Hidden Linux: Hardy - The way I like it (Part II)
Here's some more setups I used on my laptop configuring Ubuntu 8.04
(aka "Hardy Heron") so it's just the way I like it.
Extended Compiz
The Extra Effects under System / Preferences / Appearances / Visual Effects are all well and good, but I want more! And I want to be able to choose my own. (I particularly like the Desktop Cube!)
Under System / Administration / Package Manger I searched out Simple CCSM ("Simple CompizConfig Settings Manager" and compizconfig-settings-manager.
After installation, you can either visit System / Preferences / Simple CompizConfig or Advanced Desktop Settings to really mix'n'match your sexy graphics options.
The number of faces on the Desktop Cube is set in Advanced Settings
under General Options / Desktop Size / Horizontal Vertical Size.
Compiz Control
I also like to be able to flip Compiz on and off because it doesn't always work well with games -- and tends to take up a good slice of system memory. Installing and running fusion-icon gives you a choice of either Compiz or Metacity windows managers.
It normally lives under Applications / System Tools but I put mine on my on toolbar by clicking System / Preferences / Sessions and adding it to Startup Programs.
Fancy Boot Backgrounds
Hang on, I've shown you this before. (Including how to make your own!)
Wireless
And finally, as promised last blog, here's how I got wireless working on my Dell Latitude D531 laptop.
The Dell's internal Broadcom BCM4328 wireless controller was the only hardware not correctly set up by the standard Ubuntu installation. That in itself is pretty amazing. It shows just how far Linux has come. If I were to install Windows from scratch I reckon I'd've been rummaging around a mound of driver disks or working my way through a ton of driver downloads -- and reboots.
In fact the wireless card was spotted. Doing an lspci | grep 802 showed the system knew about it...
0b:00.0 Network controller: Broadcom Corporation BCM4328 802.11a/b/g/n (rev 03)
...it just didn't have a (proprietary) driver.
Ubuntu uses NDISWrapper which allows you to use Windows wireless drivers under Linux. In earlier Ubuntu versions I've got it working by following a hard-core hack on Ubuntu Forums. (This one, in fact.) That's no longer necessary. In fact as this link shows, it's blindingly easy. The only effort required was finding the appropriate Windows driver -- which I did via Dell's driver website.
After downloading the driver (named R174291.exe in my case), I unpacked it with the command:
unzip -a R174291.exe
(Tucked away in the /DRIVERS directory was the .inf file referred to in step 1.) Here, from the website, is the rest of the procedure...
<--Previous Hidden Linux Next Hidden Linux -->
Extended Compiz
The Extra Effects under System / Preferences / Appearances / Visual Effects are all well and good, but I want more! And I want to be able to choose my own. (I particularly like the Desktop Cube!)
Under System / Administration / Package Manger I searched out Simple CCSM ("Simple CompizConfig Settings Manager" and compizconfig-settings-manager.
After installation, you can either visit System / Preferences / Simple CompizConfig or Advanced Desktop Settings to really mix'n'match your sexy graphics options.
The number of faces on the Desktop Cube is set in Advanced Settings
under General Options / Desktop Size / Horizontal Vertical Size.
Compiz Control
I also like to be able to flip Compiz on and off because it doesn't always work well with games -- and tends to take up a good slice of system memory. Installing and running fusion-icon gives you a choice of either Compiz or Metacity windows managers.
It normally lives under Applications / System Tools but I put mine on my on toolbar by clicking System / Preferences / Sessions and adding it to Startup Programs.
Fancy Boot Backgrounds
Hang on, I've shown you this before. (Including how to make your own!)
Wireless
And finally, as promised last blog, here's how I got wireless working on my Dell Latitude D531 laptop.
The Dell's internal Broadcom BCM4328 wireless controller was the only hardware not correctly set up by the standard Ubuntu installation. That in itself is pretty amazing. It shows just how far Linux has come. If I were to install Windows from scratch I reckon I'd've been rummaging around a mound of driver disks or working my way through a ton of driver downloads -- and reboots.
In fact the wireless card was spotted. Doing an lspci | grep 802 showed the system knew about it...
0b:00.0 Network controller: Broadcom Corporation BCM4328 802.11a/b/g/n (rev 03)
...it just didn't have a (proprietary) driver.
Ubuntu uses NDISWrapper which allows you to use Windows wireless drivers under Linux. In earlier Ubuntu versions I've got it working by following a hard-core hack on Ubuntu Forums. (This one, in fact.) That's no longer necessary. In fact as this link shows, it's blindingly easy. The only effort required was finding the appropriate Windows driver -- which I did via Dell's driver website.
After downloading the driver (named R174291.exe in my case), I unpacked it with the command:
unzip -a R174291.exe
(Tucked away in the /DRIVERS directory was the .inf file referred to in step 1.) Here, from the website, is the rest of the procedure...
- Obtain the Windows Driver for your system and locate the
file that ends with
.inf.
- Install ndisgtk
( → → ).
- Open ndisgtk
( → → ).
- Select Install new driver.
- Choose the location of your Windows .inf file and click .
- Click .
<--Previous Hidden Linux Next Hidden Linux -->
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Comments
t shows just how far Linux has come. If I were to install Windows from scratch I reckon I'd've been rummaging around a mound of driver disks or working my way through a ton of driver downloads -- and reboots.
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Posted by: buy gucci bags | July 26, 2010 3:13 PM
Have you found a way to get CNN "Live" video to work with 8.04?
Thanks for the fine articles.
Posted by: William Roddy | May 5, 2008 12:21 PM