Initial Ubuntu Setup

2008-07-17T18:33:00.000-07:00

This post is more of a reference for myself than anything else. Hopefully you readers also get something out of these tips.

Add the "Force Quit" button to the panel.

This button is used for unresponsive windows. Sometimes an Ubuntu program will hang, and I started off using a terminal window and the ps ux command to kill the process. Then I found this little panel addition. Here is how to add it:

Right-Click on the bottom panel.
Click "Add To Panel".
Scroll down until you see the "Force Quit" menu item.
Select it and click the "Add" button.
(OPTIONAL) If you wish to move the button on the taskbar, Right-Click the new button, select "Move", then simply drag the button to where you want it.

Now that you have this button on the panel, if you ever encounter a hanging program, simply click the "Force Quit" button. Your cursor will become a "+" and you simply need to click the window of the hanging program in order to shut it down.

Install the Restricted Extras

This is, hands-down, a required Ubuntu package. This single package bundles all these separate packages:

cabextract flashplugin-nonfree gsfonts-x11 gstreamer0.10-ffmpeg gstreamer0.10-plugins-bad gstreamer0.10-plugins-bad-multiverse gstreamer0.10-plugins-ugly gstreamer0.10-plugins-ugly-multiverse jackd java-common liba52-0.7.4 libavcodec1d libavutil1d libcdaudio1 libdvdread3 libfaac0 libfaad2-0 libfreebob0 libgsm1 libid3tag0 libjack0 liblame0 libltdl3 libmad0 libmjpegtools0c2a libmms0 libmp4v2-0 libmpcdec3 libmpeg2-4 libqt3-mt libquicktime1 libsidplay1 libsoundtouch1c2 libx264-54 libxvidcore4 msttcorefonts odbcinst1debian1 qjackctl sun-java6-bin sun-java6-jre sun-java6-plugin ubuntu-restricted-extras unixodbc unrar

To install this package, simply use this command.

sudo apt-get install ubuntu-restricted-extras

After that, you should be able to play everything except DVD's, which are addressed by the next step.

Install Media Codecs

Because of copyright restrictions, Ubuntu does not come with any of the dominant codecs installed by default. Luckily for us, this is not hard to change.
First off, you'll need to add the Medibuntu repository to you package manager. Open up a terminal window by clicking Applications->Accessories->Terminal. After that, input this command. (Although it is wrapped, it should be written out as one long string.

sudo wget http://www.medibuntu.org/sources.list.d/hardy.list -O /etc/apt/sources.list.d/medibuntu.list

Enter your password when prompted and the Medibuntu repository will be added to your system and you'll be ready to begin installing codecs.
In order to use the repository, you'll want to install Medibuntu’s GPG key to ensure proper authentication. This is done with this command.

sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install medibuntu-keyring && sudo apt-get update

This will update your system, get the GPG key, then update your system again. Next command will install the most popular video and audio codecs (MP3, WMV, WMA, etc). To install this package, enter this command into your terminal.

sudo apt-get install w32codecs

*(NOTE)* If you are using a 64-bit processor, then the package is w64codecs NOT w32codecs.

Enable DVD playability

In order to play DVDs on your Ubuntu system, you'll need to install several more packages. These will enable playback and navigation of DVDs. Again, enter this command into your terminal window.

sudo apt-get install libdvdcss2 libdvdread3 libdvdnav4

Now, once you have the DVD codecs installed, you'll need a program to play your DVD's. If you installed the restricted extras you should be able to use Totem, (the default media player) to play your DVD's.

Install E-Mail Client

This one will basically be a personal preference. I am a big fan of Mozilla Thunderbird, so that's the one as I use. Installation is as simple as opening the "Add/Remove Programs" application, select the "Internet" catagory, and scroll through until you find it.

Install the Art-Manager

If ou are anything like me, you ike to customize your OS. Under Ubuntu, this can be quite difficult as choosing the proper theme files can be a challenge. The Art-Manager simplifies this by detecting and showing you which themes, baskgrounds, login and splash screens are available for you distrobution. Simply install the Art-Manager in the "Add/Remove Programs" application.

Install Wine

This is a great utility for running Windows Executable files (EXE files) inside of a Linux distribution. To install it, simply find the Wine Windows Emulator in the "Add/Remove Programs" application.

Atheros AR5007 Wireless + Ubuntu

2008-06-18T11:37:00.000-07:00

After using Ubunutu 8.04 (Hardy Heron) for about an hour, I decided to work on getting my Atheros wifi card working. For some reason, the AR5007EG card does NOT work natively in Ubuntu. The restricted drivers are installed, yet I still saw no wireless networks right out of the box.

In order to get the wireless working properly, you must download, compile, and install the MadWifi driver for the card. Now I know this might sound a little overwhelming to some, but it is actually quite simple, and I'll explain what's going on as we do this little project.

Here is the step-by-step on doing this, with instructions. Click Applications -> Accessories -> Terminal to open up a terminal window, then start executing these commands in that window:

sudo aptitude update && sudo aptitude -y install build-essential linux-headers-$(uname -r)
cd ~
wget -O driver.tar.gz http://snapshots.madwifi.org/special/madwifi-nr-r3366+ar5007.tar.gz
tar xf driver.tar.gz
cd madwifi-*
make
sudo make install
echo ath_pci | sudo tee -a /etc/modules
sudo modprobe ath_pci

Here is what these commands do:

Update your Ubuntu system and install the header files needed for compiling source code.
Change into your home (~) directory.
Download the MadWifi Atheros drivers.
Extract the driver source from the archive.
Change into the driver directory.
Compile the drivers from source.
Install the drivers into your Ubuntu system.
Tell your configuration to load the drivers at startup.
Load the drivers.

When you are done that, we have to see if Ubuntu is attempting to use the restricted drivers for your wifi. To do this, we will open up the Hardware Drivers interface by clicking System -> Administration -> Hardware Drivers. Once that window is opened, make sure that the boxes next to any Atheros device drivers are unchecked.

After that, simply do a reboot and your wifi should be working. If you cannot see the wireless networks in your area, look for a switch on your computer for enabling wireless access.

about:ubuntu

Initial Ubuntu Setup

Atheros AR5007 Wireless + Ubuntu