Without using Google or books, I tinker around the Ubuntu desktop. Thankfully, the mouse and keyboard are working, so those drivers aren't needed!
An icon with a wrench and a gear tell me this might be useful, so I give it a click. Hey! This looks like the Windows Control Panel! I can do this!
I look at the time and date. The time zone was right, the date was right, but the time was not. :-) This was due to no internet. I still need to install drivers!
I move on to click Details. Ahh...this is where I can set some defaults, but it doesn't show my hardware information so back to All Settings. Nope, nothing else there to install new hardware (or existing for that matter).
The Ubuntu logo button, again, much like Windows, allows me to type in a search. I type "hardware" and I get nothing. Alright, then it's time for Google on my Windows machine to get me going. I'm anticipating that I simply need to download the drivers, put them onto my handy thumb drive, and install away, but I don't know what else Ubuntu hasn't installed by default, so I'm going to Google for "Ubuntu Device Manager" and see what I get.
That took me to "askubuntu.com" which told me to go into the Ubuntu Software Center and search to install "System Profiler and Benchmark", however, I still don't have wireless and internet, so I have get a little more specific. Google "install Ubuntu drivers" and it's still a little to general, so "Dell studio 1537 Ubuntu drivers" should do the trick. Yup! I get pointed to a forum where someone has provided a link. Lo and behold, the only driver listed is for wireless. Let's see if it works!
The 1.1MB file is copied to my thumb drive, then copied from the thumb drive to the laptop. Hmmm...ok...not like Windows. No .exe file. OK...Google "install Ubuntu wireless driver without internet". I have to sift through a few pages and forums before I get to a site at help.ubuntu.com that helps you identify the device, get the driver, and install it. I learn I need to do this from the Terminal (CTRL + ALT + T). Ahhh...this looks like the Windows command prompt. I can do this!
I follow the guide. I have the BCM4312 802.11b/g wireless card. Cool...
I discover I need to learn a little about the command lines. I'm familiar with DOS and PowerShell, but not with Linux, so I need to learn how to change directories and find the files I just downloaded and extracted. :-)
Aha...while the command similar, it's case sensitive. cd /Downloads/drivers worked when cd /downloads/drivers did not (note the difference in "downloads"). Reading the notes for the driver, I need to make sure the right headers and tools are installed. Hmmmm...this is a bit more complicated than I'm ready for. But, being stubborn as I am, I dig deeper into how to do all of this without an internet connection yet (funny how we are immediately dependent on the internet even on a fresh OS install). Ahhhh...reading a little bit more in the readme file, Ubuntu should already have these files (pre-compiled driver) and I should not need to install these from the download.
But then I fell into a whirlpool of trying to figure out how to get the pre-compiled drivers installed. Well, I ended up finding a network cable and connecting to the internet that way. Many things started working, mostly the apt-get commands as they go directly through the internet to get the files/updates needed. *sigh*
I've made a mental note that learning to do an Ubuntu install completely offline should be one my goals as an administrator. If it can be done with Windows, it can be done with Linux and all of its variations. It's just a matter of how, finding the best practice, building it, then testing it....many, many times! :-)
Back to getting wireless working. Through my various Google searches, I find that others have struggled with this particular wireless card and its driver. But now that I've given myself internet access, things are moving along. Some of the prerequisites are now installing. I learned that I need to use "sudo" in most of my command lines so I don't get the "lock" error. All of this will make sense once I pause and review, then Google some more to understand exactly what I did. :-)
Once the prerequisites installed, the command in the readme file still didn't work, but I found another thread that since I had internet, I only needed to do an install-broadcom-kernel command and the files downloaded/installed automatically. Other updates were installing in the background, so I waited for that before rebooting to see if wireless was working. It didn't look like any other drivers needed to be added or updated at this point, but, I'm still just a beginner and may discover otherwise at a later time. The joy of being a computer geek!
After rebooting...wireless is working!!! One hurdle/learning experience down....countless to go!
Monday, August 5, 2013
Hello, Linux
Having been pretty much an exclusive Windows user since DOS 6.22, it's time to touch base with other Operating Systems such as Linux and the MacOS. I have, but don't use an old Mac Mini, whose sole purpose was for me to get familiar with the Mac world. Finding it not too different than Windows, the Mac mini has since been in storage.
Before the Mac mini, I had installed Red Hat Linux, but never got beyond that. It was installed, it also looked very similar to Windows, and thus, abandoned.
But now, several years later, Linux has made its mark in the world of computers, so I must go beyond simply installing it. Below is what I wrote as I installed Ubuntu on an old laptop of mine...
Installing Ubuntu 13.04 for the First Time
Dell Studio 15, Model 1537 - an older laptop that was originally Windows Vista. I later installed Windows 7 and only used it for gaming and internet browsing.
The last time I took at stab at a Linux OS, it was RedHat and it was several years ago. I installed it on a machine, used it for a day or two, then never went back to it again. I simply wanted to see it. At the time, it didn't seem much different from Windows as it had a GUI interface, etc.
Now at the point where much more devices and companies are using Linux, I'm taking a stab at it again and not just at the very basic level. I want to know it as well as I know Windows. I know Windows pretty well, but even there, there's always something new to learn. I never got into the deep dive of administrative options such as PowerShell and WMI.
Getting into Linux I think it will help me both expand my horizons and, ironically, get a better understanding of managing Windows systems. Because Linux is managed a great deal by command lines and scripts. PowerShell does the same thing for Windows. But concepts like "objects", "methods", etc. can get very confusing for me. I am a person that learns visually. I need to see it to understand it. I can copy and paste code as easily as the next geek, and most of the time, I can tweak it to my needs. But I want to do these kinds of things on my own and from scratch.
HTML came very easy to me because I could see what each command was doing by looking at the results a comparing it to the code. For some reason, I've always had difficulty doing the same thing with VBScript and PowerShell. Somehow, I'm hoping that by learning Linux from scratch, I'll get that light bulb over my head to come to life and everything will simply fall into place. "Ah, ha! I see it, now I get it!" From there, the possibilities are endless as is the challenge.
So today, I fire up my old Dell laptop and have chosen to use Ubuntu as it has become increasingly popular and I see it listed as one of the preferred experiences one should have if job hunting.
I had to download the ISO file three times (794MB). The first two times, it was corrupted. Third time was the charm, finding a mirror that was both a decent speed and non-corrupted! :-) The price of freeware, I suppose.
The Dell still had Windows 7 installed as I wanted to see if Ubuntu would wipe out the drive and do a fresh install. Microsoft just loves giving you this chance. :-)
After choosing to boot to the CD/DVD drive, I see the Ubuntu logo and five little dots for a few minutes; the disk spinning up and down, until finally...a big grey screen with a pointed cursor. Woohoo! Another minute later, I finally see the options Try Ubuntu or Install Ubuntu. I go all out and choose Install ubuntu. It says it shouldn't take too long. It's 6:06pm as I click the Install Ubuntu button.
I choose to follow the defaults, knowing that I can change options later. I am not connected to the internet because I'll rely on wireless once the OS is installed. I choose to not install the third-party software option either.
Continuing on, I choose to Replace Windows 7 with Ubuntu, which will wipe the drive and do a fresh install. I skip the options of encryption and Logical Volume Management. These are things I will look into later.
Install Now is clicked at 6:09pm. I set my location, choose English, fill in the Who are you? window (I think it's funny my password is considered "fair" in Ubuntu, when Windows considers it "strong" - it was 10 characters with upper and lower case letters and a couple of numbers in between but no special characters). 6:11pm and the install finally begins. 6:18pm...Installation Complete. Restart Now...drum roll...
My Ubuntu install boot CD is spit out of the machine automatically and I press Enter to kill the processes and reboot. I see a couple of brief errors about KVM, but the OS continues to boot. It takes about 20 seconds to get the login screen. It was about 30 with my vanilla Windows 7 install.
My "fair" password is entered and a few seconds later, I'm in! It's very orange/purplish. I like the purple, but not a big fan of orange (though my son looks great in it!).
Before I get the chance to click on anything, I see a pop-up to install some missing components in regards to Language Support. Since wireless isn't working yet, I don't think it'll work.
Since I see familiar wireless icon in the upper right corner (it would be lower right if it was still Windows), I right mouse click it and see the option for Edit Connections...
My wired connection shows (no cable connected), but wireless does not appear. As expected drivers will be needed.
I will continue the driver install experience in my next blog, but step 1 is complete. I have an official Ubuntu box up and running. It's just not doing anything...yet! :-)
Before the Mac mini, I had installed Red Hat Linux, but never got beyond that. It was installed, it also looked very similar to Windows, and thus, abandoned.
But now, several years later, Linux has made its mark in the world of computers, so I must go beyond simply installing it. Below is what I wrote as I installed Ubuntu on an old laptop of mine...
Installing Ubuntu 13.04 for the First Time
Dell Studio 15, Model 1537 - an older laptop that was originally Windows Vista. I later installed Windows 7 and only used it for gaming and internet browsing.
The last time I took at stab at a Linux OS, it was RedHat and it was several years ago. I installed it on a machine, used it for a day or two, then never went back to it again. I simply wanted to see it. At the time, it didn't seem much different from Windows as it had a GUI interface, etc.
Now at the point where much more devices and companies are using Linux, I'm taking a stab at it again and not just at the very basic level. I want to know it as well as I know Windows. I know Windows pretty well, but even there, there's always something new to learn. I never got into the deep dive of administrative options such as PowerShell and WMI.
Getting into Linux I think it will help me both expand my horizons and, ironically, get a better understanding of managing Windows systems. Because Linux is managed a great deal by command lines and scripts. PowerShell does the same thing for Windows. But concepts like "objects", "methods", etc. can get very confusing for me. I am a person that learns visually. I need to see it to understand it. I can copy and paste code as easily as the next geek, and most of the time, I can tweak it to my needs. But I want to do these kinds of things on my own and from scratch.
HTML came very easy to me because I could see what each command was doing by looking at the results a comparing it to the code. For some reason, I've always had difficulty doing the same thing with VBScript and PowerShell. Somehow, I'm hoping that by learning Linux from scratch, I'll get that light bulb over my head to come to life and everything will simply fall into place. "Ah, ha! I see it, now I get it!" From there, the possibilities are endless as is the challenge.
So today, I fire up my old Dell laptop and have chosen to use Ubuntu as it has become increasingly popular and I see it listed as one of the preferred experiences one should have if job hunting.
I had to download the ISO file three times (794MB). The first two times, it was corrupted. Third time was the charm, finding a mirror that was both a decent speed and non-corrupted! :-) The price of freeware, I suppose.
The Dell still had Windows 7 installed as I wanted to see if Ubuntu would wipe out the drive and do a fresh install. Microsoft just loves giving you this chance. :-)
After choosing to boot to the CD/DVD drive, I see the Ubuntu logo and five little dots for a few minutes; the disk spinning up and down, until finally...a big grey screen with a pointed cursor. Woohoo! Another minute later, I finally see the options Try Ubuntu or Install Ubuntu. I go all out and choose Install ubuntu. It says it shouldn't take too long. It's 6:06pm as I click the Install Ubuntu button.
I choose to follow the defaults, knowing that I can change options later. I am not connected to the internet because I'll rely on wireless once the OS is installed. I choose to not install the third-party software option either.
Continuing on, I choose to Replace Windows 7 with Ubuntu, which will wipe the drive and do a fresh install. I skip the options of encryption and Logical Volume Management. These are things I will look into later.
Install Now is clicked at 6:09pm. I set my location, choose English, fill in the Who are you? window (I think it's funny my password is considered "fair" in Ubuntu, when Windows considers it "strong" - it was 10 characters with upper and lower case letters and a couple of numbers in between but no special characters). 6:11pm and the install finally begins. 6:18pm...Installation Complete. Restart Now...drum roll...
My Ubuntu install boot CD is spit out of the machine automatically and I press Enter to kill the processes and reboot. I see a couple of brief errors about KVM, but the OS continues to boot. It takes about 20 seconds to get the login screen. It was about 30 with my vanilla Windows 7 install.
My "fair" password is entered and a few seconds later, I'm in! It's very orange/purplish. I like the purple, but not a big fan of orange (though my son looks great in it!).
Before I get the chance to click on anything, I see a pop-up to install some missing components in regards to Language Support. Since wireless isn't working yet, I don't think it'll work.
Since I see familiar wireless icon in the upper right corner (it would be lower right if it was still Windows), I right mouse click it and see the option for Edit Connections...
My wired connection shows (no cable connected), but wireless does not appear. As expected drivers will be needed.
I will continue the driver install experience in my next blog, but step 1 is complete. I have an official Ubuntu box up and running. It's just not doing anything...yet! :-)
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