Ubuntu on new Dell C521

Brand new PC - shipped early December with Win XP Pro installed.

Oodles of hard drive space. Nice fast processor.

So, easy to install Ubuntu?

Well, not quite.....

First issue - yeuch - horrible screen scrolling when putting in live CD! Then came the partitioning part. I obviously didn't want to over-write the Win partition, but does the sliding scale indicate the size of the Linux partition or the Win one?! Doesn't say at all in the graphical installer. But from a check on Google it seems it's the Nux partition. Which could have been a costly mistake.

And if I tried to partition myself, the options that came up were completely non-understandable!

The install kept freezing too. Another quick search revealed that one should defrag the PC before trying install. So, did that, and....

Install thereafter went OK! But why did the USB mouse keep freezing? Simple unplugging and plugging in again rectified this, but hardly a long term solution. Googling revealed this site, and one firmware download later, USB mouse behaving AND horrible scrolling effect gone!

Then tried the Beryl install. Worked very well in comparison to my machine. And very nice it looks too!

Aim now is to install the latest release 7.04 when it's out of Beta!!!

Setting up Ubuntu

So, tried the live CD and liked it. Next step was install. Now, this SHOULD have been fairly straightforward, as my disk was already partitioned to allow for Libranet (so I naively assumed it would install over that).

Not as straightforward as that though. Oh no. Googling revealed there is an issue with installing on a partition that already exists, but I persevered and eventually got this working (can't remember exact error messages now).

However, install did then run smoothly, and the Ubuntu desktop turned up in all its glory. The next step was to follow the "13 things to do after installing Ubuntu" guide. This was very helpful, and all worked well aside from the Flash install, which continually brought up error messages. Again, this is a known bug, and I managed to remove this eventually (once again, I should have noted down where - oops).

However, I was very impressed that my Windows drives were recognised immediately, unlike Libranet. And the ntfs-3g install meant I could delete or modify files on those drives as well - this was a real essential for me, as my primary hard drive is only 15GB, of which 6GB is Windows.

Other distinctive pluses:
* Recognised my internet connection (via ADSL modem router) straightaway - could access Firefox immediately
* Connected devices (printer, digital cameras, MP3 player) recognised immediately
* DVD burner worked immediately

No fuss, no mucking about - brilliant!

I then did some further customisation:

Installed Thunderbird and removed Evolution (purely so I can use same e-mail client on Windows and Linux)
Installed F-Prot virus scanner
Installed iPodder (I use Juice, so works exactly the same way!) and set it to run at start-up
Looked at the Add/Remove Programs area and just snuffled around the programs available
Installed WINE and then used it to install uTorrent
Set up GAIM for instant messaging (not working with gmail yet though)

I've also experimented with system clean-ups and clearing TMP files at shutdown, and used Mplayer and LAME to capture streamed RAM files and convert to MP3 (for those times when podcasts are unavailable).

So, anything NOT OK?

Well, I was shown by someone at work the Beryl window manager. Very nice. However, after trying lots of ways to get my ageing NVIDIA card to work, it's pretty obvious that it cannot. So, I suppose I should be philosophical and say I haven't missed what I never had, but it WOULD have been nice!

The other thing is not so much a Linux thing, but does impact, and that's getting a torrent client working effectively. I'm now delving into the complex world of port forwarding, as mine currently don't do this. They probably have never done it in Windows either, so all this time I've been bemoaning torrent speeds was time I should have been fixing this.

So, that's a work in progress!!!

Next post - what happened in setting up Ubuntu on son's much more recent PC (funded courtesy of Amex!)

Ubuntu or not Ubuntu?

My home PC is a Gateway, bought new in 2000 (for a lot more than a far better model would cost now!) running Windows 98SE.

Fine though this was at the time, problems with USB connectivity persuaded me to upgrade to XP a few years back, and this was an altogether better experience.

I also upgraded many other features:
- DVD writer for CD writer
- More memory
- USB 2.0 slots
- TV card
- Additional 120GB hard-drive
- New flat screen monitor when original gothic monstrosity gave up

Reading technology columns and the like, I installed Avant over IE and found it pretty good, but then explored still further and took the plunge with Mozilla Firefox. A significantly improved browsing experience. This began to interest me more in open source software, and it wasn't long before I had moved to Thunderbird over Outlook (integrated newsgroups being a significant factor), and Juice (iPodder) instead of iTunes - why use a great bloated music program (all the features of which I had on other applications) when I could get the podcasting bit by itself!

So, having dabbled in open source, the next step was to try Linux. I did this first of all via a "live CD" of Knoppix, liked the look of it, and then went for Libranet 2.8.1 - partly because it was free, and partly because other reviews suggested it was relatively easy to get along with.

I used the Knoppix disk to partition my "C" drive, and then installed Libranet. This was pretty straightforward, though not all setup screens were intuitive.

However, what I did notice is that when - for example - I wanted to connect internet on my ADSL modem, it was a real bind with the Speedtouch script. However, I managed to view my Windows drives, access Firefox and Thunderbird with same settings in either mode (very useful, and another reason for moving to Thunderbird) and generally worked OK.

Two main things put me off switching to Libranet completely. One was not being able to write to NTFS (which is the format of my second hard drive) and the other was being able to run the odd Windows program. I countered the latter by installing Win4Lin, which required me recompiling the kernel. Whilst I can't fault the assistance I got via the Libranet forums, it wasn't exactly intuitive!!

Then, of course, Libranet was no more. And when I recently bought a router and it wasn't automatically detected, I thought "Do I really want to keep pushing this?" And I answered "No"!

However, Ubuntu has of course been getting good press for a while. Tried Live CD version - not bad. Spoke to some users of Ubuntu at work. Thought - yep, I'll go for it.

And in my next post I'll detail what happened!!!

(of course, I should have just got a cheap loan and bought a nice shiny Mac instead!)

Another translated title...

And again it's nothing like the original! For some reason "37°2 le matin" was released in the UK as Betty Blue. Which is a pretty awful title really.

The film certainly opens in pretty explicit fashion (and carried strident warnings when first shown on Channel 4!), and at first the viewer could be forgiven for thinking this is one of those typical foreign films where you are pretty much guaranteed nudity.

It changes, though. As the film progresses, it becomes clearer how the title character does have some "issues", and I suppose in today's parlance this would be described as manic depressive - going from extreme highs to plunging lows.

It's one of those lows that prompts one of the most shocking events in the film, and the ultimate act that her anguished partner has to carry out, much in line with the ending of another favourite of mine, One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest.

Funny that Beatrice Dalle should go from this to doing ads on British TV with Robert Lindsay though - sure that's not what she saw this as being a springboard for!

28 Days Later .... and a sequel?!!

The main criticism of this film is the way that - in any attack sequence (and there are plenty) - the texture of the film changes to being more grainy and - more importantly - almost sped up. It's very off-putting, though if you're not a blood and gore afficionado, it acts as a useful warning.

The opening scenes with deserted streets in London are great (although Cillian Murphy's character does seem to walk a very strange route from St Thomas' Hospital, over to Bank and then back to the City), and the feel of the film is good too.

I'm curious how a sequel can be done, bearing in mind that those infected all seem to be dead at the end, but maybe there's a twist I didn't anticipate....

2001 - not quite like that, was it?

A remarkably slim book adapted to a pretty lengthy film. A very famous scene with a bone flying through the air merged into a spaceship. A computer that develops a not particularly friendly personality. That just happens to have a name whose initials are in each case one less than IBM. An unexplained black slab that keeps cropping up

And a year that was passed six years ago (and counting).

The book is able to flesh out some of the mystery, seeing as the film is not narrated. But it's still quite oblique.

The ending of the film is - to me - extremely moving. Though I don't understand why!

And the turning off of HAL is sampled by New Order in their song Murder (along with a section from Caligula).

Razzies

According to the BBC, Sharon Stone has been nominated for a Razzie for her role in Basic Instinct 2.

And yet she was nominated for an Oscar for appearing in Casino. Just shows that stars' judgement is not always great in thinking of which roles to accept. Halle Berry managed to follow up Monsters Ball with the pretty awful Catwoman!

Next film on my list is Dekalog. Which isn't a film at all really. It's a mini series of 10 short films, based on the Ten Commandments, of which two were made into longer versions - A Short Film About Love and A Short Film About Killing. Filmed in Warsaw in the late 1980's, they do look a bit dated now and are pretty bleak. Although mainly dialogue and character based, they do have their surprising moments - the murder in A Short Film About Killing is pretty graphic. Krzysztof Kieslowski, the director and writer, went on to make The Double Life of Veronique and the Three Colours trilogy. Once again, not exactly a barrel of laughs (even though Three Colours: White is a "comedy"), but beautifully made and acted.

Foreign Language Films

I've been wondering of late whether films that are in another language gain a badge of respectability and kudos just because of that, and whether I would watch the same thing if it were in English.

With some, of course, this can be put to the test, if they get remade (usually by big US studios), and more importantly if the structure or ending of the film isn't tinkered with. An awful instance (though a good example here) was the remake of the Dutch film Spoorloss as The Vanishing. The original was great - full of (to me) unknown actors with an ending as bleak as any I've seen (though with no gore), but obviously too bleak for US audiences, which had a much happier ending.

Nikita was also far better in its Luc Bresson original.

It's the other films - the less mainstream ones, that don't get remade - which I watch thinking I'm being very worthy, but possibly in their native tongue are pretty average.

This could apply to Etre et Avoir, but I doubt it. It's a touching film showing life in a school in a small, pretty idyllic actually, French town. It's the (only) teacher's last year before retirement, and it follows him with a group of first year pupils, and shows how they mature over the year, and the genuine warmth he feels for them (and they to him).

I've holidayed in France for the last few years (and am again this year), but after this we'll probably venture further afield. So, I expect I'll be needing a new credit card to fund it all!

Films 1 - À la folie... pas du tout

So, you've (if you've clicked on it) seen a big list of my favourite films. Big deal. So what. Lists are reasonably informative as they can give some common points of reference, but it's also quite handy to know WHY some of the things on the list are there. So, "review" would be too high-falutin' a term, but I'll give my take on them. And I may as well do so in alphabetical order.

This makes À la folie... pas du tout the first entry. My French isn't great, but even I know that the name this film was released under in the UK - "He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not" is not by any means a literal translation of the original. Oh well.

The main motivation for watching this film (reviews aside) is that it stars the brilliant Audrey Tautou (Note: I've not seen The Da Vinci Code, so have no reason to think otherwise), who was so good in one of my top 10 films ever - Amélie. Main male lead is Samuel Le Bihan, who was very good in Brotherhood of the Wolf.

Anyway, it's set in Bordeaux, and tells a love story from two angles. And it's only when you see the two angles put together that you see the full picture. Has a nice twist in the end as well. Which if I say much more I'll give away, so I won't.

IMDB

Found it! It's this link

Hello

If I were more imaginative, this blog would have a theme. Something memorable. With a catchy title to accompany it.

Sadly, it hasn't. It's likely to be more me going on about stuff I like (and dislike) - music, books, films, TV, etc.

A good place to start is films. I've built up a list of my favourites on imdb, and now only need to work out how to display them generally.... if that's possible!