device
ALSA lib confmisc.c:391:(snd_func_concat) error evaluating strings
ALSA lib conf.c:3479:(_snd_config_evaluate) function snd_func_concat returned error: No such device
ALSA lib confmisc.c:1070:(snd_func_refer) error evaluating name
ALSA lib conf.c:3479:(_snd_config_evaluate) function snd_func_refer returned error: No such device
ALSA lib conf.c:3947:(snd_config_expand) Evaluate error: No such device
ALSA lib pcm.c:2146:(snd_pcm_open_noupdate) Unknown PCM default

(compiz-tray-icon:8904): GLib-GObject-WARNING **: invalid (NULL) pointer instance

(compiz-tray-icon:8904): GLib-GObject-CRITICAL **: g_signal_connect_data: assertion `G_TYPE_CHECK_INSTANCE (instance)' failed

(compiz-tray-icon:8904): GLib-GObject-WARNING **: invalid (NULL) pointer instance

(compiz-tray-icon:8904): GLib-GObject-CRITICAL **: g_signal_connect_data: assertion `G_TYPE_CHECK_INSTANCE (instance)' failed


Any ideas or should I check out the UFs?

[Garfunkel]

that's got something to do with also, (advanced linux sound architecture), which is....you guessed it....stuffing up because of your sound card. LOL!

you should be able to tell if you have integrated by going into the BIOS and looking for any options relating to it, it may say something like "x-fi enabled" integrated <card name> disabled" or something like that.

[Fillibuster]

Oh that sucks, my graphics are getting jacked up because of my sound? LOL this better not be a sign that I'm not supposed to try Linux out!!!

[Fillibuster]

Ok, I do have integrated, so I enabled it and I can hear only through my headphones in Linux. I guess it's a step forward, but I won't have speakers because my outputs in back are obviously coming out of my X-Fi...

Am I going to have to enable and disable in BIOS everytime I switch between XP and Ubuntu? Probably, oh well...

EDIT: The integrated has no effect on Compiz; it still won't open.
alex@Fillibuster:~$ compiz-tray-icon

(compiz-tray-icon:5489): GLib-GObject-WARNING **: invalid (NULL) pointer instance

(compiz-tray-icon:5489): GLib-GObject-CRITICAL **: g_signal_connect_data: assertion `G_TYPE_CHECK_INSTANCE (instance)' failed

(compiz-tray-icon:5489): GLib-GObject-WARNING **: invalid (NULL) pointer instance

(compiz-tray-icon:5489): GLib-GObject-CRITICAL **: g_signal_connect_data: assertion `G_TYPE_CHECK_INSTANCE (instance)' failed

[Garfunkel]

i don't have any knowledge on that error sorry. if you look at the back of your pc you should find that you have sound ports away from the ones your speakers are plugged into. you could plug them into the integrated holes. It seems to be your only option till creative get their act into gear sorry. :(

[Teh Roxor!]

Don't be discouraged just because compiz and beryl don't work. I know they seem really nice, but the novelty wears off after a bit I think.

I looked at the Ubuntu forums, and some guy (maybe it was you?) was having the same error, and the only response he got was "use beryl." Maybe we should try to figure out why Beryl is crashing instead?

[Garfunkel]

ironically, i just read the same thing... Apart from that one unhelpful post, Google failed (scary...)

coded-dude might know.

EDIT: after doing some extensive research and applying my Uber 1337 Google skilz i have managed to find that this error seems to be the fault of dbus plugins failing to load.

http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=fr&u=http://forum.ubuntu-fr.org/viewtopic.php%3Fpid%3D808749&sa=X&oi=translate&resnum=5&ct=result&prev=/search%3Fq%3D%2522GLib-GObject-WARNING%2B**:%2Binvalid%2B(NULL)%2Bpointer%2Binsta nce%2522%26start%3D30%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN

I do not know how to take it further however...

[Fillibuster]

Ok well I'm going to do some more research too and remove Compiz and then go from there. I really appreciate all the help you guys have been providing

[Khaos]

No problem, this is how the Linux community works. Haha, we're happy to help.

Fixing Beryl sounds like a project I would tackle, because in the end I'll probably wind up learning some new tidbit about Linux.

If you have free time, it could be a side project for you. We'll be here to help, as always. Haha.

[Fillibuster]

Well I got rid of Compiz and reinstalled Beryl and it's working fine now. I don't know if I just got lucky, but we shall see. There's a ton of options in it, but I had a couple quick questions for you Garf...

How do I change the images on the top and bottom of the cube? And also, I've seen videos on youtube where there is a nice 3D kind of background behind the cube...any idea how to run that? Or are there just themes like that on the Beryl website?

EDIT: Nvm, I did a lot of exploring and found most of what I asked. But I had a new question, for a lot of the effects like a water trail on my mouse and adjusting saturation of a window and such, it seems like my keyboard keys aren't working. Some commands work and other don't. Any ideas?

[Garfunkel]

OMG you got it working? just make sure by restarting X by doing ctrl+alt+backspace. and logging in, just to make sure it wasn't a fluke! My guess is that it was a simple error in your xorg somewhere like you didn't paste the code in the exact right place or something, it can get picky about that.

Anyway, i know why some of the commands don't work, it's just hard to explain, they are working it's just there are no proper keys mapped to them, in the settings window, if you can bring up the settings window for those individual effects you can go into "commands" and assign a command to them, (at school ATM so can't remember exactly where) but you have to fill it in and make sure the tick box next to the effect is ticked as well.

glad you got it working man! just your sound issue now.

[Fillibuster]

Oh I made sure to restart X, and it's all fine. I'm happy. The water effects are kinda crazy, I put the water trail on my mouse but messed it up somehow and I couldn't click anything so I had to restart X and shut it off LOL.

Yea I can deal with the sound I suppose. I might just enable the onboard and leave it and plug my speakers into that and use it for Windows too. It'd be a waste of a good soundcard, but only until the drivers come out for Linux. I also noticed that when I was listening to music on Linux through Amarock, the songs would sound terrible at the beginning. Could it just be because their wma's and the w32's (which I er...found) aren't perfect?

EDIT: Also, if I install KDE through kubuntu-desktop, will I still be able to run Beryl on it?

[Garfunkel]

i don't know why the songs sound bad at the beginning, it may have something to do with crossfading or equalisation, just play with the EQ and see if you can fix it. It may also just be the codecs.

If you install kubuntu desktop i am 99 percent shore you can still use beryl with it as you haven't done anything to gnome specifically, keep in mind that kde tends to be somewhat unstable and you might have some strange happenings, is somewhat normal. When i run it i get the adept package manager icon on my screen for no reason and i can't close it down :shrug:

When you have installed kubuntu-desktop, you can use it by logging out and selecting "sessions" then choose kde, then log in.

[Khaos]

Bah, don't be a KDE hater.

(Gnome sucks)

[Garfunkel]

i'm not, i actually prefer KDE. it's just...unstable.

But most of it's faults will be gnome's faults after KDE 4.0 is (finally) unleashed. It will make hiss it will make hiss it will make history.

[Khaos]

hahaha, yeah. I can't wait.

By the way, is the 3.80 dev release supposed to be a 'beta' of 4? It says KDE4, but......

[Garfunkel]

i guess so.

i'm not testing, i don't want to spoil anything.

[Khaos]

Haha, I am gonna try it out and tell you ALL about it....

[Garfunkel]

i just won't read it.

[Teh Roxor!]

I think a lot of that instability comes from the kubuntu developers. They add things like that administration panel and make adept run when you log in and things like that. Every time I used KDE on Gentoo, it's perfectly fine because it's _just_ kde.

(I think.)

[Khaos]

Yeah, KDE has never given me any problems now that I think about it. And my friend was telling me about Kubuntu; he said he couldn't even run make commands without setting it up first.

He eventually gave up haha.

[Fillibuster]

Interesting...I'll try it, what's it going to do? Kill Me? *Becomes uneasy*

[Teh Roxor!]

If worst comes to worst, you can just remove it. However, I use kubuntu on my notebook without much to complain about, so I think you should have no problem.

[Garfunkel]

I think you are spot on the mark Teh. The kubuntu dev's add a whole bunch of shit in an attempt to keep up with the ubuntu devs and it hurts.

Still, KDE has, historically, been __less__ stable then gnome.

[Fillibuster]

I'm trying to make sure everything is up to date before I add GDE but when I get to this point, I get this:

Do you want to continue [Y/n]? Y
Abort.


Why is it aborting even though I'm hitting yes to continue?

[Garfunkel]

WTF??? hmmm. that is bizarre. Can you post what the terminal says before then?

[Fillibuster]

Sure, i restarted my computer and I'm going to try it again right now

[Garfunkel]

it might have came up with an error and wanted to abort and continuing was aborting.

[Fillibuster]

alex@Fillibuster:~$ sudo apt-get install ubuntu-desktop
Password:
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
ubuntu-desktop is already the newest version.
The following packages were automatically installed and are no longer required:
mozilla-firefox
Use 'apt-get autoremove' to remove them.
0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 2 not upgraded.
alex@Fillibuster:~$ sudo apt-get update
Get:1 http://security.ubuntu.com edgy-security Release.gpg [191B]
Ign http://security.ubuntu.com edgy-security/main Translation-en_US
Get:2 http://ubuntu.beryl-project.org edgy Release.gpg [191B]
Ign http://ubuntu.beryl-project.org edgy/main Translation-en_US
Get:3 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com edgy Release.gpg [191B]
Ign http://us.archive.ubuntu.com edgy/main Translation-en_US
Ign http://security.ubuntu.com edgy-security/restricted Translation-en_US
Ign http://security.ubuntu.com edgy-security/multiverse Translation-en_US
Ign http://security.ubuntu.com edgy-security/universe Translation-en_US
Hit http://security.ubuntu.com edgy-security Release
Ign http://us.archive.ubuntu.com edgy/restricted Translation-en_US
Ign http://us.archive.ubuntu.com edgy/multiverse Translation-en_US
Ign http://us.archive.ubuntu.com edgy/universe Translation-en_US
Get:4 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com edgy-updates Release.gpg [191B]
Ign http://us.archive.ubuntu.com edgy-updates/main Translation-en_US
Ign http://us.archive.ubuntu.com edgy-updates/restricted Translation-en_US
Get:5 http://ubuntu.beryl-project.org edgy Release [2961B]
Ign http://us.archive.ubuntu.com edgy-updates/multiverse Translation-en_US
Ign http://us.archive.ubuntu.com edgy-updates/universe Translation-en_US
Hit http://us.archive.ubuntu.com edgy Release
Hit http://us.archive.ubuntu.com edgy-updates Release
Hit http://security.ubuntu.com edgy-security/main Packages
Hit http://ubuntu.beryl-project.org edgy/main Packages
Hit http://us.archive.ubuntu.com edgy/main Packages
Hit http://us.archive.ubuntu.com edgy/restricted Packages
Hit http://us.archive.ubuntu.com edgy/main Sources
Hit http://security.ubuntu.com edgy-security/restricted Packages
Hit http://security.ubuntu.com edgy-security/main Sources
Hit http://security.ubuntu.com edgy-security/restricted Sources
Hit http://ubuntu.beryl-project.org edgy/main Sources
Hit http://us.archive.ubuntu.com edgy/restricted Sources
Hit http://us.archive.ubuntu.com edgy/multiverse Packages
Hit http://us.archive.ubuntu.com edgy/universe Packages
Hit http://us.archive.ubuntu.com edgy-updates/main Packages
Hit http://us.archive.ubuntu.com edgy-updates/restricted Packages
Hit http://us.archive.ubuntu.com edgy-updates/main Sources
Hit http://security.ubuntu.com edgy-security/multiverse Packages
Hit http://security.ubuntu.com edgy-security/universe Packages
Hit http://us.archive.ubuntu.com edgy-updates/restricted Sources
Hit http://us.archive.ubuntu.com edgy-updates/multiverse Packages
Hit http://us.archive.ubuntu.com edgy-updates/universe Packages
Get:6 http://gandalfn.club.fr edgy Release.gpg [189B]
Ign http://gandalfn.club.fr edgy/dev Translation-en_US
Hit http://gandalfn.club.fr edgy Release
Hit http://gandalfn.club.fr edgy/dev Packages
Fetched 3156B in 5s (537B/s)
Reading package lists... Done
alex@Fillibuster:~$ sudo apt-get upgrade
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
The following packages will be upgraded:
libmysqlclient15off mysql-common
2 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
Need to get 1802kB of archives.
After unpacking 0B of additional disk space will be used.
Do you want to continue [Y/n]? Y
Abort.

[Fillibuster]

Well I reran the update codes with "aptitude" instead of "apt" and it worked. I don't know if there's a difference because when I installed Beryl i used "apt"...

[Garfunkel]

hmmm, try "sudo aptitude upgrade" and "sudo apt-get dist-upgrade"

EDIT: you beat me!

Aptitude is somewhat better, it's advantage over apt-get is basically that if you install a package and it installs lots of dependencies, when you remove that package it will also remove the dependencies, apt-get won't.

[Fillibuster]

Alright, I'll have to remember that. So now it's just install kubuntu-desktop right?

[Garfunkel]

yep

during the installation you may be asked to setup some things or select your default window manager, leave it as gdm (gnome) until you get used to kdm (kde).

[Fillibuster]

Ok. Hmm, is there a repository I'm supposed to add first?

EDIT: Just kidding I'm a retard and can't type correctly LOL

[Garfunkel]

hehe, noob

One thing you should know is that Linux commands are case sensitive, and they are positively EVIL over it.

[Fillibuster]

Have any of you guys installed Kiba Dock or Conky? I'm getting better at this linux stuff and I want to do more customizing. I tried KDE and it looks cool but I think I like GNOME better for now. so I did sudo aptitude uninstall kubuntu-desktop and when im starting and restarting I still get the Kubuntu screen? It's not a huge deal of course but I just thought aptitude got rid of everything...

Also I was trying to download a neat skydome picture I found but I don't know what to do with a .php...

[Garfunkel]

the reason why aptitude wouldn't remove kubuntu-desktop is because it is what we call a "container", it just refers to a bunch of other packages included to install KDE. It isn't a package itself. To remove kubuntu desktop you will need to remove those packages, here is how (one command):


sudo apt-get remove adept adept-batch adept-common adept-installer adept-manager adept-notifier adept-updater akregator amarok amarok-xine apt-index-watcher ark arts bogofilter bogofilter-bdb bogofilter-common dcraw debtags digikam enscript gtk2-engines-gtk-qt gwenview hwdb-client-kde k3b kaddressbook kaffeine kaffeine-xine kamera karm katapult kate kaudiocreator kbstate kcontrol kcron kde-guidance kde-guidance-powermanager kde-icons-mono kde-systemsettings kdeadmin-kfile-plugins kdebase-bin kdebase-data kdebase-kio-plugins kdebluetooth kdegraphics-kfile-plugins kdelibs-data kdelibs4c2a kdemultimedia-kfile-plugins kdemultimedia-kio-plugins kdenetwork-filesharing kdenetwork-kfile-plugins kdepasswd kdepim-kio-plugins kdepim-kresources kdepim-wizards kdeprint kdesktop kdm kdnssd keep kfind kghostview khelpcenter kicker kio-apt kio-locate kipi-plugins klipper kmag kmail kmailcvt kmenuedit kmilo kmix kmousetool kmplayer-base kmplayer-konq-plugins knetworkconf knotes koffice-data koffice-libs konq-plugins konqueror konqueror-nsplugins konsole kontact konversation kooka kopete korganizer kpdf kpf kppp krdc krfb krita krita-data kscd kscreensaver ksmserver ksnapshot ksplash ksplash-engine-moodin ksvg ksysguard ksysguardd ksystemlog ktorrent kubuntu-artwork-usplash kubuntu-default-settings kubuntu-desktop kubuntu-docs kubuntu-konqueror-shortcuts kwalletmanager kwin kwin-style-crystal language-selector-qt libakode2 libarts1-akode libarts1c2a libartsc0 libavahi-compat-libdnssd1 libavahi-qt3-1 libc6-dev libcurl3-gnutls libdbus-qt-1-1c2 libexif-dev libflac++5c2 libgmp3c2 libgpgme11 libgphoto2-2-dev libgsl0 libifp4 libimlib2 libjasper-runtime libjpeg-progs libk3b2 libkcal2b libkcddb1 libkdepim1a libkexif1 libkipi0 libkleopatra1 libkmime2 libkonq4 libkpimexchange1 libkpimidentities1 libkscan1 libksieve0 libktnef1 liblockdev1 liblua50 liblualib50 libmagick++9c2a libmimelib1c2a libmodplug0c2 libmpcdec3 libmysqlclient15off libnjb5 libnss-mdns liboggflac3 libopenexr2c2a libpcre3 libpoppler1-qt libpq4 libpythonize0 libqt3-mt libqt4-core libqt4-gui libqt4-qt3support libqt4-sql librsync1 libruby1.8 libsamplerate0 libskim0 libsqlite0 libtdb1 libtunepimp3 libungif4g libvorbisfile3 libxcomposite1 libxine1 libxvmc1 linux-libc-dev mysql-common openoffice.org-kde openoffice.org-style-crystal perl-suid poster psutils pykdeextensions python-elementtree python-kde3 python-qt3 python-qt4 python-sip4 python2.4-dev qca-tls qobex rdiff-backup ruby ruby1.8 scim-qtimm skim speedcrunch vorbis-tools wlassistant


BTW: you might want to bookmark this link:

http://www.psychocats.net/ubuntu/index.php

It has lots of info too.

Give me a link to the page with the skydome picture and i'll see what's going on there.

[Fillibuster]

Thanks for the new linky!

The picture is here (http://www.beryl-themes.org/content/show.php/Melbourne+Docklands?content=55329)

I can save it to desktop or whatever I'm just not sure what to do from there, I try opening it and it says that its unsafe or something. I also tried to save as .png instead but Beryl can't recognize that either (even though my current crappy picture is a .png)

[Garfunkel]

for some reason, i've always had issues using the skydome, the pics never show up but it says it's working, anyway, the image is actually a jpeg. Here is a direct link:

http://img185.imageshack.us/img185/8597/553291fo0.jpg

right click -> save

Then, the best thing to do is go to a terminal and type "sudo nautilus" and enter your password, go to /usr/share/backgrounds and paste the image there, close it down and import it into beryl.