Dell Laptop Conversion...

[fuzzyhair]

I have ran Ubuntu before, but have went back to Windows for a couple of reasons. If you guys could walk me through my scenario, I might find Kubuntu enjoyable.


I am running a Dell Inspiron 2200.

How hard is connecting to my router? It has a password for me to get to it, but my main problem with Ubuntu was I was having a very hard time getting connected. Is there a guide for this?

How fast will it be? Will it run slower than Windows XP. If so, how much?

Will it work well with my iPod? Does Amarok have iPod support? I have heard of GTKiPod or something...

Now the main problem.

I want to dual boot windows and kubuntu. The only problem is windows takes up 3 partitions I think, and then some dell repair takes up another. I don't want to delete the dell repair, because that might mess with my warranty, or make problems hard to solve. Needless to say I have never had to use it. So is there any way I could dual boot?

I am downloading kubuntu now and I am going to run it off the live CD. I have used it briefly before and really enjoyed the smoothness and beauty of it. Any help is greatly appreciated.

[jimbren]

Re: Dell Laptop Conversion...

What kind of router do you have? Wired or wireless? For the most part, connecting to a wired router is pretty plug and play. If you have a wireless router, it can be more complicated.

If you have a wireless router and card in your laptop, I'll make the assumption that kubuntu will recognize your card. From there, it depends on how the router is configured. I would recommend removing all encryption and MAC authentication from the router--make it completely open--for testing only. If you can connect to an open router, then you should be able to add WEP and all that and still connect. Opening up the router just makes it a little less complicated for testing.

You will likely find that overall performance is better than with XP, but not by leaps and bounds. I'm not aware of any benchmarks that you can really refer to--you'll just have to get a feel for it.

Kubuntu should work with your Ipod, and yes, Amarok has iPod support. You can also use GTKpod.

I would be surprised if a Dell OEM windows installation took up three partitions, you might want to confirm that with the live CD. The Dell repair partition you're talking about is a sort of generic restore partition--the idea is that you can restore windows to it's out of the box state from there if you have to. Deleting it should not impact your warranty at all, though you might want to call them and confirm that just to be safe. Just tell them you want to install linux and ask if removing the partition will void your warranty.

Regardless of the number of partitions, you can do a dual boot. The Kubuntu installer can resize one or more of the partitions without any problems, and GRUB will add windows to the boot list. Make sure you defragment your harddrive from within Windows before you try to install Kubuntu. This will make the process much less painful than it would otherwise be.

Hope this helps.

kisses,

jimbo

[fuzzyhair]

Re: Dell Laptop Conversion...

Thank you very much. I will call Dell and talk to them this weekend. I will probably start my adventure to Kubuntu on Friday.

I have a wireless router. I tested Kubuntu last night off the disk and it did not recognise my wireless card. But that might be because it was just the CD. I am not sure.

Should I update to the new beta?

[fuzzyhair]

Re: Dell Laptop Conversion...

I called Dell and they said that having that partition was optional and it will not void my warranty. KUBUNTU HERE I COME!

She said that they won't be able to help me with tech support, because I am running a "totally different setup". I don't need it anyway.

[jimbren]

Re: Dell Laptop Conversion...

The live CD should have sthe same functionality as a hard disk install, so you might want to do some more research on your wireless card before you take the plunge. You'll probably just ahve to use NDISwrapper to get it going--kind of a pain but not too bad.

Check out the official Ubuntu documentation for information on setting it up.