New Video: Installing Linux Mint 15

In our latest video we step through how to install Linux Mint 15 'Olivia' on a clean hard drive.  In our example, I am using a new VirtualBox machine and Linux Mint 15 'MATE' edition with No Codecs.  If you have ever installed Ubuntu, then you will have no problem stepping through the installation wizard and successfully installing Mint on a system.

However, if you have not installed Ubuntu, and Mint is your first experience with Linux.  Do not fear.  As the wizard is rather simple and straight forward.  Check out our video, and as always make sure to subscribe to our YouTube Channel to stay up to date with all of our videos as they are released.



Thanks for watching!
Checkout our YouTube channel for more videos on Linux Mint, Ubuntu, and Windows! http://www.youtube.com/techiesmarts

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New Videos Coming Soon!

We've been working very hard to bring some new videos to our YouTube Channel!  The first couple of videos are almost out of production and should be hitting our channel within in the next days.  We will initially be covering Linux Mint (from installation to optimization post-install).  And will bloom out into other topics as they occur, or as watchers request more info on other topics.

As always, I want to know what you would like to see covered in future videos.  Feel free to leave a comment or send me an email at: ask_techie@gmx.com and I will be more than happy to try and oblige!

Be sure to swing by and checkout the channel and look for more video fun coming real soon!

Nerd On Friends!,

-Techie

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Video: Installing Media Codecs in Linux Mint 11

In our latest video we will step through the process of installing multimedia codecs in Linux Mint 11 'Katya'.  By default the version of Linux Mint 11 I used to install in our previous video does not include the Multimedia Codecs.  Simply put, no mutlimedia codecs = very limited support and playback of things like videos, music, and flash based content.  So, why use such a limited release?

There are several versions of the Linux Mint 11 'Katya' Live CD.  The reason a 'No Codecs' version was made available is for distributors such as magazine companies or disk suppliers who may not have the legal rights to the licenses for some of the 3rd party multimedia codecs.  So, Mint has a 'No Codecs' version which squeezes the operating system on a single CD-ROM without the multimedia codecs.  If you so desire, there is a full version which does include the multimedia codecs and some extra software packages preinstalled.  This version however is quite a bit larger in file size and is designed to fit a DVD.

So without further delay, feel free to checkout our video on installing Linux Mint's multimedia codec packages.

Install Multimedia Codecs in Linux Mint 11

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Linux Mint in Number 1 Spot?

So I was messing around this afternoon on Distrowatch (my favorite Linux website) and I noticed their Page Ranking section on the far right side of the page.  And something odd caught me eye.  The fact that Ubuntu was no longer in the very top #1 spot anymore.  What?!  Could it be that another distribution has made the jump to pop up the list a little ways?  Even over the Ubuntu giant?

Seems it's true.  As of this writing Linux Mint was now in the top seed.  This is pretty crazy, especially since Linux Mint is based on Ubuntu (at least one version of it is, the other is Debian based).  So my next thought is, why?  Did Canonical ripple the waters enough with the exclusion of the traditional desktop when they chose Unity as the default desktop environment?  Is Ubuntu outgrowing it's own community?  Who knows.

A screencap I took to convince my
eyes it's real!

I have my own reasons for why Ubuntu 11.10 isn't necessarily my first pick anymore when it comes to Linux Distributions.  However, regardless of my personal opinions there is a reason Ubuntu is one of the most used Linux Distro's in the world.  It's good, slick, and most everything works right out of the box.  I truly believe that some user's got fed up with Canonical's direction and decided to go looking elsewhere for their Linux fix.  Either way, this exposure is no doubt a big deal for Mint.  Especially with version 12 just right around the corner.

Kudos Linux Mint!

If you want to check it out for yourself, visit:
http://www.distrowatch.com
http://linuxmint.com/

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The Other Linux...

I am an avid Linux fan.  And whenever I speak with someone about Linux, one word always seems to pop up during the first part of the conversation.  That word is: Ubuntu.  Ubuntu is a wonderful Linux distribution; especially for those looking to get their first taste of Linux.  Why?  Simple, Ubuntu pretty much works out of the box with most common hardware.  If there is a need for a restricted driver, it will usually prompt you about it and make it fairly easy to fix.

Software is easy to come by and install via the Ubuntu Software Center.  And it has managed to keep a lot of the on-screen clutter away by default.  Nothing looks quite as snazzy as a fresh Ubuntu install.  However, with the introduction of Unity within the latest official release of Ubuntu 11.04 'Naty Narwhal' seemed to rub a lot of long time fans the wrong way.

I have been using Ubuntu for several years.  I usually give the newest releases a test spin and see how they work.  I must admit, I'm not much of a fan of Unity.  I know there are those out there that absolutely love Unity.  Personally, it doesn't quite do it for me.  That's just my taste.  I feel that Unity would be better aptly suited for a tablet or touch optimized implementation.  On the desktop, it gives me a cluttered feel.

So with Unity making it's debut (I know 11.04 came out several months ago, so I'm a little behind); I wanted to call attention to several other Linux Distributions that are more than competent distributions, just without Unity.

Linux Mint - http://5e08b5c6.tinylinks.co

Linux Mint 11 'Katya' is the most current release of Mint (as of this writing).  Linux Mint is based on the Ubuntu distribution so you get a familiar backbone for the system, but without Unity.  

What does Linux Mint do that makes it so special?  Easy, it's goal is to provide media codecs, DVD playback, and browser plugins out of the box.  Whereas with other Distributions you have to manually install these yourself.

The only drawback for me when it comes to Linux Mint, is the amount of the color green they tend to color everything with.  However, functionality wise; Mint is an outstanding distribution of choice.  And currently ranks 2nd in the list on Distrowatch's chart of Linux Distributions (second only to Ubuntu which is presently in first place).

Zorin OS - http://a5e406e5.tinylinks.co

If you're looking for another Ubuntu-based distribution, than Zorin OS may be the way to go.  Where Zorin OS excels is being a smooth transition maker from Windows to the Linux world.  Plus they feature some nice add-ons from their 'Look Changer' to the Splash Screen Manager to make your OS look unique to you.  I personally I haven't had much hands on with Zorin OS, but it comes highly recommended from the gentleman who got me into Linux several years ago.  

OpenSUSE 11.4 - http://b6f885b7.tinylinks.co

OpenSUSE 11.4 is an RPM based Linux distribution in the vein of the old RedHat operating system.  You'll notice it seems to be aimed more at business use; however, it is a tight operating system even for the home user.  It is currently a community effort sponsored by Novell.  It also comes in GNOME and KDE versions.

If you're looking for a rock solid Linux OS, than please at least consider this one.

Debian - http://cc51dfb2.tinylinks.co

When in doubt, why not go all the way back to where great distributions got started and jump into Debian (not to mention Ubuntu).  Debian has been the basis of so many different Linux distributions throughout the years, it is a great operating system.  With a lot of customization able to be accomplished, you get the familiarity of systems like Ubuntu, but grants a little more tinkering if you like to play with configuration files.

And with modest system requirements, Debian will run on even older hardware that you need to resurrect for other purposes.

I know there are plenty of other Linux Distributions floating around out there.  And some may even be more popular than the few I've listed here.  But if this article doesn't do anything other than remind you that there are other versions of Linux out there other than Ubuntu, than I have succeeded.  So if you're looking to jump into Linux for the first time, or even just looking for something fresh to play around with.  Swing by Distrowatch.com for a rather large list, and a great reference for Linux Distros.

Happy Surfing!

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Managing Virtual Operating Systems Using Virtual Box

Sun's VirtualBox is a powerful virtualization software that allows you to run a number of operating systems from within your main, host operating system.  You can install them, and pretty much abuse the 'guest OS', break it, tear it up from the inside out, and never hurt your main operating system.  This is a great tool for people who want to learn about Operating Systems like Linux and BSD.  Linux user's can even install it to run Windows inside their Linux environment if needed. VirtualBox is cross platform (Windows, Mac, and Linux).

I was tinkering with my Linux Mint 8 install (running as a guest on my Windows XP box), and I got an error about the partition running low on space.  So I immediately thought of a project.  Could I take the installed operating system, copy it and move it to a larger virtual drive?  I found several sites with instructions on how to do it, and I was unable to get the Linux Mint booting again after the move.  It was hang at a black screen with a cursor in the upper right corner.  So I did things my way.  And I was successful.

Some background info: my Linux Mint install was fresh.  I only allocated a small virtual drive of about 4 GB's for Linux Mint when setting it up in Virtual Box.  Since I primarily tinker with it, I don't need a huge amount of space.  Just enough I can use for installing some apps and playing Compiz.  But keeping my original goal of trying to relocate the system on a bigger 'virtual hard drive' without having to fully reinstall Linux Mint.

First, I downloaded two ISO files: GParted and CloneZilla.  Using Sun's Virtual Box I setup another 'virtual disk drive' of around 8 GB's and set it as 'IDE Secondary Slave' and leaving my original virtual Linux Mint hard drive as 'IDE Primary Master'.  See pictures below:

Above: Steps 1 and 2

Secondly, set the 'Host Drive D:' to boot the CloneZilla ISO file.  This will allow us to clone the installed Linux Mint Operating System to a new virtual hard drive.  When booting CloneZilla I took all of the defaults to boot and took the option to do a 'Device to Device Transfer' in the 'Beginner' menu.  This simply cloned the small 4GB partition to the new 8GB partition.  After about 10 minutes CloneZilla was finished and I tried booting the new partition to see what happened.  And it did boot.  (To do this simply shutdown CloneZilla and click on the use the Storage Manager we used a few moments ago (in the pictures above).  Click the original virtual drive (4GB) and then click the 'Remove Attachment Device' Button below the 'Storage Tree' window.  See picture:

After removing the original virtual drive, we need to set the new virtual drive to be the Primary Drive and remove the CloneZilla ISO from our virtual CD-ROM drive.  You're Storage Tree Window should look like this:

After doing this, I attempted booting my new virtual hard drive.  And behold, it booted!  But I was once again greeted with the warning about running out of space.  Then it hit me, I forgot to resize the partition after it was cloned to the new virtual drive.  So yes, I am using an 8GB virtual drive, but the operating system can only see the original 4GB's of allocated space.  So, I shut down Linux Mint, and loaded the GParted ISO file in my virtual CD-ROM drive (just like we loaded the CloneZilla ISO in the second step.

Once again taking all defaults and booting GParted, I simply deleted the Linux Swap Partition and moved it to end of the unallocated space (remaining 4GB's that was not formatted).  Then I chose 'Resize/Move' to resize the partition from 4GB's to almost 8GB's (I saved some room for the Linux Swap Partition).  Set the remaining unallocated space as Linux Swap and apply all changes.  The I crossed my fingers.  The resulting setup under GParted looked like:

 Next, shutdown GParted, make sure to remove the GParted ISO from our virtual CD-ROM in the Storage Tree in VirtualBox and boot the new virtual drive again.  Once Linux Mint booted again, I wasn't greeted with the error message so I wanted to checkout the partition in a drive/storage manager from within the virtual OS.  So I ran the 'Disk Usage Analyzer' under Linux Mint, and surprise!  The OS now see's the full partition.
Here's a screenshot of the Disk Usage Analyzer:

Now, please note: the install of Linux Mint I'm using takes up the entire partition.  I did not create a seperate Home partition when performing the install.  Mostly because I will not be creating anything worthy of keeping with this install.  Mostly just tinkering, and doing crap like this.

Have I tried this with a real life, living, breathing install on a physical hard drive...No, I have not.  However, I am in the process of piecing together a small computer setup with some older hardware that I would love to try it on.  Maybe the next rainy day, I'll be bored and give it a shot.  Overall, this whole process took up about 30 minutes to 45 minutes.  So far the OS works as normal, and I haven't received any other crazy errors as a result.  But remember, as always: TRY AT YOUR OWN RISK.

Have fun!

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