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Question of the Day: What is your non-negotiable item, device, or app for international travel?
Ubuntu for dummies:
- Thread starter Waaib
- Start date
Sound
You say your sound played initially? Then try this:
- Press Alt-F2 (a box should pop up where you can type commands)
- Type kmix then press Enter
- A program with volume controls should pop up. Check that volume levels are up and that nothing is set to mute.
apt
iirc the following can fix apt errors, dpkg --configure -a. You might just wait for someone to confirm this as i haven't used my debian box in months so can't remember debian-based specific commands.
You say your sound played initially? Then try this:
- Press Alt-F2 (a box should pop up where you can type commands)
- Type kmix then press Enter
- A program with volume controls should pop up. Check that volume levels are up and that nothing is set to mute.
apt
iirc the following can fix apt errors, dpkg --configure -a. You might just wait for someone to confirm this as i haven't used my debian box in months so can't remember debian-based specific commands.
Okay, so many many thanks to you all for your help and especially to nihilist for sticking around on gtalk talking me through. I am now well versed at sudo apt-get install/remove and a few others 
My issues are resolved, and I even have the the compiz plugin making things all pretty and stuff.
The sound issue was resolved by merely muting the channels, then un-muting them again.
n1hilist walked me through sorting out the repairing of the installation file that I interrupted - it was a headache but it was resolved.
The graphics drivers are installed and operating well now.
Overall I am now really happy with my new operating system - Kubuntu. It is really quick to boot, operates much, much quicker than Windoze and even the interwebz appears to be a little bit quicker. It looks great, and has lots of functionality. And I love the package manager - makes installations a breeze!
It has been tough as a n00b trying to get to grips with the way things work and convincing myself to forget everything I know from Windows, but it is well worth the lesson. And I can officially say, that I am slowly becoming a Linux convert! Its not as difficult as I expected it to be - it was merely me not understanding the operating system.
My issues are resolved, and I even have the the compiz plugin making things all pretty and stuff.
The sound issue was resolved by merely muting the channels, then un-muting them again.
n1hilist walked me through sorting out the repairing of the installation file that I interrupted - it was a headache but it was resolved.
The graphics drivers are installed and operating well now.
Overall I am now really happy with my new operating system - Kubuntu. It is really quick to boot, operates much, much quicker than Windoze and even the interwebz appears to be a little bit quicker. It looks great, and has lots of functionality. And I love the package manager - makes installations a breeze!
It has been tough as a n00b trying to get to grips with the way things work and convincing myself to forget everything I know from Windows, but it is well worth the lesson. And I can officially say, that I am slowly becoming a Linux convert! Its not as difficult as I expected it to be - it was merely me not understanding the operating system.
d0b33
Honorary Master
Congrats 
I'm a a jet setter!!How about JHB instead?
Downloading FF from the FF site and trying to install it is not recommended for noobs, rather just go into Adept Package Manager, search FF and select install from there. If you don't see FF in the list, see my earlier post on how to update the package list (page 4).
Told you
Linux falls back on the terminal when something goes wrong, not BSOD.As I said before, it's a steep learning curve but worth it in the end. Sorry that I couldn't help out more, don't have much time on campus to just sit and browse the forum.
d0b33
Honorary Master
Now if only I could get MythTV to work 
Now if only I could get MythTV to work
With what are you struggling? Also, which tuner are you trying to set up?
d0b33
Honorary Master
Mysql problems, access denied errors and can't access mythtv database.
My tv tuner is a Hauppauge PVR-150 MCE, I use VLC to watch tv and terminal to tune channels so you can understand why I would like to get mythtv working.
Tried this but can't perform the commands needed.
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/MythTV/Install/Troubleshooting
I got permission for 'mythtv@localhost' but now 'root@localhost' is denied access.
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Yeah, I also struggled with that for a while. Can't remember what I did to overcome it tough. I will check put my notes I made tomorrow. I should have a link that can help you somewhere. On capped account ATM and downloads are pacing, but I will definitely check tomorrow.
haha, eish, yeah, I can see your problem.
Have you tried tvtime or kdetv iirc xawtv was another one which functioned well.Lucky you with that pvr-150 I have some el-cheapo crap card, never ot it to work properly in mythTV, audio and video weren't on the same frequency, pal problem I suppose.
Still saving up for a pvr-150, but I am considering buying a DVB-T card though, November isn't that far away.
Sorry man, will check it out tomorrow. Damn caps.
Had exactly the same problem.
I'm also a linux noob mate, so yeah, this stuff frustrated the hell out of me But when I got it working it was awesome. Even without the tv functionality. Just being able to stream video from my windows box to my mythbox was great I did opt for mediaportal until I can get my hands on a proper tuner though, but it's temporary.
d0b33
Honorary Master
Ok, success
For mysql I chose to use the user root and that got me access to the database, this will be local so no need to worry.
But now I need to setup my tuner card...
For mysql I chose to use the user root and that got me access to the database, this will be local so no need to worry.
But now I need to setup my tuner card...
Kloofvreter
Honorary Master
Ubuntu won't "fix" the fact that your PC/laptop has hardware problems, that's what's causing the blue screens.
Nice!
Good work mate! Ok, you've already got the card working fine in vlc right? You shouldn't have to struggle much with a hauppage card. It's actually not that hard to set it up in mythtv. Just choose your tuner in mythtv setup/settings, and you might want to write down the frequencies you used in vlc and create custom channels in myth. Worked a lot better than the automatic scans for me.
I assume your card is picked up fine, because you already have vlc working, but it may be that it detects it as something else yet it still works, lol, dunno, why, but from my own experience and from what I've read, this actually happens a lot. Just run dmesg, and check all the info for you card.
Did it come with a remote? If so, you should install lirc. Which will probably give you the option on installation to choose your remote. If you have the mS mce remote or the hauppage mce remote there should be lircd.conf files for your remote as well as lircrc files ready for your remote.
d0b33
Honorary Master
Nice!
Ok, you've already got the card working fine in vlc right? You shouldn't have to struggle much with a hauppage card. It's actually not that hard to set it up in mythtv. Just choose your tuner in mythtv setup/settings, and you might want to write down the frequencies you used in vlc and create custom channels in myth. Worked a lot better than the automatic scans for me.
I assume your card is picked up fine, because you already have vlc working, but it may be that it detects it as something else yet it still works, lol, dunno, why, but from my own experience and from what I've read, this actually happens a lot. Just run dmesg, and check all the info for you card.
Did it come with a remote? If so, you should install lirc. Which will probably give you the option on installation to choose your remote. If you have the mS mce remote or the hauppage mce remote there should be lircd.conf files for your remote as well as lircrc files ready for your remote.
Thanks, thing is mythtv detects my card but when I choose "watch tv" nothing happens
and I can't get the mythbuntu control center to launch after a complete mythtv removal and reinstall, Im thinking of doing a fresh install as much as I will regret it with all the updates I'll need to download again...(but it's all local so not that bad )Maybe I'll create a new user, if I still cant get it to work then reinstall is the cleanest way to do this.
Have a Microsoft MCE remote and it's detected by the mythbuntu control center panel.
Thanks, thing is mythtv detects my card but when I choose "watch tv" nothing happens
Maybe I'll create a new user, if I still cant get it to work then reinstall is the cleanest way to do this.
Have a Microsoft MCE remote and it's detected by the mythbuntu control center panel.
Sheesh, that's weird. Dunno why the control center won't work. Never encountered that. Yah, all that re-installs was a pain, lol. damn 384k line, haha.
You don't necessarily need the conrol panel, but it does make things so much easier.
Ok, the watch tv thing, have you set up the channels yet? It may be set to recieve from compostie or s-video or something, maybe just check that all the channels are set to recieve from the tuner, IIRC mine was set to recieve from s-video by default for some reason, had to change that to tuner.Took me quite a while to spot the problem
d0b33
Honorary Master
Yep, close on a hundred times I'm sure, same result
Sheesh, that's weird. Dunno why the control center won't work. Never encountered that. Yah, all that re-installs was a pain, lol. damn 384k line, haha.
You don't necessarily need the conrol panel, but it does make things so much easier.
Ok, the watch tv thing, have you set up the channels yet? It may be set to recieve from compostie or s-video or something, maybe just check that all the channels are set to recieve from the tuner, IIRC mine was set to recieve from s-video by default for some reason, had to change that to tuner.Took me quite a while to spot the problem
I'll have a look but I'm sure it's set to tuner, I think I broke something in myth.
They should have something like mythtv-lite which does need a backend or mysql, just a simple application like elisa for lite users
So I dumped Ubuntu. Too much stuff to learn to configure. I need to work not play with settings etc. I reckon I'll install it on my old desktop PC but need to check the spec's first otherwise there will be driver issues like I had on the laptop. So back to XP for I'm afraid.
By the way it was a faulty ram chip that caused the problems in the first place.
By the way it was a faulty ram chip that caused the problems in the first place.
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Waaib - after reading this thread I decided to make the jump to Kubuntu - I also had frustrating issues but it was more me not understanding the OS. Now everything is up and running and the compiz plugins make this OS look oh so pretty. Its well worth it - I have no issues.
Just learn sudo apt-get install <insert program name>
And get used to using the package manager instead of downloading and installing. It does it all for you and its easy to change the sources that it references as well. Very cool OS, I am a Linux convert - it really is easier to use than I expected.
And judging by your post above, surely the faulty RAM cannot be blamed on the OS. Persistence is key mate!