Archives for October 2008

October 6, 2008

Installing VirtualBox in Ubuntu 8.04

Installing Virtual Box in Ubuntu should be an easy endeavor. I have come across several how-to documents that were confusing to say the least. This document will try to simplify the steps involved in installing Virtual Box in Ubuntu 8.04 Hardy Heron. Ok, let’s get started.

1. First, determine the current Linux kernel you are using. Click on Applications > Accessories > Terminal. Type the command:

$ uname -a
Linux penelope 2.6.24-19-generic

The result shows I’m running the Linux 2.6.24-19 kernel.

2. Next, install Virtual Box using the apt-get command. Substitute your current Linux kernel for virtualbox-ose-modules-generic.

$ sudo apt-get install virtualbox-ose virtualbox-ose-source
virtualbox-ose-modules-2.6.24-19-generic

3. Add yourself to the vboxusers group using one of the 3 commands. Choose only one command. I ran the first one.

sudo gpasswd -a `whoami` vboxusers
sudo usermod -Gvboxusers -a `whoami`
sudo adduser $USER vboxusers

4. Log out of your desktop session by hitting CTRL-ALT-Backspace. When you log in, your group membership will be updated.

5. Congratulations. You have successfully installed Virtual Box.

To install another OS, refer to the documentation Using Virtual Box.

The screenshot below shows the gOS 3 running on my Virtual Box.

October 5, 2008

gOS 3 Gadgets

gOS 3 Gadgets is a Linux distribution based on Ubuntu 8.04.1. The package contain applications or Google gadgets like Google Mail, Google Calendar, Google Reader, Skype, Pidgin, YouTube, WikiPedia, Blogger and the Open Office Presentation, Spreadsheet and Word Processor.

In addition, Wine is installed allowing thousands of Windows application to run under Linux like Photoshop, Internet Explorer, etc. Prism, a new application by Mozilla is also installed allowing web application to be split from the browser and run directly on the gOS desktop. Google Mail, Calendar, Documents and YouTube are run through Prism.

Give gOS 3 Gadgets distribution a try. Just download the ISO from the gOS website. Burn the ISO to a CD drive. Place the CD in the drive and reboot the computer. Select start or “install gOS.” Once gOS is loaded, click the “install” icon to begin installation. When finished, just reboot.

If you are an experienced Ubuntu user, it takes a little bit to get used to gOS menu’s, icons, and window controls. gOS reminds me so much of Mac in terms of the icons, navigation and controls. But you can’t go wrong with gOS since it is built on top of a solid Ubuntu distribution.

October 3, 2008

Compiz and RandRRotation Working

Today, I decided to do a clean install of Ubuntu 8.04 on my desktop. Before wiping out my disk, I backed up all my personal files in my home directory to an external USB drive. The Ubuntu installation was a breeze. No glitches whatsover.

After the install, I added three programs: gPHPEdit, Audacity and Filezilla. In addition, I also installed Compiz Fusion to activate the “eye candy” graphics effects. As I expected, the screen rotation for displaying in Portrait mode wasn’t working with the nvidia driver.

My setup is a Nvidia FX-5200 graphics card and a HP w2207h widescreen monitor. So, I fiddled with the xorg.conf file a little bit. After a couple of tries, to my big ultimate surprise, I got both Compiz Fusion and RandRRotation working together! Woot!

Here’s my xorg.conf configuration.

Section "Device"
Identifier "Configured Video Device"
DriverÂ  "nvidia"
Option "NoLogo" "True"
Option "RandRRotation"
EndSection

I’m ecstatic to say the very least.