Productivity Talk > Linux Mint

Productivity Talk > Software > Mike DeTuri's Linux Forum

lufbra

Mar 27 2009, 03:29 AM

Over a year ago I had got into using Linux set ups, I had tried Ubuntu, Linux Mint, and PCLinux. Then I got myself a new computer which has Vista on it, I didn't want to add any Linux set up to this computer right away, but am now ready to try using Linux on the computer. From a magazine I purchased there was a DVD with Linux Mint 6 "Felicia" Universal Version, it is a "Live Distro",and after booting my computer into it, I see that it can be "installed", I'm assuming that means that it can be put onto the computer rather than running from the DVD disk. When I tried Mint on the old computer I had, it was a similar situation where I could install onto the computer, I remember back then when installing I was able to partition the computer while doing the install. My question is, if I was to install this Mint version, would I still be able to partition the computer during the install, or would it have to be done another way?

I have (I believe) the latest PCLinux version downloaded ready to burn onto a CD/DVD, I liked that set up before, and would try that one again, but am not comfortable when it comes to trying to partition the computer for it......I don't believe it can be done through the install process, although I've been known to be wrong on things in the past!!

Any help would be appreciated.

Harrie

Mar 27 2009, 11:26 AM

Oh, PCLinuxOS definitely can be partitioned through the install, but in my opinion, Ubuntu/Mint makes this much, much easier.

In fact, it looks to me as if the Universal Edition is what was previously called the "Light" Edition, doesn't come with codecs, but does add a menu to automate the installation of all missing codecs. It also boasts something called "mint4win." This is based on Wubi, which Mike has posted about here on PT before. From the Linux Mint site:

QUOTE

If you run Microsoft Windows, insert the liveCD and a program called mint4win will launch automatically. This program is an installer for Linux Mint which runs on Windows. It installs Linux Mint within a file on one your partitions and it doesn't touch your existing partitions. It also sets up a Windows multiboot for you. Of course the performance won't be as good as if the system was installed in its own partition but if you just want to give Linux Mint a try this is a very good option. You can remove mint4win from the Add/Remove applications tool within Windows and this will remove Linux Mint and restore your boot exactly as it was.

I'd actually rather have the main edition, though. See here ~~(Marsha, if you're reading this, does Autokey work with Linux Mint Felicia)?~~ Never mind, I found out it does! Maybe you and I could run the same Linux version again, Dave, what do you think?

lufbra

Mar 27 2009, 01:37 PM

Thanks Harrie, now let me please ask which set up you'd like to use? Just so's I'd know and we can both have the same.

Harrie

Mar 27 2009, 02:04 PM

I'm burning main edition of Linux Mint Felicia right now, Dave. I had just recently gone back to Ubuntu Intrepid, and this Mint version is the equivalent, but after all, I remember how much I liked Mint....

I don't know if you might want to do that set up in Windows first just to see if you really want it, Dave? Or if you just want to boot to the live disk and install it that way. I haven't installed on a machine with Windows since - forever, but I think the guided install is really easy as I recall. I would simply do a good back up first, just in case.

Code Dog

Mar 27 2009, 04:42 PM

I'm running Mint 6 x86_64 on my new machine I just built a few months ago. I really like it. Almost every live distro gives options when installing to the hard drive. I'm sure that all the butu's do. Since Mints is based on Ubuntu it will offer options. If your new hard drive is large you may have quite a bit of unused space and installing on unused space is an option. Since I have never done it that way I would advise you to see how much unsued space is there and if it's over 50% of your total drive size you may want to limit your install to the 50% mark to allow WinDoze room to grow. On a side note, my audio didn't work after the install but after the first package reload and update in Synaptic all was well.

Have fun!

lufbra

Mar 27 2009, 04:44 PM

Okay Sweetie, I'm downloading the version you're burning. Then I'll back up any Windows files I need before giving this a go...I shall do the install from the live disk once I've burned it. Which email set up will you be using and what internet browser shall you be using?

Harrie

Mar 27 2009, 06:01 PM

That's great, Code Dog, and I'm glad to have your input for Dave here, too. This will now become a majority Mint user group then, eh? Even Mike will be close enough - I think you're still with Ubuntu, aren't you Mike?

Dave, just use what you like, Firefox and, didn't you like Thunderbird and use it for a long while? I still like Opera and Claws, but I know you're not so fond of them, and truthfully Opera can still be a bit of a pain on Linux (just occasionally). I don't think we need to match things THAT closely anyway, hehe.

I'll probably install tonight or tomorrow.

Code Dog

Mar 27 2009, 09:47 PM

I've stayed with FireFox and Evolution. The browser had some issues but I haven't had any problems in many months, seems like they got it fixed. It would crash and then not start because it thought it was already running. I loved Thunder Bird mail until I went to Evolution. Main reason is the single click full backup and reinstall.

On a side note I just tried Ubuntu 9.04 beta x86_64 and the browser had issues with java, seemed to half load java stuff and fail to execute, maybe my fault though. It looks great, the best looking ever. On the down side it really seemed slow to this distro. I also tried the new kernel 2.6.2-11-generic.

Last I knew Mike was playing with CrunchBang Linux.

MarshaG63

Mar 28 2009, 12:17 AM

Lufbra, you may want to run the partitioning program from the live CD and then reboot before you proceed to install.

I LOVE linux Mint! I'm running Felicia. I bought a Gateway P4 hyperthreading 'puter at a surplus auction. I added some RAM and now can enjoy ring switching, cube spinning and desktop flipping fun!

Have any of you checked out the "Giver" program - very handy for your home network! (its even in Ubuntu 8.10)

Check out Gnome-Do - you can get to anywhere from the keyboard with it. Wish they had the Docky version, but I heard there were major problems with that version. (Windows key + Spacebar brings up the Gnome-Do window - start typing your program, text file name, etc and, and then press Tab when the action you want is shown on the right half of the Gnome-Do window.

i.e., Windows key + Spacebar + Fir + Tab + Enter will start Firefox. Fun stuff!!!

MarshaG.

Mike DeTuri

Mar 28 2009, 01:09 AM

QUOTE (Harrie @ Mar 27 2009, 11:01 AM)

Yeah, I'm still in Ubuntu. Crunchbang is very nice for making an old PC usable again, but it's still Ubuntu. Which is also very nice for making an old PC usable again. Almost any Linux distro fits that bill.

I do find myself getting increasingly irritated with Ubuntu though. So I'm not sure how much longer I'll be using it. I want the latest version of too much stuff and I'm itching for a lower level distro, like Arch. I haven't decided when I'll be switching. But I'm pretty sure I will be. My desktop will be the last to go, since that's where I do the bulk of my work, so that will stay Ubuntu for a while.

My wife has informed me that she's not giving up Ubuntu, so I'm sure I'll have at least one computer here that's still running it. No matter what I decide to do.

MarshaG63

Mar 28 2009, 01:49 AM

Mike, can you explain what you mean when you say "lower level" - more lightweight and streamlined, or more "tweakable."

Have you been the Debian route? I just did a network install on an old all-in-one PC with a nonworking CD-ROM. I had to tweak on Lenny a little, but it turned out all right - seems quicker too.

MarshaG.

Mike DeTuri

Mar 28 2009, 03:56 AM

QUOTE (MarshaG63 @ Mar 27 2009, 06:49 PM)

Mike, can you explain what you mean when you say "lower level" - more lightweight and streamlined, or more "tweakable."

Have you been the Debian route?

I'm thinking closer to the actual code that comes from the various developers, and less managed by the distro maintainers. I don't want to go the Gentoo route, that's too low-level and just sounds like a lot of work. I do want decent community support. I also want to be able to get my hands a little dirty and to know how everything works.

I haven't tried Debian yet. It seems like their release cycles are unnecessarily long, or at least they used to be. I want something in the other direction where I can get the latest binaries ASAP, without needing to hunt them down individually.

I also like the idea of installing, configuring, and then just keeping everything up to date without monolithic releases every 6-12 months.

lufbra

Mar 28 2009, 03:34 PM

Thanks for all the help/advice here guys.

I first of all had the install partition the computer, but when trying to boot into the Vista partition, it wasn't working at all! So to cut a long story short, I now have Mint on the computer without Vista. I even tried doing a System Recovery, but that seemed to "hang" on the 3rd (and final) recovery disk!

Now I guess the fun begins, after doing all the 274 upgrades I shall now see about getting software that I like onto this machine.

Harrie

Mar 28 2009, 03:53 PM

Well that's unwelcome news, Dave! I'm so sorry. I thought the guided install would work very well! How do you feel about this, and have you your Vista disk?

I've installed it too, and have been busy tweaking and installing, etc. I'll be spending time at the Linux Mint forums soaking up everything I should know. I want to keep this for a long while; Mike, I sort of know what you mean about all the releases. After awhile, it seems like a bit much. What about Fedora, which you did like so much in the past?

Marsha, I'll be sure to check out Giver and the others you mentioned!

Harrie

Mar 28 2009, 04:12 PM

You might enjoy looking at the software portal

I don't know how much you remember about installing, Dave, but here's a portion from the Felicia User Guide that might be helpful for you:

QUOTE

Install new applications
Some of the most popular applications which are not installed by default in Linux Mint
are Opera, Skype, Acrobat Reader, Google Earth and Real Player. You might also want
to add games (a lot of nice free games are available for Linux).

MintInstall, the Software Manager
The easiest way to install software in Linux Mint is to use mintInstall, the Software
Manager.
Open MintMenu and select “Software Manager”.
The Software Manager lets you browse the software made available for Linux Mint. You
can browse by category, search by keyword or sort the software by rating and popularity.
The Software Manager synchronizes itself with an online portal called the Linux Mint
Software Portal. By logging in the Software Portal you can review and rate software
applications.
You can visit the Linux Mint Software Portal at http://www.linuxmint.com/software

Synaptic & APT
If you want to install more than one application or if you’re looking for something which
is not in the Software Portal or in the Software Manager, Linux Mint provides two other
ways to install software. One is a graphical tool called “Synaptic” and the other is a
command line tool called “APT”.
Let’s see how we can install Opera (an alternative to the Firefox Web Browser) with
these tools instead:
Open MintMenu and select “Package Manager”.
Click on the “Search” button and select “opera”. Then go through the list of packages and
find the one corresponding to the Opera Web Browser. Tick the box and select “Mark for
Installation” then click on the “Apply” button.
Now let’s see how we could have installed Opera using the APT command line tool.
Open MintMenu and select “Terminal”. Then type the following command:
apt install opera
Note: Make sure synaptic is closed before using APT. Synaptic is using APT in the background so both
can’t run at the same time.
As you can see APT is extremely easy to use but it’s not graphical. It’s OK. If you’re
starting with Linux you probably prefer to deal with a graphical interface but as time goes
on you’ll prefer things to be fast and efficient and as you can see the fastest way to install
Opera is to type “apt install opera”. It can’t be simpler than that.
There is one important difference between the Software Manager and Synaptic/APT
though. With Synaptic and APT you basically deal with packages. In our example the
Opera application was very simple and was only made of one package which name was
also “opera”, but it’s not always like this, and you might sometimes not know what the
name of the package is. Sometimes you might not even have access to the packages for a
particular application.
The Software Manager is different because it lets you install “applications” by getting the
right “packages” for you, not only from the repositories (packages databases) that
Synaptic and APT have access to, but also from other places on the Internet.
So you might use the Software Manager for two different reasons:
- Because you’re not used to APT/Synaptic
- Because it can actually install applications you don’t have access to using other
tools.

Remove applications

Removing an application is quite easy in Linux Mint. Simply highlight the application in
mintMenu, right click on it and select “Uninstall”.

lufbra

Mar 28 2009, 04:42 PM

I was a bit miffed about the partition thing not working, I only have the 3 recovery disks and not a Vista disk!

I'll take a look into your last post, I've tried installing Opera, but it has failed the three times I've tried it! At the Pub through Firefox the "chicken banner" looks a mess, it's down covering the "log in register" text, but that may be a CSS/HTML coding issue, I'm not sure.

MarshaG63

Mar 28 2009, 04:58 PM

Oooo! Sorry to hear you lost Vista - I did the exact same thing once to an XP computer (which wasn't mine) - OUCH!

On the other hand, Mint is GREAT! Felicia has been the easiest to install by far. I didn't even have the wireless issues I had with Daryna (Mint 5). It even configured my HP Deskjet 5150 for me - I plugged the pinter in and turned it on and a minute later the printer icon showed up without me doing anything!

Hope you find Felicia a more enjoyable experience (love the spinning cube - what fun when you have a minute to spare) and the ring switcher like Vista fools my Vista friends every time!

MarshaG.

Code Dog

Mar 28 2009, 05:56 PM

QUOTE (lufbra @ Mar 28 2009, 09:42 AM)

I was a bit miffed about the partition thing not working,

WOW I'm really sorry to hear that. Even though I have a new dual core machine I've resisted getting new drive. I still am using my old IDE drives in separate trays so I can change to whatever OS I want to use. I have a 60 gig drive that's over 12 years old.

I think you'll like Mint 6. Don't forget to update the repositories and upgrade packages. I always add the backport repositories too. Maybe someone else can say if that's a good thing to do or not.

During the install did it ask you if you wanted to import documents from a user off the Windows partition? Windows may still be there, just a boot loader issue. Did you say YES to GRUB on the MBR? I think that would have killed the Windows boot loader.

Mike DeTuri

Mar 28 2009, 09:12 PM

QUOTE (Harrie @ Mar 28 2009, 08:53 AM)

Mike, I sort of know what you mean about all the releases. After awhile, it seems like a bit much. What about Fedora, which you did like so much in the past?

I like Ubuntu a lot better than Fedora. At least with Ubuntu I don't have to burn 6 CDs every 6-12 months when the next version comes out. Fedora was good for me at first because they kept up with the latest kernels, but they seemed very afraid of getting sued. MP3 and DVD support was more on the DIY side. The Fedora/RedHat maintainers even removed AutoCorrect from the version of OpenOffice they kept in the repos, supposedly because they thought it infringed on someone's patent.

I also didn't care too much for the Fedora community. Every once in a while I saw a response on their forums saying something like "What do you expect? Fedora isn't meant for production. If you want stability, use RedHat." When I did have a problem with something in Fedora I usually found the fix for it on the Ubuntu forums anyway.

Fedora wasn't all bad. But there were definite reasons I switched to Ubuntu.

Harrie

Mar 28 2009, 09:29 PM

Dave, you can just go to the Opera site and download and install it from there, you can ignore the message that there's an older version in the software channel and just go ahead and open and run it.

I don't know if your recovery disks would restore your whole system or not? I'm sure you know or can find out. Code Dog may also be right about Windows still actually being there.

I concur with the others too, give Linux Mint a chance if you can. If you stick with Linux long enough, suddenly you find you don't have that many questions anymore, it begins to come naturally to you.

Mike, I'll be interested now to find out what you do switch to, if and when. Keep us up to date!

MarshaG63

Mar 28 2009, 09:39 PM

Dave, definitely boot the live cd and see if the partitioner sees your windows partition.

From this post on Ubuntu forums: http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1...dual+boot+vista

Re: Dual booting Vista with Ubuntu 8.10 (Vista installed first)
When you boot your laptop, does it go straight into Ubuntu?

If so, once in Ubuntu do the following:
1) Open an editor doing the following in a terminal "gksudo gedit /boot/grub/menu.lst"
2) This will display the boot options file.
3) Scroll down to the line that says "default" with a number. That is the default OS that will boot, counting from zero.
4) Now scroll down to the bottom of the file, counting the OS boot stanzas. Each one starts with "title". The sequence number of the Windows OS boot is the one you want to change in the "default" line. Remember, it's based on zero. So, if the Windows OS stanza is the 6th one in your file, you replace the "0" with "5".
5) When done, click the diskette icon to save the changes.
6) Reboot

If you're unsure about this and want to experiment, instead of changing the "default" line, change the "hiddenmenu" line to insert "##" in from of "hiddenmenu" on the line. Save and reboot. Now, you'll get a menu of options. The default will be highlighted.

When done changing "default" to what you want, remove the "##" from the hiddenmenu line and save, reboot.

Now it will boot by default into the OS you selected.

MarshaG.

lufbra

Mar 29 2009, 11:55 AM

It's not seeing any other partitions. If the worst came to the worst I have a XP disk that I could use, or I could go buy a Vista disk.

Are any of you using the firewall that's available, and what "multimedia" programs do you use?

Harrie

Mar 29 2009, 12:28 PM

I don't use a firewall with Linux, myself. But there is certainly one available, I just saw it while checking out Gnome-Do that Marsha had talked about. (Hey, that is cool, I like that!) And Giver looks really cool, too. Too bad my hubby isn't on Linux or we could use that. Anyway, back to you Dave, I'm partial to VLC myself. I just installed it from the software manager (MintInstall menu). I've heard Exaile is really great and keep meaning to try it, but haven't as of yet.

MarshaG63

Mar 29 2009, 01:43 PM

Dave, found this article on firewalls - sounds like guarddog is the one you want.

http://www.linux.com/feature/55319

You might also want to install ClamAV (antivirus) if your other computers are windows.

1+ for VLC - it plays almost everything - there is also a version for Windows.

I use Rhythmbox or Amarok for a GUI music player, but love MOC (music on console).

MarshaG.

Harrie

Mar 29 2009, 06:49 PM

Nice article there. I'm now giving Lokkit a try.

lufbra

Mar 29 2009, 10:27 PM

Well, today was very frustrating/annoying to say the least! I was trying to get onto Amazon to order a couple of things, I could get to the pages showing the things, but couldn't log in or save any items to the shopping cart, it was taking just forever for pages to load! I tried coming here, tried getting to my forum but it was all so slow (my wife's computer is networked to this one and was having no problems with pages loading). So in the end I thought I'd try the recovery disks again, this time they all worked fine, and for now I'm back on Vista with no Linux Mint on the machine. I'll maybe try this again next weekend.

Harrie

Mar 30 2009, 10:55 AM

I'm glad you got Vista back, Dave. That's a relief. We'll be here when you decide to try again!

This is a "lo-fi" version of our main content. To view the full version with more information, formatting and images, please click here.