fresh install of w.warthog -- many questions, gripes

[Paul Sladen]

On Sat, 5 Feb 2005 gl34 at telus.net wrote:

Hello blissfix,

> Why does uname -r give 2.2.19(!) when I asked specifically to install
> the 2.6.8.1 kernel?

Warty only knows about 2.6.8.1;  this is in the package 'linux-image-...'.  
You can show available kernels by typing:

   $ sudo apt-get install linux-image

Could you describe how you ''asked [Ubuntu to] specifically'' install
a different kernel

> Where are the sources? /usr/src has only rpms in it, which is empty.

Archives of sources are selected by 'deb-src' lines in
'/etc/apt/sources.list':

  $ sudo apt-get source NAME_OF_PACKAGE

> How do I play mp3's from the command line?

MP3, DeCSS and MPEG-2 have patent or other distribution problems for Free
Operating Systems.  'mpg123' can be installed from the 'universe' archive:

  http://www.ubuntulinux.org/wiki/RestrictedFormats

Open formats that are legal to support, such as 'Ogg', work out of the box.

> X doesn't grok my Radeon9250 vid card yet. Working w/o tunes is a drag

If the Fantastic Auto-detection didn't work, we'd love to fix that.  In the
mean-time, you can try some alternate settings with:

  $ sudo dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xfree

You may need to use the Vesa driver as a full-back if you are having
difficulties and can use the command above to configure the X server.

> I installed in "expert" mode and expected to be able to choose what software

It might be worth trying to do the install again and skipping the expert
mode.  Ubuntu tries to be very good with its auto-detection and you may find
this is a quicker way to get your system installed.

> I wanted but ubuntu installed a _lot_ of stuff I don't want,

As well as the base operating-system, Ubuntu tries to install additional
useful software;  particularly best-in-breed software such as Firefox and
OpenOffice.org. along with anything else that can fit on the CD.  The base
desktop-install includes approximately 1.8GB of software.

> What's the safest way to uninstall the stuff I don't want?

Packages can be removed with:

  $ sudo apt-get --purge remove NAME_OF_PACKAGE(S)

Note that if you remove something installed by default, APT will show a
message warning you that it needs to uninstall 'ubuntu-desktop' ---a
meta-package (it contains no actual files) which allows for smooth upgrading
between Ubuntu versions.  It is your choice if you want to remove packages
included in Ubuntu by default.

> I was told I could su to a root console. Wrong!

Advanced operating-systems such as Ubuntu and Mac OSX use 'sudo' to delegate
security privileges.  As shown in the examples above, you can run commands
that require root-privileges with:

  $ sudo COMMAND TO RUN AS ROOT

and identifying yourself with your password.

> I had to reboot as single 
> user.

> And I couldn't use the install CD,

A command prompt can be got by running the install CD and pressing:

  Alt-F2

> had to turn to my trusty slackware.

Could you describe what it is your needed to do in Slackware that you were
unable to do in Ubuntu, Ubuntu recovery/single-user mode or from using the
install-disk as a rescue CD?

You referred to a 2.2 kernel above;  is there a chance that you were running
Slackware when you noted the 'uname -r' output.

> Dmesg has lots of "neighbour table overflow". What's that?

Google can probably offer a more detailed explanation:

  http://www.google.com/search?q="neighbour+table+overflow"

If I remember correctly, it is to do with overflowing the ARP cache and is
most likely to occur if you are on a very large layer-2 (switched) network;
for example an unrouted University, Company or Cable network.

Apparently you can increase the default of '1024' with:

  $ echo 10000 | sudo tee -a /proc/sys/net/ipv4/neigh/default/gc_thresh3

> On boot I get a lot of "cdrom failed to open" messages. What's up with that?

This may occur if don't have a data-disk in a CD-ROM drive.

> Topsy-turvy! Suddenly I find ls produces color console o/p as root
> but _not_ as user. What's going on there?

The default option set in:

  /root/.bashrc
  /home/*/.bashrc

are different;  if you believe they are not acting as the author intended
(and having just read both of them, I think that's a possibility).  Then it
may be worth filing a Trivial bug on:

  http://bugzilla.ubuntu.com/

> Shouldn't I have a bunch of (dot) files in /home to tweak stuff with?

You can see your program's private .dot files in your home directory with:

  $ ls -la ~

for example:

  $ ls -la /home/blissfix

generally these files are created by individual programs and maybe hidden 
because they were not designed to be modified, except by those programs
themselves.

Settings can be updated by going to:

    Computer -> Settings

after a successful graphical login into Ubuntu.

I hope that is useful and enables you to start enjoying Ubuntu!

	-Paul
-- 
Is there no safe way to travel?  London, GB