OT - Greetings from Ubuntu! ... again

NightHawkeye · Post by **NightHawkeye** » Mon May 26, 2008 8:32 am

yardbird wrote:Did you say you're using the 64-bit version? If so I would ask why.

The 64-bit Firefox is the default version in 64-bit Ubuntu. Incidentally, I also installed the 32-bit version of Firefox for another purpose (long story), as well as version 2 of Firefox. I still haven't changed the system tray icon for Firefox though. (Maybe I like the excitement?)

yardbird wrote:And "in a flash" seems appropriate. Does it crash on web sites that have flash content?

Doesn't everything have flash content? CPAPtalk certainly does, although I do have it set so that flash requires a manual start.

yardbird wrote:Graphics card... ATI, nVidia, or integrated Intel? (or other?)

nVidea, of course. Is there anything else that works as well?

yardbird wrote:Right after a crash there should be something in the system log that says why it crashed, but it may be rather cryptic (kinda like windows errors)

Thanks for that tip. Unfortunately, my system log restarted earlier today and yesterday's events have been wiped already.

yardbird wrote:Funny story about system errors.... I once had an error box pop open in windows that JUST had a big exclamation point in it. No text, and a button that said, "OK". that's all. No "Cancel", no explanation. Just like.... windows was very surprised! hehehe... maybe it farted unexpectedly. I'm not sure.

I've never seen that one before in Windows, but I've lost track of all the other "Windows" surprises I've encountered. One of the stupidest being the mandatory "Close Program" box which offers no other options and forces you to close a program even if the program is still working.

DreamStalker · Post by **DreamStalker** » Mon May 26, 2008 8:43 pm

Hello -

I finally got most of my Windows software working under my XP virtual machine.

Got Encore Pro up and running and also got my data migrated over.

My only problem is that my Virtual Box is unable to detect my USB smart card reader or any USB device for that mater. I did some research and went in and had to change permissions to edit the fstab file (wow! its been over ten years since I did anything in the bash shell). I tried to set up the USB device filters with no luck ... don't know the Vendor or Product ID numbers or the revision, port, or serial numbers?

"I get the message: Could not load the Host USB Proxy Service."

I did run the Smart Card driver setup and it all seemed to go well within my virtual XP ... but still I'm stuck!

Any ideas what I need to do to get my smart card reader to work?

Thanks,

- r

DreamStalker · Post by **DreamStalker** » Mon May 26, 2008 11:00 pm

Never mind!

I figured it out ... got it all working now ... encore pro can now read data from my smart card reader (this was a bit more challenging than I expected but now that I have done it I guess it would be a little simpler to do again).

Have to reboot Ubuntu after making fstab file changes.

BTW - I have the beta version of Firefox that came with Ubuntu and it seems to be working good for me. I got my VirtualBox from the download site and did not load it from the synaptic package manager. (yardbird - what are the usb filter parameters and where or how do you determine these ... not just for Infineer card reader but also for other usb devices?)

Also, once I get my virtual XP all fixed up the way I want it, is there a way to save it to a usb drive and install it onto a different PC running Ubuntu so that I don't have to reinstall all of the software and fix all the settings again? ... I think I remember Bill mentioning something about this being possible as well as easy.

Thanks.

NightHawkeye · Post by **NightHawkeye** » Tue May 27, 2008 1:21 pm

Good going, Dreamstalker. Just like loading Encore Pro in Windows, huh? (That's not funny )

I believe that the USB filter parameters Yardbird referred to can be accessed in Virtual Box prior to starting Windows. After starting Virtual Box, you'll see a screen on the right of system configuration. Selecting USB in that pane will give you a list of USB devices currently connected. Clicking on one of those will give you the associated characteristics. A simple selection allows you to then make the filter. (working from memory here, but it's straightforward ... )

Yes, you can install the virtual machine in another PC. It's just a matter of copying the VM file (or maybe a couple of files). I did that, but be aware that a virtual machine is tied to some specific hardware I/O which can cause grief (but can also provide hours of entertainment ... )

Regards,
Bill

yardbird · Post by **yardbird** » Wed May 28, 2008 11:28 am

I will have to take a look at where I got the information on how to extract the information you need to create a filter. I have filters for my card reader and also for my Logitech Harmony remote

When you want to move a VM from one physical machine to another, you copy one file and tehn you start VirtualBox on the new machine, create a VM with the same memory and space as the one you're moving, and then import it by pointing it to the file you moved.

You can also CLONE a VM. So you get your XP installed into a VM and it's validated through Microsoft, etc. and you want another one like it, you CLONE that VM. The clone is validated too! Make a whole herd of clones and experiment with what it takes to make them blow up.

If you haven't already done so, I highly recommend downloading the documentation for VirtualBox. It's really quite good, not terribly technical considering what you're doing, and easy to follow and find stuff.

DreamStalker · Post by **DreamStalker** » Wed May 28, 2008 1:23 pm

hehe ... well, I think I blew up my VM last night. I had 2 more Windows software to install on my XP VM. I took a snapshot before starting and just then I got a balloon message saying I had 20-something updates for Ubuntu ... so I clicked for the updates and at the end it prompted me to reboot the machine. So I closed down the XP and the virtual box and rebooted.

I then opened up virtual box and tried to start my XP VM to finsih my last 2 installs and I got an error message:

"VirtualBox kernel driver not installed. The vboxdrv kernel module was either not loaded or /dev/vboxdrv was not created for some reason. Re-setup the kernel module by executing '/etc/init.d/vboxdrv setup' as root.
VBox status code: -1908 (VERR_VM_DRIVER_NOT_INSTALLED)" ... or something very similar to this mesage.

When I tried to run etc/init.d/vboxdrv setup, I got another message that no such file exists.

It was late so I just went to bed after that

I guess I need to learn to clone ... and then do it early and often.

NightHawkeye · Post by **NightHawkeye** » Wed May 28, 2008 7:22 pm

DreamStalker wrote:I guess I need to learn to clone ... and then do it early and often.

Or do like most Linux users ..., conclude that Windows programs are unnecessary ...

It's kinda tough after using them for so many years, I know. (You might actually need them, right?) A little over a year ago when I finally gave up on M$ Windows I installed Cross-over Office, Microsoft Office, Adobe Acrobat Pro, Internet Explorer, Quicken, Olympus Camedia, and some other Windows programs which I don't even remember now directly in Linux. I also installed Virtual Box and loaded it up with Windows XP Pro and even more Windows programs.

A few weeks ago when I got a new PC I didn't bother installing anything directly in Linux ... just wasn't motivated to do that ... and only installed two programs in Virtual Box - Quicken and Turbo Tax. The only other Windows program I use is SilverLining and its on an old XP box in the bedroom.

For some reason, which escapes me now, I set up this computer as dual-boot and left Vista in its pristine condition. I've never booted into Windows since doing that though. I turned Vista ON exactly one time and that was only to verify that the hardware in this new PC was all working properly before I installed Ubuntu.

Giving up all those Windows programs over the past year I suppose I should feel some loss, but I don't. Oh well ...

NightHawkeye · Post by **NightHawkeye** » Thu May 29, 2008 5:36 am

BTW, I noticed just the other day that the newer versions Virtual Box now support serial ports. I'm using version 1.5.4 (I think) which has been out for some months now and it includes serial support. Version 1.6 is the current version of Virtual Box.

Now that it has serial port support I suppose I'll test out SilverLining to verify that it works OK.

Regards,
Bill

DreamStalker · Post by **DreamStalker** » Thu May 29, 2008 7:33 am

Well I discovered the power of sudo which enabled me to fix my vboxdrv to recover my XP VM ... if that isn't geek greek, don't know what is.

Anyway, I'm begining to feel dangerous

Fredman · Post by **Fredman** » Thu May 29, 2008 5:33 pm

Maybe not a geek...but in Windows 3.1, I could take care of anything with a a bat, ini, or sys file!

I tried to figure out Sudo to no avail...found some resources and it seemed so...geek to me er was that greek to me?

:lol:

I am thinking wiping my whole computer and reinstalling ubuntu and XP using Virtualbox...sounds better than the plain dual boot partition thingy....sounds more stable.

I believe the Linux Kernel is corrupt in Ubuntu, because every time I try to load normally or safe startup or re-install it crashes at the kernel and the pc states that it had to shut down due to a thermal event. (sounds like thermo nuclear!).

NightHawkeye · Post by **NightHawkeye** » Thu May 29, 2008 6:43 pm

Fredman wrote:I believe the Linux Kernel is corrupt in Ubuntu, because every time I try to load normally or safe startup or re-install it crashes at the kernel and the pc states that it had to shut down due to a thermal event ...

Any chance you're using ATI video, Fredman?

I found this on Ubuntu forums: http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=251719

Ubuntu Forums wrote:This release of the ATI Proprietary Linux driver now enables Thermal Event Power Management. The ATI Proprietary Linux driver now reacts to Thermal Events by throttling down the GPU to prevent overheating. For this feature to work please ensure that the daemon /sbin/atieventsd is started. Further details can be found in topic number 737-22637

Here's the link to 737-22637:
http://support.ati.com/ics/support/defa ... onID=22637

Can you run the PC off the Ubuntu Live CD?

Fredman · Post by **Fredman** » Thu May 29, 2008 6:51 pm

Thanks NightHawkeye! I appreciate that

Yes, I have an ATI video card. Ubuntu used to work, but maybe one of the updates did something. It always had a message about not supporting the monitor, but it always worked.

And the live CD does work out of windows.

I am going to check out the links you provided. Sounds promising!

yardbird · Post by **yardbird** » Fri May 30, 2008 5:34 am

sudo is not mysterious.

It simply allows you to do things that would require administrative access.

Example:

Let's say you want to edit a configuration file that you can't edit as a USER, but you need administrative rights. Let's also say that you use gedit to edit that file. If you simply type gedit /etc/fstab (for example) the file will open and you can edit it, but you can't SAVE the changes because you don't have sufficient access permissions as a normal user to change this "system" file.

IF, on the other hand, you would have typed sudo gedit /etc/fstab, you would be prompted for password, and then gedit would open the file, you edit it, and now you can save it.

sudo is meant for use in the terminal. For text-based operations. If you are using ubuntu (and therefore Gnome desktop as opposed to Kubuntu with KDE desktop) then when you want to open something with administrative rights that has a graphical interface (like gedit) you can.... and probably should... type gksu gedit *filename*. You'll then get a password prompt window and continue on from there.

Not magic.... not hard... just makes you Super User (su)

DreamStalker · Post by **DreamStalker** » Fri May 30, 2008 7:57 am

How true, not mysterious at all ... just dangerous, if like me, you don't know what you are doing.

NightHawkeye · Post by **NightHawkeye** » Fri May 30, 2008 8:04 am

DreamStalker wrote:How true, not mysterious at all ... just dangerous, if like me, you don't know what you are doing.

LOL. When one uses sudo, then one can be just as dangerous on a Linux machine as one ordinarily is on a Windows machine. .

Of course, even with sudo your Linux machine is still not being subjected to the constant malware which corrupts Windows machines.

Regards,
Bill