wow...

I just installed Ubuntu on my HP Zt3000 laptop...and i really do not know where to begin or even being to use this new OS...someone help...atm i have no internet either...so that could be a start. using a intel Pro/wireless 2200BG

 

plug directly into your router with an ethernet cable, then open up a terminal (Applications>Accessories>Terminal) and type in "sudo apt-get update" it'll ask for your password. type it in (it won't show up, just type and press enter). then type in "sudo apt-get install network-manager-gnome" this will install networkmanager, which makes switching between access points and using WPA really convenient. reboot the computer, pull out the ethernet cable, and networkmanager should start searching for access points. click the icon in the notification tray, select your access point from the drop-down list, and it will ask your for any WiFi security keys and whatnot.

 

Well, your first step would be to know what kind of internet connection you're using. Do you have access to a wired network? Chances would be that if you start your computer up with that, it'll auto-detect and you'll be able to get online in order to set up your wireless connection without constantly switching back and forth.

As far as getting the wireless working, the driver is included in Ubuntu, and I actually have the same card, but you're going to have to download the proper firmware to make the card function.

http://ipw2200.sourceforge.net/firmware.php

You need to download v3.0 firmware. Just let it download into your home folder. Then, get to a terminal/console window. One of the cool features of the command line is that you can press the tab button and it will auto-complete what it can. So where I say (tab) you just press tab and it will autocomplete.

tar xzvf ipw(tab)
cd ipw(tab)
sudo cp ipw(tab) /lib/firmware

Try that and see if you can get online.

EDIT: This may not be your problem. To test, do:

ls /lib/firmware

It may be inside another folder within that one, so you can look there too.

- Trip

 

wow...thanks my internet now works...but yeah this is like learning how to walk again actually harder...so i just d/led the new firefox 2 which the current ubuntu has 1.5 so from what i understand so far from your help...i would go to the terminal and type in "sudo apt-get install firefox" ? the firefox folder which i just d/l is on the desktop atm.

 

you must have Ubuntu 6.06... 6.10 comes with firefox 2.0

if you downloaded Firefox from the mozilla website, you should follow the installation instructions included with the software.

apt-get is the built-in software install technology which draws everything over the internet from tested repositories which Canonical (the company that produces Ubuntu) maintains, so if you download something from a third party source, you don't need to use apt.

You might want to read this for more information on managing your software. Title says it all "How to install ANYTHING in Ubuntu!" http://monkeyblog.org/ubuntu/installing/

 

You may want to look into Automatix. It'll help you install some commonly-used software.

http://www.getautomatix.com/

And the answer to your question is 'yes' although it may be easier for you to fire up Synaptic (it's somewhere in the dropdown menus), which puts a nice user interface on apt-get.

- Trip

 

your right bigv...it is 6.06..i thought it was 6.10 oh well...anyways i restarted the comp and plugged in the ethernet. Now i can d/l updates to software? anyways...does this "update" update ubuntu to 6.10 ? or do i gotta do something special.

Im still pretty much speechless as this is my first ever time ever touching linux (ubuntu) as to my delight its very cool...

 

well, you CAN upgrade between versions, but I've heard of many problems.

apt-get update checks the internet for changes to the repositories, you can then run apt-get upgrade which will upgrade everything to the latest versions of the 6.06 repositories, or you can use apt-get dist-upgrade which will take you from 6.06 to 6.10. If you've just installed, it might be worth giving dist-upgrade a shot since it's not like you have a ton of time invested in the install.

 

You could do a full upgrade, but I had a lot of trouble upgrading from 6.06 to 6.10. I ended up at a command line and had to track down a missing package.

- Trip

 

Upgrading from 6.06 to 6.10 is not usually recommended by me, since it killed my other system and took me weeks of working only to never get 6.10 running. But since you've just started, now would be the time to do it. If you don't mind doing everything you've already done over again, that is...

Note: this isn't just a Linux thing. I would never recommend upgrading a Windows OS either.

 

I didn't have a problem upgrading from 6.06 to 6.10. I wasn't concerned about reloading the system if there was a problem so I gave it a shot. That system has been running fine with almost daily use since October.

Linux is fun and very liberating. Sure it might take a little work to get exactly what you want, but you can usually get what you need without much trouble at all.

Did you notice there is an Office Suite installed by default? How about the Dictionary built in, or the ability to add new software with the Synaptic Package Manager.

Check into Automatic, it will help you get many things working without much trouble. Also check out the forums on the Ubuntu site, they are a life saver.

Enjoy.

 

hmm so what does synaptic do really. and automatic? Does it like find progs over the internet to install or just progs thats already on the comp and is just waiting to be installed? oh and i upgraded to 6.10 just fine.

 

hmm im getting this error when i did the networkmanager install..."the networkmanager applet could not find some required resources.

 

synaptic looks in repositories on the internet, generally those maintained by the Ubuntu developers, but you can add custom ones later.

could you be more specific on what error networkmanager gives you?

 

well when i restarted the computer after finishing getting the network manager, that message shows up...exactly what i wrote. so i don't know how else specific i can get other than it showed up right when i booted up again. is there another program where i can also do the same functions as the "view network available" in the windows xp network manager. ie searching for multiple available wireless networks in the area. so for to get the wireless working i have been going to system-->admin-->networking. and then typing my network id and key to get it to work.

 

Use this code in terminal to fix that issue:

Code:

sudo gtk-update-icon-cache -f /usr/share/icons/hicolor/