OQO-friendly Ubuntu Intrepid (8.10) installer

[Guest]

[moshbox]

Does anyone know of generic equivalent to the AppleDisplayScaleFactor under OSX?  Some dialogs just don't display properly (e.g., Display Settings has the buttons @ the bottom cut off?)

I don't think there's an equivalent -- but if you click ALT, then left-click the window and drag, you can move any window beyond the top of the desktop.   

Scaling would indeed be handy.  If your eyes are up to it, setting the fonts to 6px and rendering to subpixel (lcd) reduces how often you'll need the ALT trick...

[benjitao]

awesome job galtoid!  i hate to admit, but my oqo`s been collecting dust since june with my failure to get a usable OS installed.  it got to the point i could cripple vista within hours of restoring it, and it just wasn`t fun anymore...so thank you!

I hope it is a good as it sounds, because my OQO didn't live up to expectations either.  XP onwards really needs a dual core to work well.  Too much junk going on at the same time makes a single core go into molasses mode and then winter hits and it ain't doing anything, so you get another cup of coffee and come back to sip your way through it's thawing out.  If I am lucky I can minimize everything and look at my desktop background while it thaws.  I just know Linux can do better on a single core than VistaBiz or XPPro.  So I am downloading the ISO and we will see.  Gota get new CD's to burn tomorrow.  But this sounds like what I was looking for cept I kinda like OpenSUSE better than hyped up Ubuntu.  Novell really put some work into their documentation.  Best I have seen in my research to get something better for this OQO.

[benjitao]

The ISO worked great!!  I am still trying to get the pen to work though.  I know I need to install it or something, but if you could point me in the right direction.  I'd appreciate it. 

I have decided to delve into how to configure hardware in linux.  I had planed to only be a user level linux geek, but I need a hobby that challenges me, and I think hardware configurations for linux might be the thing.  I don't want to get into code beyond beta testing, but I do want to get into understanding hardware, so I can figure out where it is going wrong.  I have checked online and in many book stores, but I can't find any good books on how to troubleshoot hardware, or how linux interfaces with the hardware.  I was hoping someone might know of a good book to get me more than started on this.  I think from my trouble and the trouble of others, that the only reason that linux seems hard to people is there is no good explanation of how the hardware all ties together.  I want to change that, so people have a good way to probe an install from command line to figure out what is installed and what exists.  Linux is not as plug and play as ms windows, and there is no hardware manager, but this doesn't mean that hardware can be taught and understood at the same level as one can more easily understand with ms windows.  Like I said a hobby that gives something to the world is just what I was looking for.  Give me a good book to start with.  I already like building computers, this just seems like the next step.

[galtoid]

The ISO worked great!!  I am still trying to get the pen to work though.  I know I need to install it or something, but if you could point me in the right direction.  I'd appreciate it. 

You need to update /etc/X11/xorg.conf to get the pen to work.  I pasted my copy here:

http://www.oqotalk.com/index.php/topic,3285.msg26277.html#msg26277

Make sure to backup your working /etc/X11/xorg.conf file before you update it.  Once xorg.conf is updated, you have to restart the X server (CTRL-ALT-backspace or reboot or 'sudo /etc/init.d/gdm restart' from a terminal)

All Linux drivers are part of the linux kernel and are most often loaded as a kernel module.  The X server (the GUI) uses it's own drivers too, which interface with other kernel drivers to accelerate things.   

[Pia Pium]

I'm in love, thanks a lot. I've been duel booting Ubuntu for some time now but have always had intermittent mouse problems because of the touch scrollers. The problem became so irritating that I started using andLinux to play around within windows just so I could avoid the mouse issues.

I had trouble getting it installed. I wanted to use my flash drive to boot and install (out of discs at the moment and to lazy to go buy some)  so I tried everything I could think of to set up my flash drive on my OQO from within windows. Nothing worked, flashnul, cygwin, the usb img you made, the iso..... you name it I did it and nothing. finally I booted up Ubuntu 8.10 on another computer and used usb-creator to put your iso on my flash. VICTORY!! It took me three tries to get through the installation process. First time it froze during the partitioning, and no it wasn't just taking a long time, unless several hours just wasn't long enough for it to finish that step and I'm just to impatient. So I reset it, booted windows and let windows scan the drives and check for errors then tried to install again. This time the partitioner didn't recognize that I had windows installed and wanted to just install to the whole drive, not good since I wanted to dual boot. So after another reboot (and windows drive scan) I attempted to install again and this time everything was flawless. I followed your advice on OpenChrome, I am connected wirelessly as we speak, and life is good. Thanks agian 

[benjitao]

You need to update /etc/X11/xorg.conf to get the pen to work.  I pasted my copy here:

http://www.oqotalk.com/index.php/topic,3285.msg26277.html#msg26277

Make sure to backup your working /etc/X11/xorg.conf file before you update it.  Once xorg.conf is updated, you have to restart the X server (CTRL-ALT-backspace or reboot or 'sudo /etc/init.d/gdm restart' from a terminal)

All Linux drivers are part of the linux kernel and are most often loaded as a kernel module.  The X server (the GUI) uses it's own drivers too, which interface with other kernel drivers to accelerate things.   

Thanks galtoid.  Do you know any sites or books where I can get a more complete education about linux with a focus on hardware configuration.  I have to train myself to get used to command line again.  I used linux in college but it was mostly to host Mathematica, so I did not spend much time in linux, but I had a better grip on it than I do now.  I'll get that just making it my main operating system and creating a training plan to get me familiar with everything, but I can't really find anything in the bookstores or on line that helps with hardware.  Do you know of any, or where did you get your knowledge?  I like to create a disciplined way to learn things and books help me create a lesson plan for myself.  I don't do well in forums.

[galtoid]

 I don't know of any good books that are hardware centric from a configuration point of view.  I've always approached learning practically, if something didn't work out of the box, I just tinkered and googled and read and wrote code until I worked it out... it takes time and dedication to really get a good grasp.   There are just so many different drivers and types of hardware, with each being developed by a diverse crew that it's probably not an easy task to try and write a book at 10,000 feet.  

But for the basics, you might try A Practical Guide to Linux or Linux in a Nutshell.

[benjitao]

Via has a driver for the CX700 in Ubuntu 8.10 that you can get at this web site.  It is proprietary, but it seems to have more features than openchrome.  It will allow for dual head and 3D graphics.  Just wondering if you tried it and it didn't work or what?  It would be nice to have this option to use this.

http://linux.via.com.tw/support/downloadFiles.action

[galtoid]

Via has a driver for the CX700 in Ubuntu 8.10 that you can get at this web site.  It is proprietary, but it seems to have more features than openchrome.  It will allow for dual head and 3D graphics.  Just wondering if you tried it and it didn't work or what?  It would be nice to have this option to use this.

http://linux.via.com.tw/support/downloadFiles.action

I had not seen this until you mentioned it -- looks very promising.  I thought VIA had just thrown the source over the fence and gave up.   It actually appears to support compiz and many good features actually.

 I can't get it to work yet though.  It's ignoring my custom Modeline and using an internal one, so the screen is shifted up 75 pixels and wrapped to the bottom.    They haven't released the source code for the 8.10 2D driver yet so I can't fix it just yet.

The latest source I can find is for 83-242 driver(29Aug08) (723.2K).  It's not ported over to the new X.org that 8.10 uses yet, but when we can find the  source for 85a-44597 or better I bet I can make it work.  I'll hunt around for a bit now.

[galtoid]

I emailed via for the source, as I can't find anything new.

Compiz didn't work either... meh

[penove]

hi,

Did this ISO work oqo +01 ?
Iam try but nothing?
Iam booting and appear ubuntu install, select install mod and when is go to startx black sreen...

penove

[galtoid]

Did this ISO work oqo +01 ?
Iam try but nothing?
Iam booting and appear ubuntu install, select install mod and when is go to startx black sreen...

Sorry, haven't tried it on the model 01 or 01+ yet..

[penove]

tnhks 

I already test ubuntu, debian and not work.

[benjitao]

Sorry those drivers didn't work.  I wish OQO, Via and now Intel would gt together and develop a flavor of Linux for In Order CPU's with better control of the hardware.  In order CPU's just don't work well with GPU's, SB chips, and memory controllers unless the kernel is tight.  Windows is dependent on out of order processing for these components to work right together.  Just to give you an idea, CPU sends information to GPU that needs a reply from GPU, but after GPU gets information from CPU it realizes that the CPU is supposed to send information for it to complete, but CPU is waiting for GPU and won't move forward to the next instruction that the GPU needs the result of.  So we have a lock up.  Complete lock up.  No blue screen just frozen.  In an out of order cpu it will go forward and complete the code that is not dependent on the GPU, so the GPU gets everything it needs to send back its completion to the CPU, therefore no lock-up.  Windows should not be used on In Order CPU's until the code is tightened up and all its out of order dependencies straightened out both in the core OS and in all third party drivers.  But we still have VIA, and Intel now saying they are good for windows or should I say windows is good for them, but it isn't.  It will only make in order cpu's look bad when they could be quite efficient with the right operating system.

[jasonlm24]

Hey galtoid, I wanted to say thanks for preparing this ubuntu image, I'm a decade long Linux user but I've been too lazy to iron out the openchrome driver install issues for the OQO, so I never got around to running Linux on my OQO.  Much happier now that it's an option.  I only with they'd make it easier to install by default.