[RubberChipmunk]

Originally Posted by tht00

Nice. Looks like you're picking things up quick!

I've used it before, but I dropped it because of lack of support for my wireless card and sound card. Now that it all works, I'm definately enjoying linux to its fullest. It certainly helps that my dad is good with this stuff.

Speaking of Starcraft, it works, but its somewhat laggy. I heard that killing the window manager helps performance. How would I go about doing this?

Hmm... strange indeed. Have you installed the restricted codecs with Automatix (under 'Codecs and Plugins' -> 'Multimedia Codecs'). Also, do open codecs work under Totem (.ogg or .flac)?

Yeah, I tried the restricted codecs. Nothing. I'm installing a different Totem version from the Add/Remove Programs (gstreamer codecs instead of xine) to see if that does anything. In fact, it DID do something. I got a brief second of sound before it cut out. Meaning, I'm making progress. Its looking like the key may be gstreamer codecs.

EDIT: I closed all OTHER applications and the sound worked fine. This seems a bit weird. I could run a crapload of things in Windows with no problems like that.

EDIT 2: To answer your question about .ogg files, yes, they work fine. I tested the sample video when i first installed ubuntu.

Still nothing in Flash, on YouTube, on MySpace, or anywhere else online, though.

Thoughts?

[tht00]

Originally Posted by RubberChipmunk

I've used it before, but I dropped it because of lack of support for my wireless card and sound card. Now that it all works, I'm definately enjoying linux to its fullest. It certainly helps that my dad is good with this stuff.

Speaking of Starcraft, it works, but its somewhat laggy. I heard that killing the window manager helps performance. How would I go about doing this?

I'm assuming you're wanting to kill Gnome/Metacity... not sure how well it'd work with that gone though.

Ctrl+Alt+F1 (for a virtual terminal, Ctrl+Alt+F7 to get back to the graphical one), and then 'sudo /etc/init.d/gdm stop'. From there you'd try executing Starcraft, and then 'sudo /etc/init.d/gdm start' to reinitialize Gnome.

Yeah, I tried the restricted codecs. Nothing. I'm installing a different Totem version from the Add/Remove Programs (gstreamer codecs instead of xine) to see if that does anything. In fact, it DID do something. I got a brief second of sound before it cut out. Meaning, I'm making progress. Its looking like the key may be gstreamer codecs.

Still nothing in Flash, on YouTube, on MySpace, or anywhere else online, though.

Thoughts?

Not sure right now.

[RubberChipmunk]

The problem has fixed itself. I think it had something to do with running too many things at once. Sound is working fine as long as I have little more than Firefox and GAIM running.

Now if I could just figure out how to improve performance in Starcraft...

[Jay Tea]

I'm interested in installing Linux on an old machine (I think it's a p2)...any recommendations on a distribution?

Mostly I'm interested in using the gcc compiler tools, which, as I understand, come with most distributions.
Command line interfaces don't bother me too much, but I'd like to do minimal setup work.
I don't particularly care about connecting to the internet, printing, or listening to music.
The machine currently has NT 4 on it, and I wouldn't mind setting it up as a dual boot, if that's feasible.
If it could be downloaded and put on floppies, that'd be sweet, as I don't have a CD burner. Alternatively, if it'd be possible to boot into NT, download the files, and then install them from there onto another partition, that'd be more sweet, but that doesn't really seem possible to me.

[tht00]

Originally Posted by Jay Tea

I'm interested in installing Linux on an old machine (I think it's a p2)...any recommendations on a distribution?

Mostly I'm interested in using the gcc compiler tools, which, as I understand, come with most distributions.
Command line interfaces don't bother me too much, but I'd like to do minimal setup work.
I don't particularly care about connecting to the internet, printing, or listening to music.
The machine currently has NT 4 on it, and I wouldn't mind setting it up as a dual boot, if that's feasible.
If it could be downloaded and put on floppies, that'd be sweet, as I don't have a CD burner. Alternatively, if it'd be possible to boot into NT, download the files, and then install them from there onto another partition, that'd be more sweet, but that doesn't really seem possible to me.

I think I'd try Ubuntu with a minimalistic WM (Xubuntu may work (Ubuntu + Xfce)). You can always install a different WM (Xfce, Fluxbox, Openbox, etc) after the install, but Gnome may not play well with the system.

As far as I know, there are no distros that still distribute through floppies. Floppies have gone the way of the dinosaur. Besides, you can probably get a cd-burner for cheap somewhere (or perhaps an old 4x burner for free). If nothing else, you can probably have a friend download and burn it. You can also order them online (free and paid). http://www.ubuntu.com/getubuntu

Also, just to make sure, what are the system properties? If the RAM is below 256mb, you probably don't want the DesktopCD (it's a liveCD + installer), but the alternate install cd.

Oh, and gcc doesn't come 'pre-packaged' with Ubuntu. It's be nice if it did, but it doesn't. It's quite easy to install though, so long as you have an internet connection.

[tigerfan88]

OK, I've read the FAQ but still have a few questions. I have an old HP Pavillion PC with the following specs:

Pentium III Processor
512MB RAM
13.6GB Main Harddrive and 100GB secondary Harddrive
CD-RW Drive
ATI Radeon 7200 (yes, I know it's old)
Ethernet Card
Windows XP Professional

The primary purpose of this machine (which, as you can tell, I've upgraded a bit) is for recording and storage. I have a brand new laptop and the use of my family's new PC, so I can do my gaming on the other machines. I've been thinking of trying out Linux, but am unsure if it'll work for me. If I were to switch from XP Pro to a Linux OS, would it:

Run my recording program (Audacity) and my M-Audio MobilePre. In other words, would I still be able to record?

Run my web design programs (Jasc Paint Shop Pro 9 and Dreamweaver)?

Be significantly faster than XP? As it stands, it still takes a good 5 minutes for my OS to load. Will Linux be any faster?

Also, which Linux OS would be recommended? I'm a newbie to this type of OS, but very experienced with the PC otherwise.

[zekthedeadcow]

The mobilepre should be a class complaint USB device and be plug and play...

search the wine appdb for wine compatible windoze apps.

If you install Ubuntu Studio I would expect it to perform better than XP. Ubuntu Studio comes with Audacity preinstalled...along with a lot more...

[tigerfan88]

Thanks for the answer. As I mentioned previously, I have two harddrives in the machine: one which is 13.6GB (and has XP Pro installed on it) and one which is about 90GB. Would it be possible for me to install Ubuntu Studio on the 90GB harddrive and switch between booting XP Pro and booting Ubuntu? My reason for wanting this is that I'm a bit hesitant to make a complete switch from XP Pro to Ubuntu since it's a completely different OS.

Also, how would I go about installing it when I have a drive that only reads and writes CDs, but doesn't read DVDs? Could I install it using a USB thumb drive?

[Jay Tea]

Originally Posted by tht00

Also, just to make sure, what are the system properties? If the RAM is below 256mb, you probably don't want the DesktopCD (it's a liveCD + installer), but the alternate install cd.

The machine's kinda in pieces right now, but the post-it note on the side says P2, 233 MHz, 64MB RAM, 4GB HD

[surferdude9375]

Originally Posted by tigerfan88

Thanks for the answer. As I mentioned previously, I have two harddrives in the machine: one which is 13.6GB (and has XP Pro installed on it) and one which is about 90GB. Would it be possible for me to install Ubuntu Studio on the 90GB harddrive and switch between booting XP Pro and booting Ubuntu? My reason for wanting this is that I'm a bit hesitant to make a complete switch from XP Pro to Ubuntu since it's a completely different OS.

Also, how would I go about installing it when I have a drive that only reads and writes CDs, but doesn't read DVDs? Could I install it using a USB thumb drive?

Once you install Ubuntu it will automatically set up a dual boot start-up screen. I don't think that the install disk is a DVD do you should be fine when installing. If you are having trouble installing it from you burned CD you can always request a CD from their site http://www.ubuntu.com/getubuntu .
If I am wrong and it is a DVD I am almost sure you could set it up to boot from a thumb drive but it might be a bit tricky.

[surferdude9375]

Originally Posted by Jay Tea

The machine's kinda in pieces right now, but the post-it note on the side says P2, 233 MHz, 64MB RAM, 4GB HD

Looking at the specs on the XUbuntu (http://www.ubuntu.com/products/whatisubuntu/xubuntu) install type I would say that you don't have enough power to run it on that system. It is saying you need 128MB of RAM and 1.5 GB of room to install the base leaving very little room for anything else.

[ApparentlyNothing]

Originally Posted by tigerfan88

Thanks for the answer. As I mentioned previously, I have two harddrives in the machine: one which is 13.6GB (and has XP Pro installed on it) and one which is about 90GB. Would it be possible for me to install Ubuntu Studio on the 90GB harddrive and switch between booting XP Pro and booting Ubuntu? My reason for wanting this is that I'm a bit hesitant to make a complete switch from XP Pro to Ubuntu since it's a completely different OS.

Also, how would I go about installing it when I have a drive that only reads and writes CDs, but doesn't read DVDs? Could I install it using a USB thumb drive?

Ubuntu Studio is a DVD install ISO. I'm not sure if there exists or if you can request a multi CD version. However, if you wanted, you could just install Ubuntu standard with a live CD, then add the repos for Ubuntu Studio and install all the extras manually. Though I'm not sure it would be exactly the same, as I think Ubuntu Studio uses a particular linux kernel. I'd ask around Ubuntu's forums for that.

[tigerfan88]

^ OK, thanks. So should I go with Ubuntu Desktop edition? And what do I need to do to install Ubuntu on Drive D (the 90GB one)? Do I need to completely start over with the drive?

[surferdude9375]

Originally Posted by tigerfan88

^ OK, thanks. So should I go with Ubuntu Desktop edition? And what do I need to do to install Ubuntu on Drive D (the 90GB one)? Do I need to completely start over with the drive?

Yes you would want to download the desktop version for what you plan to do.
Are there any files already on Drive D or is it completely empty? If it is empty just start up the Ubuntu CD and format that drive to install Ubuntu on. If you already have a partition on that drive where you store files from XP and stuff then you will need to resize the partition to make room for Ubuntu and any extra room while keeping the space you need for the already present XP files and any extra space you may need in the future.

Just ask if you didn't understand any of that. I am not the best explainer of things.

[surferdude9375]

As for upgrading from Ubuntu desktop edition to Ubuntu Studio I have found the instructions for you. Here are the official instructions.

Also for future reference:
Ubuntu Forums
Ubuntu Studio Documentation
for the questions we cannot answer.

I think I might go ahead and install Studio myself as it is very interesting.