# anyone have any experience with Ubuntu?



## jarrod (Feb 21, 2009)

i picked up a new computer & it came with ubuntu on it (linux-based OS).  so far i can't get my linksys wireless to work in it & from the research i've done this is a common but fixable problem.  i'm willing to give non-windows OSs a try, but is this going to be a massive headache?  i don't want to spend two months digging up drivers & junk to put on my machine.  i still have a hardrive with xp on it hooked up as a slave, so i still have the option of switching it to master & formatting the ubuntu drive.  

jf


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## Sukerkin (Feb 21, 2009)

I haven't used Ubuntu myself but a friend of mine does. I'll see if he knows anything that I can't find fro the Net.

In the meantime, see if any of these help:

http://atpeaz.placidthoughts.com/in...g-Linksys-WMP300N-to-work-on-Ubuntu-8.10.html

http://www.watchingthenet.com/how-t...en-conecting-to-linksys-wireless-routers.html

http://www.debianadmin.com/enable-wpa-wireless-access-point-in-ubuntu-linux.html

https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+bug/183061

The comments in that last link don't sound very promising, I'm sad to say .

EDIT:  It seems *Crushing* and I have very smilar mindsets.  My Google string was "ubuntu linksys wireless fix" :lol:


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## crushing (Feb 21, 2009)

I'm using Ubuntu 8.10 on an IBM laptop running wireless without issue, but the best I can do is give you this:  http://www.google.com/search?q=linksys+wireless+ubuntu.

I hate to direct you away from this site, but I understand the Ubuntu forums people are great at helping each other out.


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## jarrod (Feb 21, 2009)

thanks guys, i've been researching this most of the night.  right now i'm leaning towads sticking with xp.

jf


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## Sukerkin (Feb 21, 2009)

I found this which seems to be a small message of hope:


http://sadsoftware.blogspot.com/2008/02/ubuntu-710-vs-linksys-wireless.html

http://hansengel.wordpress.com/2007/11/10/installing-a-wireless-driver-with-ndiswrapper/


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## tellner (Feb 21, 2009)

I run Ubuntu 8.10 on my laptop. When I installed it gave me the option of installing proprietary drivers. I took the option. My peripherals have all functioned flawlessly.


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## Bill Mattocks (Feb 21, 2009)

I run Ubuntu 8.04 and 8.10, and although wireless support is much, much, better than it used to be, it is still sadly lacking for many types of cards.  I have a laptop that is kind of old, it did not come with a built-in wireless capability, so I've had to buy four different wireless cards for it before I found one that Ubuntu 'liked'.  When you find one that works, it just works, and works great.  If it doesn't work, it tends to be a giant pain in the rear to get working, if you can get it at all.

It was a couple years ago when I had to buy all the wireless cards - things have now gotten to the point where three out of four of them 'just work', but one is still totally incapable of being recognized by Ubuntu.  I don't even bother trying - not worth the pain.

But I love Ubuntu, that's all I run on my own PC's.


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## Andrew Green (Feb 21, 2009)

jarrod said:


> i picked up a new computer & it came with ubuntu on it (linux-based OS).  so far i can't get my linksys wireless to work in it & from the research i've done this is a common but fixable problem.  i'm willing to give non-windows OSs a try, but is this going to be a massive headache?  i don't want to spend two months digging up drivers & junk to put on my machine.  i still have a hardrive with xp on it hooked up as a slave, so i still have the option of switching it to master & formatting the ubuntu drive.
> 
> jf




what version of Ubuntu are you running?  If it is a older version first try upgrading, wireless support has gotten pretty good.  I've set up with a few different types of cards and had it run right away.

However you may need to use a ndis wrapper:  https://help.ubuntu.com/community/WifiDocs/Driver/Ndiswrapper


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## jarrod (Feb 21, 2009)

thanks for all the help guys.  i'm running ubuntu 8.10.  i got my wireless up & running finally but was having a hard time getting some pages to load.  then i noticed a little thing in the corner that told me i had 289 updates to download.  after that everything has been working well!  one of my students uses ubuntu & told me about a program called WINE which allows most windows programs to run on ubuntu.  so i'm hoping it will go even smoother once i get that loaded.

jf


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## fireman00 (Feb 22, 2009)

There's a Linux based app for almost every Windows app.  Most folks who load WINE do it for gaming.


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## Andrew Green (Feb 22, 2009)

jarrod said:


> one of my students uses ubuntu & told me about a program called WINE which allows most windows programs to run on ubuntu.  so i'm hoping it will go even smoother once i get that loaded.
> 
> jf




He may have exaggerated a slight bit...

It does a lot, and it is a pretty complex program.  But trying to reverse engineer and re-implement the entire Windows API is not a easy task.

This should give you an idea on what can be run: http://appdb.winehq.org/

But whenever possible its better to run a native linux app.  Personally I don't use Wine for anything, my work system has virtual box with a XP install, but that is only really ever used to control other windows boxes via remote desktop and such.


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## tellner (Feb 22, 2009)

Andrew, I'm virtualizing a few machines at work. Do you prefer VirtualBox or Xen? VMWare just made most of their formerly free stuff 30-day trial.


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## Andrew Green (Feb 22, 2009)

For my purposes, which is occasionally firing up a windows install I like virtualBox, it was easy to get going and does what I need.

If I was trying to virtualize servers, I think Xen would be a better option, but it is geared more for Linux on Linux types of setups.


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