Ubuntu Linux ... WOW!!!!

[toughmudderdave]

An easier option would be to pick up a cheap 80-100g drive and just install it on that instead.

I was gonna say that very same thing, but then realized we're talking about a laptop which isn't as versatile as a desktop machine. If his machine was a desktop, that'd be a no-brainer...just buy another drive, slap it in, lay down linux and grub...VIOLA! Dual boot machine.

 

[dddaver]

I suppose that small external hard-drive MIGHT work but having a 300GB hard-drive on my laptop seems kinda redundant to say the least, if I downloaded ubuntu to THAT hard-drive maybe it'd work, but since this is a laptop I'm trying to put ubuntu on like TMD said, NAH. But thanks bud. And also since the latest download attempt trying to get the 32 bit version to try failed at 690MB and only resulted in "part file", I've decided Daddy's too tired and doesn't wanna play anymore.

Thanks for all the helpful advice. Good luck and have fun. Oh BTW, it won't take another year, I have really hated Windows for long time now, but you do what you gotta do and since theirs used to be the only game in town that worked worth a shit, I had to play. Not anymore.

 

[Coba]

Speaking of installing Ubuntu along side Windows... I somehow managed to create a dual booting PC... that needs a USB "key" in order to boot into the "secret" linux ubuntu image.

I'm not sure if it was a fluke, or if this is how the USB live CD works but, here's how it happened....

I knew I wanted each OS to have their own HDD. instead of having 1 HDD partitioned 5 times into primary, extended, and logical partitions... too much work and too many points of failure...

First, I DL the 12.04 LTS 64 bit, then followed instructions on how to make the live CD .iso image load from a USB drive. ( found here at pendrivelinux.com )

Next, I installed Win7Pro64 on one HDD ( i unplugged the rest during this install 5 HDDs total on my system)... this is important... the Windows disk must be /dev0... IOW... plug the Win HDD into the first SATA port (SATA 0) or IDE (Master) connection on the MoBo. Windows likes to be first... it has something to do with the MBR files I think... but, the Linux HDD can be any /dev...

I completed the Windows installation then shut the machine down.


Then, I unplugged the windows HDD and plugged in my 0 filled, unallocated 500 GB HDD where Linux will reside. It is now the only HDD in the system. and it is on /dev1 or SATA 1. I booted the machine to the USB Live CD image and let Ubuntu decide how it wanted itself installed....

After completing the ubuntu install, a restart booting to the linux partition went fine (it was still set to boot to the USB)... so, I shut down the machine and plugged the rest of the HDD's into the system, windows @ SATA 0 and ubuntu @ SATA 1 and the rest wherever... I booted into Windows first so Win7 could find the disks, install drivers, assign the drive letters and so on... I then restarted, and directed the machine to boot into the linux device (w/o the USB in the system)... here's where I found something cool...

The machine BIOS is set to boot into windows every time I turn the machine on ( I didn't want my wife to get confused w/ all the choices at the GRUB splash screen) so when I wanted to get into my Ubuntu installation I had to push F7 or something like that to load the boot device menu. I selectted the device @ SATA 1, when I did... it wouldn't go...it says NO BOOT FILE FOUND!... I must've tried 10 times to boot into that install... so, I ran a PE and noticed there was no boot folder on this HDD! I was like WTF!! 2 solid days work and it won't work... I was upset.. but I started all over again.

I put the USB stick in the PC and set it as the boot device... then, something really magical happened... low and behold I found my install! ... my machine went to my Ubuntu desktop and it was beautiful! the GRUB boot loader's boot files had inadvertently installed themselves on the USB!...

So now, My PC will boot normally into Windows every time, without issue. But, if I (or anyone else for that matter) want to boot into my Ubuntu partition I need the boot folder that is on the USB! it's like a "key" for my dual boot... every time.

It's like a secret computer inside my computer. my /home folders are encrypted
so it's like an encrypted secret computer inside my computer.

Mrs. Coba likes to jokingly tell everyone it's my secret pr0n box... but she knows she's the only one I like to see nekid.

anyways...
I just thought I'd share with ya'll how cool I think Ubuntu is... and WOW! it's a great platform indeed!

 

[dddaver]

Oh... so you don't want to play nice, eh? Well -f to you too buddy. (Usually the 'force' option... causing a safety override. )

Huh? Fuck me? Or maybe you were talking like MS might? No clue. I'm really, really sorry I don't play nice with others, doh! (insert sarcasm smiley if there is one).

 

[Jbonez]

Live usb+tor=smart....

 

[dddaver]

Live usb+tor=smart....

What is a "live" usb? As opposed to a "dead/broke" one I suppose?

Tor is cool, but my problem with it is that it takes so long to get anything back, after your signal has "bounced" through 5 or whatever servers when you request ANYTHING over the net. I suppose it IS safe though. But also if one were to use it, THAT behavior alone is considered "suspicious behavior" to some of those yucks at Homeland Security (and most other LEOs too or maybe even to someone at any of those other lettered gov't agencies which think they should be nameless while having access to YOUR life) and your ISP DOES keep records EVERYTHING you use your ISP for anyway, so there are records of you doing ANYTHING like that. Personally, I like flying under the radar at ALL times, but I hate waiting for anything, I'm just too impatient I guess.

It'd be nice if one could turn TOR on and off easily and then there were no records of using it, but that's not the case as far as I know in today's world anyway.
You might be able to easily switch it on and off now though. I just haven't tried it in a few months.

 

[Hydro-Soil]

Huh? Fuck me? Or maybe you were talking like MS might? No clue. I'm really, really sorry I don't play nice with others, doh! (insert sarcasm smiley if there is one).

Nah... screw the safety protocols built into the 'distribution', not you. LOL

Tired of the operating system telling me I can't do something I know I should be able to. the -f option for a command tells it to not ask me and just DO what I told it to do. Linux allows you to be EXTREEEEEEEMELY specific with stuff. LOL

mv /junk/* /junk2/

Might give me errors if there were conflicts between the files.... BUT... by using the -f option

mv -f /junk/* /junk2/

It just does it... unless it's a root thing I need permissions for.

Stay Safe!

 

[Jbonez]

What is a "live" usb? As opposed to a "dead/broke" one I suppose?

Tor is cool, but my problem with it is that it takes so long to get anything back, after your signal has "bounced" through 5 or whatever servers when you request ANYTHING over the net. I suppose it IS safe though. But also if one were to use it, THAT behavior alone is considered "suspicious behavior" to some of those yucks at Homeland Security (and most other LEOs too or maybe even to someone at any of those other lettered gov't agencies which think they should be nameless while having access to YOUR life) and your ISP DOES keep records EVERYTHING you use your ISP for anyway, so there are records of you doing ANYTHING like that. Personally, I like flying under the radar at ALL times, but I hate waiting for anything, I'm just too impatient I guess.

It'd be nice if one could turn TOR on and off easily and then there were no records of using it, but that's not the case as far as I know in today's world anyway.
You might be able to easily switch it on and off now though. I just haven't tried it in a few months.

A live usb is like a live cd, allowing you to run your linux distro of choice real time without actually having residual data on your pc, run a clean copy of windows on your pc, keep a hidden drive with back up files, you can interface once you run the live usb or cd..

Agreed, tor is slow, but its still the most effective way to do business... I cant use anything else for some of the program files i use.. Always encrypt your data.

2fast-

 

[Hydro-Soil]

I was gonna say that very same thing, but then realized we're talking about a laptop which isn't as versatile as a desktop machine.

Check the specs on the machine... chances are there's a second drive bay that's empty. Especially if that 'model' had an upgrade option at purchase time for a second drive.

Not saying it does, just saying there's a slight chance it might have one.

Isn't there a boot from usb key option?

Anyway... Linux is still an OS for people that like to and have the knowledge (or time to acquire it) to modify and set up things the way they like them. It can take a bit to customize things.. but they usually never change unless you change them and they hardly ever break.

Stay Safe!

 

[dddaver]

mv -f /junk/* /junk2/ uh oh, how'd you know? Those are actual file names I used for my "stuff" back in the day.

I have put hard-drives in desktops but I really doubt there is enough space in my laptops as size conservation is one of the main concerns of the laptop manufacturers. The space may be there, but I don't care anyway, laptops are way too small for my fumbling mitts anyway. And I really don't care to buy anymore computer hardware junk that quickly becomes obsolete within a year or two. Mother earth already has enough trash to deal with now, and I have already added more than my share of computer trash for her to deal with.

I was being facetious about "live". It IS opposed to dead in many ways though I think anyway. I have booted and run Linux using usb and cd. I even put it on one machine and ran it alongside my Winduhs. Win 7 is MS answer to ALL our computing problems, NOT. SUCKS. But wait, Win 8 is better? HELL NO. Just better at being a little slipperier and hiding their shit a little better.

The real problem I have running anything live off usb or cd is I think the system doesn't let you save changes to the usb memory stick or the cd, as far as I know. Maybe you can, never worked for me though.

Edit: After rereading what you wrote bones, I think you were saying save the data to a hidden part of the hard-drive? How do you do that? I have had trouble partitioning the hard-drives on Win 7 computers. I guess they don't want you to change THEIR computer? Their own help menus don't work, are a waste of time, and space on the drives. Again, how'd you do that?

 

[The Professor]

Hydro-Soil:

I have a couple questions on your Adobe CS Wine install/migration if you don't mind.

Well to start with I found my VirtualBox CS install doesn't work quite as "flawless" as I first thought. I hadn't tried everything yet before thinking I was home free but I found it only works about 95%. Being an old hand in the printing industry and with Photoshop since version 3 on diskettes I use PSD to it's fullest. This is just my "home" install but it really needs to work 100%. The 5% that doesn't work is quite significant: filters!

Where I first started seeing problems is with a few of the more complex built-in filters (like Liquify, which I actually never use) which would fail to launch basically saying they need direct video card access to work. Most of the other built-in filters seemed to work ok. Then I migrated my (not all that outrageous) collection of 3rd party filters to the VB install and that's where things really turned to crap. I wasn't able to try very many of them as they would "unexpectedly quit" Photoshop when invoked and about half the time this would kill the whole VirtualBox session as well. Not good.

If there is anything I could live without 3rd party filters isn't it. So anyway, now I'm going to try and migrate the CS install to Wine as you have done and I have a couple of questions. This may be slightly comparing apples to oranges as I believe you were migrating CS4 from an WinXP install and I am migrating CS6 from a Win7-64 install so folder locations are probably different. For example, I don't have any Macrovision or FLEXnet stuff. Also I have my VirtualBox CS installed for 1 user and it looks like your install was for global PC access but that should be a predictable variation.

Besides Photoshop I'm also migrating Illustrator, InDesign, Fireworks, Audition and Bridge. Some of these apps are still 32-bit (Program Files) and some are 64-bit (Program Files x86) but I'm using the 32-bit Photoshop because legacy 3rd party filters are not recognized with the 64-bit version (they won't even show up in the list).

So digging through my Win7 install this is what I've found:

C:\Program Files\Adobe
C:\Program Files\Common Files\Adobe
C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe
C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Adobe
C:\ProgramData\Adobe
C:\Users\Public\Documents\Adobe

C:\Users\myusername\AppData\Local\Adobe
C:\Users\myusername\AppData\LocalLow\Adobe
C:\Users\myusername\AppData\Roaming\Adobe

I think C:\ProgramData\Adobe might pertain to Adobe PDF reader.

So my question is how did you know that you needed to copy the C:\Windows\winsxs folder? The reason I ask is because on my Win7 install this thing is a whopping 7.75 GB with 11k files. I'd rather not copy all that crap over if I can help it and I can't imagine most of that is CS related. In my folder most of the stuff starts with amd64 and nothing in there is labeled Adobe. Was your winsxs folder this large? Any idea what in there is CS relevant?

Finally, does everything seem to work ok with your CS Wine migration? Does Liquify work in Photoshop? LOL Do you have any 3rd party filters installed? I really don't want to jump through all these additional hoops only to run into the same roadblock again.

Wine follows the WinXP folder structure so to get this right I might need to install CS6 into a WinXP virtual drive and hell if I have to do all that I might just as well install Win7 and CS6 to a separate physical drive and be done with it. But first I'm gonna try and see if I can pull this off because I figure I have nothing to lose but patience and a few hours of life. Right?

Anyway, thanks in advance Hydro-Soil. In retrospect I think you made the right call to skip VB altogether for this. ~TheProf

 

[Hydro-Soil]

So my question is how did you know that you needed to copy the C:\Windows\winsxs folder?

Data mining the net.

I'd really like to help out here but I've abandoned the project for now. Just when I thought I knew what would work... I left one of the installation dvds on the desk and the sun damaged it. *sigh*

I'm still dual-booting. To make matters worse, the only game I plan online (ddo.com) updated the other day and it won't launch under wine. *shrug* When Ubuntu updates to the current version of wine that's billed as the 'latest'... it will work again. The workaround is just too much work with my daily schedule at the moment. lol

Dig around... if someone has figured it out, they've probably posted it online somewhere.

Stay Safe!

 

[The Professor]

Data mining the net.

I'd really like to help out here but I've abandoned the project for now. Just when I thought I knew what would work... I left one of the installation dvds on the desk and the sun damaged it. *sigh*

Aww I'm sorry to hear that. Of all things... ~TheProf