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On 05/18/2012 05:13 PM, <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:conspire-request@linuxmafia.com">conspire-request@linuxmafia.com</a> wrote:<br>
<span style="white-space: pre;">><br>
><br>
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>
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> Date: Fri, 18 May 2012 16:35:18 -0700<br>
> From: Rick Moen <a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E" href="mailto:rick@linuxmafia.com"><rick@linuxmafia.com></a><br>
> To: <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:conspire@linuxmafia.com">conspire@linuxmafia.com</a><br>
> Subject: [conspire] (forw) Re: Ubuntu help?<br>
> Message-ID: <a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E" href="mailto:20120518233518.GV20111@linuxmafia.com"><20120518233518.GV20111@linuxmafia.com></a><br>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-15<br>
><br>
> ----- Forwarded message from <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:chaz@chazbrenchley.co.uk">chaz@chazbrenchley.co.uk</a> -----<br>
><br>
> Date: Fri, 18 May 2012 23:59:09 +0100<br>
> From: <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:chaz@chazbrenchley.co.uk">chaz@chazbrenchley.co.uk</a><br>
> To: <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:rick@linuxmafia.com">rick@linuxmafia.com</a><br>
> Subject: Ubuntu help?<br>
><br>
><br>
> So, the position is that I bought a cheap HP box, on the
assumption<br>
> that there'd be nothing in there too new - but it has an ATI
video<br>
> card, which seems to make every distro trip up. A standard
boot from a<br>
> Live CD just produces a black screen; if I boot with
"nomodeset" in<br>
> the boot command I get a basic screen - the VESA driver, I
think -<br>
> which looks awful. I know I ought to be able to download
fglrx or<br>
> alternatives - but that's the second half of the problem,
that I can't<br>
> get internet access. I stupidly assumed that all PCs these
days would<br>
> have a wireless card. Not so. So I bought a USB plug-in, and
Ubuntu<br>
> 12.04 recognised it out of the box, and found the network -
and won't<br>
> connect. Keeps asking for the password, which I supply
(correctly),<br>
> and it dithers for a couple of minutes and asks again. Other
people<br>
> have had this, and the internet suggests various remedies,
which I<br>
> cannot make to work. Sob.<br>
><br>
> So: is this the sort of problem with which you are willing to
engage?<br>
> And if so, roughly, what's the going rate? I feel like I've
failed<br>
> Geek 101, which really distresses me, but...<br>
><br>
> - Chaz<br>
><br>
></span><br>
I realize you were hoping for more hands-on kind of help, but we
might be able to make some suggestions about what you can try at
home if we knew specifically what the problematic hardware actually
is. Maybe send us the output from this command:<br>
<br>
lspci |grep VGA & lspci |grep -i net<br>
<br>
Of course you can also buy your way out of the problem, it isn't too
hard to find inexpensive bits of hardware that work with Linux out
of the box if you read the reviews, e.g.<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833315091">http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833315091</a><br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833166047">http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833166047</a><br>
<br>
Generally if you find something that has been around for more than a
year the chances of out-of-the-box Linux support is greater,
particularly if you want to use the open source driver. It is easier
to make the nvidia proprietary driver work than the fglrx one, but
probably the radeon open source driver is more robust than the
nvidia nouveau one at the moment. Deal sites like techbargains.com
and slickdeals.net are good places to look for discounts.<br>
<br>
Ed<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
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