Readers to the rescue!
The first thing you learn when you write about technology is that the people who read your stuff are smarter than you'll ever be. So let me start by saying "Thank you" to all the Linux users who responded to last Friday's post on my travails trying to get Ubuntu 7.10, or "Gutsy Gibbon," to recognize my Linksys WPC300N wireless adapter.
The first suggestions I tried were the ones that didn't entail installing a new app, though ultimately a free download was the fastest and simplest solution. I started by disabling remote mode, as recommended by "argraff." Unfortunately, the adapter stayed silent. "PasterEdB" advised me to add a command to my kernel boot-up options. This might have worked, if I wasn't such a Linux "noob" that I couldn't find the options in question (yes, I'd appreciate someone instructing me how to do so, and thank you in advance).
Two other readers said they had similar wireless problems that were solved by purchasing a $30 program (so much for freeware), and by disabling one of Ubuntu's built-in apps and reloading NDISWrapper. Some suggested I try a different Linux distro, or buy a laptop with Linux pre-installed.
The solution that worked for me was posted by kingargyle1, who recommended that I download WiFi Radar. Just seconds after I installed the program the Linksys adapter sprung to life. I popped in the network password, opened Firefox, and had my Gmail inbox open in no time. If I were a true geek I would've started poking around to determine how the program managed the trick, but I'd rather simply start browsing and offer my heartfelt thanks to the benevolent geniuses who wrote the program and made it available for free. And of course, my undying fealty goes out to kingargyle1 for the help: Long may you reign!
The cure for my Ubuntu wireless-adapter woes was the free WiFi Radar utility, which got me connected in minutes.
I know it's just my newbieness showing, but now that everything's working (apparently), it feels like my six-year-old laptop has been reborn. Now the true test: I'll spend the next few days using it as my lone computer (or nearly so), and report on my Ubuntu experience next Friday.
Monday: The five most useful features hiding in Microsoft Word.
It didn't take long after installing Canonical Ltd.'s Ubuntu 7.10 version of Linux for me to decide I liked what I saw. A quick tour of the Applications, Places, and System menus indicated that converting from Windows to Linux would be relatively seemless. The only fly in the ointment was my inability to get any of three wireless adapters to work with the OS.
World-class applications without paying a dime
I expected to find the Mozilla Firefox browser bundled with Ubuntu, and seeing links on the Applications*Office menu to OpenOffice.org's Database, Presentation, Spreadsheet, and Word Processor apps--all of which are compatible with their Microsoft Office equivalents--was no surprise. But some of Ubuntu's other built-in programs were a nice bonus: the F-Spot Photo Manager, GIMP Image Editor, OpenOffice.org Drawing app, and XSane Image Scanner give you all the graphics functions you're likely to need; and for audio and video processing, you get Movie Player, Rhythmbox Music Player, Serpentine Audio CD-Creator, Sound Juicer CD Extractor, and Sound Recorder.
[Cue late-night-TV announcer] But wait, there's more! For VoIP, use the Ekiga Softphone app; for e-mail, there's the popular Evolution open-source program; and when the IM bug bites, open the Pidgen client (previously known as Gaim), which supports just about every IM system out there. You also get about a dozen games, including Blackjack, Sudoku, and a Tetris knockoff; there's even a version of my favorite time-waster, Mahjongg.
Fly in the Ubuntu ointment: Wireless woes
"Too good to be true," I'm thinking as I work my way through Ubuntu's many options. And indeed I hit the wall when I tried to connect to my wireless network. The Linksys WPC300N PCMCIA adapter worked without a hitch when I booted the laptop in XP, but Ubuntu didn't recognize it. I searched the many Ubuntu forums for a solution and found that the Ndiswrapper utilities I needed to mimic the adapter's Windows driver weren't enabled. I tried the adapter again after enabling the wrappers, but still got nowhere. Next I downloaded and installed the Ndisgtk utility that lets you install device drivers without having to deal with the command line in Ubuntu's Terminal application.
Enable the Ndiswrapper utilities, and download and install Ndisgtk, to allow Windows wireless-adapter drivers to work in Ubuntu.
I copied the driver files from their CD to the Ubuntu desktop, and then pointed to the appropriate .inf file in the Wireless Network Drivers utility it added (via the System*Administration*Windows Wireless Drivers shortcut that Ndisgtk provides). I now had a "Wireless connection" option in the Network Settings window (see below), but no matter how I configured the connection, I couldn't log onto my wireless network.
After enabling the Ndiswrapper utilities and installing the Windows drivers for the wireless adapter, Ubuntu recognized the wireless network, though it wouldn't connect to it.
After going through the same process with another PCMCIA card and a USB wireless adapter and getting the same results, I decided to do some more trolling for a solution on the Linux forums. I tried several of the suggestions offered by forum denizens, but nothing worked. That's when I decided to stick with the wired Ethernet link, which connected to the network right away.
While the wireless glitches made me glad I dual-booted Ubuntu with Windows (so I could simply load Windows when I needed to connect to a wireless network), I was disappointed that I wouldn't be able to use Ubuntu the same way I use Windows, at least not until I figure out why I couldn't get Ubuntu to establish a wireless link. I haven't given up hope of replacing Windows with Linux, but neither am I willing to spend hours searching for a solution to a problem I can avoid simply by loading Windows.
Monday: Save time and trouble by partitioning your hard drive.
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