Linux n00b. Please gentle.

[NERV Agent]

After dealing with the nightmare of Windows 10, I've decided to finally switch to Linux.

Next week I'm finally gonna get my hands on my new Dell laptop that uses Ubuntu Linux 16.04.

But I got some questions, hopefully not too many as I hope to get the thing up and running in one week.

My most important question is: What is the best firewall, antivirus, and anti-spyware for this OS?

Also, how do I install programs that I downloaded from places other than the Ubuntu Software Centre? I know it involves a command line, but I doubt its the same Windows command line of "CD [directory]" "[installer].exe", etc. I've been looking up some YouTube videos and the only clue I have is "sudo" something.

Is WINE already included with this OS, or do I have to install it?

Also, are there built in media players into the OS already that let me listen to music and watch videos? If not, what Ubuntu Linux media players should I download and install?

I also plan on using VMware to run a Windows XP virtual machine as some sort of "training wheels" until I get used to Linux. Is it preferable to emulate the 32 bit or 64 bit version of Windows XP?

[nfitc1]

This'll be a "test your rememberance of Linux" for me so I might not get it all right.

Firewall/antivirus/anti-spyware....I never considered it for Linux. Most viruses were designed with Windows in mind so it targets the registry. Linux has no registry (at least not in the way Windows does) and is WAY less vulnerable since running almost anything that could harm your data takes at least one additional approval from the admin. Linux has a lot of built-in firewall configuration settings that you don't have to fight the OS to set any of it. Spyware is browser specific (usually) and I never got any.

I believe the command for adding repositories is "sudo add-apt-repository <repo DNS>" to add a location to search for apps from. Then "sudo apt-get <app name>" to install. Linux does the rest.

WINE is not included with an approved Ubuntu distro. You can, of course, get it separate from central I think. I do think that it will come with a few compilers though. Mostly C++ and Java. If you want more there are probably dozens in central.

There are media players in most if not all varieties of Linux, especially personal editions. I would recommend VLAN for all users for media. I think there is a Linux flavor of it.

I don't think you can "train yourself off" of Windows. You'll have to take the plunge and sink or swim. You can emulate either version you wish, however. But don't expect the VM to have much power over the system. You might want to keep the VM if you plan to use Office products. I'm not certain if WINE will handle those or not. Especially the recent ones. Though if you're emulating XP the best you'll probably be able to get is Office 2003.

Be prepared to use lots of third-party hardware drivers since most companies don't keep their Linux drivers up to date. By nature of Linux, most of it is open source so the communities have modified the drivers for their specific configurations.

[NERV Agent]

I believe the command for adding repositories is "sudo add-apt-repository <repo DNS>" to add a location to search for apps from. Then "sudo apt-get <app name>" to install. Linux does the rest.

If the installation file is on my computer do I just put "127.0.0.1/[directory or install file]" in place of the <repo DNS>? If so, would I use the IP address 127.0.0.1 or the actual IP my ISP gives me?

On another note, I have some USB sticks that use Window's BitLocker Drive Encryption to protect my personal files whenever I transfer files between PCs. Can I still open and save to these encrypted USB sticks in Linux? Or would it require a separate program that I need to download?

[sl1982]

This may be able to help
https://superuser.com/questions/376533/how-to-access-a-bitlocker-encrypted-drive-in-linux

[nfitc1]

If the installation file is on my computer do I just put "127.0.0.1/[directory or install file]" in place of the <repo DNS>? If so, would I use the IP address 127.0.0.1 or the actual IP my ISP gives me?

I do know it would NOT use your ISP's IP. I think most things you'd want to install would already be in some repo somewhere else. If you download an install file it should self install (through double-clicking or just running from the terminal) without needing apt-get.

[NERV Agent]

Oh dear God.

The past few days have been a headache just trying to install programs, because one program is dependent on another library and then to install that library involves some very specific command lines then installing the program itself requires its own set of specific command lines, etc.

The past few days I've been Googling different command lines and different scripts, libraries, and programs and using brute force to see which ones work and which ones don't. I have such a splitting headache right now that I might just do what Natsuki is doing in my avatar.

I still haven't installed any games on this thing yet!

Can someone please give me to exact command lines to install a Sega Genesis emulator (whichever is best for this platform), ePSXe, and PCSX2? I just want to get back to playing games and not staring at and inputting random command lines I find from Google followed by me screaming and yelling at my computer whenever something doesn't work.

[nfitc1]

Common symptoms of switching to Linux include migraines, fatigue, extreme nausea, mood swings and, in rare cases, spontaneous combustion. Sounds like it's going well so far.

There is a STEEP learning curve piloting Linux of any kind for personal use. It wasn't originally designed to do what individuals do with it. It was designed to be a GUI for a Unix environment and just evolved from there.

As for emulators....there aren't that many options to choose from. Start here for some reasonable gaming experiences with Linux. You'll find a lot of game clones that are just as good, if not better than, the game they are clones of. It also has sections and forums dedicated to emulator use. The answer you want is sure to be there somewhere.

[Covarr]

The easiest emulation choice is probably Retroarch, a multi-system emulator, which should be available in Ubuntu Software Center. As a general rule, if software is available there, that's where you'll wanna get it, because:

• Software in the Ubuntu Software Center's default repositories has been tested with your version of Ubuntu.
• It will automatically install any required dependencies.
• It's far easier to keep your software updated.

It's worth noting that Ubuntu Software Center is pretty much just a frontend for all the apt- commands you might run from a bash shell. While I highly recommend becoming comfortable with terminal commands, there isn't much advantage for beginners to installing apps that way over using Ubuntu Software Center.

[MysticLord]

Mednafen is pretty easy to use - has a debugger and everything.  Unfortunately I don't like any of the GUI/frontends for it, but I over came that and learned to use the honestly pretty handy keyboard shortcuts for everything.  I set up a command that's associated with *.cue files, wherein I only need to double click on them to go.  In my distro, I did this by:
1. right clicking on an iso
2. open with Other Application
3. select "use a custom command"
4. opening a terminal and typing "which mednafen" to get the path to the mednafen executable
5. which I pasted into the "use a custom command" text field followed by a space and then the single file name field code, which is "%f".  More on those here, ctrl + f "%f"



Retroarch is something that has roughly the same end goal as Mednafen but a radically different way to doing it.  If you can get Retroarch installed then you can't go wrong.

After dealing with the nightmare of Windows 10, I've decided to finally switch to Linux.

Next week I'm finally gonna get my hands on my new Dell laptop that uses Ubuntu Linux 16.04.

But I got some questions, hopefully not too many as I hope to get the thing up and running in one week.

My most important question is: What is the best firewall, antivirus, and anti-spyware for this OS?
ML: I don't know, I've never used any of them.  Though I should probably use a firewall.  I've never set up a printer and I dropped the network programming class: I know nothing about this.

Also, how do I install programs that I downloaded from places other than the Ubuntu Software Centre? I know it involves a command line, but I doubt its the same Windows command line of "CD [directory]" "[installer].exe", etc. I've been looking up some YouTube videos and the only clue I have is "sudo" something.

ML: Ubuntu is forked (derived) from Debian.  Both use apt or some sort of GUI front-end for it to install programs, most of which come as *.deb files and are usually stored somewhere.  Yes it is a huge pain in the butt to chase down software dependencies, but you get used to it.

Sudo I think is short for Superuser (admin) do.  It's a way to get temporarily read/write/execute privileges for files and folders in your root (admin) directory, which is /.  Contrast with su, which elevates the current terminal session to superuser (or maybe it just opens a new session as a superuser in the current terminal, I don't know which - same end difference though so who cares?).

Is WINE already included with this OS, or do I have to install it?
ML: You probably have to install it, ask on an official WINE support forum because the approved method of doing so changes once every few years.  In 2012 it was Wine Helper, a bunch of bash (a type of terminal emulator) scripts.  Be prepared for pain.

Also, are there built in media players into the OS already that let me listen to music and watch videos? If not, what Ubuntu Linux media players should I download and install?
ML: I use only VLC.

I also plan on using VMware to run a Windows XP virtual machine as some sort of "training wheels" until I get used to Linux. Is it preferable to emulate the 32 bit or 64 bit version of Windows XP?
ML: I know that VirtualBox only supports 32 bit emulation.  No idea bout VMWare.

If you want to become a linux power user, read this book:
http://linuxcommand.org/tlcl.php

It's free, and the dead tree version is cheap.  It will hold your hand and walk you through everything you need to know to use linux as a woke af non-programmer non-sysadmin.

I can answer more questions if you have any.

[NERV Agent]

Thanks for offering the help.

Just when I thought I was getting the hang of things, I run into quite a confounding dilemma: I can't even get my USB headset to work with this.

This is what I have:

http://gamersdigital.com/products/ultimate-ninja-gd-50-computer-gaming-headset/

This is a really nice headset and even vibrates in response to explosions and stuff in games and movies. It works fine in Windows 7, but I can't get it to work in Ubuntu Linux!



I can click "USB Audio Device" all I want, and nothing happens!

I want an immersive gaming and movie experience with this, and I don't wanna go back to Windows.

Is there a way to install drivers for this via Wine or Winetricks? Or are there already some Linux drivers that can get this to work?

UPDATE: Ugh, GOD! This is what I mean by searching Google and trying things by brute force for hours (screaming, cussing, and yelling at computer may be optional).

So I installed something called PulseAudio Volume Control, and still no sound. Then I thought I could temporarily disable speakers. BIG MISTAKE! PulseAudio Volume Control replaces my speakers with "Dummy Audio" or something, the sound on my system became completely inoperable and it wouldn't let me revert back.

Then I searched YouTube, and some person showed something (couldn't hear them, just had to watch the screen and figure out what was going on) about going to Software & Updates --> Additional Drivers, scrolling down to "Intel Corporation: Unknown". There were 2 options, "Use HDA driver blah blah blah audio something dah dah dah", and "Do not use this device".

The YT vid showed to select "Do not use this device" and restart, and this was supposed to work. But it did nothing.

Then I searched Google and found some random command line that supposedly resets everything:

sudo aptitude --purge reinstall linux-sound-base alsa-base alsa-utils linux-image-`uname -r` linux-ubuntu-modules-`uname -r` libasound2

Still nothing.

So I went back to "Additional Drivers" and re-enabled "Use HDA driver yo momma audio so bad she broke your speakers" or something, restarted, and the speakers AND headphones work now. You just have to select it from the sound settings, because it won't automatically switch the sound to headphones like in Windows.

I think I solved my problem, but who knows what will get screwed up tomorrow.

[MysticLord]

The Pulseaudio thing is before my time but sufice it to say that there's this guy(?) named Lennart Poettering and for some reason almost everyone adopts every program he writes regardless of their merits.  Linux is basically a bunch of stuff duck taped together that someone is always tinkering with, and every now and then someone exploits divisions within the community to replace some of the more highly evolved duck tape organisms with rube goldberg machines.

The best thing to do when looking for device drivers is to google the product code/ID and the words linux or ubuntu, you can usually find someone with the exact same issue on the ubuntu forums.  If you can't, make a topic and present yourself as a novice user - they'll ask questions and tell you to try certain terminal commands then post the output.  Obviously google the command first or at least use "man [command-name]" to get an idea of what it does.  It says a lot about Linux that these rube goldberg machines only make things somewhat worse part of the time.

If anyone ever tells you anything with rm, it's probably a troll; rm is remove/delete.  Be cautious using sudo and su to do anything.

[NERV Agent]

Will definitely be wary of any commands with "rm" in them. Thanks for the heads up.

Right now I almost had PCSX2 up and running, until it broke and I got this error:

Code: [Select]

ALSA lib pcm.c:7963:(snd_pcm_recover) underrun occurred
I already searched Google and can't find any answer to this.

Any help?

UPDATE:

Okay, I got to boot up to the PS2 BIOS screen by selecting "Boot CDVD (Full)", but now I am stuck at a "select language" screen. It says press "X" for the US BIOS, and press "O" for the Japanese BIOS. Neither work, but it definitely detects my gamepad and I had it configured.

[MysticLord]

Try mapping "X" and "O" to something on your keyboard and attempt to select the language using that.  Is this a part of the emulator or the game itself?

edit

It's helpful - to others, and yourself in the future - to state what you did to fix an error.  Often you will find a thread about the exact issue you had, with an edit that says, "nevermind, I fixed it" and several bumps years later asking how they fixed it.

[NERV Agent]

I found the issue was with my adapter:

https://www.amazon.com/Trenro-Dual-PlayStation-Controller-Adapter-2/dp/B000F6BGXY/ref=sr_1_10?ie=UTF8&qid=1530610323&sr=8-10&keywords=ps2+controller+to+usb+adapter

For some reason, the first controller port is mapped as the second controller port, and vice versa. So I selected the proper controller, and was able to play some Metal Gear Solid 2 on Linux PCSX2. It looked really nice.

*Sigh.*

Now I have another issue.

I'm finding a lot of my favorite emulators and programs don't work under WINE, and their native Linux counterparts are buggy and not even worth using (ePSXe is a perfect example of this, and I need to use that specific emulator for the PEC plugin that does stuff that the built in cheat feature can't do). So I have installed Windows XP 64-bit in Oracle VirtualBox for these programs.

But I can't activate my copy of Windows, because of a glaring issue that prevents Internet access from within the virtual machine.

This is where I get into rant mode, but I got nothing against anyone here. If anything, I am sick and tired of all the false "solutions" people are posting online.

I've scoured Google and people keep telling me to download this:

https://downloadcenter.intel.com/download/18717

NEITHER of these installations work!

I tried messing around with NAT and Bridged and different adapter types, NOTHING! I've scoured Google and even YouTube. Every "solution" doesn't even work!

How do you get a Internet connection with this? Because having to salvage my files from the virtual machine before the end of the month, following reinstalling XP afterwards because of this damn 30 day activation thing is a total pain in the ass.

[nfitc1]

...I am sick and tired of all the false "solutions" people are posting online.

This is a "feature" of Linux, though. Because literally everyone's configuration is different (It does a lot of behind the scenes config for your specific machine even as far as the chips that drive the bridges) there may be several solutions to one problem or there may be a step that was automated that made or broke a solution for some. It's particularly annoying when Linux just has generic drivers for specific hardware. My current machine has some new-age USB controller chip (that Win7 doesn't support) that was made for Win10. It does work under Linux's generic drivers, but I didn't have the USB 3.0 functionality of them. My point is there might be a combination of solutions for you that doesn't work for everyone.

How do you get a Internet connection with this? Because having to salvage my files from the virtual machine before the end of the month, following reinstalling XP afterwards because of this damn 30 day activation thing is a total pain in the ass.

That really depends on the VM.  Oracle should have some config that allows Internet access. Not helpful, I know. It works out of the box in Windows.
You could make a virtual image of the machine (if you have the hard drive space) and restore it if you can't find the solution before the activation period expires.

[sithlord48]

Why are you installing 16.04 when the current version is 18.04?

[NERV Agent]

 

Why are you installing 16.04 when the current version is 18.04?

It's the version that Dell pre-installed in this computer.

As for my virtual XP connection problem, I went back to default settings with the Intel drivers I posted, and used a custom browser called PaleMoon, and I can access Google, Wikipedia, and GameFAQs,

But I still can't activate Windows XP. This XP install will "self-destruct" in 29 days. What do I do?

[corpse]

Hi,

I had this the other day, You need to update internet explorer 6 to at least internet explorer 8 and then you should be able to activate XP.

Thanks Tom.

[NERV Agent]

Thanks, I activated over the phone.

Now my next problem is updates.

In Windows XP 32-bit, there is a way to keep getting updates (I think until 2019) by editing something in the registry.

Unfortunately, that specific trick does not work in Windows XP x64, although there are news sources claiming that it is possible to trick the x64 OS into getting updates, but through a different method.

https://www.zdnet.com/article/registry-hack-enables-continued-updates-for-windows-xp/

https://www.pcworld.com/article/2310301/windows-xp-registry-hack-keeps-the-security-updates-rolling.html

http://www.sebijk.com/community/board15-other/board73-tutorials/2985-getting-xp-updates/

I updated to Windows XP x64 Service Pack 2, then made the ".cmd" file like the guy says, and all I get is an error "Windows cannot fine 'update.exe'" or something.

It specifically says something about update "SP2QFE", but I cannot find ANY update installation file with that label. Instead, I just keep finding web pages that only talk about it but provides no download. And yes, I searched microsoft.com

UPDATE: Found "SP2QFE" when I did a Windows Update. Installed it, and the guy's ".cmd" file still does nothing.

And there are like hundreds of ".inf" files with "SP2QFE" in the title. Jeeze, this guy could of been more specific.

[sithlord48]

Xp is past end of life you really shouldn't be using it.

It's the version that Dell pre-installed in this computer.

Do your self a favor and use current releases .

[MysticLord]

When asking questions or troubleshooting, try to fart around with your device/software/whatever such that you narrow the scope of the issue.  If you can't pinpoint the exact issue right away, you can probably eliminate other things as the source of the error.  When you can do this you feel a sense of progress and you don't feel compelled to scream at your computer.

You don't even need to know a lot about something to be able to troubleshoot it.

There's an Italian word used to describe James Bond in some 007 book I read as a teenager - I can't remember the word, but it means you have the ability to do something gracefully without understanding how it works or even having experience with it.  Part of this is temperment, but a large part is being able to break down something into parts and test them until you remove what is not the issue. 

[sithlord48]

Random thoughts...

If the OP was serious they should be asking for help in the distros forum or IRC channel. I think I maybe one of the few with any knowledge of Linux. This is a Forum for Final Fantasy modding not linux use.

If you want to be successful with moving to a new OS the first thing you need to stop and realize that your previous OS is not like your new OS and there will be some learning todo. The main issue from what I see is new users do not understand this and just bitch about how Their new Os is not the same as the old OS.

The Group of people saying that using Linux is not user friendly is either ill informed, lying to you for their own reasons, or do not know what the term they are using means. Using a Linux distro is not harder then using a Windows machine or Mac Os.  Place a New user without preconseption of how things work and you will find they can use any of them equally.  Most things on linux are much easier then other OSes.

Using wine to install your windows applications so you can ease your way in to linux is just asking to be fustrated when something in wine is not working right. Wine is far from perfect and you kinda need to know how to set it up correctly for somethings. Successful use of wine requires knowing both windows and linux well. If you must use wine maybe stick to something like Play On Linux its just a wrapper around wine that will help you set up you prefixes and install applications. Truely Worry about these later.

If your trying to learn Linux you should use it and its native applications.

Not ready to Switch the OS try using the Programs you will be using on linux. Your not using the os your using applications they are using the os.  Firefox,  VLC, Libre Office, and other are common  cross platform Open source applications using them will help you greatly when you change the OS. Not only will you be given time to moveany needed documents to new formats while still having access to your old applications.

Read the manual or help files. You would be amazed how often the answer is there.

Use the package manager to install programs if your not then you are doing it wrong and asking for problems.

Learn how to ask questions while also providing information that helps people answer them.
 

[NERV Agent]

Phew, it's been like a month, but I finally got it up and working. My final "trial by fire" to see if I finally got the gist of this was to play everyone's favorite game, Final Fantasy VII, in ePSXe through WINE, while running PSX Emulation Cheater through WINE, and recording with OBS. The results were far better than on my previous Windows 7 machine.

At this point I've come to the conclusion that "if it isn't Debian, it isn't worth my time" since installing software that isn't in a neat Debian package is so time consuming and frustrating. It isn't Debian, I'll use the Windows version through WINE. If WINE fails, I'll load it up in my Windows XP x64 VirtualBox.

For example, the Linux version of ePSXe doesn't come in a Debian package, and is a hot mess to install. And even when I did install it, it would crash and never let me even play the game. So I pretty much just avoid anything that isn't in a Debian package since it will probably fail because it's missing "library/program A" which is dependent on "library/program B" which is dependent on "library/program A" (again) and I just wind up going around in circles. Even when everything is installed it probably doesn't even work right. If program installations were all Debian packages like how Windows installations are all ".exe" or ".msi" files that conveniently install after double clicking, Linux wouldn't be so overwhelming, and maybe more people would switch over (and screw over Microsoft).

I'd like to thank the members of this forum for helping me, as I've posted on other forums (not saying which ones, but more than one) and the threads would be derailed by--get this--Windows fanboys.

They would just derail the thread and preach to me about how great and superior Windows 7/8.1/10/69 is, and that going to Linux was like some terrible sin. If someone prefers Windows, that's their opinion and fine, but what is the point of posting in a Linux help thread just to waste time trying to convince people to use Windows?

It's like going to an anime convention, only to get in everyone's face and tell them anime sucks and that Tijuana comics are superior and that everyone there should be into that instead.

Or going to a strip club only to preach that nudity and sex stuff is wrong and everyone there needs to go to Sunday school instead.

I mean, if they have such a huge boner for Windows, they should just jack it off somewhere else, not in a Linux thread. That's just indecent.

Anyway, although I'm going to be busy with IRL stuff soon, I was thinking about writing up a newbie reference guide for Linux so that new users don't have to fumble around and try and figure things through brute force (and yelling and screaming at their computer while giving it the finger like some angry YouTube reviewer) like I did.

Would anyone be interested in passing around such a document in circulation?

Also, what is the best free video editing software to use with Linux?

[sithlord48]

For example, the Linux version of ePSXe doesn't come in a Debian package, and is a hot mess to install. And even when I did install it, it would crash and never let me even play the game. So I pretty much just avoid anything that isn't in a Debian package since it will probably fail because it's missing "library/program A" which is dependent on "library/program B" which is dependent on "library/program A" (again) and I just wind up going around in circles. Even when everything is installed it probably doesn't even work right. If program installations were all Debian packages like how Windows installations are all ".exe" or ".msi" files that conveniently install after double clicking, Linux wouldn't be so overwhelming, and maybe more people would switch over (and screw over Microsoft).

Dont run unmaintianed programs and you wont have that issue.. Do you think that in 2 years since the last epsxe release none of the libs that epsxe use have been updated and some have released newer versions . sometimes rebuilding is enough but if those new libs drop old calls then you have a problem.

[sithlord48]

Also, what is the best free video editing software to use with Linux?

KdenLive