[SOLVED] Confused about linux.

sycamorex · 05-01-2010, 02:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EricTRA

And which is referred to in the documentation link I posted in previous post.

Kind regards,

Eric

Didn't see your post. This time you beat me

kamon · 05-01-2010, 02:40 PM

Right... I have read the other thread by sycamorex, and I have read the link from ericTRA. Can anyone dumb it down a little for me?

EricTRA · 05-01-2010, 02:50 PM

Hi,

OK, one step at the time. What version of Ubuntu did you install? I imagine the latest stable 9.10.

The first thing you'll have to do is check that you have the correct repositories activated (a repository is like a site from where you can download in an automated way what you need).

Open a terminal (Applications, Accessories, Terminal) (if I recall correct, don't have Ubuntu at hand).

In the terminal type the following:

Code:

cat /etc/apt/sources.list

and post the output here.

Kind regards,

Eric

pixellany · 05-01-2010, 02:50 PM

kamon;

I've lost track of the specific issues----regardless: Rather than asking someone to "dumb it down", I think you will get better results by telling us specifically what you don't understand.

If, for example, someone gave you a link to an article, and your only reply is "please dumb it down", I would not know where to start.

EricTRA · 05-01-2010, 02:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pixellany

If, for example, someone gave you a link to an article, and your only reply is "please dumb it down", I would not know where to start.

@pixellany: I think OP is overwhelmed with the documentation that I linked to, since it holds a lot of links to other documentation to clarify other stuff. For example on the first page it mentions the repositories, but if OP doesn't know what a repository is or why it's needed, then he'll have to follow the link to it. I believe that by 'dumb it down' he means to summarize what he needs without him having to read through all that documentation just to be able to activate his wireless. That's what I attempted to do in the first step (post just above yours).

Kind regards,

Eric

kamon · 05-01-2010, 03:02 PM

she not he lol

EricTRA · 05-01-2010, 03:05 PM

Hi,

I apologize, if you have mentioned that before than I have missed it. Even more animated to 'guide you by the hand now'

Kind regards,

Eric

kamon · 05-01-2010, 03:08 PM

kamon@kamon-laptop:~$ cat /etc/apt/sources.list
# deb cdrom:[Ubuntu 9.10 _Karmic Koala_ - Release i386 (20091028.5)]/ karmic main restricted
# See http://help.ubuntu.com/community/UpgradeNotes for how to upgrade to
# newer versions of the distribution.

deb cdrom:[Ubuntu 9.10 _Karmic Koala_ - Release i386 (20091028.5)]/ karmic main restricted
deb http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ karmic main restricted
deb-src http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ karmic main restricted

## Major bug fix updates produced after the final release of the
## distribution.
deb http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ karmic-updates main restricted
deb-src http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ karmic-updates main restricted

## N.B. software from this repository is ENTIRELY UNSUPPORTED by the Ubuntu
## team. Also, please note that software in universe WILL NOT receive any
## review or updates from the Ubuntu security team.
deb http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ karmic universe
deb-src http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ karmic universe
deb http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ karmic-updates universe
deb-src http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ karmic-updates universe

## N.B. software from this repository is ENTIRELY UNSUPPORTED by the Ubuntu
## team, and may not be under a free licence. Please satisfy yourself as to
## your rights to use the software. Also, please note that software in
## multiverse WILL NOT receive any review or updates from the Ubuntu
## security team.
deb http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ karmic multiverse
deb-src http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ karmic multiverse
deb http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ karmic-updates multiverse
deb-src http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ karmic-updates multiverse

## Uncomment the following two lines to add software from the 'backports'
## repository.
## N.B. software from this repository may not have been tested as
## extensively as that contained in the main release, although it includes
## newer versions of some applications which may provide useful features.
## Also, please note that software in backports WILL NOT receive any review
## or updates from the Ubuntu security team.
# deb http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ karmic-backports main restricted universe multiverse
# deb-src http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ karmic-backports main restricted universe multiverse

## Uncomment the following two lines to add software from Canonical's
## 'partner' repository.
## This software is not part of Ubuntu, but is offered by Canonical and the
## respective vendors as a service to Ubuntu users.
deb http://archive.canonical.com/ubuntu karmic partner
deb-src http://archive.canonical.com/ubuntu karmic partner

deb http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu karmic-security main restricted
deb-src http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu karmic-security main restricted
deb http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu karmic-security universe
deb-src http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu karmic-security universe
deb http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu karmic-security multiverse
deb-src http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu karmic-security multiverse

I'm mostly getting confused by the terminology, like ericTRA said, stuff like repositories and that.

EricTRA · 05-01-2010, 03:23 PM

Hello,

Ok,that looks good, you have the multiverse and universe repositories active which is indicated by these lines:

Code:

deb http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ karmic universe
deb-src http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ karmic universe
deb http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ karmic-updates universe
deb-src http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ karmic-updates universe
deb http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ karmic multiverse
deb-src http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ karmic multiverse
deb http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ karmic-updates multiverse
deb-src http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ karmic-updates multiverse

The only thing I'd do is deactivate the CD as repository. To do that, in the same terminal type:

Code:

nano /etc/apt/sources.list

That will open an editor with the file that references to the repositories. Go down to the following line:

Code:

deb cdrom:[Ubuntu 9.10 _Karmic Koala_ - Release i386 (20091028.5)]/ karmic main restricted

and put a # in front of it so it becomes:

Code:

#deb cdrom:[Ubuntu 9.10 _Karmic Koala_ - Release i386 (20091028.5)]/ karmic main restricted

When that is done type CTRL O (Control key and letter o) and next ENTER to save the document. Right after that type CTRL X to exit the editor.

Next, while still in the terminal, verify that you're in your home directory with:

Code:

pwd

If pwd shows you something like /home/kamon, then type (or copy paste) these three commands to download the necessary packages:

Code:

wget http://nl.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/pool/main/n/ndiswrapper/ndiswrapper-common_1.54-2ubuntu1_all.deb
wget http://nl.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/pool/main/n/ndiswrapper/ndiswrapper-utils-1.9_1.54-2ubuntu1_i386.deb
wget http://nl.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/pool/main/n/ndisgtk/ndisgtk_0.8.4-1_i386.deb

If that finishes without errors, please let us know.

Kind regards,

Eric

johnsfine · 05-01-2010, 03:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EricTRA

The only thing I'd do is deactivate the CD as repository. To do that

If you prefer to do that step in the synaptic GUI (as I suggested earlier), I now have the instructions:

From Synaptic's settings menu select Repositories.

Scroll down to find the entry from the CD.

Remove the check mark in the "Enabled" column.

Click OK.

kamon · 05-01-2010, 03:32 PM

kamon@kamon-laptop:~$ pwd
/home/kamon
kamon@kamon-laptop:~$ wget http://nl.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/...buntu1_all.deb
--2010-05-01 21:30:56-- http://nl.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/...buntu1_all.deb
Resolving nl.archive.ubuntu.com... 87.251.63.205
Connecting to nl.archive.ubuntu.com|87.251.63.205|:80... connected.
HTTP request sent, awaiting response... 200 OK
Length: 21668 (21K) [application/octet-stream]
Saving to: `ndiswrapper-common_1.54-2ubuntu1_all.deb'

100%[======================================>] 21,668 --.-K/s in 0.1s

2010-05-01 21:30:56 (142 KB/s) - `ndiswrapper-common_1.54-2ubuntu1_all.deb' saved [21668/21668]

kamon@kamon-laptop:~$ wget http://nl.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/...untu1_i386.deb
--2010-05-01 21:30:56-- http://nl.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/...untu1_i386.deb
Resolving nl.archive.ubuntu.com... 87.251.63.205
Connecting to nl.archive.ubuntu.com|87.251.63.205|:80... connected.
HTTP request sent, awaiting response... 200 OK
Length: 36464 (36K) [application/octet-stream]
Saving to: `ndiswrapper-utils-1.9_1.54-2ubuntu1_i386.deb'

100%[======================================>] 36,464 164K/s in 0.2s

2010-05-01 21:30:57 (164 KB/s) - `ndiswrapper-utils-1.9_1.54-2ubuntu1_i386.deb' saved [36464/36464]

kamon@kamon-laptop:~$ wget http://nl.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/...8.4-1_i386.deb

does that mean it's done?

EricTRA · 05-01-2010, 03:38 PM

Hi,

Apparently yes. So now you have downloaded the three packages you need. Next step is to install them. Do that using the following commands:

Code:

sudo dpkg -i ndiswrapper-common_1.54-2ubuntu1_all.deb
sudo dpkg -i ndiswrapper-utils-1.9_1.54-2ubuntu1_i386.deb
sudo dpkg -i ndisgtk_0.8.4-1_i386.deb

in this order. Post errors (if any) please, but I assume it will go well.

What these commands do is the following: dpkg is the package manager of Debian and thus of Ubuntu and the likes also. the option -i tells it to install the following package, indicated by its name. You can also use dpkg to find out information about installed packages, to make a 'backup list' of the installed packages, restore packages from a backup list, and so on. But I'm sure you'll get to that later

Kind regards,

Eric

kamon · 05-01-2010, 03:44 PM

Right thats done

EricTRA · 05-01-2010, 03:52 PM

Hello,

Great!! Good job! Now comes the tricky part

First of all you'll have to blacklist the free drivers so they don't interfere with the one you'll be installing.

I'm not sure how the blacklist file is named in your Ubuntu, could be blacklist or blacklist.conf according to the Ubuntu documentation, so first do this in a terminal:

Code:

ls /etc/modprobe.d

and check if it's just blacklist or blacklist.conf.

Still in the same terminal (I know, I'm a terminal guy, other prefer GUI, not me) type the following:

Code:

nano /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist(.conf)

(change according the filename you found with the ls command.

That last command will open the same editor you used before.
At the end of the file type the following:

Code:

blacklist bcm43xx
blacklist b43
blacklist b43legacy
blacklist ssb

and again CTRL O (Control key and letter o) followed by ENTER to save, and then CTRL X to close the editor.

Now you'll have to reboot your computer. Talk to you in a while

Kind regards,

Eric

kamon · 05-01-2010, 04:02 PM

Done that

(it was .conf btw)