Linux Corner
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: BRISTOL!
Age: 39
Posts: 526
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Thanks for the URL. Not sure if its worth the effort, but i will have a go. I am getting the error due to not having my partitions set-up correct for Solaris (According to a help site article bug base thing). My experience is limited here, and would like a nice graphical partition manager, and suggestions?
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: manchester
Posts: 156
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
try and find out what others are using with the same laptop as you have.
no use reinventing the wheel.
i can recommend ubuntu, knoppix or redhat all day to you , but ive no idea if they will work on your lappy HW. all the others are in the same boat.
some lappys and some devices just cannot work with linux. nobody has written the drivers for them. yet.
good luck.
no use reinventing the wheel.
i can recommend ubuntu, knoppix or redhat all day to you , but ive no idea if they will work on your lappy HW. all the others are in the same boat.
some lappys and some devices just cannot work with linux. nobody has written the drivers for them. yet.
good luck.
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: EuroGA.org
Posts: 13,787
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Best "Linux" for a Sony Vaio Laptop?
My son managed to comprehensively trash his laptop, mainly (as kids do) by installing the content of every computer magazine cover CD onto it. This was after he put a virus called Windows Vista (beta, build 5744222653) on it! Then he caught about 15 trojans.
The machine ended up running at about 1/10 to 1/100 of its normal speed. Later one of the boot files got trashed and now it won't boot.
Anyway, booting with a Knoppix CD we can access all the data files, copy them off onto a flash card, etc. Works amazingly well. We will then do a shop restore, from the usual hidden partition, taking it back to XP Home. Knoppix fails to run some of the hardware e.g. the wifi and sound but this doesn't matter for this purpose.
Now, he likes Linux and wants to play with that! But he also needs XP back, to run some apps.
So I am thinking about doing a double boot: XP and Linux.
I have never really used "Unix" (have used DOS, etc, being an assembler/C developer) but know that X-Windows is the graphical user interface. I also know there are many different versions of it.
Can anyone recommend one, which will create a boot menu as described, come with Open Office, etc? There is just one partition (C
in total.
The machine ended up running at about 1/10 to 1/100 of its normal speed. Later one of the boot files got trashed and now it won't boot.
Anyway, booting with a Knoppix CD we can access all the data files, copy them off onto a flash card, etc. Works amazingly well. We will then do a shop restore, from the usual hidden partition, taking it back to XP Home. Knoppix fails to run some of the hardware e.g. the wifi and sound but this doesn't matter for this purpose.
Now, he likes Linux and wants to play with that! But he also needs XP back, to run some apps.
So I am thinking about doing a double boot: XP and Linux.
I have never really used "Unix" (have used DOS, etc, being an assembler/C developer) but know that X-Windows is the graphical user interface. I also know there are many different versions of it.
Can anyone recommend one, which will create a boot menu as described, come with Open Office, etc? There is just one partition (C
in total.
Plastic PPRuNer
There isn't really a "best" Linux distro anymore than there is a "best" car, just one that suits you more than another.
The essential bits of the mainline distros are for practical purposes pretty similar. The engine under the hood is more or less the same. Linux uses two main desktop environments, Gnome or KDE (there are others, like Xfce) - Gnome is simpler and KDE is more Windows like - both are excellent. You can always chose which one you use, it's just that some distros are more Gnome orientated and some more KDE friendly.
Most of the well-known Linux distros come with a nice graphical installer and good package (application) management software for updating and adding or removing software.
If you're going for a double-boot, always install Windows FIRST and then Linux - Windows deliberately trashes any non-Microsoft operating systems or partitions that it finds on install, whereas Linux respects other OSes, makes it's own partition(s) without damaging existing ones and will usually set up a dual-boot automatically.
Personally I like SuSE but I'd also suggest Mepis Linux - http://www.mepis.org/ or Kubuntu - http://www.kubuntu.org/
If you prefer the Gnome desktop then Ubuntu Linux - http://www.ubuntu.com/ is very popular and supports a lot of hardware.
As for the Vaio, if you google for "linux vaio" there's pages and pages of info. on distros and how to do it.
PS: Most Linux distros install all the software you'll ever need when you install the OS - office suites, CD writers, audio and video software, browsers. e-mail clients, calculators and so on and so forth. You can always remove applications that you don't need or don't want from the Control Panel equivalent. There is lots of other stuff on the CD and even more in the distros web repository (library) that you can install if you need/want it.
The essential bits of the mainline distros are for practical purposes pretty similar. The engine under the hood is more or less the same. Linux uses two main desktop environments, Gnome or KDE (there are others, like Xfce) - Gnome is simpler and KDE is more Windows like - both are excellent. You can always chose which one you use, it's just that some distros are more Gnome orientated and some more KDE friendly.
Most of the well-known Linux distros come with a nice graphical installer and good package (application) management software for updating and adding or removing software.
If you're going for a double-boot, always install Windows FIRST and then Linux - Windows deliberately trashes any non-Microsoft operating systems or partitions that it finds on install, whereas Linux respects other OSes, makes it's own partition(s) without damaging existing ones and will usually set up a dual-boot automatically.
Personally I like SuSE but I'd also suggest Mepis Linux - http://www.mepis.org/ or Kubuntu - http://www.kubuntu.org/
If you prefer the Gnome desktop then Ubuntu Linux - http://www.ubuntu.com/ is very popular and supports a lot of hardware.
As for the Vaio, if you google for "linux vaio" there's pages and pages of info. on distros and how to do it.
PS: Most Linux distros install all the software you'll ever need when you install the OS - office suites, CD writers, audio and video software, browsers. e-mail clients, calculators and so on and so forth. You can always remove applications that you don't need or don't want from the Control Panel equivalent. There is lots of other stuff on the CD and even more in the distros web repository (library) that you can install if you need/want it.
Last edited by Mac the Knife; 16th Oct 2006 at 10:07. Reason: addition
Join Date: Aug 2003
Location: ubiquitous
Posts: 230
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
The UNIX admin guy where I used to work didn't like VAIOs because of "compatibility problems". I'm not sure what he meant by that, but I take it it's probably to do with hardware compatibility and Linux s/w.
This was last year anyway, things may well have changed big time by now..
This was last year anyway, things may well have changed big time by now..
Bludger extraordinaire
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: London/Frankfurt
Posts: 194
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Cesco
<UNIX admins>
UNIX admins never change.
As Mac points out, poison first, antidote afterwards. Ubuntu is a good bet - RedHat has plenty of support but seems to be meandering. If you want to punish your son, try Solaris 10 if he aspires to be a UNIX admin. That might be a little too cruel, though.
You are a little hamstrung, in that you cannot thow in a new physical disk for your new OS, so please ensure that anything you cannot afford to lose from the Mickeysoft partition (and you _will_ need to partition your disk) is safeguarded.
BOFH
<UNIX admins>
This was last year anyway, things may well have changed big time by now.
As Mac points out, poison first, antidote afterwards. Ubuntu is a good bet - RedHat has plenty of support but seems to be meandering. If you want to punish your son, try Solaris 10 if he aspires to be a UNIX admin. That might be a little too cruel, though.
You are a little hamstrung, in that you cannot thow in a new physical disk for your new OS, so please ensure that anything you cannot afford to lose from the Mickeysoft partition (and you _will_ need to partition your disk) is safeguarded.
BOFH
Join Date: Mar 2001
Posts: 190
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Try VM.................
A free version of Solaris is available to run under VM, which will run on Windows. Works fine on my Acer Aspire 5560.
Try http://www.vmware.com/vmtn/ for the basic idea, then http://www.vmware.com/vmtn/appliances/directory/ to find the Solaris 10 links. All free. Various versions of Linux also available.
Very interesting stuff, and relatively seamless (on my machine). Best of both worlds and no dual booting.
Snooze
Try http://www.vmware.com/vmtn/ for the basic idea, then http://www.vmware.com/vmtn/appliances/directory/ to find the Solaris 10 links. All free. Various versions of Linux also available.
Very interesting stuff, and relatively seamless (on my machine). Best of both worlds and no dual booting.
Snooze
Plastic PPRuNer
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: BRISTOL!
Age: 39
Posts: 526
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Just got back and read that post snooze. Sounds great, running it from Windows would be a better option. Thanks for that, and the other posts, i am going with Fedora for now. Will try and install Solaris 10 in VM ware later today...
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: EuroGA.org
Posts: 13,787
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
My son has just put Ubuntu on his Sony laptop.
Quite nice (if you like that sort of thing) but we got stuck installing Samba (necessary to view his windoze partition data).
And, along with apparently half the internet, we found that it doesn't support WPA/PSK so all our wifi access points, home and work, would have to be reconfigured (with plain old 64-bit WEP) specially for it
In this fairly basic respect it is about 3 years behind windoze.
Quite nice (if you like that sort of thing) but we got stuck installing Samba (necessary to view his windoze partition data).
And, along with apparently half the internet, we found that it doesn't support WPA/PSK so all our wifi access points, home and work, would have to be reconfigured (with plain old 64-bit WEP) specially for it
In this fairly basic respect it is about 3 years behind windoze.
Plastic PPRuNer
You don't need SAMBA to access your Windows partition, you just need to define a mount point and mount your Windows partition there.
From Linux you can read NTFS partitions no problem, but writing to them is more problematic (MS won't release any details of the NTFS system so writing has to be reverse engineered and MS make this as difficult as possible).
But CAPTIVE - http://www.jankratochvil.net/project/captive/ and FUSE - http://www.linux-ntfs.org/ at least make writing possible albeit a bit slow (only important if you're shifting a lot of data).
Linux reads and writes FAT-32 without needing any tinkering but it's an old filesystem with no understanding of permissions and ACLs. Nevertheless, putting shared data on a FAT-32 partition (or just using it as a temporary transfer area) is a quick solution.
There are other approaches. One is to format your Windows data partition as ext3 and use the free Ext2 File System Driver for Windows - http://sourceforge.net/projects/ext2fsd - Linux of course understands ext2/ext3 partitions without problems.
Last edited by Mac the Knife; 21st Oct 2006 at 21:22. Reason: emphasis
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: Northampton UK
Posts: 537
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
My son has just put Ubuntu on his Sony laptop.
... found that it doesn't support WPA/PSK ...
... found that it doesn't support WPA/PSK ...
... got stuck installing Samba ...
But agree with Mac that I'm not sure it's what you need to pick up a Windoze partition on the same machine.
RC
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: EuroGA.org
Posts: 13,787
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Sorry guys you are right - Samba is for windoze networking. I got confused. It was opening the NTFS partition we need a solution to (Ubuntu just says it cannot mount it). Creating a small FAT16 or FAT32 partition and use that to transfer the data is one OK solution.
I did do a google for the WPA/PSK issue but TBH I know so little about Linux and the way it works... I don't even know how to install a program under it! My son just wants to have a play. I keep telling him that an O/S is no more than a platform for running applications He had earlier put Vista (beta build XXXXX) on it, thoroughly trashed it with it (it worked but extremely slowly) and we had to restore it from the recovery partition.
I won't spend a lot of time on this. A friend knows unix well and I will ask him to help on the WPA/PSK issue.
I did do a google for the WPA/PSK issue but TBH I know so little about Linux and the way it works... I don't even know how to install a program under it! My son just wants to have a play. I keep telling him that an O/S is no more than a platform for running applications
He had earlier put Vista (beta build XXXXX) on it, thoroughly trashed it with it (it worked but extremely slowly) and we had to restore it from the recovery partition.I won't spend a lot of time on this. A friend knows unix well and I will ask him to help on the WPA/PSK issue.
Join Date: May 1999
Location: At Home
Posts: 67
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Linux and printer drivers
As a result of reading Mac The Knife's recommendation in the "Longest Suicide Note" thread, I decided to give SimplyMEPIS 6.0.1 a trial from the live CD on my XP box.
I was very impressed by the way that it picked up all my internet and wireless network connections and worked flawlessly "out of the box" as the saying goes. Unfortunately, it will not recognise my Canon MP700 printer/scanner/copier. I have visited the Canon download site and they do not seem to offer a Linux driver for this machine.
Can anyone offer a suggestion to overcome this problem?
An alternative source for the driver or a different Linux distro perhaps? All information gratefully received.
I was very impressed by the way that it picked up all my internet and wireless network connections and worked flawlessly "out of the box" as the saying goes. Unfortunately, it will not recognise my Canon MP700 printer/scanner/copier. I have visited the Canon download site and they do not seem to offer a Linux driver for this machine.
Can anyone offer a suggestion to overcome this problem?
An alternative source for the driver or a different Linux distro perhaps? All information gratefully received.
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: Northampton UK
Posts: 537
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
A bit of a Google using various combinations of "drivers canon mp700 linux ubuntu suse" got me to http://www.turboprint.info/
Haven't tried it so no idea whether it's value for money / whether there are better cheaper (free?) alternatives.
RC
Haven't tried it so no idea whether it's value for money / whether there are better cheaper (free?) alternatives.
RC
Join Date: Sep 2000
Location: France
Posts: 69
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Nothing under System Administration - Peripherals? Have you tried here:
http://"http://http://www.mepislover...ums/index.php"
Go to Hardware then Printers: listings of supported types are being developed.
http://"http://http://www.mepislover...ums/index.php"
Go to Hardware then Printers: listings of supported types are being developed.
Plastic PPRuNer
Mepis is a cool distro - glad you like it!
That's the tough thing about switching, you're stuck with the gear you have and can't just start with hardware that supports Linux....
Luckily Stylus Toolbox - http://stylus-toolbox.sourceforge.net/ - drives my Epson Stylus Photo R200 very nicely.
I don't have a Canon printer, so I've never looked for drivers.
There's a Canon subgroup on the mepis org forums - http://www.mepis.org/forum/107 - have a look there or ask, they're always very helpful .
There's also a good Mepis forum on LinuxQuestions.org - http://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/f64 - where you could look/ask.
Contrary to some perceptions, Linux people are normally extremely helpful if you're polite and it seems like you've made an effort to solve your problem yourself. It's a community, after all.
At the moment Canon provide drivers for the iP2200-iP4200 and iP1000-iP1500 PIXMA series only - http://www.canon-europe.com/Support/software/linux/
Drivers for multifunction scanner/printer/copier machines are in general much harder to find.
Canon has a page at - http://www.canon-europe.com/Support/...gistration.asp - where you can register to request support for your printer. Even if you don't get it, at least they know that people want it. It's the squeaky wheel that gets the oil!
In the end, the driver problem will only be resolved if we can show manufacturers that there is a demand for Linux drivers, and that providing them will sell more of their hardware $$$.
I start with the helpdesk and if this doesn't work (occasionally they can be really helpful!), write or email the most senior people in the company with an explanation and polite request. Someday you'll strike gold (they'll wake up and produce a driver) so you'll benefit other users as well as yourself.
Mac
PS: Linuxprinting.org - http://www.freestandards.org/en/OpenPrinting - have a huge database with lots of tips and guides
That's the tough thing about switching, you're stuck with the gear you have and can't just start with hardware that supports Linux....
Luckily Stylus Toolbox - http://stylus-toolbox.sourceforge.net/ - drives my Epson Stylus Photo R200 very nicely.
I don't have a Canon printer, so I've never looked for drivers.
There's a Canon subgroup on the mepis org forums - http://www.mepis.org/forum/107 - have a look there or ask, they're always very helpful .
There's also a good Mepis forum on LinuxQuestions.org - http://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/f64 - where you could look/ask.
Contrary to some perceptions, Linux people are normally extremely helpful if you're polite and it seems like you've made an effort to solve your problem yourself. It's a community, after all.
At the moment Canon provide drivers for the iP2200-iP4200 and iP1000-iP1500 PIXMA series only - http://www.canon-europe.com/Support/software/linux/
Drivers for multifunction scanner/printer/copier machines are in general much harder to find.
Canon has a page at - http://www.canon-europe.com/Support/...gistration.asp - where you can register to request support for your printer. Even if you don't get it, at least they know that people want it. It's the squeaky wheel that gets the oil!
In the end, the driver problem will only be resolved if we can show manufacturers that there is a demand for Linux drivers, and that providing them will sell more of their hardware $$$.
I start with the helpdesk and if this doesn't work (occasionally they can be really helpful!), write or email the most senior people in the company with an explanation and polite request. Someday you'll strike gold (they'll wake up and produce a driver) so you'll benefit other users as well as yourself.
Mac
PS: Linuxprinting.org - http://www.freestandards.org/en/OpenPrinting - have a huge database with lots of tips and guides