Xubuntu Driver Issues

I recently constructed a budget level computer with a Celeron Processor, Asrock MoBo, 512MB of RAM and an IDE HDD. I installed Xubuntu from a CD, which was successful. However, when the MoBo driver CD was inserted, their was no installer and I was at loss as how to install the drivers. I purchased a Linksys wireless USB adapter (Draft N), and upon inserting the driver disk, the installer was labelled an executable, ''read only'' file. Obviously, we were unable to install the wireless drivers. I downloaded OpenOffice for Linux on a Windows computer, and put the files on a memory stick, then transferred them to the Xubuntu computer. It was once again, a ''read only''. Could someone please explain if these issues are related to Xubuntu or Linux, and how they can be solved? Thanks.

 

From my limited Linux knowledge, .exe files are windows only and not compatible with linux. To install things in linux you have to go through the package manager.

For your broadband look up ndiswrapper.

 

What's the package manager and how would it help? Also, for ndiswrapper, do I just install it on another computer, transfer it to the Xubuntu computer with a memory stick, then install the wireless drivers?

 

Now i dont use linux but i imagine the package manager is easy to find. I have never used ndiswrapper but google them. There is plenty of stuff on it.

Also, post your question in the official Ubuntu forums for better support. Theres a whole community there who will help you and know Ubuntu inside out.

 

I would ask here: ubuntuforums.org.

The drivers disks are most likely for windows, they'll be useless for you. There are lots of threads on ubuntuforums.org about ndiswapper.

 

First off which adapter do you have?

 

not sure...

 

Most Windows drivers aren't ones you use when installing Linux. Motherboard drivers, which I would assume contain information telling Windows about the components on the motherboard, (like the Intel Chipset INF drivers for Windows), aren't used by Linux. Usually a good modern Linux distribution like Ubuntu, will configure your Linux installation during the installation process, to automatically take advantage of your hardware, like your motherboard. If you find that something specifically on your motherboard doesn't work after you've installed Linux, you may need to configure a custom kernel to properly load drivers for it. But you should assume that your default installation will automatically load the proper drivers for your motherboard. With most Linux installs, the drivers that aren't automatically configured correctly, will tend to be video and WiFi drivers.

Well you probably purchased a Linksys WUSB600N, which doesn't seem to have any Linux drivers available for it. BTW, it wouldn't matter whether the Windows driver installer was read-only or not. It won't run under Linux. You would have better luck with WiFi hardware from Intel or even Atheros. However, Linux developers have created a program called NDISWrapper, that does allow Linux to use Windows drivers for operating WiFi hardware. You can read about the program at their website and try installing it in (K)Ubuntu, and see if it can load the Windows drivers for your WUSB600N, but it may be a long shot, because the fact that it's a USB NIC.

You would probably be much better off trying to connect this computer to the internet via a wired ethernet port, (even if connected to a WiFi bridge device), until you can put in some WiFi HW with better Linux support. That way you will be able to install things directly, like OpenOffice, NDISWrapper, and anything else you may need, without having to transfer things from other computers. The other reason to get your computer hooked up directly to the internet is that you can use the Linux distribution's mechanism for installing and removing programs, to manage your programs. The mechanisms are usually referred to as package managers. If you manually install programs, then you will have to update them and/or remove them later manually too.

You don't have to worry about the read-only state of files that you are transferring from one computer to another. When you copy the file to your (K)Ubuntu computer, you can change them to read/write, or whatever you need. You just need to remember that for the most part Windows drivers and programs, don't run under Linux, and vice versa.

Good Luck..

 

thanks very much for your detailed reply.

 

So I connected the computer to a wired router and I'm getting Internet fine. I dowloaded OpenOffice for Linux, and I have the exact problem that I had when I dowloaded it to a flash drive from a Windows computer. I open it after downloading and just get a bunch of files that don't anything, and I am honestly at loss for what to do. Could someone please help? Thanks.

Also, I'm going to try to donload the NDISwrapper so I can get the Internet working wirelessly. We'll see how that goes.

 

Just dowloaded NDISwrapper and I'm getting the exact same issue as with OpenOffice. All I have are a buch of folders that apparently do nothing. I just don't understand this. Does Xubuntu lack an installer or something?

 

Where are you downloading these files from? If you are downloading files direct from the developers or project sites then you are probably downloading source tarballs (e.g. files ending in .tar.gz or tar.bz2). You most likely do not want to be doing that.

Look at the following example of how to install software (you can probably find better articles) http://xubuntublog.wordpress.com/2007/12/

 

Now that you have your Internet connection, and you want to start adding applications, you should always try to install your applications or drivers using the installation management system that is specific to your Linux distribution first. Then if that doesn't work, you can try downloading the application or driver directly and manually installing it. You will have to follow the directions from the website in terms of doing the installation and configuration, because usually a linux application or driver does not come with a single, simple executable program for installation.

I guess that Xubuntu must be a slimmed down version of Ubuntu if it didn't include OpenOffice but here's a post with some instructions specifically for installing OpenOffice on Xubuntu at this link, which will also be a benefit when you want to install other applications. In order to specifically install a driver like NDISWrapper you can follow this post which describes how to set it up on Xubuntu.

To install an application or driver that you download from the net directly, is more complicated then installing a similar thing under Windows. That's why there's usually a simple straightforward way of installing things that's a part of the Linux distribution. These programs are sometimes called Package Managers, like the Synaptics Package Manager mentioned in those posts.

Good Luck..