Ubuntually challanged

[Slacker G]

I'm Slacker G. I am a recovering Windows addict.

It all started with Dos. I hated dos and soon forgot about the computer. It was a great typewriter. Then Win 3.11 came along. That was cool. I tried to stay away but I was sucked in. I could even use it for stuff like playing games.

Then Win 95 came into my home. Most of the time it just sat alone on the desk. Until I found MegaRace. I fell under the spell of 95. I really tried to quit. I really did.

Pretty Win 98. It could run DAW programs! That's where I met Hardware Wizard. Pitting my limited PC knowledge against Hardware Wizard became an obsession.

I remember spending hours installing a new card, and the great satisfaction of finally getting one installed. Or almost installed before Hardware Wizard would botch the install by showing up during the final stage. Or the thrill of victory over the machine when I actually would get a card driver installed.
Then on reboot hardware Wizard would announce he found a new card in my computer. I would sit and watch helplessly as Hardware Wizard installed a windows driver in place of that crappy driver that came with the card. (The driver that worked.)

By now Windows was a necessity for my DAW programs. MicroSucks Win98 always brings to mind sounds of heads grinding into platters as he soft blue light of BSOD filled the room.

I didn't even try 2K, or Me.

Then XP. I like XP. Some machines ran pretty well as DAW's. For hours even. Then came SP1 and SP2 and then SP3. That just ain't right. But I still can't leave XP Pro.

I won't accept VISTA. Or Windows 7 (Putting a bow tie on a pig}

I miss the challenge of real computing. Man against machine. I missed the hours of trying to make a simple driver install properly, if at all. So here I Am with Ubuntu. It is as things should be. I tried for three days now just to install VLC so I can listen to a friggin MP3, or watch a movie. Or do anything except look at the pretty desktop.

I really want it to work. I want to quit MS. I want a pure DAW, unfettered by bloat ware and without a hunger for hard drives. I just wanna play my guitar and record it. That's all I really want. And I want to hear it after I record it. So why doesn't Ubuntu want me to do that? Maybe I just need hugs.

I'm a Windows addict in recovery. But evidently I am also a masochist. Linux is for masochists, right?

With some help I will try Linux, taking it day by day, one small step at a time. I just want one successful Ubuntu install. That would keep me going.

Maybe you guys can even help me install VLC in Ubuntu before I die.

[autostatic]

Hello Slacker G. and welcome!

For starters, you might want to read the Linux is not Windows article. Installing VLC, in your menu bar on top select System - Administration - Synaptic Package manager. This will open the Synaptic program after you've entered your password. Now click the Search button next to the Quick Search field and enter vlc in the window that opens. Tick vlc in the list that Synaptic returns. Press OK and it will start installing VLC.

Best,

Jeremy

[Pablo]

Welcome Slacker!

You will be surprised on how easy is installing vlc in ubuntu. If you are using ubuntu 9.10 just go to the software center and install it. Or just type "sudo apt-get install vlc" in a terminal.

EDIT: Or , of course, through synaptic as Auto suggests!

You should read a bit about ubuntu and linux. It is not for masquist but it is so flexible and customisable that at first it can be overwhelming.... and ubuntu is just another GNU/Linux distribution. Take a look at synaptic to see how the software is organised in ubuntu (the so-called packages) and learn what the repositories are.

EDIT again: For mp3, wma, and privative codecs like those (sigh) ...there is the medibuntu repository, and there is the non-free-codecs metapackage. And, there is www.ubuntuforums.org, too.

The thing you should care about in this first stage, over all, is your hardware, particularly your audio cards. alsa/freebob (pci, usb, pcmcia / firewire devices, respectively) support many of them but not all.

EDIT: What audio card do you have?

As for software, to have a first glance, I suggest you Install "ubuntustudio-audio" and "ubuntustudio-audio-plugins" ("metapackages" which install lots of audio and music related apps) and begin discovering a new world.

EDIT: For record you guitar there are many options. I recommend rakarrack as a guitar FX rack and guitarix as a virtual amp. You might want to add Philip jonhson's PPA repository to get recent versions of these (more recent than in the ubuntu repositories, if they are there at all). As for hard disk recorders, there are lots of them. ardour is a wonderful DAW.

Oh, yes, search the internet for "ubuntustudio documentation" and check the beginners section in the wiki. There are many ways to get the same goals, and there are almost as many goals as users. Enjoy!

Cheers! Pablo

[Chipfryer]

Welcome again Slacker.
Folks Slacker is a really nice Chap I met on another Forum.
Someone will help you for sure.

I'll look through my notes too but there are some really well endowed people as regards Linux onboard here. Be patient and all will be revealed.
Keep well Slacker.

[Chipfryer]

This will get you there pretty quickly.
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/SynapticHowto
Just type VLC into the box, no need to hit search it will just bring up a new search dialog.
Typing the first letter will produce a list starting with that and the next letter and so on.

[Slacker G]

Thanks guys,
" I edited to put in this part: I loaded Ubuntu on an ECS MB. The vid didn't work right, so after a day of hair pulling, I loaded it on a Gigabyte. Now the audio and the video both work. I am low on mem, so things are a wee bit slow, but everything appears to work. I am going to get more mem as soon as I am convinced the switch is worth it."

Here is the problem. I did everything as in the first posts. I was going to open this topic elsewhere, but since it is here already I'll just try to finish it here. I will try not to leave anything out. I put a fresh install of Ubuntu on my Gigabyte MB Hdd.

I went to http://packages.ubuntu.com/dapper/vlc and downloaded all three vlc packages. Along with everything else I could find concerning Linux and vlc. When I tried to open several of the packages, a red line would come up telling me this program or that program would be affected if I tries to install that particular download. So I did not try anything with those packages. Then I clicked on vlc-o.8.4.Debian and it unzipped. I left a copy in my "home folder" as well as on my desktop. Then I opened : Administration> synaptic package manager> and typed vlc in search. Nothing..... So I went above to edit > search> type in vlc.

" No package found." And that is where I am this morning as well as the last three days of trying stuff.

I can not put this system on line as I have a slow line modem and use Juno for access. Therefore I go on line and Google search to find vlc packages and bring them into my Ubuntu OS.

I believe I have the proper package in the system, but I can't get the system to find or install it. Perhaps I have the wrong package? If someone leads me by the nose through links and directions I can download what I need. Then with the proper steps clearly printed out, maybe someone as ignorant of Linux as I am could install it.

I don't mind the learning curve. It just seems like my learning curve begins with everything that doesn't work first. If I ever get this to work I am going to trash Vista from my Toshiba laptop and install it there too.

Now I am going to re read everything on this thread all over again until I absorb it to see if I missed anything.

[autostatic]

I can not put this system on line as I have a slow line modem and use Juno for access. Therefore I go on line and Google search to find vlc packages and bring them into my Ubuntu OS.

Ouch, didn't know that. Well, VLC needs about 45 packages on a clean system... You're really a bit lost without internet, Ubuntu heavily relies on it.

I believe I have the proper package in the system, but I can't get the system to find or install it. Perhaps I have the wrong package?

Yes, you have downloaded Dapper packages. Dapper Drake is Ubuntu 6.06, while you're probably using Karmic Koala 9.10

[Slacker G]

I can not put this system on line as I have a slow line modem and use Juno for access. Therefore I go on line and Google search to find vlc packages and bring them into my Ubuntu OS.

Ouch, didn't know that. Well, VLC needs about 45 packages on a clean system... You're really a bit lost without internet, Ubuntu heavily relies on it.

I believe I have the proper package in the system, but I can't get the system to find or install it. Perhaps I have the wrong package?

Yes, you have downloaded Dapper packages. Dapper Drake is Ubuntu 6.06, while you're probably using Karmic Koala 9.10

Hmmmmmm,

This is not a good thing. Is there a DVD or CD for sale that has these files? I see DVD bundles for Linux / Ubuntu for sale in sets, claiming to have all programs on them. But at a cost of about $26 I don't want to gamble. On the brighter side I can stop beating my head against the wall.

Ahh, The thrill of defeat the agony of victory. I knew Linux was meant for me.

[Chipfryer]

Thanks kind of torn it then.....
I've still to get a new burner & Graphics card otherwise I'd be Mint 8 (Ubuntu 9.10 variant) and could get them for you but even that wouldn't help would it.

[Slacker G]

Chip,

I may have found the solution. I sure hope so. All I can do at this time is play a rather boring version of solitaire on my Ubuntu system.

http://www.osdisc.com/cgi-bin/view.cgi/ ... /repo.html

[Chipfryer]

Not much of one since its all free.
The only other thing you could do is tell me what you need, I'll install 9.10 and get the files and send them to you.
There is supposed to be that fix for graphics in any case.

Chip,
I may have found the solution. I sure hope so. All I can do at this time is play a rather boring version of solitaire on my Ubuntu system.

http://www.osdisc.com/cgi-bin/view.cgi/ ... /repo.html

[raboof]

Is there a DVD or CD for sale that has these files?

Yes: unless I'm mistaken, you can buy/download a complete set of CD's which you can add to your sources.list so apt can find them.

I see DVD bundles for Linux / Ubuntu for sale in sets, claiming to have all programs on them. But at a cost of about $26 I don't want to gamble.

I think they're still shipping CD's for free from https://shipit.ubuntu.com/ - not for the impatient, though.

http://www.ubuntu.com/getubuntu/download is probably not the one though, I don't think everything fits on 1 690MB ISO. http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/releases/9.10/release/ looks more like it.

(i think 10.4 is coming up, so if downloading is a big deal for you it might be worth waiting for that - not sure)

[Slacker G]

Chippy,

That is a problem if, as stated above, it requires bookoo misc files to work ... since I have no idea of what they are. But I sure appreciate your generous offer, Chip.

I may end up doing what I did years ago when Linux was first coming into it's own. Disappear for a number of years and come back again to see if it is user friendly yet. The programmers should realize that there are many like myself that would use this if it were possible to load apps packages onto the desktop and install them from there. That's where windows really out shines Linux.

Raboof,

I already have Ubuntu 9.10 installed with the "factory disk" I just can't install modules without Internet access. I am trying to install vlc player. The DVD set in my last post link presumably contains everything Ubuntu / Linux that is written for those systems, compiled from the Internet along with a means of extraction and auto loading through the DVD player. That frees a user from having to hunt and search the Internet for adding packages. I hope so.

I am aware of the new beta 10.4. Already in limited release, as far as I remember, from my browsing. Ubuntu 9.10 is Beta enough for me at the moment.

[Chipfryer]

I've been reading up on a lot of distros to see if the main media versions have most of this stuff installed already? I cannot find much to be honest on that, perhaps someone else might know?

Perhaps your dis purchase will be the only way to go for now pal?
Sorry mate.

[raboof]

I just can't install modules without Internet access. I am trying to install vlc player. The DVD set in my last post link presumably contains everything Ubuntu / Linux that is written for those systems, compiled from the Internet along with a means of extraction and auto loading through the DVD player. That frees a user from having to hunt and search the Internet for adding packages. I hope so.

Sounds like the DVD image from http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/releases/9.10/release/ to me - however, I just checked, and this DVD doesn't contain VLC either, so you'd be looking for an even more complete package.

If you find it and it's too much for you to download and burn at home, perhaps it can be done at an internet cafe or public library?