I made a half-assed attempt at commenting the source, because I’m a nice guy. You should be able to get an idea of what I was thinking from there.

Update [20081002003930EDT]: Almost forgot, uses Cairo for drawing. XOrg process maxes the cpu at the resolution I’m using for this thing… NO idea why. Any programmers wanna help?

But alas, this wouldn’t be a very good post here at redkrieg.com were I not to include something at least remotely technical… This weekend I finished preliminary work on my own thumbdrive based distribution of ubuntu. I wrote my own sexy splash screen and modified the themes a bit. I added all the usual programs that I love, set my defaults the way I like them, and even fixed a few bugs in the latest version (upon which this was based). Since it’s thumbdrive based and I have an amazing thumbdrive (OCZ ATV Turbo), it boots and runs faster than any hard disk install I’ve ever used. Unfortunately desktop effects only work on intel video hardware, but at least I have a persistent partition upon which to store any changes I make to the OS. My 4GB drive should be enough for a year’s worth of work if I stay away from video. All of this is thanks to two wonderful tools. The first of which is remastersys, which I use to turn a virtual machine into a full distribution of linux. Secondly, and just as important to this particular venture of mine is pendrivelinux.com‘s tutorial on turning ubuntu 7.10 in to a pen drive bootable (and usable) distro. Now the tutorial as is has some problems, all of which are in the zip file near the end of the tutorial. Many entries in that file don’t work, and the defaults are not set for a persistent install. Luckily for you, fearless user, I have below the contents of my syslinux.cfg for your internet related needs. Also, you can put anything you want in isolinux.txt.

syslinux.cfg:
DEFAULT persistent
LABEL persistent
menu label ^Start Ubuntu in USB persistent mode (saves changes)
kernel vmlinuz
append file=/preseed/ubuntu.seed boot=casper persistent initrd=initrd.gz vga=0x0317 quiet splash --
LABEL live
menu label ^Start Ubuntu in Live mode
kernel vmlinuz
append file=/preseed/ubuntu.seed boot=casper initrd=initrd.gz vga-0x317 quiet splash --
LABEL xforcevesa
menu label Start Ubuntu in safe ^graphics mode
kernel vmlinuz
append file=/preseed/ubuntu.seed boot=casper persistent xforcevesa initrd=initrd.gz quiet splash --
LABEL oem
menu label ^OEM install (for manufacturers)
kernel vmlinuz
append file=/preseed/ubuntu.seed boot=casper oem-config/enable=true initrd=initrd.gz quiet splash --
LABEL hd
menu label ^Boot from first hard disk
localboot 0x80
append -
DISPLAY isolinux.txt
TIMEOUT 50
PROMPT 1

Have fun. I know I am.

1. DHL delivers the laptop a day before the expected delivery date.
2. DHL guy makes no effort to ensure he delivered the laptop to someone who actually lived at the residence. My brother “signed” for it by tapping the pad and just happened to be in the front yard when the guy pulled up.
3. The laptop came unharmed with all accessories as I ordered.
4. I open the box to find a multi-language product guide that describes the hardware only, a quickstart guide explaining the buttons on the laptop, and contrary to other reports I’ve read about these new pre-loaded systems, an ubuntu cd with a sticker to let me know it was already installed.
5. After hastily removing the laptop from the “don’t put on head” bag, I popped it open, plugged in the power and ethernet, and turned it on.
6. The bios screen had a EULA I didn’t read. Just pressed space bar.
7. Ubuntu boots.
8. A quick quiz about what language I speak, where I am, what keyboard layout I have, and what my name is and I’m booting to a desktop.
9. Hostname is dell by default. Changed immediately.
10. Restricted drivers are already installed for wireless and… modem? /me checks back of system to find a modem. Wow… legacy.
11. Restricted driver manager lets me know I can install nvidia drivers, I do. No issues.
12. Updates are available!
13. After updating, I reboot.
14. Grub begins to load and BAM! System fails to start, can’t boot to partition. GRUB error #17 cannot mount selected partition.
15. No problem, I’ll just boot to the previous kernel and figure out what happened.
16. Previous kernel has same issue.
17. Hrm.
18. I use the built in system reinstall utility that’s quite painless.
19. System comes back up.
20. Repeat steps 7 through 13.
21. Same issue.
22. I check the boot options on the kernel and the recovery partition. Kernels are set to (hd0,0), recovery to (hd0,1). Seems normal to me.
23. Turns out someone at Dell goofed when working on the /boot/grub/menu.lst file. Kernels should go to (hd0,2). Big fucking goof and something that would send a normal user into the realm of windows forever. Fix this NOW Dell!
24. Manually change everything (hd0,0) to (hd0,2) and everything works great. Can’t get the scripted fix from the wiki to work, so fuck it.
25. Installed amarok, then automatix and some of the things it makes easy.
26. Beryl now, works well but a bit choppy.
27. No issues with resolution or hardware at all. Things just worked. Ubuntu’s come a long way since I last did a clean install on modern hardware… mostly upgrades here. I’m liking it more every day.

All in all, I’m really glad Dell is doing this. Only one issue is spectabulous, but it’s a show stopper. I’ve heard of people spending 6 hours getting a new Dell with windows where they wanted it, only took me 2 and I’ve got EVERYTHING I use on my desktop. Thanks Dell for providing Ubuntu, and please please PLEASE fix that grub issue with your image!

Automatix
This one I kinda stayed away from for my first couple weeks…  I have a tendency to be stubborn and try to do everything myself.  Boy was that a mistake!  Automatix has been rapidly improving since the release of Dapper Drake (the latest version of Ubuntu) and it’s definitely the easiest way to get all those not-quite-free programs and other things that most people don’t know exist.  Get it here.  The instructions are fairly detailed and right on the front page.  One thing though…  don’t install everything unless you’re sure what it is.  Trust me.  ;D

Compiz
UPDATE: The methods listed here aren’t the best solution any more.  Check out this post for more details!

If you have a modern graphics card and you want your desktop to flow, you need XGL/Compiz.  There’s a great tutorial for setup here.  Compiz is NOT perfect.  Hell, it isn’t even close.  It’s alpha software in every sense of the word.  You will have video artifacting, you will have phantom windows, you will have issues out the wazoo if you try it now, but you know what?  I still had more problems with windows than I do with Compiz, and Compiz tells you it’s alpha software…  A little food for thought for you.  As a side note, I used Method B: Make Xgl Your Standard Display Server for my XGL and Method C: Toggle for my Compiz.  While there isn’t exactly an advantage to the Method B for Xgl (it’s just a bit simpler to use), there is a major advantage to using Method C for Compiz…  All you do is create the toggle-compiz.sh file, toss it in your /usr/bin folder, make it executable, and put toggle-compiz.sh in your System->Preferences->Sessions on the Startup tab.  Now any time you have some graphical issue that requires you to restart Compiz, just open a terminal and type toggle-compiz.sh twice.  Problem solved!  Plus, any user of the machine can execute the script and use Compiz!

Improve Performance
I’ve used a few of the tweaks on this page to speed things up a bit (not that it’s really necessary).  I’m afraid to try InitNG because it’s apparently not 100% stable yet.  Now, I’m all about screwing with my X server, because I know my way around a terminal…  Messing with the bootup options?  One mistake and the machine won’t boot!  I of course could just reinstall, but hey, better safe than sorry.  I reboot my machine maybe once every two weeks now?  Big deal.  The best tweak on this page is picking the right kernel.  If you’re running Ubuntu for 32 bit machines, pick k7 for AMD processors and i686 for Intels.  If you use the 64 bit version, you should already have the right kernel.

Keyboard Shortcuts
There are lots of keyboard shortcuts, but the ones I use most often are Alt+F2 to open a run dialog, and Ctrl+Alt+Left/Right to change desktops.  Of course many of the windows key commands work too, like Alt+Tab.  Try things til you figure out what you can do!  Doesn’t hurt to play around!

Automatic Login
If you’re the only one with physical access to your machine (or you just don’t care if other people get on), you can set up auto-login so you don’t have to type your password to get to the desktop.  This doesn’t exempt you from using a password to perform administrative tasks (like using sudo or gksudo), but it saves a hot second.  Go to System->Administration->Login Window and check the Security tab.  You’ll find it there.

Make AIM links work with GAIM
This one’s nice.  Make sure you didn’t install Gaim 2.0 Beta when you were using Automatix earlier, otherwise this tutorial won’t work for you.  If you didn’t, you’ll really enjoy the new functionality!

Setting up your MX1000 mouse
I have one of these and I was none too happy that the extra buttons didn’t work out of the box!  Luckily I found this entry that gave a very detailed account of how to get the mouse working perfectly.  Even sideways scrolling works!

No sound in Firefox?
I’ve heard of some people not having sound in Firefox.  No problem!  Check out this fix.

Using multiple sound cards
You might have more than one sound card.  Maybe one onboard and one pci or usb.  I often switch soundcards and it causes problems left and right.  I found that if you delete the .asoundrc file from your home directory, everything seems to resolve itself at the next login.  If you have issues, give it a shot.

Windows apps
If you absolutely need to play a game that’s only in windows, give wine a shot.  Use the info here to install and you should be fine.  Wine doesn’t always work, but you never know!  If you have sound issues in wine, try the audio fix above… it worked for me when I had no sound at all (multiple sound cards).

Using locate to find files
One thing I always have trouble with is trying to figure out where a certain config file is.  Next time you’re trying to find it…  try this:

This is in no way secure (lets anyone see any filename, you might not want that), but its easy, and if you’re the only one with access to the machine?  Meh.

Anyway, that’s all I can think of right now.  If I remember any other problems I encountered while migrating, I’ll be sure to update this post or at least link to the new one.

Digg this!