3 Days Pulling My Hair Out Over This Linux Thing.

  • Thread starter Thread starter Phil Josten
  • Start date Start date
P

Phil Josten

Call me an idiot but after a less than wonderful upgrade attempt with
Vista I decided to give this Ubuntu Linux a try.
Well it's 3 days later and I still can't make it work.
I can't even get back to my Windows XP partition because the system
boots to Linux every single time which is ok except that Linux doesn't
work.
My printer won't print
My scanner doesn't scan.
My biometric thumb device won't even light up.
My soundcard is silent.
I can connect to the Internet but the connection is very slow and keeps
dropping.
The fonts are so small that I can't even read them and when I try and
adjust the size the entire picture gets huge and goes off to the left of
the screen.

Can anybody help me extricate this POS Linux from my system, or at least
give me some information on how to get my system to boot back to Windows?
I tried booting the Windows Recovery CD that came with my system but I
think that will erase everything and install a default system like I had
when I purchased the PC last year.

Help please!
Phil Josten

(reply in the group because email (juno) is another thing I can't get
working. The Juno CD won't install.
 
Phil Josten said:
Call me an idiot but after a less than wonderful upgrade attempt with
Vista I decided to give this Ubuntu Linux a try.
Well it's 3 days later and I still can't make it work.
I can't even get back to my Windows XP partition because the system
boots to Linux every single time which is ok except that Linux doesn't
work.
My printer won't print
My scanner doesn't scan.
My biometric thumb device won't even light up.
My soundcard is silent.
I can connect to the Internet but the connection is very slow and keeps
dropping.
The fonts are so small that I can't even read them and when I try and
adjust the size the entire picture gets huge and goes off to the left of
the screen.

Can anybody help me extricate this POS Linux from my system, or at least
give me some information on how to get my system to boot back to Windows?
I tried booting the Windows Recovery CD that came with my system but I
think that will erase everything and install a default system like I had
when I purchased the PC last year.
Click to expand...

Providing you still have an active XP partition, do the following:

Insert XP disc and reboot into setup. When you get to setup screen press R
for repair.
Choose the number relating to XP which you wish to repair, enter admin
password. If you have no password leave it blank.
type fixboot then enter and accept the warnings. Then type fixmbr and press
enter and accept the warnings. Once done, remove disc and reboot. You
should now have your XP boot back to normal. This *should* overwrite grub
and reinstall the windows bootloader. Your linux partitions will still be
there, do what you like with those, delete them, format them or whatever
from within XP.
 
Welcome to the wonderful world of Linux!
Your experience with Linux is very similar to mine.
Sorry, I don't have a fix suggestion other than to bite the
bullet and use the Windows recovery CD.

Gary VanderMolen
 
First, we need to establish whether the little Linux Penguin's head is
rotating 360 degrees - If so, then you're out of luck 'cause that means your
PC is now fully posessed. Oh - and one more thing... Be careful when
opening your CD drive, Linux has the tendency to spew bile in the user's
direction!
 
I installed Linux on a test box and it booted up, I was able to attach to my
printer, but when accessing the Internet, I can't play WMA files. I then
posted a message to the Ubuntu community group, received some help, but
nothing worked. 7 days later, I still can't play the WMA files. I think
the learning curve is a lot higher than Windows, and trying to figure out
how to deal with rights, navigate directories, install programs, do the
normal stuff that you would do with Windows, takes alot of reading, becuase
alot of it is command line driven, and I just don't have the time to mess
with it.

The shortcomings of Windows are annoying, but not as annoying as Linux at
the current time. If I had more time to spend learning Linux, maybe it
wouldn't be so bad, but I will blow off Linux also on the test box for now.
Maybe in a few years, I'll pick it up again.
 
If you remember the password you established for root, you can
edit grub.conf - location: /boot/grub/grub.conf - to default Windows.
Sounds like your timeout is too short. You can change that too.

Log in as root. Click on Computer. Click on file system. Click on boot.
Click on Grub. Click on grub.conf. A text file will open up. Examine it.
There is default= and timeout= with a number after the equals sign.
The timeout number is seconds. Increase it to at least 5. The default
number corresponds to the operating systems listed below, starting
at zero (0) and then going 1, 2, etc. Determine which in the list is
Windows, then change default= to it's position, likely default=1.

This ought to default Windows with a long enough pause for you
to explore the "wonders" of Linux, should you care to do so.
 
I installed Linux on a test box and it booted up, I was able to attach to my
printer, but when accessing the Internet, I can't play WMA files. I then
posted a message to the Ubuntu community group, received some help, but
nothing worked. 7 days later, I still can't play the WMA files. I think
the learning curve is a lot higher than Windows, and trying to figure out
how to deal with rights, navigate directories, install programs, do the
normal stuff that you would do with Windows, takes alot of reading, becuase
alot of it is command line driven, and I just don't have the time to mess
with it.

The shortcomings of Windows are annoying, but not as annoying as Linux at
the current time. If I had more time to spend learning Linux, maybe it
wouldn't be so bad, but I will blow off Linux also on the test box for now.
Maybe in a few years, I'll pick it up again.
Click to expand...

Yea, I spent two hours searching for info on why my TV Tuner wouldn't work
in Ubuntu and it still doesn't work. Took five minutes to get it running
in XP.
 
Call me an idiot but after a less than wonderful upgrade attempt with
Vista I decided to give this Ubuntu Linux a try.
Well it's 3 days later and I still can't make it work.
I can't even get back to my Windows XP partition because the system
boots to Linux every single time which is ok except that Linux doesn't
work.
Click to expand...

You don't see a menu at boot time showing you options (including
booting into Ubuntu or into Windows)?

It works just fine for me.
My printer won't print
My scanner doesn't scan.
Click to expand...

Admittedly these things can be a PITA in Linux but more often than
not, you can get them running, but not nearly as easily you can in
Windows.

Ya gotta do some research. :-)
My biometric thumb device won't even light up.
Click to expand...

Never used one. No comment.
My soundcard is silent.
Click to expand...

As was mine in Vista till I downloaded drivers for it. :0)

In the case of Ubuntu that's often ca sued by the volume set to near
off by default.
I can connect to the Internet but the connection is very slow and keeps
dropping.
Click to expand...

I've never had that problem.
The fonts are so small that I can't even read them and when I try and
adjust the size the entire picture gets huge and goes off to the left of
the screen.
Click to expand...

I've never had that problem either.
Can anybody help me extricate this POS Linux from my system, or at least
give me some information on how to get my system to boot back to Windows?
I tried booting the Windows Recovery CD that came with my system but I
think that will erase everything and install a default system like I had
when I purchased the PC last year.
Click to expand...

You don't have a Vista recovery CD? That should do it for you. It
worked for me when I messed up my partition table.

Not that I expect you'll change your mind about Ubuntu, but just in
case check out:

The Ubuntu Users mailing list.
https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-users

And/or Ubuntu Forums:

http://ubuntuforums.org

I've had EXCELLENT help from both places.

There's also....

http://help.ubuntu.com

&

http://wiki.ubuntu.com
--
Scott http://angrykeyboarder.com

A: Because it messes up the order in which people normally read text.
Q: Why is top-posting such a bad thing?
NOTICE: In-Newsgroup (and therefore off-topic) comments on my sig will
be cheerfully ignored, so don't waste our time.
 
Michael Jennings said:
If you remember the password you established for root, you can
edit grub.conf - location: /boot/grub/grub.conf - to default Windows.
Sounds like your timeout is too short. You can change that too.

Log in as root.
Click to expand...

You can't in Ubuntu. Everything is designed to be done as SUDO. Better
explain to him that he has to "sudo passwd root" first.
 
Conor said:
You can't in Ubuntu. Everything is designed to be done as SUDO. Better
explain to him that he has to "sudo passwd root" first.
Click to expand...

Pseudo. I should wait for Ubuntu grot - their Grotesque Goose release.
In the meantime there's fedora, or if I want that corporate look, Susse.
If I aspire to be a creative, I can bite the bullet and buy a Mac.

I feel that Ballmer's jihad against the pirates will intensify and force
anyone who reads EULAs into dumping Windows, so I've been thinking
I'm going to need an alternative. It'll probably happen before I'm ready.
 
Strange.... People getting support for Linux in a Windows Vista support
group....

Jeff
 
Strange.... People getting support for Linux in a Windows Vista support
group....
Click to expand...
The thing is quite a few of us have given Linux a fair go. What pisses
the Loonix Zealot off is that we're not so blindly in love with Linux
that we refuse to see its shortcomings.
 
OK... you're an idiot.

;-P Sorry, couldn't resist...

Lang
Click to expand...

Everybody is a comedian!

I managed to get it back and working and here is how I did it.
I downloaded a bootdisk from www.bootdisks.com and plugged in a USB floppy
drive, set the BIOS to boot from it and when it was booted I entered the
command fdisk /mbr and that got me booting back to Windows.

I was then able to delete the unknown partitions from within Windows and I
am back and running again with no apparent loss other than my time.

Seriously though I would not recommend Linux to the faint of heart
because it really is a crude, ill documented system. Sure you can find
tons of documentation, but now try and find one that is specific to the
brand of Linux you are using and worse yet the version.
Also Linux seems to be in need of a lot of improvement as far as hardware
support is concerned. I don't have anything out of the ordinary except the
biometric device, and virtually nothing worked.
I suppose that is what happens when I expect something for free that works
as designed.
And to the Linux people who always seem to be hovering around to claim how
Linux works perfectly for them, I say wonderful, I am happy for you but it
doesn't work for me and if googling is any indication, it doesn't seem to
work too well for a lot of people.
Thanks to all for the help!
Phil
 
Conor said:
The thing is quite a few of us have given Linux a fair go. What pisses
the Loonix Zealot off is that we're not so blindly in love with Linux
that we refuse to see its shortcomings.
Click to expand...
And on the other side of the street there reside windows users so
blindly in love with windows that they refuse to see its shortcomings.
And both sides do not realize how badly they reflect on the product they
love so much. lol
 
Conor said:
You can't in Ubuntu. Everything is designed to be done as SUDO. Better
explain to him that he has to "sudo passwd root" first.
Click to expand...

Hmmm. Having to click something in Vista's UAC doesn't look
all that bad, by comparison.

Gary VanderMolen
 
Phil,

You're preaching to the choir... I've been in the IT business for 20 years,
mostly experienced with Windows OS's, with a couple of years spent
supporting OS/2. Every couple of years I give some Linux distro a shot. The
latest was SuSE 10.2 a couple of months ago. Terrible experience. Could not
configure the video... the config window would open, and this is hard to
describe... it would open like the desktop was only showing a quarter of the
window... no way to scroll the screen to see the rest of the window...
flying blind. I tried, numerous times to "blind finger" my way through but
never succeeded. Very frustrating. So... Vista seems like a walk in the park
on a Sunny Afternoon in comparison.

Lang
 
Back
Top