The Perfect 9.10 Ubuntu Desktop from Shell Script

Hello All,

I am currently working on crafting a shell script for the i386  platform and x64 platform.  This script will be modeled after Howtoforge’s The Perfect Desktop – Ubuntu 9.10.  I will include several extras to which I feel will make a more complete desktop package.  This scripts will be published by tomorrow (Nov 4th) after I have tested them within Virtual Machines to ensure that they function as designed.  My goal however is to allow a user to install Ubuntu and run my shell script with little effort, thus providing them with a desktop to suit their every need.

Nvidia NForce Fake Raid Users – Don’t upgrade from 9.04 to Ubuntu 9.10!

A quick word to the wise.  I attempted an upgrade from Ubuntu 9.04 to 9.10 on my workstation at work.  This computer uses an Nvida NForce 4 chipset.  OK, so what is the big deal!?  Well…  After it completed its upgrade I rebooted the computer, only to watch in horror as grub would send me flying into the depths of BusyBox.  Why?  Well the new kernel used in 9.10 – linux-image-2.6.31-14 includes support for Nvida Raid often dubbed “Fake RAID”.

This new storage driver is loaded even if you have RAID disabled in the BIOS!  So upgrading to 9.10 destroyed my workstation and all the data on it!

However this was not all bad.  I took advantage of the new Nvida RAID support, rebooted went into my BIOS re-enabled it, booted off of the Ubuntu 9.10 Live CD and simply installed from scratch.  After my new Ubuntu 9.10 install loaded in its new home on the Nvida RAID array, I recovered my data from a USB External Drive, and reinstalled my programs via a bash shell script.

So please take a hint of advice from one Ubuntu novice to another.  If you have an Nvida chipset which supports RAID, please don’t upgrade.  If you want the latest and greatest features do yourself the honor of backing up your data, enable RAID, and install a nice new fresh copy of Ubuntu.

Migrating from Novell Netware (Unix based) to Novell Open Enterprise Server 2 (Linux)

Hello all,

Please stay tune to this article as I will soon update this post with details on how to migrate a Netware 6.5 SP8 server to Novell Open Enterprise Server 2.

Upgrade from 9.04 to 9.10

Hello everyone!

I know we are all excited about the upcoming stable release of Ubuntu 9.10 “Karmic Koala” on 10/30/2009.  If you are currently running 9.04 then you can upgrade by pressing:

ALT+F2

This bring up the Run Application Prompt where you can type

upgrade-manage -d

as shown in the picture below.

Then hit run.  Up will come the upgrade manager window which may take a few seconds to fully load as it is updating all the package source index files from their various locations out on the Internet.  Once fully loaded it will tell you that it has picked up a new distribution release “9.10″.  Simply hit the update button and the process will take pace.

NOTE

Please sit tight until the update manager gets the point where it is ready to start download packages.  Prior to this step you may be prompted that a software package will not survive the upgrade or that it will have to remove a package source from the sources.list file located in

/etc/apt/

These prompts will require user input.  I did run into a problem during my upgrade which put the brakes on.  This was due to the fact that I had ksplice installed which hot patches the kernel (so you can do kernel patching w/o a reboot).  I first had to remove the package and the open the sources.list file manually in gedit using sudo and remove the package source for ksplice.  Happy upgrading, leave a comment if you run into an issue!

Welcome and News

Hello and welcome everyone to “RedShirtLinux”.  This site will provide my unique insight into mainly Ubuntu, however I will chronicle about my other experiences with Linux or Network Administration as a whole.

10/29

Do not forget that Ubuntu Linux 9.10 Karmic Koala is due out on 10/29!