ATOzTOA

Booting Ubuntu 9.10 - Part 2 (The Koala Reborn)

2009-11-08T09:33:00.014+05:30

ALERT!!! This is not a guide... read fully before applying any of these.. or check guide at the end...

Continued... Part 1 (The Downfall)

Recap

Installed Ubuntu 9.10 Karmic Koala fresh. Setup is fast. Setup installed GRUB2, not supported by my machine. System not booting. Tried installing LILO again using Ubuntu 8.04 Live CD. Got Windows bootloader running.

So, that was the story of the downfall...

Following is my HDD configuration...

- /dev/sda1 - fat32 - Windows XP
- /dev/sda5 - ext3 - /boot
- /dev/sda6 - fat32 - Another Windows XP ;)
- /dev/sdb11 - ext4 - /
- /dev/sdb12 - ext4 - /home

I searched all over the net for a solution. One thing that really helped me was pppoeconf. I am having broadband on DSL, so just execute pppoeconf, give username and password, and you have internet. So, I will boot using Live CD and first thing I do is setup the net (it will be gone once I reboot).

Found lots of versions of lilo.conf in the net. Tried all. It was writing to MBR, but was not getting updated. Sometimes it does get updated, then it shows some error during bootup ('No partion active').

I think the issue was this... LILO needs the bootloader to be in the first 10 GB of the HDD. I had the root partition (/) in another HDD. I had already installed LILO for 8.04. I think from 8.10, the size of the kernel may have got bigger and LILO needs all that withing 15MB, or it won't boot. LILO can't find the /boot and / was in another HDD.

So, I installed Ubuntu 8.10 (I don't have 8.04 CD). First time, the setup didn't even finish, just exited (I wonder why?). I ran setup again and it installed old grub. On next boot, got Error 18 again.

Found one alternative to restore Windows bootloader. Just run Partition Magic and "set active" the Windows partition. The MBR will then start loading that partition on boot. I had a bootable CD with Partition Magic. I even tried setting the /boot partition as active. Then there was no bootloader altogether.

Then I came across this article on converting GRUB to LILO. It was done from Live CD. Tried it lots of times, but didn't get hold of how it works. Then I understood, the method was used to get the lilo.conf according to the system config. We need /proc and /dev to run liloconfig.

Also, the entries in /etc/fstab must not map to UUIDs, need good old /dev/sda mappings. The article was for system with NO seperate /boot partition. I modified for /boot as separate. Here is the code...

sudo mkdir /mnt/ubuntu
sudo mount /dev/sdb11 /mnt/ubuntu/       # /dev/sdb11 is where / is
sudo mount -t proc none /mnt/ubuntu/proc
sudo mount -o bind /dev/ /mnt/ubuntu/dev
sudo mount /dev/sda5 /mnt/ubuntu/boot    # /dev/sda5 is where /boot is
sudo chroot /mnt/ubuntu /bin/bash        # makes /mnt/ubuntu as the root

What it does is, it mounts the / and /boot partition and creates the lilo.conf from the partitions. I know it is generating the lilo.conf right, but machine didn't boot. ...reference link...

I was stuck. No solutions left... :(

Then I read somewhere about NTLDR booting GRUB. I didn't like the idea, but thought will give it a try. Found out a good article. The steps in short...
- Windows is booting fine
- Install Ubuntu
- Boot using Live CD
- Generate lilo.conf
- Modify lilo.conf to write the bootloader to the ext3 partition instead of the MBR
- Install LILO
- Copy the first 512 bytes of the ext3 partition (the boot sector) to a file (eg. ubuntu.lnx)
- Mount the Windows partition, copy ubuntu.lnx to Windows partition
- Reboot into Windows
- Copy the ubuntu.lnx file to C:
- Add an entry into BOOT.INI
- Reboot, there will be an item for Ubuntu. ...reference link...

I tried it and voila, got Ubuntu booted. :)

The lilo.conf file... you can keep this for your use... it has only bare minimum options...

# The location to install LILO (/dev/sda to install to MBR)
boot=/dev/sda5

# Map generated by LILO
map=/boot/map

# Don't know, doesn't matter
install=/boot/boot.b

# Whether to prompt during bootup
prompt

# Bootup menu timeout (in deciseconds, 50 = 5 seconds)
timeout=50

# Mode
lba32

# Default OS to boot
default=Ubuntu

# Image for Ubuntu
# Modify to match the name of vmlinuz and initrd in /boot
image=/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.31-14-generic
  label=Ubuntu
  initrd=/boot/initrd.img-2.6.31-14-generic
  read-only
  # The partition for root (/)
  root=/dev/sdb11

# Option for Windows
# The partition where Windows is installed
other=/dev/sda1
  label=Windows

The thing was, when the machine boots up, Windows boot menu comes with Windows and Ubuntu, when u select Ubuntu, LILO menu comes with Ubuntu and Windows again :)

But story don't end here...

I wondered whether GRUB will also work this way. I booted again using Live CD, installed GRUB to /boot (/dev/sda5). Created the file and added one more entry to BOOT.INI. Tried, but GRUB shows Error 18.

I stopped and was going for lunch. Then it just came to me. If LILO is in /etc/sda5 and if I set that partition as active, won't it boot??? I came back after lunch and activated the ext3 partition using Partition Magic. It was in the extended partition, I converted that to primary. On reboot, it showed the Error 18 from GRUB. So, it is booting from ext3 directly.

I went back using Ubuntu 8.10 Live CD, against installed LILO to /boot. One thing I forgot to mention is, the /boot partition must be ext3, LILO don't support ext4. Rebooted and LILO was in control... that was great :)

Now I have Ubuntu 8.10 booting with LILO. Now I need to install 9.10 Karmic. I started setup from Ubuntu 9.10 CD. During partitioning option, kept /boot intact, formatted / as ext4. Didn't install bootloader. I knew the chances are lean, but just tried.

Rebooted, started booting and stopped into initramfs prompt. The version of initrd and vmlinuz are 2.6.27-7 for the bootloader but 2.6.31-14 in /boot. So, it won't boot.

Booted again using Ubuntu 9.10 Live CD, coz the 8.10 CD can't use ext4. There was no lilo. So, I installed lilo. Then I executed the code to mount / and /boot and chroot. Now, I need to run lilo. When you do chroot, you can't execute commands from the Live CD. But, there is no lilo bundled with the installation. I tried apt-get, lilo is not listed anywhere in the apt sources. I had the APTonCD package backup image in my Windows partition. I tried using .deb file, it said it needs mbr. And mbr was not in the APTonCD disk.

So, no lilo. Then I thought, why do I need to chroot. It is needed to generate lilo.conf. But I already have the lilo.conf, so no need. I modified lilo.conf to install to /dev/sda5. Executed sudo lilo -v. It showed some error and failed. I checked /boot and it was having Windows files. What happened was, when I converted the ext3 partition to primary, it became /dev/sda3 and the second Windows partition became /dev/sda5.

I modified lilo.conf to install to /dev/sda3. Executed sudo lilo -v. Success.

Rebooted, LILO came up and started booting. But stopped in the middle, saying waiting for the /boot, / and /home partitions. The problem was, those were mapped in /etc/fstab using UUIDs. So I went back into the Live CD, modified /etc/fstab (for the installation, not that of Live CD) and came back. Rebooted and Ubuntu 9.10 Karmic Koala was up and running... :)

Now I needed to install all the packages I had backed up using APTonCD. There was a problem with the disk. APTonCD generated an ISO image with my packages. It was only 1.5GB. So, I edited the ISO image and added backup of my home folder also. But, now APTonCD can't restore the packages from the APTonCD disk, because of additional directories. (Actually it can restore, the thing was, the home backup has root permissions, APTonCD couldn't access them, it showed error and I just dropped the idea. I thought about it later and ran APTonCD as root, and it worked.)

So, I had lots of .deb files in the APTonCD disk. What I did was I executed sudo dpkg -i *.deb. It started working and after sometime told me, can't install due to too much errors. I said OK, I will deal with you later. But, when I rebooted, X won't come up, stays at the shell login prompt.

So, I had to install again. This time, I didn't change anything, just left the bootloader and /boot as such. Moral: always use synaptic for managing debian packages.

- End of Story - Total Time Spent : 15 hours -

And now on to the most hilarious part... !!!

While I was writing this, I was confused whether it is liloconf or liloconfig. I tried out, but lilo was not installed. When I installed it, look what I got...

WARNING: You have a large kernel+initrd and large-memory is not set in lilo.conf.
WARNING: Do NOT reboot or LILO may fail to boot.
WARNING: Please read /usr/share/doc/lilo/README.Debian

Got it? The size of initrd + vmlinuz was above 8 MB... that was the reason the bootloader written to MBR couldn't find LILO. I checked README.Debian and here is what I got...

If this machine has a recent BIOS without the 15MB limitation, you can
add the 'large-memory' option to /etc/lilo.conf to instruct LILO to use
more memory for passing the initrd to the kernel.

The limitation is for BIOS older than 2001. So, I added the line and installed to MBR, now it is booting from MBR. One line, one single line was worth hours? :)

Prologue / Guide (only for LILO)

- Install Ubuntu
- Use seperate partition for /boot
- Keep the filesystem for /boot as ext3
- DONT install bootloader
- Boot using Live CD
- Configure internet
- Mount / somewhere

sudo mount /dev/sdb11 /mnt/somewhere

- Edit fstab and remove the UUID mappings

 sudo vi /mnt/somewhere/etc/fstab

- Install lilo

 sudo apt-get lilo

- Copy the above given lilo.conf file to /etc
- Mount the boot partition (/boot) to /boot

 sudo mount /dev/sda5 /boot

- Modify /etc/lilo.conf
- Add 'large-memory' option to /etc/lilo.conf
- Execute lilo

 sudo lilo -v

- Enjoy :)

Karmic Koala ... how is it?

Yeah it is better... takes less RAM and Swap... boots faster... file access is faster... I love it :)

Thanks for spending time with me... I hope this was useful... I learned a lot... any doubt, just ask...

Booting Ubuntu 9.10 - Part 1 (The Downfall)

2009-11-07T19:23:00.004+05:30

ALERT!!! This is not a guide... read fully before applying any of these.. or check guide at the end...

Installed Ubuntu 9.10 Karmic Koala, fresh.

I already had Ubuntu 9.10, but it was upgraded from the previous versions. The original installation was 8.04. I have been updating online since. Boot loader was LILO as my machine does not support GRUB (Shows 'Error 18').

The general opinion was I need to install Karmic fresh to get all the features. I had converted my /home partition to ext4. I read somewhere to keep the /boot partition as ext3 itself. So, I thought I will install fresh.

Backed up /home. Downloaded the ISO. Burned it.

Started the setup...

The interface was much cooler. The world map for selecting time zone was good. But the time was automatically set to a wrong value.

Partitioner took around 10 minutes to come up, but have a good interface. I selected manual partitioning.
Set these options...
-Format / as ext4
-Format /boot as ext3
-No change for /home
-No change for swap

There was an option to import files and settings from the existing Windows partitions, cool :)

Then it showed the details of what is gonna be done. I didn't bother switching off 'Install bootloader'. I clicked next, it started working... then only I realized by foolishness. The default bootloader is GRUB, and my machine won't support that !!!

Setup completed in like 15 more mins. Total time around 35 mins.

On next boot, GRUB2 came up with the prompt "grub rescue>". Gone :(

I booted from Karmic live CD. Tried to install LILO, then I found that there was no lilo command, lilo is removed from Karmic (maybe earlier versions itself). Oops.. There was nothing I could do...

So, I booted from Hardy (8.04) live CD. It have LILO. I tried installing, it said lilo.conf not found. I needed a sample lilo.conf.

I called up a friend (thanks Vinu), it was 11 in the night, and asked him to search for some solutions. He searched and recited one sample lilo.conf. I tried running lilo -b /dev/sda. It showed some error ("Trying to map a drive..."). I removed all the lines from lilo.conf except those for linux (image, root ...), and added the UUID also, no use. Vinu searched for other solutions and told I need to give command lilo -M /dev/sda -b /dev/sda. LILO got installed.

I rebooted and directly Windows came up. I think the command reset the MBR and the system just booted from the first primary partition (Windows). Atleast, now I have Windows and can use net and search for more solutions.

If everything fails, I can just install 8.04 with LILO. Then install Karmic without changing bootloader. Maybe...

To be continued... Part 2 (The Koala Reborn)

NOT this end... the other end...

Editing ISO Image in Ubuntu

2009-11-04T13:05:00.007+05:30

Ever need to edit an ISO Image file in Ubuntu?

Try ISO Master. It is old, but cool :)

Install...

sudo apt-get -y install isomaster

OR

Download from here...

OR

Get .deb file from here...

NOTICE: One thing I noticed is, the ISO saving is far too slow... maybe it is because I am doing directly to a FAT32 partition.

Firefox Search Bar NOT Working!!!

2009-10-30T21:34:00.011+05:30

I upgraded to Karmic Koala and the Firefox Search Bar stopped functioning.

The Search Bar is the small area on the right of the Address bar.

If I give a keyword and press ENTER or click the 'Magnifying glass' icon, nothing happens.

Here is the fix:

1. Shut down firefox
2. Go to mozilla profile folder ( $HOME/.mozilla/firefox/<something> )
3. Rename formhistory.sqlite to something else

mv formhistory.sqlite formhistory.sqlite.bak

That's all :)

CAUTION: This file contains information about data you enter into web forms. These information will be lost!!!

Source: bugs.launchpad.net

Ubuntu 9.10 Karmic Koala on the move

2009-10-29T20:49:00.002+05:30

The latest addition in the Ubuntu linux is here...

Ubuntu 9.10 (Karmic Koala) is out...

Download here...

I upgraded from Jaunty to Karmic... didn't find much of a difference.

- Boot time seems more...
- New screen during bootup...
- Sound system have some issues...

File Compare in Ubuntu

2009-10-12T20:25:00.003+05:30

Dear Blog (coz I think it seems kinda funny),

It has been like 1 month since my last post...

Here is a cool tool for comparing text files in Linux... Meld... like Beyond Compare in Windows...

Here is how to install Meld in Ubuntu...

apt-get install meld

It will be installed as Applications->Programming->Meld Diff Viewer.

The Lost Symbol - A Journey

2009-09-17T09:14:00.003+05:30

I have started reading the book, 'The Lost Symbol' by Dan Brown. I have only covered a small portion, but thought I will go on writing about what I perceive...

WARNING: Maybe spoilers...

There are references to various currently existing fields of science. But one thing that striked me was the inclusion of the ancient Eastern scientific studies... the knowledge which we Indians always had from the very old times... there are references to the Upanishads, the Bhagavad Gita etc... Dan Brown is trying to link the ancient science with the most modern... and telling about the oneness of us all, the interconnection between each and everything... which I have already heard in the Holigrative Psychology paradigm.

The journey will continue...

The ending was a bit too lengthy... honestly it was boring... and the end was also not satisfactorily done...

Anyways, nice book... good read... :)

[Recommended]

See also... » Dan Brown - The Lost Symbol (Ebook)

Dan Brown - The Lost Symbol (Ebook)

2009-09-16T09:22:00.004+05:30

The Lost Symbol, formerly known under by working title The Solomon Key, is a novel by American writer Dan Brown. The Lost Symbol is the third book to involve the character of Harvard University symbologist Robert Langdon, after 2000's Angels & Demons and 2003's The Da Vinci Code.

Download Dan Brown - The Lost Symbol EBOOK here...

ATOzTOA - Table Of Contents

2009-09-02T22:08:00.004+05:30

Added Table Of Contents to the blog...

Actually Amanda at Blogger Buster mentioned about the script by Abu Farhan in her post titled How to Create a Sitemap with Google Feed Control. Abu had done a wonderful job, thanks to him...

Install Firefox 3.5.1 Official Release in Ubuntu

2009-08-01T12:57:00.007+05:30

As I have detailed in the post Firefox 3.5.1 in Ubuntu, I had installed the latest version. Only after that I found out that Firefox-3.5.1 have been officially released as Firefox-3.5.1 and Shiretoko was the codename.

So I installed Firefox-3.5.1 directly from their website. Here is how...

1. Download

Download firefox 3.5 setup from downlod.mozilla.com.
Archive filename: firefox-3.5.1.tar.bz2.
Save archive to /tmp.

2. Extract and Test

Extract the archive

cd /tmp; tar xvjf firefox-3.5.1.tar.bz2
The files will be extracted to directory named firefox.

Test Firefox

cd firefox
./firefox

Firefox will start...

3. Installing

Now install this version as the main firefox installation.

cd /usr/lib
sudo mv /tmp/firefox firefox-3.5
cd ../bin
ln -s -f ../lib/firefox-3.5 firefox-3.5
ln -s -f firefox-3.5 firefox

That will do the trick...

Another method is to use Ubuntuzilla. Check this thread...

Firefox 3.5.1 in Ubuntu

2009-07-18T14:00:00.005+05:30

Update: If you need to install the latest official version named as Firefox-3.5 rather than the codenamed version, check this thread: Install Firefox-3.5.1 Official Release in Ubuntu

Actually, I was using Firefox 3 till now. Then I read this post on DailyGyan... I thought, well lets give it a try... then only I realized that mine was 3.0 point blah blah.

So, I installed the latest version of Firefox 3.5 (code named Shiretoko), ie., version number 3.5.1. I ran firefox, but that was the previous version, the binary was named firefox-3.5. I ran it, it automatically transferred all my settings, addons, history... to the new profile.

Some changes I noticed...
* The binary file is named forefox-3.5.
* The icon has changed
+ It is much much faster than FF3.
- Most of my addons broke...

So... lets install latest Firefox 3.5.1

Add the following code to a new file (eg: firefox.sh).

#!/bin/bash

version=jaunty # Change this to the Ubuntu version (eg: intrepid)

sudo bash -c "echo '# Firefox' >> /etc/apt/sources.list"
sudo bash -c "echo 'deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/ubuntu-mozilla-daily/ppa/ubuntu $version main' >> /etc/apt/sources.list"
sudo bash -c "echo 'deb-src http://ppa.launchpad.net/ubuntu-mozilla-daily/ppa/ubuntu $version main' >> /etc/apt/sources.list"
sudo apt-key adv --recv-keys --keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com 247510BE
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get -y install firefox-3.5

Just run the script,
sh firefox.sh

That's all... Run using command firefox-3.5.

Lucky Number Slevin

2009-07-18T13:18:00.004+05:30

Watched 'Lucky Number Slevin' now.

Wow, it is a hell of a movie... great one at that... :) kudos...

The thing is, coz of my experience with eng movies, i could somewhat predict the plot... :)

Anyways, it is a must watch movie...

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

2009-07-18T09:10:00.003+05:30

Watched Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.

The thing is, someone who hasn't read the book or haven't been watching the movie series from start, won't understand what is happening...

This one is done nicely, taking the essence very nicely (some areas are missing)... nice movie...

But, this one lacks action, only very little duels... Also some variations from the original story, which cannot be tolerated :)

Recommendation: Watch

Seperate Partition for home in Ubuntu

2009-07-16T07:30:00.003+05:30

I had installed Ubuntu some months back to just try how it is. But, now I have fully moved to Ubuntu. The problem is, I allocated only 10GB for root filesystem and another 5GB for backup. The root filesystem is almost full, which is causing lot of bottlenecks... so I thought I will transfer /home to the backup partition.

Here is a great article which explains how to "Move /home to it’s own partition".

I will wrap it up...

1. Mount the partition to new location
2. Copy contents of /home to new location
3. Rename /home
4. Make new /home
5. Mount the partition to /home
6. Add /etc/fstab entry

Words of CAUTION!!!

1. Close programs running from your home folder during the operation (firefox, thunderbird, skype...) coz, it will leave those folders in inconsistent state.
2. Make sure all files are copied to new location (yeah, I know, it is a little too much to ask!).
3. Be careful while working with fstab
4. Restart the machine after the operation.

Bonus!!! I can give you a script for this whole operation... I haven't created one... ask me if you need one :)

VLC 1.0.0 Goldeneye rocks the stage...

2009-07-10T08:25:00.003+05:30

Wow, 3 million downloads within 3 days... VLC 1.0 Goldeneye is a definite hit...

Try it out... http://www.videolan.org/vlc/

To install in Ubuntu, read this post...

VLC 1.0.0 in Ubuntu

2009-07-08T23:51:00.004+05:30

As Anoop at DailyGyan has pointed out in this post... VLC major version 1.0.0 has been released...

Here is how to install it in Ubuntu...

1. Add Repository... add these lines to /etc/apt/sources.list

deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/c-korn/vlc/ubuntu jaunty main
deb-src http://ppa.launchpad.net/c-korn/vlc/ubuntu jaunty main

Change jaunty to your Ubuntu version (intrepid, hardy...)

2. Add PPA... execute the command

sudo apt-key adv --recv-keys --keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com 7613768D

3. Install vlc

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get -y install vlc

That's it... happy movies :)

[Update] VLC was giving Segmentation Fault in my Jaunty. If you come across same issue, just uninstall vlc and reinstall...

sudo apt-get -y remove vlc

That will fix it...

Post your experience with new VLC :)

Sudo without Password in Ubuntu

2009-07-07T22:32:00.003+05:30

I don't like sudo asking me password all the time (almost all the time...). As there is no root login in Ubuntu, sudo is the most used command :)

Here is how to tell sudo not to ask for password...

Run visudo, it is a command recommended for editing sudoers list...

visudo

Or if you are an expert, then directly edit the file /etc/sudoers

vi /etc/sudoers

Add this line to the end of the file (this should be the LAST line!!!)...

username ALL=(ALL) NOPASSWD: ALL

where username is your Ubuntu username.

This works for almost all distributions of Linux

Terminator Salvation

2009-07-03T23:08:00.003+05:30

Went for Terminator Salvation.

Nice action, the machines are great.... real work of art :) But, other than that, not a great story...

See also... » Terminator Salvation Moto-Terminator

X-Men Origins - Wolverine

2009-07-03T23:07:00.003+05:30

X-Men Origins: Wolverine...

Nice story, it puts us in proper place to understand the other X-Men movies...

One thing missing was Magneto... and the Cerebro... and also most of the main characters...

Other than that, I really liked the movie...

Startup Applications in Ubuntu

2009-07-02T10:03:00.003+05:30

There are always programs we wish to automatically run when the PC boots up.

In Windows there is a Startup folder where we can place program shortcuts.

In Ubuntu, we have a little utility for that purpose...

In earlier versions of Ubuntu, it was System > Preferences > Sessions, but from Jaunty it has been renamed as System > Preferences > Startup Applications.

You can start the tool from commandline using the command

gnome-session-properties

Startup Programs
You can add / remove startup programs from here.
Add your favorite browser or chat client by clicking Add. Specify the name and command to use (eg. firefox %u).
If you don't need some programs in startup, just Remove them.

Options
In the Options tab, there is a checkbox to specify whether Ubuntu should remember the running applications from previous login.

PS: You can add the commands directly into ~/.profile file and they will be executed at startup.

Perfume: The Story of a Murderer

2009-06-30T16:41:00.001+05:30

Yeah, it is a movie... no... it is an experience... wonderful experience... it is a journey... one english movie i may never forget...

warning!!! nudity...

Running Windows XP on Dell Vostro 1510

2009-06-30T11:30:00.004+05:30

Sumit Sabhnani raised this issue:

Hey ATOZTOA please help me i have purchased a dell vostro 1510 recently and while i try to install xp it does not recognize my hard disk and quits the setup. I have also downloaded the software needed to install the SATA drive from dell's website but nothing happens. So plz help me.
Thanks in advance......:)

Analysis:

Dell Vostro 1510 has Intel 965 chipset. WinXP doesn't have direct support for SATA for this chipset.

Queries to Sumit:

1. How did you install the SATA driver?

The solution #1:

1. Download and install nLite tool from this link....

2. Using nLite we can create modified Windows XP setup CD. It is too easy to use.

3. Create a modified bootable setup disk from the CD you already have. Include the drivers (Intel INF Utility).

4. Burn this image to CD.

5. Boot from the modified XP CD.

The solution #2:

1. Download SATA driver from Dell.

2. Create a driver floppy disk.

3. Start Windows XP Setup, when the setup starts it shows "Press F6 if you need to install a third party SCSI or RAID driver.". Press F6.

4. Insert the driver floppy and install the SATA driver.

5. Continue Setup...

Detailed instructions: How to Install Windows on a Serial ATA SATA Hard Drive - SATA Walkthrough

It should work...

Sumit, please post the result as comments...

Dear reader, if you have anything to add or have an alternative solution, please post as comment...

Internet Explorer in Ubuntu

2009-06-28T19:48:00.005+05:30

Internet Explorer is still the most used web browser. More than 50% of ATOzTOA users use IE, the remaining 50 split across some 20 other browsers. Firefox takes around 30%.

Some websites need Internet Explorer to work properly. In Ubuntu, there is no direct support for IE. Here are some alternatives for Internet Explorer in Ubuntu...

1. Use Firefox

I know that is not an alternative, but that is what I do... most of the sites works fine, the rest I can skip :)

2. Use IEs4Linux

There is a nice tutorial to install IE in Ubuntu as ubuntu Geek: Running Internet Explorer in Ubuntu Linux... it uses Wine.

3. Use Mozilla User Agent Switcher

Most of the websites which need Internet Explorer to work properly will check the User Agent. This addon shows the User Agent as Internet Explorer.

Download it here..

4. Use Google Chrome!!!

This was what helped me at last. Everything else failed for OxiCash. But Chrome installed like a breeze and works like a hurricane :)

Read yet another tutorial from ubuntu Geek : How to Install Chromium (Google chrome) in Ubuntu using deb package. (The GPG key could not be installed, but you can ignore that step.)

That's all... Happy Browsing... :)

Edited:One more is there, 5. Use Opera

Opera also worked for OxiCash. Thanks to Anonymous (i don't know who) for the comment.

Torrent in Ubuntu

2009-06-28T11:06:00.005+05:30

Started using vuze (formerly Azureus) in Ubuntu (Jaunty)... it is a little resource heavy, but the interface is very rich :)

Installation is easy,

sudo apt-get install azureus

Or can download latest stand alone version from

azureus.sourceforge.net

Read more at UbuntuGeek

Googlepages may break my images...

2009-06-27T16:57:00.001+05:30

Dear Reader,

I had some of my images hosted at googlepages. As googlepages is being replaced by Sites, i have transfered the images to webs.com. But I may have missed some of them...

If you come across any broken images, please inform me at webmaster@atoztoa.com.

Thanks
Webmaster
www.atoztoa.com