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le_bebna_kamniI have a Toshiba Satellite M45 that I keep loaning/giving to friends, but that keeps coming back to me when something fails, just in time to fix it and give it to the next person who needs it. When I owned it, the only two Linux operating systems I could get working on it were Gentoo and Fedora Core, but fortunately the people I've lent it to only wanted Windows. But now I have a friend who wants Ubuntu.
Ubuntu is a fantastic operating system for beginners - when it works, everything works spectacularly and effortlessly, and it's a great way to either learn Linux for the first time, or (if you happen to be a lazy admin, like me) to enjoy the benefits of not having to work too hard to set up and maintain a machine.
But when it fails, it fails spectacularly, and you sometimes have to work twice as hard to fix it as you would have if you had just installed Gentoo in the first place. The most notable failure I've had is with its automatic X Windows configuration (i.e., the graphical desktop system). If you've ever tried to install Linux and found yourself staring at a screen of garbage pixels and no mouse capabilities (or worse, a non-graphical console with error messages), this quick fix may be for you.
Today we're going to use Knoppix to auto-generate a configuration file that should work with Ubuntu.
For this tutorial I assume that you've had very little experience working with Linux. If you're reasonably familiar with the command line, you can skip to the final overview for the quick version of the instructions.
What you'll need before you begin:
Now you're ready to begin. Here are the steps you follow:
Final Overview
So for those people who just want a quick summary, here are the basic steps:
Ubuntu is a fantastic operating system for beginners - when it works, everything works spectacularly and effortlessly, and it's a great way to either learn Linux for the first time, or (if you happen to be a lazy admin, like me) to enjoy the benefits of not having to work too hard to set up and maintain a machine.
But when it fails, it fails spectacularly, and you sometimes have to work twice as hard to fix it as you would have if you had just installed Gentoo in the first place. The most notable failure I've had is with its automatic X Windows configuration (i.e., the graphical desktop system). If you've ever tried to install Linux and found yourself staring at a screen of garbage pixels and no mouse capabilities (or worse, a non-graphical console with error messages), this quick fix may be for you.
Today we're going to use Knoppix to auto-generate a configuration file that should work with Ubuntu.
For this tutorial I assume that you've had very little experience working with Linux. If you're reasonably familiar with the command line, you can skip to the final overview for the quick version of the instructions.
What you'll need before you begin:
1) your computer, with Linux installed. (If you can't get Ubuntu to install because of graphical problems, try clicking the check box for the alternate desktop when you download the install CD)If you don't already own Knoppix, download and burn it to CD (but avoid the annoying ads that sit right where the download links should be) or purchase an already burned copy for fairly cheap. If you know me personally, I'll even give you a copy for free, delivered to your doorstep the next time you see me. :)
2) a copy of Knoppix
Now you're ready to begin. Here are the steps you follow:
1) Pop Knoppix in your machine, and get your machine to boot to CD.
For me, I can press the "C" key while it starts up, and it will load the CD instead of the hard drive operating system. You can also edit what your computer uses manually by pressing something like "F2", "F12", or "Del"/"Delete" to enter setup -- if anyone trying this isn't familiar with this step let me know and I'll post more detail in a comment.
2) You'll get a screen that says "Please hit ENTER to start Linux from CD".2a) Just hit ENTER and let it start up. If you get a screen of garbage that looks eerily familiar, go to 2b. Otherwise, skip right to step 3.3) Now that Knoppix is working, you should see at least one -- possibly more -- icons on the desktop that say "Hard Drive [sda1]" or "Hard Drive [hda2]" or something similar. Click on an icon, and it will bring up a window with all the files and folders on it. Keep clicking until you find the one that has a bunch of folders called "bin", "boot", "etc", "usr", and so on.
2b) Restart your machine. When you get to the "Please hit ENTER" screen again, try typing one of the following:knoppix xmodule=vesaMy machine uses the "knoppix xmodule=vesa" command.
knoppix xmodule=svga
knoppix xmodule=fbdev
If that still won't work, do a search for "Video Card Cheats", page 15 on the Google Books' version of Knoppix Hacks by Kyle Rankin. It's a great book if you use Knoppix regularly, and I highly recommend purchasing a copy if you like using Knoppix.
Start with the paragraph "If you have tried all of the above modules..." and try each of the additional options (e.g. knoppix xserver=XF86_S3) he lists - be sure to add "knoppix" in front of whatever options you test. There are also codes you can try if your mouse is causing the problem, and check out page 7 for more general advice on booting Knoppix.
If you still can't get Knoppix to work, it may be that your computer is just Linux-unfriendly by design. I highly recommend visiting the "Hardware and Booting" forum at Knoppix for help, or tossing out your obviously useless computer. ;P
If you have multiple versions of Linux installed, several of these hard drives will have the "bin", "boot", "etc" files. If this is the case, try checking the "home" folder, and then the folder with your user name on it. Look for any familiar-looking files that might help you figure out which one is your current Ubuntu installation.
4) When you've figured out which one it is, write down the name of the drive.
For me, the icon says "Hard Drive [hda5]", so I would write down "hda5" (without quotation marks). When you see "[your hard drive]"in step 7, substitute what you just wrote down.
5) Now we're going to get our hands dirty by using a command line...
[Wait! Don't run away! It's not as scary as it looks. Trust me, I was once new to the command line. And just keep telling yourself that once you get your graphical system up and running you may never have to touch the command line again...Bwahahahaha]
Open up the command line by clicking on the little "computer screen" icon on the bottom tool bar. Alternatively, you can use the menu to select "Utilities"-"Konsole Terminal Program".
[If you choose "Root Terminal" instead, you can enter a password (I think it's "root"??) and skip step 6.]
6) Type the following to become the "root" user (i.e., the Ultimate Authority who can bend the computer to their will and make it cry like a scared little boy):sudo su7) Move to the folder where the configuration file is located. Type:
cd /media/[your hard drive]/etc/X11
8) Make a backup of your old configuration file:
cp xorg.conf xorg.conf_crappy
(The old configuration file obviously doesn't work, so why you'd want to back it up when you never intend to touch the command line ever again is beyond me...still, learning to back things up before you make drastic changes isn't a *bad* idea... ;P)
9) Copy the good configuration file from Knoppix to your Ubuntu drive:
cp /etc/X11/xorg.conf xorg.conf
10a) Reboot. (You can just type "reboot", or you can do the point-and-click method from the menu)
10b) Feel awesome because you just did something cool with [hopefully] a minimum amount of effort.
Final Overview
So for those people who just want a quick summary, here are the basic steps:
1) Boot into Knoppix.
2) Use any cheat codes (e.g. knoppix xmodule=vesa is the one that works for my Toshiba Satellite) to get it working.
3) Mount your Linux drive, either by clicking on the icon or via the command line
4) Open Konsole terminal and become root (if you didn't do it for step 2)
5) Change to the location of your xorg.conf file:
cd /media/[your hard drive]/etc/X11
6) Make a backup of the old configuration file:
cp xorg.conf xorg.conf_crappy
7) Copy the correctly configured Knoppix file to your hard drive:
cp /etc/X11/xorg.conf xorg.conf
(yes, you want to overwrite, if it asks you)
8) Reboot into your working Ubuntu desktop environment. Use your carefully-cultivated evil genius laugh.
