to find out if you're running a 32-bit or 64-bit version of Ubuntu enter the
command: uname -a at the shell prompt.

When downloading Ubuntu from their web site you have to specify the 64-bit
version from a drop-down menu. Otherwise you get the 32-bit version by default.

thanks to everyone for their interest.

I appear to be running only a 32 bit Ubuntu, I can download a 64 bit but doubt that it has any bearing on my system crashes.

On the good side, I have removed the MA311 wireless card and the system has been up for 5 hours now, no sign of any instability.

The question must be - is there a driver more suited to the MA311 card? If there is I can get it onto a memory stick and then onto the machine, how should I install it? Is this a kernel rebuild process? Scary stuff.

Rans6...

after shifting the whole shooting match into the other room I find that the wired ethernet does not work at all. I have tested the wired connection using my laptop, running Ubuntu, and noted all of the info in the network configuration menus. The same info, except for the mac address, is copied to the new machine and..... nothing. At least the wireless did connect for a while, until the machine falls over bigtime.

The laptop auto eth0 has a mac address in the boxes, I think it was picked up automatically, the new machine does not. Is this something I need to find and enter or should it pick up for itself?

Rans6....

use a live OS fedora and see if it works

phew! The lack of connectivity through the ethernet wired link was caused by my failure to find all 3 bits of the bios to set up. I had spotted the option for power saving of the network hardware and the option for enabling the hard wired LAN but I had missed the option to turn on the LAN boot rom.

Just need to sort out the driver for the MA311 wireless card and then cart all the stuff back to my play room.

Rans6...

Personal Productivity
 

Ok Linux Dudes, is anyone here running any personal productivity software on Linux that they like/recommend?

At the moment I use TiddlyWiki for note taking, but am frustrated by the lack of a good calendar / reminder / task list type function. You can get some "tiddlers" to do this stuff, but I find they take away the flexibility of the note taking.

I also tried OneNote under Windows but it was worse

Anyone got anything they think is good for this stuff?

Thanks

batninth

by totally disabling the wired network in my system I seem to have sorted the wireless connectivity issues. Hurrah!


Now, I am having issues with some video files and video streams. If I get the BBC sport live video up on the screen the computer crashes after a few minutes. Also, I found 2 video files (.mpg format) on my portable hard disc which crash the system as soon as they are loaded into a player. Other files play perfectly happily though.

Ubunto 9.10 updated, 32 bit OS, i7 system with loads of grunt.

Two build updates have installed themselves since I loaded from a live cd. The latest one doesn't boot properly. When it gets to the point where there is a white Ubuntu emblem on a black screen it freezes. On a press of the reset button it restarts and I am offered normal or safe starts from 3 builds, the second one launches normally. How might I determine what is wrong with the highest numbered build option? And fix it!

Newbee on a steep learning curve,

Rans6....

edited almost immediately to remove those typos that the submit button causes!

Batninth:

Try using the app named Evolution. Not only is it an email client (and has connectivity to Exchange servers) but it also has Task lists, Contacts, Calendars and Memos. I very nice productivity application. Does everything MS Outlook does, and then some.

For another very fine personal productivity app try OpenOffice: Spreadsheets, Word Processing, Presentation, Database, and Drawing applications all in one. You can open MS Word documents, for example, and save OpenOffice documents in MS Word format.

rans6:

In all my years of working with Linux I don't think I've ever met up with someone having as many problems with a Linux distro as you have!!!!! And it is extremely rare to see a Linux distro crash either itself or the system hardware.

Disabling the wired network card to get the wireless one working seems odd.

Perhaps you might want to try a different distro: one which may not give you all the headaches you've been experiencing? (Mandriva Linux comes to mind. I run it myself and it works "out of the box" as well as supporting most modern hardware)

"In all my years of working with Linux I don't think I've ever met up with someone having as many problems with a Linux distro as you have!!!!! "

Agree. And the failures seem to occur in a rather un-Linuxy way.

"And it is extremely rare to see a Linux distro crash either itself or the system hardware."

What usually happens when it does is that a process locks up or the X-server crashes. Fix by ending process or restarting x-server. Full blown kernel panics are unusual. Never known a Linux distro spontaneously reboot, that's Windows type behaviour.

I suspect either a troll or a duff motherboard (Memtest only tests memory, not other components).

Mac

:ok:

I too am concerned about the possibility of it being a duff motherboard, as it is such a complex item that convincing the supplier that it is the guilty party might be tricky. On the other hand I am not looking forwards to trying it with windows due to the licence registration process and the need to re-licence if it all goes pear shaped.

The system stayed up for some 12 hours, yesterday, with no network hardware enabled. I used it to display some stuff from .pdfs while I was doing my day job. In the evening I went to the bbc website (wireless enabled) to check on the snooker results, clicked "play in a pop out window" and within a few moments it crashed and re-booted the whole system. This is repeatable.

I am still finding my way around the bios in the Gigabyte GDR3a motherboard, it is the most complex (versatile?) board I have ever had to commission. Perhaps I am still not quite there.

Thanks for your interest.

Rans6...

Ubuntu 10.4
 

BOAC:

Getting email and printing up and running will be just as simple as the tasks you've already encountered.

Have fun!

Yep! The printer was so simple even I managed it. Emails set up but not actually downloading at the mo - something to work on, but again sooo straightforward. A breath of fresh air.

BOAC:

Wait until you give OpenOffice a whirl. (If you haven't already.)
Open, read and write documents which can be open, read or written in MS Word, Excel, Powerpoint, etc. or, open, read and write documents which can be open, read or written in OpenOffice format.

All for free! (as in free beer!)

Yes - I've used that in Windows. Now sorted the email issue - put a , instead of a . in the server - doh! Set up the video/etc player. Yes, I like it. It's the way free software should be:)

Here is a stoopid question - no sign of Av or firewall that I can find?

Not stupid, just Windows habituated :)

Linux has very little malware so running AV software isn't a necessity to survive. ClamAV is in the software repositories & the likes of AntiVir & AVG do Linux versions - generally run as "on demand" scanners & not running all the time as for Windows.

If you're behind a router then that will generally provide enough basic firewall functionality. Gufw & Firestarter are a couple graphical firewall config tools if you want to run one.

- thanks le P (greetings) - can you recommend a good rehab centre?:)

I'm aware of the 'relaxed' approach to malware in the Linux world, but is it only a matter of time and popularity before it becomes a 'worthwhile' target?

Linux is used extensively on servers & there doesn't seem to be a huge problem with malware there.

Windows has been a very easy target in the past & is the OS of choice for those most likely to do stupid things. At least Vista & Win7 make a better job of stopping the user running as admin. When there's so much low fruit available on Windows why would the malware makers work harder for little extra return?

I may be wrong but my feeling is the Linux environment is more diverse than Windows making it harder to get malware to run effectively.