Laptop with 6.06

[richg1998]

Hello All

I am fairly new to Linux and I have only been using it since 12-25-03. Also I am Only a User and Not a Techie Type.
Using my Linspire laptop I just downloaded and burned an ISO cd for Kubuntu 6.06. I have tried the live cd portion in the Laptop.
Laptop link. http://www.gigastrand.com/store/US/Laptops.htm

Basic Laptop

* AMD Mobile Sempron 2800 (black chassis)
* 15" XGA 1024x768 Display
* 256MB DDR RAM
* VIA K8N800 Chipset and Onboard VGA (AGP 8X, 3D Capable)
* CDRW/DVD Combo Drive
* 40GB Hard Drive
* 4 x USB 2.0
* Integrated 10/100 Mbps Ethernet, 56k v.92 modem
* Linspire O/S + DVD Player & 1yr CNR Gold Subscription
* Mini-PCI Wireless 802.11G
* Weight 7 lbs
Kubuntu runs ok so far but very slow. No doubt because of the live cd option. I was on the Net in 10 minutes via cat5 connection. The wireless option (Wireless Assistant 0.5.5) sees my linksys wireless router (very good signal level) but I have yet to get a Net connection. This laptop has an issue making a network connection with wireless when first booted. I sometimes have to reboot with Linspire 5.1.427 as much as five times before getting a network connection. The signal level is good and linksys is the wireless router according to Linspire and Kubuntu. Kubuntu with live cd will not reboot. I have to shut down and reboot. I cannot get support so I am winging it alone.
I would try a dual boot installation but multi-booting and partitioning is something I cannot get my head around. I tried once in the laptop and botched up the hd and had to do a new Linspire installation. I will leave this issue alone for a while.
All Linux boots talk about W/Linux dual boot. I decided a couple of years ago that I would have Linux only machines. No windows or gates in my desktop or laptop.
Anyway, I am reasonably happy with the results. Maybe sometime down the road I will understand partitioning.
Next I will try Kubuntu in my Linspire desktop since I have replaceable drive trays for different distros.

Cheers

richg1998

[askrieger]

Re: Laptop with 6.06

Do you know the manufacturer of your wireless adapter, or better yet, the chipset used in the wireless adapter? That information is essential to getting your wireless card working in Kubuntu, at least if it doesn't work out of the box.

[odysseus]

Re: Laptop with 6.06

If your laptop has a Broadcom 43xx series wireless card then the driver built into the kernel may not work for you, or may need firmware to be installed.  I've had no luck with it so far, it intermittently says it's commected but won't pass traffic, but more often it just times out.  I have had to revert to using ndiswrapper instead.  Se wiki article https://wiki.kubuntu.com/WifiDocs/Driver/bcm43xx for the full details.

Even if it isn't a bcm43xx, you may still need to install some firmware, look around the wiki at https://wiki.kubuntu.com/WifiDocs for whatever chipset you have, there will be detailed instructions available.  All this of course pre-supposes you have an installed version of Kubuntu (or a persistant live cd https://wiki.kubuntu.com/LiveCDPersistence) allowing you to install the required firmware.

John.

[richg1998]

Re: Laptop with 6.06

Maybe you both missed it but the wireless does always work. I just do not always get a Network connection. At least 50 percent of the time I get a Network connection with the first boot, that is I can get on the Net. Even when I do not get a Network connection, I always see a good signal level with no noise in the wireless software. It could be the Network software or even the Linksys router. I will have to get out to a wireless equipped facility and try the laptop there.
When I use a cat5 wire connection, I always get a Network connection.
The wireless card I guess is on the mobo as there are no pcmcia card slots in this machine.
It really is not a very big issue. I will figure it out someday.
Compared to the windoze issues I have seen the past few years, I can live with it.

richg

[askrieger]

Re: Laptop with 6.06

Please take a look at "man iwconfig", "man interfaces" and "man ifconfig" and references therein. They'll help you figure it out.

[richg1998]

Re: Laptop with 6.06

Please take a look at "man iwconfig", "man interfaces" and "man ifconfig" and references therein. They'll help you figure it out.
-----------------------------------------------------------

Hello askrieger

Thank you for the reply.
I assume they are files and I tried using Find Files but the laptop is incredibly slow using Live VD option. After seven minutes I finally had to use ctrl alt backspace to get out of the file search.

I would try a install to the hd as it is 40gb and should be good for two distros. I have not had any success with another install in the laptop. I botched the hd the first time I tried to install another distro. Linspire was unusable and nothing else would work. Had to reinstall Linspire taking the whole drive over. I have a very difficult time understanding partitioning. Just about everyone dual boots with windoze and Linux. I refuse to put Linux on a windoze machine. The two should Never be on the same machine.
Plus another question comes up. What will happen when I do an update of either distros if I am successfull with dual booting? I need an answer from someone who has dual Linux boot in a Linux Only machine and has done a succesful update.

I will move on to my Linspire desktop that has drive trays for different hdds.

Cheers

Richg

[Arkaein]

Re: Laptop with 6.06

In this case "man" is a command that brings up the manual page for a utility. Use any terminal application (such as konsole) and type "man iwconfig", etc., to display the manual.

[dglock]

Re: Laptop with 6.06

In this case "man" is a command that brings up the manual page for a utility. Use any terminal application (such as konsole) and type "man iwconfig", etc., to display the manual.

An even better way to see the man pages is in konqueror, type man:iwconfig.

Its a much more readable and browseable way to see the man pages. You can use this method for any of the man pages.

don

[Father Dale]

Re: Laptop with 6.06

In this case "man" is a command that brings up the manual page for a utility. Use any terminal application (such as konsole) and type "man iwconfig", etc., to display the manual.

An even better way to see the man pages is in konqueror, type man:iwconfig.

Its a much more readable and browseable way to see the man pages. You can use this method for any of the man pages.

don

Thanks for that tip, Don! It's useful info.

dale

[Ichido]

Re: Laptop with 6.06

[quote=richg1998 ]
Hello All

I am fairly new to Linux and I have only been using it since 12-25-03. Also I am Only a User and Not a Techie Type.
Using my Linspire laptop I just downloaded and burned an ISO cd for Kubuntu 6.06. I have tried the live cd portion in the Laptop.

* Linspire O/S + DVD Player & 1yr CNR Gold Subscription
* Mini-PCI Wireless 802.11G

This laptop has an issue making a network connection with wireless when first booted. I sometimes have to reboot with Linspire 5.1.427 as much as five times before getting a network connection. The signal level is good and linksys is the wireless router according to Linspire and Kubuntu. Kubuntu with live cd will not reboot. I have to shut down and reboot. I cannot get support so I am winging it alone.

Try this:
Launch>Settings>Control Center>Network>Network Settings & Profiles.
Select the "Default" Profile.
Check "Interface" for correct choice.
In the "General" Tab, check the Boxes for:
"Enable this Interface" and "this is my Primary Interface".
Set the "Configuration Mode" according to your I.S.P.
Click on the "Refresh Interface" Button and wait 5-20 seconds.

When you get it working, SAVE this as your "Wireless" Profile.

This should end most problems.
My Dell Latitude Laptop works with WinXP & Linspire 5.1.427 and my PCMCIA card perfectly.
Good Luck.
Dave