Migration to Kubuntu from Windows

A

Aldon

Geek Trainee
Hi All,

I thought I might let you all know about my move to Linux from various Windows OS's I have on my systems and the prob's I'm having of which any help would be most appricated (Already many thanks to Anti Trend, the guys a legend) :chk:

Anyway I have fallen at the first hurddle. While trying to download the ISO of Kubuntu to my server (Up to date windows version) it has blue screened twice, The first time it made it all the way to 2 hours to go then crashed. The second time it made it to 20 min's and crashed and then ran CHKDISC to which no fault was found with the drive I was saving to. At this point I think the server knows what I'm about to do and is trying to stop me :ghost: (something spooky is going on). Any how I'm now downloading to another system, I'd like to see the server stop that.
This has just made me more determind to migrate over as I'm sick of the instability that is inherant with the windows OS's :sick: Like many other people I believed that windows was the only OS, other than MAC, but after reading the post's on this site, chatting with Anti Trend and reading his web site Anti-Trend's Home & reading the very well written Ubuntu site Welcome - Ubuntu: Linux for human beings I'm now 1. convinced that Linux is the way & 2. Microsoft don't really care about the end user and just want your hard earned cash.
I'm now on a mission to convert as many people as I can :chk:

I will try to keep you all updated as to my progress
 
Yes, good luck. you'll likely have some teething troubles but you'll get some excellent help from HWF's members. I have recently made a full switch from Windows and am running Mandriva 2006 & Ubuntu Dapper. Things are great! :spin2:
 
Thanks Guys :)

It finished downloading last night, Its like an early christmas prezzie.
So today I will be mostly playing with my new Kubuntu :chk:

And many thanks again to Anti Trend for the link you sent me for Centos/Red Hat and no I didn't know that.

Cheers guys
 
Aldon said:
It finished downloading last night, Its like an early christmas prezzie.
So today I will be mostly playing with my new Kubuntu :chk:
Click to expand...
which version of Kubuntu did you go with ?

i'm using Dapper 6.06 & Edgy 6.10
 
Well hello from Kubuntu guys.

It's only running from the CD but even the startup was inpresive :)

Donkey42 I have downloaded version 6.10 Edgy eft I believe.

Only a quicky gent's, I'm off playing with my new toy :chk:
 
Guys,

I have managed to surf my server network (not sure how I got there) but I'm unable to view or play anything other than pictures.
No mp3, wma, wmv, avi, mep, or any other format other then jpeg.

What am I doing wrong gent's
 
You have to install the multimedia codecs and enable the universe and mutliverse repositories. See here

If that's all too much work for you, download either EasyUbuntu or Automatix instead because they can install the multimedia codecs for you. Do a search on Google
 
Thanks for that megamaced, :cool:

It took some doing as I'm only running off the CD at the moment but I can now play all the music and movies that I have saved on my server. I'm now looking into the issue of games that my son and I play and other programs that the Mrs uses for her card making. Hopefully I will be able to sort these issue's when I get my hands on a test rig so I can do a good and proper install :chk: (hopefully in a couple of days)
I have a few more question if I may,

1. Can WINE be installed in the same manner as with the media codecs & has anyone had any experiance of playing Dungeon Seige on Kubuntu 6.10 using WINE as this is a "gas powered game" (Microsoft Games) :doh:

2. A friend asked this 1, Can Kubuntu 6.10 be installed on a DELL OPTIPLEX system, sorry but i'm not sure of the exact model. (think it's a P4 2 Gig)

3. Would I be best using CentOS 4.4 or Kubuntu 6.06 LTS on my server as I think I'm heading for Kubuntu 6.10 on my systems.

4. I have a Canon PIXMA iP1500 printer which doesn't seem to be supported under Kubuntu 6.10, I have tried. I have got the driver from Canon but it didn't like that either. Anyone got any ideas. The printer would be running from my server so question 3. is also relevant here.

5. And finally I have a Nokia 6630 & Palm Tungsten/E2 does anyone know if these can be used with Kubuntu 6.10, I have had the bluetooth sending and receiving but I'm after the HotSync for the Palm and the 3GP converter for the phone.

Oh and guess what, MS server blue screen today again (3or4 times in 2 days, I'm sure it knows I'm going to get rid soon :ghost: ) Cannot wait to get MS off the server and beat on the disc with a hammer :crash: while dancing round it laughing wildly :medead:

Many thanks again for all your help people :chk:
 
Aldon said:
1. Can WINE be installed in the same manner as with the media codecs & has anyone had any experiance of playing Dungeon Seige on Kubuntu 6.10 using WINE as this is a "gas powered game" (Microsoft Games) :doh:
Click to expand...

WINE is a bit hit and miss. To be honest with you, you'd be better off leaving your old Windows programs behind and using native Linux equivalents. What kind of programs do you use on Windows?

If you are into gaming, you should check out Cedega. It's basically a version of WINE optimised for Windows games. It's not free though.

Aldon said:
2. A friend asked this 1, Can Kubuntu 6.10 be installed on a DELL OPTIPLEX system, sorry but i'm not sure of the exact model. (think it's a P4 2 Gig)
Click to expand...

I don't see why not :)

Aldon said:
3. Would I be best using CentOS 4.4 or Kubuntu 6.06 LTS on my server as I think I'm heading for Kubuntu 6.10 on my systems.
Click to expand...

I am not really in a position to answer that. I am sure Anti-Trend will suggest CentOS though. However, CentOS and Kubuntu should live peacefully together.

Aldon said:
4. I have a Canon PIXMA iP1500 printer which doesn't seem to be supported under Kubuntu 6.10, I have tried. I have got the driver from Canon but it didn't like that either. Anyone got any ideas. The printer would be running from my server so question 3. is also relevant here.
Click to expand...

Have you checked the Printer driver list in the Printers control panel?
How did you attempt to install the driver? What happened?

Aldon said:
5. And finally I have a Nokia 6630 & Palm Tungsten/E2 does anyone know if these can be used with Kubuntu 6.10, I have had the bluetooth sending and receiving but I'm after the HotSync for the Palm and the 3GP converter for the phone.
Click to expand...

Nokia phones are not very Linux friendly. I think bluetooth transfers are all you are going to get.
I am not familiar with Palm devices. Sorry.

You don't have to say goodbye to Windows forever. You could run it on top of your Linux box using something like VMware.
 
Hi All,

Cheers for the info Mega and I will try to answer some of your questions.

I only really play 2 games, Dungeon Seige & America Army, although my lad plays loads (I think his will remain XP). I use Nero Express & Nerovision alot. I know you get a CD burner with Kubuntu so I'm not all that bothered about that but what about Nerovision? (DVD Creation & Burning), I have to use Real Player for the music convertion to my palm & I have a Skype Phone on the server (going to have prob's with that I just know it) but thats about it really. I have alot of other programs but they are mainly AV, Firewalls, Anti Spy/Ad ware, & XP tuneup stuff (Just to keep it alive). I do have quite a large storage file of windows programs and drivers that I have built up over the years, everything from music convertions tools to full OS's.

Had a look at Cedega, Don't like the idea of paying £3 per month so I think I might have a look at dual booting my system. This will solve a few prob's me thinks with using other prog's. That will be a while yet as I have other systems that I want to migrate first, Like the server & the good ladies :D

I think Anti Trend has already mentioned using Centos 4.4 on his server in another thread so I think I will go that way. I also use my server for VPN connections for my mates, they use the Media files and store there own stuff on there occasionally but I dont think this is going to be a problem. This is why I need to keep the format of the media to windows as they will still be running XP :(

Right the printer. Not right sure how I got there but I will try to explain & please bare in mind that I'm just running it from the CD right now till i get my test rig sorted out. I believe its called "system Information" where you have the icons for the various system devices, Printer, Keyboard, Network & stuff of that nature, anyway I clicked on the printer then on "Add Printer" and moved through the printer setup wizard. I was able to locate my printer on the network and it was identified correctly but when it came to the driver it was not on the list. I had already downloaded a "tar" version of the driver from Canon and I clicked on "More/Not Here" or something like that in the lower right of the wizard and navigated to the driver that had been copied to the Desktop. I clicked "Next" and it attempted to load the driver and came up with "Unexpected String" or something like that, so I went to the desktop and unzipped it there and tried again with all 4 of the unzipped files to which I got basically the same thing. Not sure if this was correct but with my inexperiance I thought best to leave well alone at that point.

I really could do with my Palm running on Kubuntu as I use it alot for keeping track of the bank and that but most of all my music on the go (No palm driver for Linux on their site). Like you said I can just bluetooth the pics and stuff from my phone so I not all that bothered about syncing it.

I think I'm going to have a look at the dual boot idea just for games and maybe nerovision, maybe 2 HDDs, but for all other things I'm moving over to Kubuntu.

My mate says cheers for the guess about his DELL & hes going to try anyway.

Cheers again Megamaced for your help :chk:
 
Well America's Army is available for Linux anyway :) Check out the Linux Gaming sticky in this forum for more native games.
As for Cedega, you don't have to pay for it every month. Just the first 3 months.

Nero is available for Linux too, but you'll probably prefer K3B which comes with Kubuntu. I am not 100% sure what Nero Vision is, but I assume it's some kind of video editing software? If that's the case, there are plenty of Linux apps such as Avidemux, Cinelerra and Kino. There are plenty of audio + video encoders / convertors too.

You won't need spyware and antivirus programs in Linux, although they are available should you want to protect a Windows network. AVG free and Clam AV come to mind. There are plenty of firewalls to choose from, such as GuardDog and Firestater.

Did the printer drivers come with instructions? I don't think you will be able to install them whilst you are running Kubuntu from a CD. Chances are that the drivers will need compiling. Shouldn't be too difficult :)

Oh, and by the way, Skype is available for Linux too!
 
Hi,

I'm glad to here that an AV will be a thing of the past when I migrate and as for the firewall, my router takes care of that other than when I create a DMZ for hosting games and the server always has the firewall running to only alow the VPN ports which are forwarded to it.

I think I will forget about Nero Express, after reading up on the cd burning tools in Kubuntu and the information that you have given. As for Nerovision it is an easy to use DVD creation tool.

I'm glad to here that Americas Army is available and will look again at Cedega.

The way things are looking the only system left on XP will be my son's as he has loads of games, I could also move Nerovision over to his system as I only use it occasionally, unless I find a good equivilant on Linux.

After posting the last I found & downloaded the Skype although when I think about it I got the wrong 1. The server will be running CentOS, which I believe is the same as Red Hat and got the 1 for Ubuntu. I think I'm going to have a prob with the actual phone driver and not Skype it's self. I had loads of prob's trying to run it under XP and eventually put it on the server where I did have prob's but it now run's.

The Printer, The only information for this driver was that they wouldn't supply any or any technical help. Compiling, Excuse the daft question but what is it ? & I agree that I think that running from CD is not the best way to confirm if it is going to work or not. I will have to just suck it and see. :)

Again many thanks for the help :chk:
 
Aldon said:
The way things are looking the only system left on XP will be my son's as he has loads of games, I could also move Nerovision over to his system as I only use it occasionally, unless I find a good equivilant on Linux.
Click to expand...
you could install XP into VMware (obviosly without networking) if you want to keep some Win stuff, just dont install in on a FAT32 partition (file size limited to 4 GB) although there is some lag (delay of a system running in VMware) you can reduce the lag to a minimum by installing VMware tools and do not split the FS into 2Gb files
 
Hi,

I have just been having a look at Dual Booting and came across this site
http://www.devhood.com/tutorials/tutorial_details.aspx?tutorial_id=405 Will this work under Kubuntu? A comment at the bottom says yes but I would prefer the answer from you guys.

Donkey, My son's games for the most part are network game's therefore I think I will leave it XP for now & like I said any prog that I cannot find in Linux I can just install on his.

I'm really not sure yet as to wether I'm going to Dual Boot as like I have mentioned if I leave my son's XP there is really no need. It all depends as to wether I can play Dungeon Siege through WINE/Gedege as this seems to be the only game that I may have prob's with. I don't really play all that much but I don't want to loose the ability to play it. When all is said and done I will be migrating 3 out of 4 systems to Linux (including my server). I will have to leave my laptop XP for my MCSE course & my son's for reasons that I have already mentioned.

I don't wish to sound like I'm droning on but this is a big decision for me as I have no real experiance with Linux and alot to lose if anything goes wrong.

Thanks for listening guy's :chk:
 
Aldon said:
I have just been having a look at Dual Booting and came across this site
http://www.devhood.com/tutorials/tutorial_details.aspx?tutorial_id=405 Will this work under Kubuntu?
Click to expand...
yeah, not that i have done any dual booting yet, but i know it is possible

Aldon said:
I'm really not sure yet as to wether I'm going to Dual Boot as like I have mentioned if I leave my son's XP there is really no need.
Click to expand...
when you get used to *nix, you WILL have your son system dual booting too
 
Aldon, you won't have to configure dual booting yourself. When you install Kubuntu to another partition it will automatically detect Windows and set up the dual boot for you. When you turn on your computer you will be able to choose whether you want to use Windows or Linux.
You must install Windows before you install Linux for this to work

Can you give me a link to the drivers you downloaded for the printer? I want to inspect them before I tell you how to install them.
 
That archive contains RPM files which are basically installer files for Red Hat based systems. Ubuntu uses Debian based installer files. However, you can convert these RPM files to .Deb files using a tool called Alien. It's pretty simple to do. However you won't be able to perform these operations until you have installed Kubuntu onto your computer.

When you have installed Kubuntu I will be able to assist you with the installation of your printer
 
Thanks Megamaced,

When I start the migration properly I will let you know.

Can you let me know the basics of the dual boot. 1 of the web sites was talking about having to install XP in the first 5.5 Gig as Linux needs to be installed in the first 6 Gig or it won't boot and something was mentioned about a swap file(how big and why?) 5.5 Gig will not be a prob as if I go this way then the only thing running on XP will be my games and Nerovision. I think I have more or less sorted everything else.
I read somewhere that my Palm would be supported using a prog called JetPalm or something like that. The final concideration was the printer which you say will work.

1 last question, is it possible to copy over my mail and IE favs and if so what file type do I need to save them in so Kubuntu can then import them.

Other than the last question I think I'm ready so its time to take a deep breath and go for it :chk:
 
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