Tag Archives: Technology

How to install Ubuntu 12.04 on old computers with non PAE CPU

When I tried to install Ubuntu 12.04 on an old ThinkPad X40 I was surprised to discover this warning on my screen:

This kernel requires the following features not present on the CPU:
pae. Unable to boot - please use a kernel appropriate for your CPU.

In few words I wasn’t able to install Ubuntu 12.04 because the kernel on Ubuntu 12.04 was not supporting my CPU and I was really upset because I have always promoted Linux distributions as the most versatile and appropriate OS to keep using “old” hardware.

Sincerely, as described in an older post, I previously decided to install MATE desktop environment because the graphic cards on many laptops didn’t support Unity and Gnome 3 but this was the first time I had to renounce the installation of Ubuntu. I didn’t want to surrender to this difficulty (that appeared to me as a bug)!

First of all, I discovered that pae is “a feature to allow 32-bit x86 processors to access a physical address space (including random access memory and memory mapped devices) larger than 4 gigabytes“. After I clarified this point, I was not sure that my processor was totally inadequate to support Ubuntu 12.04.

After some web surfing I discovery that there are two easy solutions to avoid this problem.

1 – As first solution you can install Lubuntu (my choice) or Xubuntu on your computer then you can install the ubuntu-desktop using the Package Manager.

2 – If you prefer not to use the Package Manager you can install Ubuntu 11.04 or 11.10 and then upgrade Ubuntu to 12.04.

More in general, it is also possible to assume that if you have a non PAE CPU, your hardware could not be able to support the Unity desktop. For this reason you can keep your Lubuntu – Xubuntu (based on the light but effective LXDE desktop) or switch your desktop environment to Gnome (the Classic, of course) installing the gnome package instead of ubuntu-desktop.

In any case, if you want to know if your CPU supports pae you have to open a Terminal and type:

grep --color=always -i PAE /proc/cpuinfo

If something like “flags: fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8…” outputs on your Terminal, you have a pae CPU otherwise your CPU doesn’t support pae.

Video – Linux Wifi Mac address spoofing by peruzfinest08

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Video – AnonimoX Firefox cuida tu privacidad en internet Ubuntu, Windows etc. by Pedrote2222

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Use the anonymoX add-on for Firefox to visit website protected by IP selection

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What about listening to Pandora or other USA IP-based online music services if you are not into the USA? There are many add-on for Firefox which can help you to use the right proxy for appearing in different places in the world but, in my experience, you can have some difficulties when you try to use them.

In fact the IPs of free proxies change frequently and sometimes you are obliged to spend a lot of time searching for the right IP of free proxies. Other times the free proxy addresses are so overcrowded that you have to wait many seconds before you can visualize webpages.

One exception is anonymoX, a simple add-on for Firefox which always works properly and assure a good connection speed. AnonymoX has two different service levels, the free basic service has fewer features but it really works properly and it’s fast.

With the free level you can choose your favourite IP exit country between USA, UK and NL. You can also decide if you prefer to stealth your web surfing using anonymoX features or the classic TOR servers. Moreover, you can change your fictional ID every times you want also while you are surfing the web.

During all our tests anonymoX was able to assure us a good surfing privacy, in particular we successfully tried to change browser id and we really appreciated the possibility of visiting .onion websites through the Tor option. Recommended!!!

Setting up File Sharing Between Windows, Linux, and Macs with Samba! by NixiePixel

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Samba: share Linux Folders with your windows machines by technoblogical

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Another way to share files between Ubuntu and Windows

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This tutorial will show you another way to share and to access the network share folders between Windows and Ubuntu machines. When file sharing is enabled, both systems can access files and folders on any of the PCs. Users with accounts on Ubuntu systems will also be able to access the content directly from your home.

1. To begin, you will need to log on to your Windows operating system. Click ‘Start’ -> search for ‘Network and Sharing Center’ and click on it.

2. Access the ‘Change advanced settings sharing. ” option.

3. Enable file sharing and backup as well.

4. At this point, you need to switch your operating system to Ubuntu. Once you log in, click on ‘Ubuntu menu -> System Tools ”

5. Then select ‘Ubuntu Software Center. ”

6. Find and install ‘Samba‘. This software is required for a better compatibility between the two operating systems.

7. After Samba is installed, you should go to ‘System → Administration –> Samba’.

8. Then click ‘Preferences -> Server Settings’.

9. Write the name of the workgroup you set for your Windows PC(s). If you do not know the exact name because you did not set it, the default name for Windows Workgroups is set to ‘WORKGROUP‘ (capitalizing is not required, however, since Windows is generally not case-sensitive).

Ubuntu 10.10 is here but perhaps something is going wrong…

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Since few hours, the new Ubuntu 10.10 is available for the download and installation. This version has some new tasks as a better look and a powerful Software Center that seems to be easier than ever also thanks to the feature “where is it?”. Moreover, F-Spot has been substituted by the more powerful and complete Shotwell as main photo manager. The new sound menu included in Ubuntu 10.10 Maverick Meerkat displays more useful information and song you are playing in Rhythmbox. Last but not least, some new delightful Themes and Backgrounds have been added.

On the weaknesses side, we focus our attention on the first paid application (It is really necessary? Do we need it?) and the hardware requirements. In fact reading the Ubuntu wiki the only requirement is a RAM of more than 256MB but Pleia2 and WebUpd8 believe that the 10.10 version does not run properly on processor below i686 and this is a real uncomfortable limitation! Ubuntu has always run on all types of hardware (this is one of its main key features) and this news, if confirmed by tests, could influence users choice to other distributions as Knoppix or Fedora. We really hope that Ubuntu 10.10 will have just the declared 256MB of RAM limitation but today we have to ask ourselves if a new Knoppix era is coming.

LightScribe: an interesting (and not too expensive) technology to personalize our CDs/DVDs.

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Usually, we prefer not to insert posts about software or hardware which is not free but this week, in our Linux Page (in Spanish), we have decided to make an occasional exception talking about LightScribe: the technology which allows you to print laser-etched labels on your CDs/DVDs. We are pretty sure that all you already know this technology and the fact that LightScribe is a mix of hardware and label-making software to burn labels. When we decided to test the LightScribe system we were manly attracted by the low costs and the versatility of what we were able to make but after a couple of days we change a little our point of view. This technology is really interesting, relatively cheap and easy to use but we think that it only could be profitably used by those people who need to make some professional copies of their CDs/DVDs. For all the other people, like us, it can be considered as a toy or an extra gadget to buy for our spare time backup copies of DVDs but not much more than this. Something for your spare time or to use for your hobbies!

Ex Falso: the best audio file metadata editor for Linux!

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Today, in our Linux Page (in Spanish) we posted some brief notes about Ex Falso: a very useful software which allows you to manage your mp3 collections with just few clicks. When saving my CDs on my hard disk, I convert them into mp3 files and then I change their metadata order (or simply I add some more information) using Ex Falso. This software is very simple to install (in Ubuntu, for example, you can add it directly from the “Add/Remove” function contained in the Application menu) and very easy to use. Ex Falso is graphically divided in three main areas: Folders, Songs and a menu area where you directly decide what and how to change your metadatas. After few tests you will able to rapidly use Ex Falso and (we hope) enjoy all its features. Strongly recommended for all that people who have big mp3 collections!