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Linux Distro Noob thread of Linux noobs

S

Schlep

Member
My experiences with tearing have come down to refresh rate not being set correctly, dual/multi monitor setups where the monitors have different refresh rates, and/or sync to vblank not being checked in compiz or nvidia settings (if running nvidia).
 
M

Massa

Member
Andrex said:
According to the System 76 website, "Intel HD Graphics 4000." How do I find the driver?
Click to expand...

Intel is great in that there's only one version of their driver, the open source one. They contribute and help maintain the open source graphics stack for Linux.

markot said:
6950 Amds newest driver, 13.1 or whatever
Click to expand...

You can open the AMD control center and enable the "Tear Free" option. Dimmuxx's tip will also help.
 
Q

qizah

Unconfirmed Member
Downloaded Minitube. Such an awesome little application. Where was I all this time??
 
Z

zoku88

Member
Anybody have a suggested terminal emulator (that is not gnome-terminal, xterm or sakura?)

I'm currently using sakura but it is either limited in customization options or the documentation is really really bad.
 
hitsugi

hitsugi

Member
zoku88 said:
Anybody have a suggested terminal emulator (that is not gnome-terminal, xterm or sakura?)

I'm currently using sakura but it is either limited in customization options or the documentation is really really bad.
Click to expand...

urxvt seems to be pretty popular..
 
W

wsoxfan1214

Banned
So is elementary OS actually worth switching to and trying out until I can figure out the issue with windows on my laptop? Wanting someone to sell me really. :p
 
Jzero

Jzero

Member
wsoxfan1214 said:
So is elementary OS actually worth switching to and trying out until I can figure out the issue with windows on my laptop? Wanting someone to sell me really. :p
Click to expand...
Elementary is awesome but it is currently in early beta. The people that made it don't even recommend you using it as a main OS.
 
L

Leucrota

Member
Brettison said:
I'm like the lone sucker around here that use Elementary as my main OS.

Umm should I sell you on it? LOL :p
Click to expand...

Well, I don't actually do that much on my laptop. Is Elementary OS compatible with these sites in any way:
Netflix
Spotify
DropBox

If ElementaryOS is fully compatible with those, I would switch and not have any problems.
 
Jzero

Jzero

Member
PatMcAtee said:
Well, I don't actually do that much on my laptop. Is Elementary OS compatible with these sites in any way:
Netflix
Spotify
DropBox

If ElementaryOS is fully compatible with those, I would switch and not have any problems.
Click to expand...
Spotify is coming out with a web player that is currently in beta so you won't need to download the client anymore.
 
P

Polari

Member
PatMcAtee said:
Well, I don't actually do that much on my laptop. Is Elementary OS compatible with these sites in any way:
Netflix
Spotify
DropBox

If ElementaryOS is fully compatible with those, I would switch and not have any problems.
Click to expand...

I've used Spotify and Dropbox before, so you're fine there. With Netflix apparently there's an easy way to install the Windows version so it works through WINE: http://www.webupd8.org/2012/11/how-to-use-netflix-in-ubuntu-through.html

I'd probably wait for the stable version of Elementary though.

PatMcAtee said:
Yes, but does the stock browser work with Spotify, or can you DL a major browser like Chrome or FireFox?
Click to expand...

I don't know, but Chrome and Firefox are both easily installable.
 
L

Leucrota

Member
Polari said:
I've used Spotify and Dropbox before, so you're fine there. With Netflix apparently there's an easy way to install the Windows version so it works through WINE: http://www.webupd8.org/2012/11/how-to-use-netflix-in-ubuntu-through.html

I'd probably wait for the stable version of Elementary though.

I don't know, but Chrome and Firefox are both easily installable.
Click to expand...

Nice, thank you. I have been looking for a more lightweight OS for my more or less aging laptop. I have been researching eOS and it seems so nice and look like it has everything I need, then. I am tired of Windows and have been wanting to switch to a Linux distro for a while, so this looks like the distro I will choose. I can deal with bugs if it means I will be there for the birth of a new OS.
 
L

Leucrota

Member
wsoxfan1214 said:
Okay. Does anyone know the root password for elementary OS?
Click to expand...

Try this:

As default Ubuntu has no password set for the root user. To gain root access you have to type in your own user password. This is the password you set for the first user while installing Ubuntu.
To manually set a password for the root user, type in the following in the shell:
sudo passwd root

After that you are asked to type in the new root password twice. Finally, your root user has its own password.
Click to expand...

Source: https://duckduckgo.com/?q=default+root+password
 
P

Pctx

Banned
^ Correct for Debian installs as root usage is discouraged. Ahhh Debian.
KuGsj.gif
 
Z

zoku88

Member
In what cases do you need to log in as root that isn't covered by typing

#sudo -i

?

I can't think of many cases off of the top of my head. (well, assuming a standard configuration of sudoers.)
 
P

Pctx

Banned
Sudo vs using root is one of the more active debates in the Linux world. Whenever I work on Debian based systems I always just type sudo bash to go to root. As long as you know what you're doing, using root isnt scary.
 
G

GameplayWhore

Member
zoku88 said:
In what cases do you need to log in as root that isn't covered by typing

#sudo -i

?

I can't think of many cases off of the top of my head. (well, assuming a standard configuration of sudoers.)
Click to expand...

Why would you want to run sudo when you're already root?
/pedant


Pctx said:
Sudo vs using root is one of the more active debates in the Linux world. Whenever I work on Debian based systems I always just type sudo bash to go to root. As long as you know what you're doing, using root isnt scary.
Click to expand...

When I just need to do a couple quick things, sudo is fine. When I'm in a terminal window that I'm going to be running root stuff intermittently, being root is much less annoying than having to type in my user password every time I run a command. On occasion, and in very limited scenarios (where security isn't quite so important), I
Code: 
ssh -XC root@ipaddress
with public/private encryption. That's sometimes used when I need to run a script from one machine on another. Using ssh is also a way to get around the weird issues where sometimes, on some systems, for some reason, sudo and su block graphical apps from popping up, though it is a very rare circumstance that I need to run a graphical program as root.
 
N

Nostremitus

Member
I have a problem... I've been running xubuntu on a partition.

It's failing to boot now.

It reads

Code: 
* Starting save kernal messages   [fail]

then

Code: 
* Stopping system V runlevel compatibility

...then it stalls...

Any fixes for this? Remember, I'm just shy of Linux illiterate...


edit: ok after it stalls for a moment, I'm able to type in the console... any ideas?
 
C

ComputerMKII

Banned
Nostremitus said:
I have a problem... I've been running xubuntu on a partition.

It's failing to boot now.

It reads

Code: 
* Starting save kernal messages   [fail]

then

Code: 
* Stopping system V runlevel compatibility

...then it stalls...

Any fixes for this? Remember, I'm just shy of Linux illiterate...
Click to expand...
This is why Linux will never be a decent alternative to proprietary OSes.
 
Z

zoku88

Member
Computer said:
This is why Linux will never be a decent alternative to proprietary OSes.
Click to expand...

I don't see how that's much worse than what happens when Windows fails to boot...
GameplayWhore said:
When I just need to do a couple quick things, sudo is fine. When I'm in a terminal window that I'm going to be running root stuff intermittently, being root is much less annoying than having to type in my user password every time I run a command. On occasion, and in very limited scenarios (where security isn't quite so important), I
Code: 
ssh -XC root@ipaddress
with public/private encryption. That's sometimes used when I need to run a script from one machine on another. Using ssh is also a way to get around the weird issues where sometimes, on some systems, for some reason, sudo and su block graphical apps from popping up, though it is a very rare circumstance that I need to run a graphical program as root.
Click to expand...
I don't understand, though. If you use sudo -i, you only have to use your pw once, so I don't understand the advantage of using su instead of sudo -i.



Nostremitus said:
I have a problem... I've been running xubuntu on a partition.

It's failing to boot now.

It reads

Code: 
* Starting save kernal messages   [fail]

then

Code: 
* Stopping system V runlevel compatibility

...then it stalls...

Any fixes for this? Remember, I'm just shy of Linux illiterate...


edit: ok after it stalls for a moment, I'm able to type in the console... any ideas?
Click to expand...
what can you do in the console? Can you startx for example?

I'll be honest, I'm googling right now
.

Is anything in your /var/log ? Did you something kernel related recently? (driver? kernel?)
 
N

Nostremitus

Member
zoku88 said:
I don't see how that's much worse than what happens when Windows fails to boot...

I don't understand, though. If you use sudo -i, you only have to use your pw once, so I don't understand the advantage of using su instead of sudo -i.



what can you do in the console? Can you startx for example?

I'll be honest, I'm googling right now
.

Is anything in your /var/log ? Did you something kernel related recently? (driver? kernel?)
Click to expand...
I downloaded GNOME... but here's the thing... I left it sitting at the prompt while googling, and it suddenly finished booting randomly after sitting stalled for almost an hour... odd...

but it's REALLY slow...
 
Z

zoku88

Member
Nostremitus said:
I downloaded GNOME... but here's the thing... I left it sitting at the prompt while googling, and it suddenly finished booting randomly after sitting stalled for almost an hour... odd...

but it's REALLY slow...
Click to expand...

Somewhat confused about the order of events. Especially the first one.

I'm guessing you mean. You were using Xubuntu; installed GNOME through the package manager; restarted (?) ; it didn't boot so you googled; while googling, the computer finished booting.

I'm not sure what exactly you mean by prompt. Was it a prompt to enter in your username? Or was it just text on the screen with a blinking cursor?

Anyway, I would first use dmesg and see if anything interesting is in there (near the end.) Then, I would do sudo -i and surf around /var/log and look at the log files in there.




I think there might be a /var/log/upstart for you (Upstart is the name of the init system that Ubuntu uses, I think, so I assume you would be using it too.) That might tell you if there were any problems.

There's a /var/log/kernel , but this might be empty...

There's /var/log/Xorg.0.log , which will tell you if you have a gfx driver problem.

Whole bunch of logs in there. Look for things that look threatening.
 
N

Nostremitus

Member
zoku88 said:
Somewhat confused about the order of events. Especially the first one.

I'm guessing you mean. You were using Xubuntu; installed GNOME through the package manager; restarted (?) ; it didn't boot so you googled; while googling, the computer finished booting.

I'm not sure what exactly you mean by prompt. Was it a prompt to enter in your username? Or was it just text on the screen with a blinking cursor?

Anyway, I would first use dmesg and see if anything interesting is in there (near the end.) Then, I would do sudo -i and surf around /var/log and look at the log files in there.




I think there might be a /var/log/upstart for you (Upstart is the name of the init system that Ubuntu uses, I think, so I assume you would be using it too.) That might tell you if there were any problems.
Click to expand...
Yes, I installed GNOME through the package manager yesterday and it booted fine. This problem started today. The prompt I was referencing is the black screen that looks like DOS. I know it has a name, but I don't know it. It's what you see during the boot sequence.

I'm going to deal with this tomorrow... I need sleep. Thanks for the suggestions, I truly appreciate them.
 
Z

zoku88

Member
Nostremitus said:
Yes, I installed GNOME through the package manager yesterday and it booted fine. This problem started today. The prompt I was referencing is the black screen that looks like DOS. I know it has a name, but I don't know it. It's what you see during the boot sequence.

I'm going to deal with this tomorrow... I need sleep. Thanks for the suggestions, I truly appreciate them.
Click to expand...

Sorry, I was asking about what exactly you were seeing when your computer wasn't doing anything and you said that you could type into it.

I just wanted to know if you actually had a working shell and could login and stuff (and do commands, etc) Or if it was just really nothing. It sounds like the latter, from what you are saying.

Anyway, if you want some help, I would recommend uploading some of the log files I mentioned.
 
K

Karish

Member
I installed Ubuntu 12.10 on my AMD triple-core laptop (which runs Win 8 like a charm) and was pretty disappointed by the performance. Any recommendations on how to fix this?
 
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