Ubuntu 12.10 Laptop Issues

Over the past several days I have been attempting to get Ubuntu running the way I want it to on my laptop.  This has been easier said then done.  I have a Pavilion g7 laptop running Windows 8 out of the box.  Windows 8 isn't my choice of OS, but one I can live with for things like playing certain games, and producing our YouTube videos.  However, for everything else, I'd really prefer using Linux.

After disabling Secure Boot in my laptop's BIOS and imstalling Ubuntu 12.10, I had to run Boot-Repair from the Ubuntu 12.10 Live DVD to repair Grub 2 and make it bootable.  So far so good.  The issue began when trying to install my proprietary display drivers for the A8 APU my laptop is running.  The default OpenGL drivers seemed to do ok, but every once in a while the screen would flicker for a brief second.  Not a big issue, but one that made me feel like I was loosing my mind.

I followed numerous guides and tutorials on various Ubuntu blogs, YouTube videos, etc.  And every single method I used returned the same issue.  The driver would install, I could see it and test it as long as I didn't reboot.  The catch is that to fully utilize the drivers I was forced to reboot anyways.  Upon reboot, my Ubuntu setup would boot straight into a TTY session with no LightDM login or GUI of any kind.

Some methods required purging the recent changes to bring LightDM and the GUI back.  But that didn't always work; resulting in reinstalling Ubuntu about 3 times.  After the third installation, it started getting old.  After doing some research, I have found several sites mentioning that the drivers seem to work in Ubuntu 12.04.  Dropping down from Ubuntu 12.10 to 12.04 isn't a big deal to me.  I have been using the LTS releases for a long time anyways.  And with Steam now on Linux, I really want to get into some Counter Strike: Source action on my Linux install.

So, with the Ubuntu 12.04 Live DVD in hand; I plan on installing Ubuntu again and seeing if the Legacy drivers in fact work under 12.04 as many have claimed they do.  If everything goes well, I hope to be reporting back with success soon.

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HP Is Certifying Ubuntu on their Proliant Server Hardware

Mr. Mark Shuttleworth announced that HP will start certifying Ubuntu 12.04 LTS on it's Proliant Server product line.  What does this mean for customer's who are using Proliant hardware?  It means that HP will no longer invalidate a product warranty because you slap Ubuntu on it's storage as opposed to the standard Windows Server Operating System.

If you are familiar with Linux, you will know that Ubuntu is a great server operating system and it's demand and use is constantly growing.  So, kudos Cannonical; good job in getting some corporate backing.  Here's the kicker, HP's reputation hasn't been the greatest over the last while.  So hopefully this won't hurt Cannonical's decision.  And if you remember, this is not the first time a hardware company has jumped into the Ubuntu arena.  Several years ago, Dell offered a line of computers that came preloaded with Ubuntu (other companies followed suit to a small extent) and they publicized the fact that you could buy an Ubuntu powered machine from them.  However, that PR seemed to fade away about as quick as it showed up.  Hopefully, the same thing won't happen this time around.

And HP isn't just certifying Ubuntu 12.04 LTS on new hardware either.  This also applies to existing Proliant hardware that is already in the field.  So if you are an IT manager at your business and have a need for the Ubuntu Server OS and are running a Proliant product, you should be good to go.  So break out those Ubuntu guides, you may see a growing area in the IT world.

As a huge Linux fan and an Ubuntu user myself, I am glad to see companies like HP getting behind them.  As we near closer to the future of Windows, it is only evident that other options may be just as viable as Microsoft's server offerings as surely things in the Windows Server OS will start to evolve and change as well over time.  Maybe corporate user's will see the need to Ubuntu powered servers in their solutions.  This would be great for Ubuntu, and possibly even great for the open-source community as a whole.  Think about it, with Ubuntu Servers comes the need for companies to have staff who know how to work with it.  And with more "professional" backing, maybe a higher quality of open source software packages would become available to the Ubuntu community.

Here's to you Ubuntu!  Swing by Cannonical's website for more information: http://www.canonical.com/

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