 how to easily install and configure the original ubuntu on the eeepc how to associate file types to softwares how to use the hotkeys (fast choice keys) how to use the terminal (or shell) how to handle freezes of process/system avoiding the forced turn off of the pc |
 how to restore/modify the grub (boot loader) how to remove old kernels (boot partition cleaning) how to create “.deb” packages from the“.tar.gz” source code archive  how to change the aspect of the gnome desktop in 3 steps |
how to easily install and configure the original ubuntu on the eeepc:
1) 
download the latest “.iso” version of ubuntu live cd image (http://www.ubuntu.com/desktop/get-ubuntu/download), create a usb bootable key through (http://unetbootin.sourceforge.net/)
and follow the instructions:
a) DO NOT create a swap partition
b) create a PRIMARY boot ext2 (NOT ext3) of 100 MB (mount point = /boot)
c) create a LOGIC root ext2 (NOT ext3) of 4000 MB (mount point = /)
d) create a LOGIC var ext2 (NOT ext3) of 1000 MB (mount point = /var)
e) create a LOGIC home ext2 (NOT ext3) with ALL REMAINING SPACE (mount point = /home)
2) install the modified kernel following the instructions on http://www.array.org/ubuntu/setup.html
how to make a file type to be launched from the desired software (when double clicking)
1) in this example i show how to make all “.wmv” files to be launched from mplayer
2) put the mouse pointer upon any “.wmv” file, right click, properties –> tab “open
with” => select the software from the list (if the software is not in the list, go to point 3)
3) if the desired software is not in the first list, click upon “+ add”
=> select the software from the second list (if the software is not in the second list, go to point 4)
4) if the software is not in the second list, click upon “use a custom command”, then “browse”, then choose the name of the software from the complete list
how to use the hotkeys (or keyboard shortcuts / fast choice keys)
| ctrl+shift+n => create a new folder
ctrl+h => show/hide hidden files and folders f2 => rename the selected file/folder f5 => refresh the content of a folder (reread from the disc) alt+tabspace => switch between the opened windows ctrl+alt+arrows => change workspace ctrl+alt+backspace => kill gnome and jump to login window alt+f2 => launch an application through the terminal ctrl+alt+f1 ctrl+alt+f7 => switch to gnome console |
f1 => activates the help
ctrl+c => copy stamp => save screenshot of the whole screen ctrl+f => activates search canc => delete/move to trash alt+f4 => close the focused window ctrl+arrows => move the cursor from a word to the other shift+arrows => move the cursor and emphasize +/- letters ctrl+shif+arrows => move the cursor and emphasize +/- words |
how to use the terminal (or shell)
note 1: to paste text into the terminal:
1) click three times upon a row to emphasize it all
2) launch the terminal and click right & left keys together
note 2: the anticipation of the string sudo to any command is to gain the privileges of system administrator
note 3: the char “~” is equivalent to the string “/home/currentusername”
installation of the package “packagename” from the repositories:
(repositories = all selected in system –> administration –> software sources + the local directory \var\cache\apt\archives)
sudo apt-get install packagename
uninstall of the package “packagename”:
sudo apt-get remove packagename
kill “softly” the process “processname”
sudo killall processname
if the “soft” approach doesn’t work, need to be more bad
sudo killall -9 processname
display all actives processes with their pid (process id):
ps aux
kill “softly” a process, knowing its pid (process id) number “pidnumber”:
sudo kill pidnumber
if the “soft” approach doesn’t work, need to be more bad:
sudo kill -9 pidnumber
display the current directory:
pwd
display the content of the current directory:
ls
change the directory, one step towards the root:
cd ..
change the directory, to the previous:
cd –
change the directory, to the root:
cd /
change the directory, to the destination specified by “path”:
cd /path
create a directory named “directoryname”:
mkdir directoryname
rename the file “filename1” with the name “filename2”:
mv filename1 filename2
move the file “filename” to the destination specified by “path”:
mv filename /path
move the file “filename1” to the destination specified by “path” and rename it with “filename2”:
mv filename1 /path/filename2
create a copy of the file “filename1” with the name “filename2”, in the current directory:
cp filename1 filename2
copy the file “filename” to the destination specified by “path”:
cp filename /path
delete the file “filename” from the current directory:
rm filename
delete the directory “directoryname” and its content, from the current directory:
rm -rf directoryname
delete the directory “directoryname” from the current directory, if “directoryname” is empty:
rmdir directoryname
delete all files whose name starts with “ab” from the current directory:
rm ab*
delete all files whose name is 3 chars long and the first 2 are “ab”:
rm ab?
display the manual of the command “commandname”:
man commandname
how to handle freezes of process/system avoiding the forced turn off of the pc
1) terminate the blocking process via system monitor:
system –> administration –> system monitor, tab processes
=> highlight the process and click upon “end process”
2) terminate the blocking process via terminal
3) force the closure of the blocked windows using xkill:
click alt+f2 (it opens the “launch command in the terminal” window) or launch a terminal, then insert
xkill
=> the mouse pointer becomes a cross/a skull, the next window where you click upon will be killed
note1: if you change idea while the killer is active, right click to disarm him
note2: also the desktop and the panels are killed if you unleash the killer against them
4) terminate the blocking process changing console:
if the console with gnome loaded is blocked and doesn’t let you do anything, so let’s change console:
click ctrl+alt+f6 (f6 may be substituted by f5, f4, f3, f2 or f1), do the login into the console inserting
-login = your username, then press enter
-password = your password, then press enter
after that kill the desired process with the terminal’s commands.
to go back to gui click ctrl+alt+f7
5) force the restart of gnome: click ctrl+alt+backspace => you will jump to the login
window
how to restore/modify the grub (boot loader)
–> to restore the grub (for example after a windows installation):
1) make the grub start through a livecd
2) when the grub appear press “c” to switch to command line
3) type find /boot/grub/menu.lst to find where is the grub configuration file… let’s suppose it to be (hd0,2)
where hd0 means first hard disk, 2 is the number of the partition upon hd0
4) type root (hd0,2) to go to the signaled partition
5) type setup (hd0) to install the link to menu.lst into the master record of the hard disk hd0 NB in case of multi hard disk system, to know upon which hard disk
is the master record check the bios
–> to modify the grub (for example the timeout before the launch of the default os, or the default os):
1) whether install the grub manager or…
2) …alternatively it’s possible to modify directly the notepad that configures the grub : (read what is written on the notepad that will be opened, modify, save)
sudo cp /boot/grub/menu.lst /boot/grub/menu.lst_backup
sudo gedit /boot/grub/menu.lst
how to remove old kernels (boot partition cleaning)
launch the system monitor: system–administration–system monitor
go to the tab “system” to check the running kernel version
launche the synaptic package manager: system–administration–synaptic package manager
click upon any package row and start to type “linux-image”
=> the focus will move to the first package of the list which begins with the typed letters
remove the older installed packages versions of “linux-image….” right clicking upon them and choose “mark for complete removal”, then click upon “apply”.
after that do the same for the older versions of the packages “linux-headers….“.
it’s better to keep not only the current kernel version but also one older working version for just in case (if it happens that you cannot boot anymore through the current kernel version, it’s easy from the grub list to choose to boot from the previous kernel version)
how to create “.deb” packages from the “.tar.gz” source code archive
precondition: if not already done, install the nautilus pyextension “open-terminal-geometry”
click twice upon the “.tar.gz” source code archive, extract where you want, you should find in the directory indicated for the extraction a folder with many files inside (are the source code files)
check if you already installed these packages:
sudo apt-get install build-essential checkinstall libgtk2.0-dev
right click upon the folder containing the source code files and choose “open terminal here”
prepare the configuration file:
./configure –prefix=/usr –exec-prefix=/usr
this process typically stops showing what package necessary to the compilation was not found.
the procedure is to install the indicated package and launch the
“./configure” again untill this will not complete without any message; at this point it’s possible to go to compilation.
note: as consequence of a message like “no package pippo found” => it’s necessary, through synaptic package manager ( system–administration–synaptic package manager), to search and install (if not already installed) the packages “pippo-dev” and/or “libpippo-dev”
compile the source code files:
make
this process can still stop issuing errors like: cannot find -lpippo => it’s necessary, through synaptic package manager ( system–administration–synaptic package manager), to search and install (if not already installed) the packages “pippo-dev” and/or “libpippo-dev”
create the package:
sudo checkinstall
the package will be placed in the folder containing the source code files and is already installed;
1) to uninstall it: sudo apt-get remove packagename
2) to reinstall it: double click upon the “.deb” package
how to change the aspect of the gnome desktop in 3 steps:
1) to handle the level of the visual effects: system–preferences–appearance, tab “visual effects” and select the desired level.
note: if your computer is some years old, choose the effects level “none” => everything will run faster)
2) to change theme: system–preferences–appearance, tab “theme”
and choose the one you prefer, after that click upon “customize” if you want to
customize the theme, and then save as a new theme.
it’s possible to add new themes installing the package “gnome-themes-extra” :
sudo apt-get install gnome-themes-extras
3) to change/disable the login window:
to change it: system–administration–login window => tab local => select among all the login windows available. to set up the avatar: sistem–preferences–about me and click upon the top left square, beside your login name.
to disable it: system–administration–login window => tab security => flag “enable automatic login” and select your user from the list.