Crazysah Posted April 30, 2008 Share Posted April 30, 2008 First of all I have a Dell XPS 420 fitted with Windows Vista Ultimate. Today... I decided to put Ubuntu 8.04 LTS on it... So I installed Ubuntu and everything went fine... Then when I restart and select Ubuntu... it won't start... It says some stuff and then shuts down... Why is that? It will only start if you select Ubuntu go into the setup and then select one of the three... Which one? Also... my sound just won't work in Ubuntu... Why? I have a few questions; 1. Why won't Ubuntu start straight away? 2. What is the difference between the 3 options? 3. Why won't my sound work in Ubuntu? 4. What do I need to get Ubuntu setup? 5. Is there a way to dual boot Windows Vista Ultimate and Ubuntu 8.04 6. When I am using Ubuntu and I click restart... it restarts and goes to Windows... how do I change this? 7. Anything else I should know about Ubuntu? Thanks Crazysah Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Foub Posted April 30, 2008 Share Posted April 30, 2008 First of all I have a Dell XPS 420 fitted with Windows Vista Ultimate.Today... I decided to put Ubuntu 8.04 LTS on it... So I installed Ubuntu and everything went fine... Then when I restart and select Ubuntu... it won't start... It says some stuff and then shuts down... Why is that? It will only start if you select Ubuntu go into the setup and then select one of the three... Which one? Also... my sound just won't work in Ubuntu... Why? I have a few questions; 1. Why won't Ubuntu start straight away? 2. What is the difference between the 3 options? 3. Why won't my sound work in Ubuntu? 4. What do I need to get Ubuntu setup? 5. Is there a way to dual boot Windows Vista Ultimate and Ubuntu 8.04 6. When I am using Ubuntu and I click restart... it restarts and goes to Windows... how do I change this? 7. Anything else I should know about Ubuntu? Thanks Crazysah Try to get a copy of 7.10. There seems to be some problems with 8.04. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vanacid Posted April 30, 2008 Share Posted April 30, 2008 (edited) A boot manager is supposed to be installed by Ubuntu on the first sector of the drive (Boot sector). It allows you to choose which operating system you want to "boot" into. The boot manager is usually Grub. And it installs the boot manager of the first hard disk it detects by default. If you have more than one disk in your computer, it is possible that the boot disk is not the right one. Change the order of hard disk drive in the BIOS to fix this. The sound may not work for various reasons : 1. Your vendor did not release publicly it's audio specification (so there is no driver for your sound card) 2. The default output of sound may be set to digital. You may have to set it to analog to use your speakers. 3. The sound outputs to a different jack (it is possible on sound cards that supports 5 to 7 speakers) In linux I know these cards have a driver : Creative Audigy, Audigy 2, Audigy 4 M-Audio revolution, Audiophile 2496, Delta 1010 Most AC'97 onboard sound This card DOESN'T have a driver (this is the only one I know of) : Creative X-Fi (any version) I hope I was able to help you. Simon Edit: You should seriously consider a book that teaches you the basics of unix/linux. The way the computer is considered by these operating systems is REALLY different from Windows. Some examples : 1. C:, D:, E: doesn't exist in Linux you have to mount drives in folders 2. All periferals connected by a driver to your system can be accesed in the /dev directory (/dev/dsp = sound card, /dev/hda = first drive, /dev/hda0 = first partition on first drive) 3. You can start in different runlevels, mode 1 = single user, mode 2 = multi-user, mode 3 = multi-user + Networking, 5 multi-user + graphic manager + Networking, mode 6 = restart, mode 0 = shutdown. Edited April 30, 2008 by vanacid Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aaron Olive Posted April 30, 2008 Share Posted April 30, 2008 (edited) i also have a question about ubuntu is it liter on resources than xp and what advantages will i benefit from switching from the windows platform because right now i have Vista Ultimate SP1 x86 XP SP3 x86. Edited April 30, 2008 by Killa Aaron Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markwolfe Veteran Posted April 30, 2008 Veteran Share Posted April 30, 2008 ...Then when I restart and select Ubuntu... it won't start... It says some stuff and then shuts down... Why is that? ... I don't know. What random stuff does it say? That would be important....It will only start if you select Ubuntu go into the setup and then select one of the three... Which one? ... So, it does start Ubuntu? Or doesn't it? Which option(s) does it work when you boot, and which ones does it not work?...Also... my sound just won't work in Ubuntu... Why? ... Might be muted?...6. When I am using Ubuntu and I click restart... it restarts and goes to Windows... how do I change this? ... The default boot OS is set in your /boot/grub/menu.lst file. If you need to change it, let us know, but it is a matter of doing a sudo gedit /boot/grub/menu.lst (there is probably a GUI for this, but I don't have Ubuntu/Gnome. You can look for your boot system settings in your menus, if you like)i also have a question about ubuntu is it liter on resources than xp and what advantages will i benefit from switching from the windows platform because right now i have Vista Ultimate SP1 x86 XP SP3 x86.Ubuntu will be lighter than Vista, but heavier than XP, in my experience/opinion. You can immediately change this by installing XFCE in Ubuntu (or just starting with Xubuntu - either way you please) and it will be at or a little better than XP for resource usage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aaron Olive Posted April 30, 2008 Share Posted April 30, 2008 well i'm using ubuntu now as a dual boot from my XP laptop drive and i gotta say that i kinda like it its just a couple of things i gotta get use to im glad that i have a flexible laptop on one side i have Xp x32 and then i have ubuntu x64 yeah :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kyro Posted May 1, 2008 Share Posted May 1, 2008 you may like to read http://www.bohemianalps.com/blog/archives/...h-linux-review/ and https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+question/29308 and http://dell.com/open to get preloaded ubuntu machine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crazysah Posted May 1, 2008 Author Share Posted May 1, 2008 Try to get a copy of 7.10. There seems to be some problems with 8.04. Yeah but I only have 1 or 2 problems... not much more than that? A boot manager is supposed to be installed by Ubuntu on the first sector of the drive (Boot sector). It allows you to choose which operating system you want to "boot" into. The boot manager is usually Grub. And it installs the boot manager of the first hard disk it detects by default.If you have more than one disk in your computer, it is possible that the boot disk is not the right one. Change the order of hard disk drive in the BIOS to fix this. Where can I find the boot manager Grub? Where do I choose which OS I want to boot into? Yes... I have 2 disks on my computer. How do I change it in the bios? The sound may not work for various reasons : 1. Your vendor did not release publicly it's audio specification (so there is no driver for your sound card) 2. The default output of sound may be set to digital. You may have to set it to analog to use your speakers. 3. The sound outputs to a different jack (it is possible on sound cards that supports 5 to 7 speakers) In linux I know these cards have a driver : Creative Audigy, Audigy 2, Audigy 4 M-Audio revolution, Audiophile 2496, Delta 1010 Most AC'97 onboard sound This card DOESN'T have a driver (this is the only one I know of) : Creative X-Fi (any version) Yes. I have a Creative X-Fi sound.... in my comp... Do you think that is the problem? I hope I was able to help you. Simon Edit: You should seriously consider a book that teaches you the basics of unix/linux. The way the computer is considered by these operating systems is REALLY different from Windows. Some examples : 1. C:, D:, E: doesn't exist in Linux you have to mount drives in folders 2. All periferals connected by a driver to your system can be accesed in the /dev directory (/dev/dsp = sound card, /dev/hda = first drive, /dev/hda0 = first partition on first drive) 3. You can start in different runlevels, mode 1 = single user, mode 2 = multi-user, mode 3 = multi-user + Networking, 5 multi-user + graphic manager + Networking, mode 6 = restart, mode 0 = shutdown. Thanks for your help. I don't know. What random stuff does it say? That would be important.So, it does start Ubuntu? Or doesn't it? Which option(s) does it work when you boot, and which ones does it not work? I shall note it down next time and tell you. Might be muted? No. It was not muted. It works fine in Windows Vista. The default boot OS is set in your /boot/grub/menu.lst file. If you need to change it, let us know, but it is a matter of doing a sudo gedit /boot/grub/menu.lst (there is probably a GUI for this, but I don't have Ubuntu/Gnome. You can look for your boot system settings in your menus, if you like) Yes. All I want is that if I am using Ubuntu and I click restart... it should restart with Ubuntu and if I am using Vista and click Vista... then it should restart with Vista. Ubuntu will be lighter than Vista, but heavier than XP, in my experience/opinion. You can immediately change this by installing XFCE in Ubuntu (or just starting with Xubuntu - either way you please) and it will be at or a little better than XP for resource usage. Thabks alot! well i'm using ubuntu now as a dual boot from my XP laptop drive and i gotta say that i kinda like it its just a couple of things i gotta get use to im glad that i have a flexible laptop on one side i have Xp x32 and then i have ubuntu x64 yeah :D How did you dual boot it? you may like to read http://www.bohemianalps.com/blog/archives/...h-linux-review/ and https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+question/29308 and http://dell.com/open to get preloaded ubuntu machine. I already have the computer. I wouldn't want another machine! Thanks for the links though! Also... is it possible to Dual Boot Windows Vista Ultimate and Ubuntu 8.04LTS? Thanks alot guys! Crazysah Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drakesh Posted May 1, 2008 Share Posted May 1, 2008 Are you using the onboard controller to control a "fakeraid" Intel matrix raid array? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markwolfe Veteran Posted May 1, 2008 Veteran Share Posted May 1, 2008 Crazysah, please do not post replies or questions inside of quotes. Those comments are stripped when we do a "reply" to your post. Anyhow, here are your comments and my replies: Where can I find the boot manager Grub? Where do I choose which OS I want to boot into? Yes... I have 2 disks on my computer. How do I change it in the bios? You don't change anything in BIOS. That would be too complex to try to manage when a simple OS selection screen from GRUB would be much easier. Ubuntu will offer to install GRUB to your MBR of your boot drive. Let it. It will set up your menu for you. No. It was not muted. It works fine in Windows Vista. Muted or volume in Vista has nothing to do with volume in Linux. I was asking if, in Linux, the sound was muted at all. Yes. All I want is that if I am using Ubuntu and I click restart... it should restart with Ubuntu and if I am using Vista and click Vista... then it should restart with Vista. To do that, you just need GRUB to remember your last boot option, and use that as the default for the next time you boot. Inside that file I mentioned earlier, you just add a savedefault line to each OS, then it will save that selection as default for next boot. How did you dual boot it? By using GRUB. See above. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crazysah Posted May 1, 2008 Author Share Posted May 1, 2008 Crazysah, please do not post replies or questions inside of quotes. Those comments are stripped when we do a "reply" to your post.Anyhow, here are your comments and my replies: Where can I find the boot manager Grub? Where do I choose which OS I want to boot into? Yes... I have 2 disks on my computer. How do I change it in the bios? You don't change anything in BIOS. That would be too complex to try to manage when a simple OS selection screen from GRUB would be much easier. Ubuntu will offer to install GRUB to your MBR of your boot drive. Let it. It will set up your menu for you. When I installed Ubuntu... I did not see any option to install GRUB... what is MBR? How can I check whether GRUB is installed or not? No. It was not muted. It works fine in Windows Vista.Muted or volume in Vista has nothing to do with volume in Linux. I was asking if, in Linux, the sound was muted at all. How can I check in Linux if the sound was muted? I don't think it was but hey... Yes. All I want is that if I am using Ubuntu and I click restart... it should restart with Ubuntu and if I am using Vista and click Vista... then it should restart with Vista.To do that, you just need GRUB to remember your last boot option, and use that as the default for the next time you boot. Inside that file I mentioned earlier, you just add a savedefault line to each OS, then it will save that selection as default for next boot. Inside which file? Inside Grub? How did you dual boot it?By using GRUB. See above. Thanks alot mate! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vanacid Posted May 1, 2008 Share Posted May 1, 2008 I think grub is installed on the MBR of the wrong drive (that was my problem once). If you change the order of drive in the BIOS it may fix the problem, since it will find grub on the other drive (where it was obliously installed). MBR stands for Master boot record, which is in the First sector of your drive. This sector is read by the computer to know how to boot the operating system. When you have 2 drives, the computer reads the MBR of the first drive in the BIOS. If grub is intalled on the second drive, Grub will never be read. X-Fi have no drivers on linux. There is no way to fix this until creative release their specs publicly, some linux programmer reverse engeneer the device or creative release their own driver. That's it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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