[00:03] I am having problems installing Ubuntu in a dual boot with Windows 7. The partition editor does not recognize any of my hard drives, and then the installer crashes. [00:10] Hi, tronix [00:13] kk [00:13] well I run the installer. This is 12.10. And it gets to what I guess is called the advanced partition editor, where it is supposed to list all the drives attached so I can partition them [00:13] yes. [00:13] But it does not show any of my drives [00:14] gimme a quick rundown on what hardware and hardrives you're using, please, before we get too far [00:14] then if I start clicking buttons the installer crashes [00:14] Says Ubiquity crashed or something? OK, hardware: [00:15] I am assuming you're trying to install Ubuntu 12.10 from a DVD you've burned yourself? [00:15] Live USB that I downloaded. I even checked the md5 signature to make sure it wasn't corrupted [00:16] I would boot up from the DVD and do a 'check media/check disc' before you continue any further [00:16] I had problems before with Ubuntu because I had all these fake RAID hard drive arrays. So I got another hard drive that is not in any part of a RAID array that I want to give the whole thing to Ubuntu [00:16] fake RAID arrays? [00:17] yeah - RAID through the bios / motherboard whatever [00:17] did you use unetbootin or something to make the live USB? [00:17] I think it was unetbootin. Hang on I can verify [00:17] what mobo/chipset are you using? and what kind of h [00:17] HDD set-up do you have configured? [00:19] motherboard is gigabyte ga-z68XP-UD3. Z68 chipset. The drive I want to put Ubuntu on is on a Marvell chipset, a different one than the RAID array. I'm not sure if it makes a difference [00:19] Funny thing is, from the live USB I can browse all the drives no problem [00:19] Hard drives now are like this: [00:20] 1 320 GB + a 64GB SSD, which is used as a Windows chache drive. Those run through the Z68 or something. It's some hot shit idea that Intel came out with. [00:21] 1 more 500 GB HDD that is on the other controller that is where I want to put Ubuntu [00:21] yeah, the 64GB SSD is bvasically used with the 320GB to 'create' a hybrid HDD [00:21] Yeah exactly. [00:22] so, you want to install Ubuntu on the 500GB HDD? [00:22] I would love to [00:23] and, just so I know I have the right frame of reference, when you completely boot up off the Live CD, you can see the drives just fine, but when you boot-up */into/* the installer, you can't see any of your drives? [00:23] Yep! [00:23] even the 320 GB in the fake raid array, I can go on there and look at files, load them up, etc. [00:24] same with the 500 GB drive, which is actually formatted and has Windows on it [00:24] but I want to erase it [00:25] alrighty, to me, it sounds like whatever the driver is for your hardware/software RAID isn't being loaded up when it goes into the installer mode, but if you load it up completely as a live distro, the RAID driver is being loaded [00:25] what windows are you running, and which drive is it on? [00:26] and what are the drive speeds for the 320 and 500 GB? [00:26] Windows is on the 320 + 500 GB drive. I tried to throw out the 320 GB drive and run everything on the 500GB but some people in here told me it wouldn't work cuz of the RAID and I would have to segregate them [00:26] drive speeds? I think both are 7200 RPM. Is that what you mean? [00:27] is your windows partition cloned, or something? you have an identical backup? [00:27] yes [00:27] that's close enough [00:27] So the 500 GB still has Windows on it, but only cuz I didn't get around te erasing it yet [00:27] The Windows installo I just did from the Installation DVD. No cloning. [00:27] Would you happen to be able to find out the throughput of the drives? or know them off hand? [00:28] ok [00:28] how much data do you have on the windows side that needs to be saved? [00:28] Hmmm. the 320 GB is SATA 2.0 and 500GB is SATA 3. [00:28] Nothing needs saved. I have backups on drives that are not attached. [00:28] and I'm assuming that you have them connected to the appropriate ports on your mobo for maximum throughput? [00:28] excellent [00:29] yeah [00:29] do you know the partitioning format of the backup drives? FAT32 or NTFS? [00:29] I figure once I have the system running reliably I can put the data back. [00:29] soemthing like that [00:29] NTFS but it's not hooked up to the computer now [00:30] my recommendation to you would be to create a partitioning structure something like this: [00:30] use the 64GB SSD as your primary OS drive, for the fastest boot time [00:31] basically, you would create two partitions on it, one for windows, and another for ubuntu/linux [00:32] and then, I would use the 500GB SATA3 with a theoretical maximum of 6Gb/s throughput as my /home partition for linux, and as the 'home library' or whatever for winblows [00:32] Hello? [00:32] still here [00:32] did you time-out? [00:32] yup I'm listening [00:33] Thanks. I didn't see you whisper until a moment ago. lol [00:33] not used to irc [00:33] lol, [00:33] I was wondering how to go about installing the linux version of steam. [00:33] ivebeenbit, do you feel comfortable using the 64GB SSD as your priary HDD for your OS's? [00:34] ehhh, that isn't something I'd be familiar with. never used steam [00:34] so you basically want me to drop the RAID/SRT altogether, put the OSes on the SSD and then carve up the 500 GB drive with partitions for Windows and Ubuntu [00:34] I keep getting an error from the terminal saying something about administration temporarily unavailible. [00:35] Well, I know that the drive is certainly big enough for almost anything you'd want or need out of a linux box, and could leave enough room for a windows install, i would imagine, even with all of its bloat [00:35] that's a new terminal error for me; are you using the 'sudo' ommand? [00:36] I think the clean Windows install was 20 GB roughly. [00:36] Damn, that's huge [00:36] yes, I am. [00:36] can you find/paste the error message exactly, please; alan_? [00:37] I just checked...it's about 30GB for just Windows, give or take a gig [00:37] uh, I can try. I'll have to look at the command I was using again. [00:37] holy hell [00:37] thanks [00:37] i'll be here [00:38] in that case, I would probably use a 16-24 GB partition for Ubuntu, which is plenty big for plenty of prgram expansion [00:38] allan_: if you're in the terminal still, just keep hitting the up arrow until you see the command [00:38] and then you could use the other 40-48 GB on the SSD for Windoze [00:39] would that be enough for the programs you normally install? [00:39] I think so. [00:39] wget http://media.steampowered.com/client/installer/steam.deb and then sudo apt-get install gdebi-core [00:39] that was the commands [00:40] if it isn't, you could probably drop ubuntu's partition size down to 12GB, but I wouldn't want to go any smaller than that [00:40] but it wont show me the error [00:40] allan_ what was the error message? your commands are correct [00:40] try runnig them again [00:41] ok, when I ran it again it spat out a ton of stuff. last line of it is setting up gdebi-core [00:41] sounds like it's working, then [00:41] O.o... [00:41] wtf lol [00:42] now how would I find the program itself... [00:44] IveBeenBit, I would figure out how you want to partition the 500GB drive, if you'd want to use two 250GB partitions, so you have independent data files, or whether you'd want to create two smaller partitions, like 50GB or so, and partition the remaining 400GB with a FAT32 fs, and just keep all your downloads, movies, music on that, so your single copies woulc be available to both OS's from the same drive [00:44] allan_ click on the ubuntu symbol in the top left toolbar, and type in 'steam' [00:44] I did but it only shows the steam.deb package [00:45] hmmm, would the name of the program be something different, ;like 'play games online' or something? [00:45] or do you see a reboot notification in your system tray at the top right? [00:46] tronnix: Well, I have some 2TB drives where I keep the downloads, movies and music [00:46] and whenever I try to go and install through the software store, it stays invalid arcitechture but I am using the linux version [00:46] external HDD's or on a NAS unit? are they USB or ESATA or something like that? [00:46] Internal, SATA 3 [00:47] how full are they? [00:47] not very. of the 2 TB, maybe 800GB, tops, is used already [00:48] they are duplicates...they were RAID mirroring before I took everything apart. [00:48] the reason I ask is because Linux does not officially support NTFS; but there are NTFS toolkits you can install from software-manager or synaptic, but they are alpha releases at best. NTFS support in linux is considered 'experimental' at best [00:49] OK so I will have to make all my drives FAT32? [00:49] My suggestion is to run your OS's off of the SSD for maximum speed, and to include a SATA3 partition as a part of your install and use it for your /home directory [00:50] i've also tried the commands sudo dpkg -i steam.deb [00:50] and first typing sudo apt-get install -f [00:50] and sudo gdebi steam.deb [00:50] Windoze can't read anything off a linux-formatted parittion, though I think there may be some utilities available that can help [00:52] allan_ without a print-out of the error, I am afraid I can't really help you; though you might try looking around in #ubuntu or another channel for another linux gamer - they'd know more about it [00:52] Alright. I have been at this for four days. I just want to get it over with. LOL [00:52] this Linux stuff better be worth it [00:53] FAT32 partitions are easily read by any OS, so if you use FAT32 for your data storage, you should be able to get at it from any OS you use, the downside is the files are slightly easier to break/fragemtn/etc [00:53] I think it is, but beauty is in the eye of the beholder [00:54] is fat32 the one that limits the file size to 4GB or somethig? [00:54] I would use an ext4 formatted partition for ubuntu's 'root' ( " / ") directory, and either ext3 or ext4 for the '/home' directory [00:54] yes [00:54] FAT32 has a 4GB file-size limit [00:55] the advantages of ext4 over ext3 is slightly bettter journaling capabilities, and a slightly increased access time, but you probably wouldn't be able to see it over anything less than an insanely huge networked database..... [00:56] but one advantage of ext3 over ext4 is that more OS's support/can read/write to ext3, like OS X or a recovery ISO on a thumbdrive [00:57] you can't really put your /home directory on a FAT32 parition because you'll get errors with your configuration files [00:57] otherwise that's what I'd suggest [00:57] holy shit this is complicated. LOL. [00:57] before I do all this... [00:59] can you suggest anything to get this working right now with the setup I already have? Which is 500GB just for Linux + 320/64SSD for Windows? Gparted does see all my drives. It's just the install program that doesnt [00:59] Cuz I have seriously installed Windows about 8 times the past few days and ripped it all apart and started over [00:59] one thing you */could/* do though after you've completed your install is to maintain your normal /home directory, and create pointers or links to folders on other drives/partitions for some of your sub-folders. Like your 'Movies' folder in your Ubuntu /home directory can be pointed to a video folder on say, your 2TB drive, so it creaes some illusion of transparency from the operator's perspective [01:01] for something like that, I would suggest running the live distro, and then trying to install to the 500GB HDD from inside the live distro, rather than trying to install from the boot-loaded installer program [01:01] I thought that was what I was doing? [01:01] I have the live USB running right now [01:02] I know that you want it done now; I am just trying to suggest what I feel may be better for you in the lonager-run [01:02] OK [01:02] and its installer isn't working for you? [01:02] you are right. I'm getting impatient. [01:02] I put this much into it...may as well go the extra foot [01:03] Will you be around for a minute? I want to think this over, take some notes and may have some questions. [01:03] basically, what I am suggesting would be start-finish like this: you turn on your PC and you go /extremely/ quickly into the GRUB2 boot-menu, with one of your OS's listed as the default to boot to after a 10sec countdown [01:03] yes [01:04] i will be here [01:04] Hey... [01:04] THANKS for your time!! [01:05] continuing on with an ex[erience description; when you boot into the Ubuntu OS, you'd have everything function as normal, like it's installed on one HDD, even though it would actually be incorporated over two drives [01:06] right. [01:07] you'd click your home directory, which has all of the configuration files for the programs you run as your user, and sub-folders for movies, music, etc.... which could actually point/be linked to your folders on other HDD's, so any changes you make is saved to the original files, and those changes would be there when you're looking at it form the windows side [01:07] awesome [01:07] I'm just trying to make sure that you're going to have the best experience with this overall [01:07] it's a little bit more complicated to setup, but it IS worth it [01:08] if the Ubuntu portion of the SSD gets full, can we link over to an "overflow" partiton on another drive? [01:08] I dual-boot Ubuntu Studio and Slackware; and I actually share my /home partition between the two Os's [01:08] Because any applications I install on Ubuntu will get put on the SSD, yes? [01:08] IveBeenBit, not easily [01:09] escott: nothing is easy LOL [01:09] yes, the complete ubuntu install is ~8.5 GB, itself, and though I do lots of media editing, my OS doesn't really get much past 12 GB. [01:10] IveBeenBit, you can take individual paths and put them on the other disk. for instance /var or /usr/share/games but you can't put /usr on the other disk and you cannot selectively put things in /usr/bin or /usr/lib on the other disk [01:11] IveBeenBit, what you're talking about is soething that could easily be accomplished by using LVM, which is another sort of a pseudo-RAID contraption, but it would drastically complicate your install, make recovery via some rescue distro nigh impossible, and I haven't the foggiest idea how it affect windoze [01:11] which is what I've been advising for you [01:12] '/var' is a directory that has the capability to be a disk hog, and is something that you could relocate to another partition, and I always try to keep /home on it's own parition [01:12] tronnix, IveBeenBit windows won't care about linux lvm or mdadm techniques because they dont mess with the hardware layout and are all below the partition level. the problem with fakeraid windows raid is that it is above the partition table at the device level [01:14] OK do you guys have google accounts? I'm making a spreadsheet to layout the disks and partitions so I know what to do even if you're gone [01:15] you can use sonicerotica to find me, I should be up in a little bit, and/or xxjanuslixx onAIM & yahoo [01:16] The more I've been thinking about this, IveBeenBit, the more I suggest to limit your ubuntu partition to 16GB. it's large enough for almost anything you'd like to do, and leaves enough room for your windoze [01:16] OK [01:17] I would make something like a 20 Gb partition and an 80 GB partition on your 500 GB SATA3, and then use those for additional directories when you install ubuntu. [01:18] use the 80GB as your /home dir, and you could use the 20 GB for your /usr/local directory [01:19] please pay attention when doing this through the installer, because these 3 partitions will be loaded up as ubuntu is booting the computer [01:19] to you, it will be damn near invisible in the file-browser [01:19] but you will have all the storage you need for a long-term linux installation [01:20] I would use the other 400GB of the SATA3 for a FAT32 partition for storage that's viewable, writeable, and executable by both windows and linux. [01:21] tronnix, fat32 should not be executable by linux thats an insecure configuration [01:22] additionally, one of the first things I would do after completion of your ubuntu installation would be to locate the NTFS toolkits in software-center or synaptic and install them, though they're alpha/experimental at best [01:22] Why is is that I can browse my NTFS disks with the live USB already? [01:23] I've executed downloads from a FAT partition in Slackware 13.37. It isn't advised, but it is nevertheless possible [01:23] I would imagine that they're included on live distros as most live-distro users would be runing them from a windows box. It would make sense to include them [01:23] Also I have the 2TB drive for storage of data. My thinking was having the data on a separate drive would make backups really easy and I could just format my OS and reinstall anytime I want [01:24] that's exactly the purpose for having a seperate partition for your /home, [01:24] like before I started this project, I just copied everything and didn't need to mess with combing through folders and all that [01:25] OK I see [01:25] I've done similar things myself too many times to count, and I am very familiar with the kind of mess it can create. I still have about 1250 GB on my RAID server to sort through from the fiasco of my MacBook Pro dying [01:26] I reinstalled it something like 6 times, with a seperate backup each time, and now my RAID server is something like half-full, though I know that most of that is really just duplicated items [01:27] I've aso lost over a decade of material from not managing backups properly [01:27] IveBeenBit, I am also thinking of making your data/long-term storage a bit more simple than it could be [01:28] tronnix check your msg [01:28] basically, you have dedicatedd drives for your storage, and they're functional from any OS you use [01:31] OK Well I should save this chat so I can refer back to it [01:31] it's a lot to remember [01:32] how much RAM do you have? [01:32] I forget. How can I check from Ubuntu? [01:33] 8 or 16 GB one of thos [01:33] I wouldn't bother with a swap, in that case [01:34] with 8GB it's a small stretch, but w/o a doubt doable, and unquestioningly so with a 16GB RAM syste, [01:34] i disagree. i always put swap [01:34] system [01:34] swap is for like virtual memory? [01:35] The only reason I maintain a swap drive with 8GB of RAM on my laptop is because I do audio editing, and some plugins can really use up memory [01:35] exactly [01:35] swap = Windows virtual memory [01:35] swap is disk backing for when memory usage exceeds physical ram [01:35] Right. I thought it was used for putting the computer in suspend also [01:36] how do I check my RAM in Ubuntu [01:36] I have a memory monitor applet on my window manager, and even when editing media, I never touch swap space with 8 GB of RAM [01:37] there should be a hwinfo program; if not, sudo apt-get install hwinfo [01:38] IveBeenBit, free -h [01:38] if you have 16GB of RAM, I wouldn't worry about setting up swap on linux until programs start to use more system resources [01:40] escott is correct in that almost every system has a swap partition, it is considered standard for every and any install of linux, but it is somewhat optional on higher-end systems if you're trying to accomplish something fancy [01:41] OK I have 8 GB [01:41] tronnix, and im disagreeing with you [01:41] Well I have HDD space to burn, so I can afford a swap, even if it's rarely used [01:42] in the end it depends on IveBeenBit's workload and how much he values the 8-16GB of disk he would need to have a swap disk [01:43] I will never miss that much hard drive space. Is the "standard" swap == the amount of RAM? [01:43] I've been strongly suggesting that he repartition and reformat a 64 GB SSD HDD to use as /dev/sda for dual-booting ubuntu and windows [01:44] Can't I put the swap on the 500GB HDD? [01:44] Swap space is ALWAYS set to match the amount of RAM in your system, except for very rare circustances [01:44] you could [01:44] On the SSD it would get cramped, yes [01:44] I have made soem suggestions via google dox for you [01:44] if it's on the HDD that's no problem [01:45] a SATA3 drive as swap should give you the most minimal bump to performance possible [01:48] Following these suggestions will make installation slightly more complicated, but will make using your system easier, a bit less worry-free, and should maximize cross-compatibility of your data files/music/movies/porn/etc/etc [01:51] IveBeenBit: post-installation, I would explore some of the structure of linux operating systems to better understand what's going on under the hood, and to get a better grasp of how truly incredble linux is as an OS. You can run an ubuntu core, and change up your window-manager for a completely differnt experience without having to reinstall an OS [01:51] IveBeenBit, swap on the SSD will if ever used shorten the SSD life. the disk is the best place for swap [01:53] Right. I will put it on the normal HDD [01:53] As an example, you can install gnome-session to use as your WM, which has a differnt feel than Ubuntu's default WM, Unity. You can use KDE for a more windows-like feel, with insane customizeability, or something like XFCE for a very light-weight WM, which would give you a blazingly fast user-experience [01:54] I'm typing you on Linux Mint XDE right now. It's an old netbook that ran really slow with Windows 7 [01:54] But I have not really messed with it much to be honest [01:54] FYI, I've run an up-to-date linux operating system on my Pentium-4 Desktop with 1Gb of RDRAM for audio editing [01:55] I simply mimized my installed packages of my OS, and used a lightweight WM instead of one bloated, bulky one with all the bellss and whistles [01:56] although on the P4, I did use a 2-4GB swap partition because some of the editing programs used some heavy-hitting plugins [01:57] Yeah I think it's cool. I have a buddy that takes donated old computers and puts them together with old/worthless parts and then gives them to poor kids in the neighborhood. He uses the lightweight linux distros for thos systems [02:14] TBH, I believe the best way to go about your setup would be to get everythign partitioned the way you want it right now using gparted on the live distro; install windows on it's designated partition of the SSD, and then get Ubuntu installed. GRUB2 should automagically detect and set itself up to dual-boot your windows OS and your Ubuntu OS without any major configuration from you, though you may wish to dive into that at a [03:30] is running 'env bash' basically the same as running /bin/bash ? [03:32] no [03:33] take that back, yes in some sense. [03:33] "bash" is the same as "/bin/bash" [03:34] and you arent doing anything with "env" [03:35] right, but basically /bin/bash starts a new bash environment (as a child process?) and /usr/bin/env does? [03:36] BookPage, env is intended to modify the environment by dropping variables [03:36] bash can drop the environment and create a new one or use the existing or just add stuff [03:37] see the info page for bash regarding --login [03:37] Oooh, I get it now. Right, it has nothing to do with the new shell except for if you want to modify the environment *before* you run a given command from the current env [03:38] I think that sentence lost sense at some point... But yeah, thankyou escott! [08:04] BookPage: env will look for bash in PATH [10:31] Hi all, Ive just done an upgrade from 12.04 to 12.10 through the update-manager. All went well during upgrade but on first log-in i have no Unity Desktop. All i have is the background. Any advice on what i can do? Cheers [10:32] Dan1987: you'll probably have better luck asking in #ubuntu [10:34] Ok will do. Thanks tsimpson === yofel_ is now known as yofel [12:33] how come after I usermod -a -G newgroup myuser and then `id` I don't see the new group, even though it appended me to the group in /etc/group [12:50] BookPage: it's applied at login, so you need to logout and back in (or just login again) [12:51] oh thanks [16:33] I am lost, I am running Ubuntu 12.04 and I can't get online videos to play. I tried chrome but how where do I get pepper from?, or should I use flash?, I tried flash to no avail, but perhaps I missed something [16:34] I thought this was a Ubuntu 10.04 issue, but I didn't remember reading that flash dropped support [16:36] I need shut eye, so I will leave this open so I can read what anyone has to say to help me out, thank you and sorry === skynet is now known as Guest85699 [23:29] I am trying to copy a file in the Ubuntu GUI, but don't have permission to copy into that directory. Can anyone tell me the equivalent of "sudo" in the GUI? [23:32] IveBeenBit, its better practice to drop to a terminal and do the copy there [23:32] !gksudo | IveBeenBit [23:32] IveBeenBit: If you need to run graphical applications as root, use « gksudo », as it will set up the environment more appropriately. Never just use "sudo"! (See http://psychocats.net/ubuntu/graphicalsudo to know why) [23:33] Great, escott! Thanks for the link. I will read it before doing anything. [23:33] IveBeenBit, theoretically you could run something like nautilus with root privs but its a bad bad bad idea [23:34] naut does a lot of things and likes to spawn a lot of background processes [23:34] it would be very easy to forget to close those when you are done with the "sudo" activities [23:34] and then you could break things by accident. [23:35] best practice is to open a terminal, and sudo cp /path/to/file /path/to/destination [23:35] (on top of which you need to chown that file afterwards which is easier in terminal than in naut) [23:35] I see. The last thing I need is to start breaking stuff again. I finally got my Ubuntu system installed and running. You want to know why the installer didn't see my hard drives? [23:35] sudo chown root:root /path/to/destination/file [23:36] IveBeenBit, i assume it was related to your intel raid ssd stuff [23:37] Related, yes...the drive I wanted to install to was part of a RAID array in the past, but I had taken it out of the RAID so I could put Ubuntu on it. Even though I deleted the array it left some shit on the hard drive that makes it so the installer didn't see the drive. [23:37] I had to type dmraid -E -r /dev/sdd then it worked perfectly [23:38] In case anyone comes around here with the same question, now you know. ;-) [23:38] 4 solid days of frustration solved with that command. Ha! [23:41] OK that link you sent doesn't say why gksudo is any better, just says to use it. But I get it...you're asking for trouble to mess around with root privileges in Unity. I'll use the command line. [23:42] IveBeenBit, it does mention why [23:42] There are other times, though, when side effects can be as mild as Firefox extensions not sticking or as extreme as as not being able to log in any more because the permissions on your .ICEauthority changed. You can read a full discussion on the issue here. [23:43] and various links in that sentence [23:43] I mean it doesn't tell you how gksudo is any different. It just says to use gksudo [23:44] i dont know what all gksudo does but it does things to make sure that the gui applications dont mess with the users $HOME [23:44] i think by copying ICEAuthority over to /root but i dont know for sure [23:44] my objections to root nautilus are additional objections beyond just gksudo [23:46] OK well thanks for the help. I will use the command line instead of drag and drop as root [23:49] While I got you here...a question about the man page when I type "man unzip." The synopsis says: [23:49] unzip [-Z] [-cflptTuvz[abjnoqsCDKLMUVWX$/:^]] file[.zip] [file(s) ...] [23:49] what does the extra set of square brackets mean? In between z and a? [23:50] ~:> unzip --help [23:50] UnZip 6.00 of 20 April 2009, by Debian. Original by Info-ZIP. [23:50] Usage: unzip [-Z] [-opts[modifiers]] file[.zip] [list] [-x xlist] [-d exdir] [23:51] so it separates the options from modifiers. One day I will learn the difference. Thanks. [23:52] IveBeenBit, if you look at the modifiers it will make sense. modifiers only make sense in context with an option [23:52] the option is the main function, the modifier tweaks the behavior of the option [23:52] so its like an option to the option [23:54] cool. that helps. I have been using Macs and Windows all my life so I have limited experience with CLI stuff