Install Firefox 8 on an Older Ubuntu Linux PC

Firefox 8 has hit the streets, and if you can not wait to get it up and running on your older version of Ubuntu, then you can run these commands at a prompt to get Firefox installed and running on your Ubuntu PC.

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:mozillateam/firefox-stable
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install Firefox language-pack-en language-pack-en-base

There are a number of enhancements that have been added to Firefox 8. Twitter had been added to the search bar and there is more support of locals.  Firefox should also be even faster and more responsive.

Another Quick Review of Ubuntu 11.04 on my Acer Aspire 532H-2326 Netbook.

I wanted to provide a quick update on how Ubuntu 11.04 runs on my Acer Aspire One 532H-2326 Netbook.  I downloaded the Beta version of Ubuntu 11.04 Natty Narwhal.

Of course, by now, we all know about the new Unity interface that has been introduced for all flavors of Ubuntu desktop, and the strife that has been going on amongst traditional Gnome desktop users.  I dare not comment on that one.  But, I will say one thing about the new Unity desktop to is that it is leaps and bounds better then 10.10 in terms of looks and usability for a netbook.  The main improvement that is present is that now there is an auto-hide feature enabled for the sidebar.

Mouse touchpad fixed in Ubuntu 11.04 on Acer Aspire One 532H??
I used a daily download version of Ubuntu 11.04, and use the USB disk to run the software.  The first thing I checked to see is if there was a 'touchpad' tab under 'mouse preferences.'  Lo and behold, there was a tab available!  Upon clicking the pad I found the treasure that I was looking for, the checkbox to 'Disable touch pad while typing.'  And the feature works!  Having the 'Disable touchpad while typing' feature working in 11.04 will be more than enough perform the upgrade on this Acer Aspire One netbook.  I just hope that it carries through upon completion of the installation process.

Once Ubuntu 11.04 hits the streets next week, I will take the plunge and upgrade once my files are backed up.

Easy Upgrade to Ubuntu 10.10 Maverick Meerkat on Acer Aspire One AO532-2326

Yesterday I took the plunge and upgraded may Acer Aspire One Netbook, which is the AO532-2326 model to Ubuntu 10.10 Maverick Meerkat.   I used the update manager to perform the upgrade and every thing went  fine.  The new Unity desktop is really sharp compared to the desktop that came with Ubuntu Linux 10.04.

The upgrade went fine by opening a terminal and running update-manager -d.

The mousepad  still does not quite work right.  The mouse stays active while you type, causing inadvertent mouse clicks while typing.  To get around this I use the Function-F7 key to enable and disable the mouse whenever I am typing in a window. I do not have this problem if I use the Windows 7 OS that is also installed on this netbook.

Another small change is that you may want to use the new Ubuntu fonts that come with Maverick Meerkat.    These can be enabled in the desktop appearances section.

Fix for the Acer 532H Touchpad and Scrollbar in Ubuntu 10.04 Lucid Lynx

I came across a fix for the vertical scrollbar on the touchpad for my Acer 532H laptop in Lucid Lynx Ubuntu Remix. With a vanilla install of Lucid Lynx it does not work properly.  The vertical scrollbar allows you slide your finger up and down to move your web page up or down.


I found the fix on the Ubuntu Forums. Here are the steps to activate the change permanently on your Acer Laptop.  It involves adding a line to a file in the /etc/modprobe.d directory.

1. Open a terminal and open up the editor by  typing:  sudo gedit /etc/modprobe.d/psmouse.conf   and add this line to the file:

options psmouse proto=imps


2. Then select  File  -- > Save  (saving the file in gedit)

Note that the psmouse.conf file does not exist and you are creating a new file in the /etc/modprobe.d directory.

Then Reboot.  The fix should be in place when your netbook is re-booted, as the psmouse.conf file will be read into the kernel when it restarts.

Ubuntu Netbook Remix 10.04 Works With 2GB iPod Shuffle on Acer Aspire One 532H

I have an older 2GB iPod Shuffle and decided to test it out with Ubuntu Netbook Remix 10.04 on my little Acer Aspire 532H. I believe this is the 2nd generation iPod, the one with the little clip on the back.

The iPod seems to work very well when you plug it into the USB port. When the iPod is plugged into the little Acer's USB port, Rhythmbox starts right up and recognized the iPod and its music files that I had imported from another PC. I then proceeded to move files back and forth and it worked well. Files delete in a flash, but it takes a little longer to upload files from the PC, unto the iPod.

I could also play music from the iPod through the PC speakers using Rhythmbox

I suppose there also would be no problems using it to carry music that is downloaded from Ubuntu One Music. I have not purchased anything from Ubuntu One Music yet, but the seem to have a good selection of music.

Rhythmbox hung once when I removed the iPod without using the "eject" feature within the Rhythymbox software. This feature can be found by right clicking on the iPod icon within Rhythmbox and selecting "eject." I was then greeted with a little green light on my iPod that said it was fully charged and ready to go! If the little light is flashing yellow on your iPod, remember to "eject" it from Rhythmbox before you disconnect, so the sync can properly finish.

Install of Ubuntu Netbook Remix 10.04 on Acer Aspire One 532h

I took the plunge and decided to install Ubuntu Netbook Remix on my little Acer Aspire One 532 H. Most everything is working OK, except there are some mouse/touhpad issues that are fairly well documented. It seems that the suspend while typing function on the touchpad is not working properly. The workaround is to use Fn-F7 to disable the touchpad manually if you want to get down to some serious typing. The multi-touch features and the scrollbar is also not working either. Searching around the forums, there seems to be some intricate solutions around, but maybe I will just wait for it to get into a release.

The install went smoothly and only took about 15 minutes. I decided to keep Windows 7 and dual boot into Ubuntu. The only change from the default install that I made was to make the Ubuntu partition a little larger then the Windows 7 partition. Windows 7 is OK, but the pre-installed antivirus software annoyed me when it asked to me to re-boot my computer, right when I was on a roll in getting some real work done. This is just the sort of thing that always irked me when using Windows in the past, when third party software wants to reboot your machine, while you are in the middle of getting some work done. So, now Windows 7 is treading on thin ice and may still yet get wiped off this little netbook.

Everything else seems to be working OK. There is a known SD card issue, and I have not tried out the microphone. That should be an issue too. The sleep works fine while depressing Fn-F4. The wireless works OK out of the box, but it does seem to drop out randomly, then reconnect. The hot-key to turn it on and off does not work. You can turn wireless on and off manually, though.

If I could get these few little annoyances fixed, then it will be hasta-la-vista Windows 7.

UNR 10.04 on Acer Aspire One 532h-2326

I created a USB disk with Ubuntu 10.04 Netbook Remix and took my new netbook for a spin.

So far every thing works. In order to boot from the USB disk, plug in the USB key, hit F2 when you turn on the power, and in Setup, arrow over to Boot. then select the USB key you wish to book from by moving it to the top of the list with the F6 key.

So far, it appears most things are working. Wireless was recognized right of the bat, which is a first for me in Linux. The interface for Ubuntu Netbook Remix is nice too! Plus you can change the background, which is not possible in Windows 7 without a third-party work around.

Now the question is, should I wait for the final release of 10.04? Install 9.10? or use the current beta of 10.04 and upgrade later?

What a conundrum!

Ubuntu Netbook Remix on Acer 532H-2326

I got a new netbook today and want to run it with Ubuntu Netbook Remix. The Acer AspireOne 532H-2326 is one of the cool blue ones that come with a 250GB disk drive. I figure I can use Windows 7 on a smaller partition and set aside about 150GB for Ubuntu Netbook Remix 10.04.

The first thing I did was upgrade the netbook to 2 GB of memory. There seems to be a little bit of confusion on the internet about whether these Acer netbooks are upgradeable. Some sites say you need to update the BIOS. The system I have had BIOS V1.02 which seems out of date. I popped in the memory without the BIOS update and it was recognized, and is working great. The memory stick I am using is the following:

Crucial 2GB 256Mx64PC2-5300 CT25664AC667 DDR2 200-Pin SODIMM Laptop Memory

and it cost about $45 Amazon.

This is may first time using Windows 7, and so far it seems pretty nice. It runs pretty good on this little netbook. I also want to keep Windows just in case a BIOS update is needed. It is much easier with Windows installed. Yea, I know about FreeDOS, but for now it is worth it to keep Windows around for a little bit longer.

Ubuntu Netbook Remix Drops Open Office

Okay, first there was the deal to make Yahoo the default search engine on Firefox browsers that come pre-installed on Ubuntu Systems. It is well known that an agreement was fleshed out between Cannonical and Yahoo, with Cannonical receiving a sort of gratuity for the move.

Now, Open Office is going to be dropped from Ubuntu Netbook Remix in favor of Google Docs. This is supposed to be so that that Ubuntu Netbook Remix will be more streamlined and efficient for netbooks. Last I checked, you can buy netbooks that have well over 100GB if disk space. And Open Office is still an efficient program--way faster then Microsoft Word, even with the Java platform.

If you are looking to save disk space, why not just make AbiWord the default word processor in Ubuntu Netbook Remix. It is more powerful than Google Docs, and users are not required to get Google accounts. Don't get me wrong, I use Google Docs, but it still has a long way to go. Plus, you still need a Internet connection to make it work. Google has dumped Google Gears, and still is a pain to get to work on Ubuntu. Has anyone got Google Gears to work on Ubuntu?

Of course the option is always there to go ahead and download and install Open Office...

EDIT - 3/01/10 -- OK looks like Open Office is baaaaack! ;)