Debian Wheezy - Install and Config of an OLD X31 Laptop - Part 2

v 0.2

23 May 13

Enhancing Wheezy.  I've often wondered what the magic formula was that when spoken would transform Debian and unlock its secrets.  Unfortunately, that formula is experience, finding those magic packages over time that will make it all so much easier for you.  First though, we have to learn about Debian mirrors.

Apt Sources

The heart of what makes Debian different is the system of software Mirrors, apt repositories and for Wheezy, the backports.  So, let's add the backports to the apt sources so that if later on newer software is added to this repository, we can install it.  (it is also worthwhile reading the instructions on http://backports.debian.org )
http://backports.debian.org/news/Backports_integrated_into_the_main_archive/

Open a root terminal from the accessories menu, change to the /etc/apt directory and then as root, edit sources.list:
# nano sources.list

add   deb http://ftp.debian.org/debian/ wheezy-backports main contrib non-free
        deb-src http://ftp.debian.org/debian/ wheezy-backports main contrib non-free

note:  pick the mirror closest to you for best performance ... I have ftp.au.debian.org

Iceweasel and Icedove

While we are here, why not make iceweasel the current release in phase with firefox?  Go to http://mozilla.debian.net  .

add  deb http://mozilla.debian.net/ wheezy-backports iceweasel-release  to your sources.list then ^O and return to save ^X to exit  (control O .... )

The iceweasel release repository has a keyring that identifies it as genuine .. you can download it from the website, or install it from the repository.

# aptitude update  (it will complain that it doesn't have a keyring for the mozilla archive)
# aptitude install pkg-mozilla-archive-keyring

To get iceweasel installed, you will have to update from the command line after you have saved and exited from nano as so (note, it MUST be the command line, Synaptic won't work for the initial install):

# aptitude update
# aptitude install -t wheezy-backports iceweasel

(note - aptitude is probably preferable to apt-get as it does exactly the same thing but keeps track of dependencies installed on the machine a little better).

There .. Iceweasel 21, the current release.  The webpage at mozilla.debian.net has instructions for icedove (Thunderbird) as well.

Gnome Workspaces Tip

I had both Iceweasel and an open terminal in the same workspace.  I dragged the Iceweasel icon in the workspace to another, so now I have terminal in one and Iceweasel in another.

Lxde

I wanted to see what a difference a lighter desktop made, so thought I'd install lxde.  Once again, in a root terminal:
# aptitude search lxde     (to find the correct package to install)
# aptitude install lxde

Changing the desktop background in lxde - click both mouse buttons on the desktop for the menu (it should just be the right button but for some reason on my X31 I needed both).  I changed the wallpaper mode to "Center on the Screen" to give a nicer look to the default artwork.

Other Items of Interest

Synaptic is a generally more convenient way to install packages and gives an easy way of exploring the entire software collection.  It is installed by default.  Note that you can't use it to do the initial install of things from backports, only subsequent updates.

• nautilus-dropbox  - this adds Dropbox and nautilus integration. A dropbox menu item is installed in the internet category ...
• ttf-mscorefonts-installer - Ms Truetype Core Fonts - install these to get nicer fonts in the web browser.
• BUM  Boot Up Manager manages init processes
• rcconf  Another Boot process manager

Default artwork for Debian - look in /etc/alternatives

LibreOffice

The libreOffice website has an installer for debian packages for the up-to-date suite.  BUT it is also in wheezy-backports

http://linuxg.net/how-to-install-libreoffice-4-0-3-on-debian-7-wheezy-via-backports-ppa/

You have already put the backports into your sources.list .. so ..

# apt-get update
# apt-get -t wheezy-backports install libreoffice

Installing via Backports - A Note

Once more ..

When you first install a package via backports, you have to use the command line and " -t " to activate the package.  Once you have done that then the new version will be tracked in synaptic etc and update when a new package becomes available.

What packages are there?  Well, the only way I've worked out so far is to look through the package pool and identify new packages.  For example, Gnome 3.8 is available in backports should you wish to install.  The backports packages don't appear in Synaptic till you install them via aptitude / apt-get

Look at this in your browser:    ftp://ftp.debian.org/debian/pool/

Skype

Skype is only available in 32 bit deb packages, so use of the "multi-arch" feature of Wheezy will be needed if you have a 64 bit install.  I'll not go into how to do this .. something for another time.  For a 32 bit install of Debian though:

• Download the deb package to the machine.
• Right click on it and open with the Gdebi package installer. (Gdebi also downloads and installs dependencies.)
• Install
• Type in the admin password when asked.

Cloud Storage

• In addition to dropbox, there is SpiderOak, which has clients for both 32 bit and 64 bit Debian.  SpiderOak is noted for being encrypted so that even if they wanted, they would be unable to access your data.
• Google Drive - Check out Insync  https://www.insynchq.com/linux

...




Later

Debian Wheezy - Install and Config on an OLD X31 Laptop - part 1

 v0.2

22 May 13

Now that Wheezy has been released stable, I thought it might be appropriate to re-visit the installation on an old computer, just to see how it goes.  I have an IBM X31 laptop that is about 10 years old.  It has a 1.4 centrino, 768 meg of memory and an ati mobility radeon gpu.  What I want to do here is to go through the installation of Wheezy, concentrating on the little bits that people may find unusual and need some re-assurance on, then discuss how I configured the system, what applications I loaded and generally how I made the system useable.  The present system on it is PCBSD 9.1.  I found that to be too slow for my liking, so back to Debian for the desktop.

Stupid is as Stupid does

Too often I hear unwarranted critisism of Debian which is almost always ill-informed and .. well .. just basically "stupid".  I recently saw a posting of someone highly critical of Debian because it would not install on any of their machines - there were no drivers for their network cards and it kept complaining about the CPU.  Some basic research would have shown them they needed to do the simple step of putting the easily found firmware onto a USB stick or download the installation ISO which included the non-free drivers.  Of course they had the wrong ISO anyway .. they were trying to install 64bit Debian onto a 32 bit processor.  The moral?  Make sure you blame the correct "tool".

Debian Versions

Debian is not just one distro.  It is three separate distros, or branches, that can be mixed together to form whichever explosive grade you are brave enough to stand.

• Stable - currently Wheezy.  Server or conservative desktop.  Rock solid with software that has been tested for months - which is why it is "older".  New software versions will NEVER appear in stable.
• Testing - currently Jessie.  Generally suitable for an advanced desktop - software that has done a couple of weeks bug checking.
• Unstable - Adrenalin Junkie desktop - software straight from the developer.

Installing Wheezy

For the installation, I suggest you first read the excellent guide on howtoforge "the perfect desktop Debian Squeeze".  That will provide a sound starting point and in itself will show you how to find your way round a Debian install.

I downloaded the 32bit 386 CD1 using the torrent from the Debian website and burnt it.  There are other options, namely use the " netinstall " cd, but that is what I did.  I chose the default install using the text screens.  Being less powerful than is normal for today, there were considerable delays of blank blue screens between steps, but it got there.  Then it displayed the message:

missing firmware ipw2100

This indicated the wireless card I had installed in the miniPCI slot needed a non-free driver.  Easy.  I'd previously downloaded and expanded the driver firmware zip file from Debian (which includes both 32 and 64 bit), into a folder on a USB stick.  I inserted it, and the machine then searched the stick until it found the drivers and then continued, finally telling me the connection choices I had:

• eth0 intel pro 100 wired
• eth1 intel wireless/pro 2100 on a miniPCI card  G
• wlan0 Atheros AR5212/AR5213 built in wifi B

The installer suggested wlan0

The next screen presented me with available networks   then asked the type of encryption .. I chose WPA, typed in the password and off it went ...

The partitioner gives you four choices.

• Guided for the entire disk, giving you the choice of everything in one partition, a separate home partition, other partitions
• Guided for LVM - the logical volume manager - this allows you to configure multiple disks into RAID
• Guided LVM encrypted - allows you to set up an encrypted disk.  When the machine boots, it asks a password for the disk.
• Manual

Just because I can, I chose the encrypted option.

It then asked me which disk I wished to partition and identified both the IDE internal disk and the attached USB stick as SCSI disks, sda and sdb respectively.  I chose the internal one (der) and opted for only one partition.  Past experience tells me the formatting takes a LOOONNNGGG time for the encryption .. for 40 gig disk.  First step was to erase the disk, it took just over 2 hrs this time.  It then asked me for a passphrase for the disk encryption.

After the base install, it was time for the specific software such as Desktop etc.  Debian uses a command called "tasksel" for this.  Now I knew the ISO had not burnt quite correctly but everything had gone well till this point when the installation failed.  Not to worry, I simply unchecked all of the selections and this allowed the installation to complete with only the base selection (which is still considerably more powerful than MSDOS of yore).  Everything worked for the boot into a basic command line.

What I planned to do was boot to the command line in root, and then run " tasksel " and continue the installation using a Debian Mirror, however when I did, the wireless didn't work owing to the restricted install, and since I could be neither bothered to get it going, nor find an ethernet cable to continue, I just burnt another ( good this time ) CD and re-did the install.  Least work for me since this was simply happening in the background.  The full install of the default desktop took 4.5 hrs which includes 2 hrs to erase the disk for the encrypted disk - if you want a vanilla install, it would be 2.5 hrs - and this on a laptop that is roughly as powerful as a Pentium 4 3.0.

Now, how long does it take to boot?  I do know that booting into KDE on PCBSD was very slow on this machine.

• Boot to Grub - 8 sec
• Grub to Passphrase - 4 sec
• Passphrase to Gdm3 - 45 sec
• Gdm3 to Gnome Classic mode - 25 sec  (Gnome 3 does not work on this machine, the graphics are not good enough).
• Gdm3 to lxde first time -  6 sec.

There is a significant improvement to the default artwork between Squeeze and Wheezy.  The previous artwork made me want to rip it out immediately whereas the Wheezy artwork is understated and far more elegant.  I can see that it would not get in your way when doing work.  I like it.

Gnome Classic

The default Gnome Classic mode is really quite nice.  There are four workspaces shown along the bottom panel, and along the top, there is:

• Applications Menu
• Places Menu
• Date and time
• Battery indicator and charging status
• Volume selector
• Bluetooth selector (I'd forgotten this laptop had bluetooth)
• Network applet
• "User Menu" on the far right, with availability, System settings and session / power selections.

I had a play with the function keys and "trackstick" .. all worked as far as I could tell.  There is of course, a package to deal with IBM laptops.  During the course of playing with the keys, I turned off the wireless access.  When you turn off wireless, you turn off all adapters.  I simply went to the network applet, selected the adapter I wanted and off it went and connected.  Painless.

Conclusion

I have found the Debian Installer to be one of the most reliable ways of installing Linux to a computer.  Debian 7.0 may not be spectacular, but it is nice.  It does its job and stays out of your way whilst allowing you to enhance it with later packages.

Next .. enhancing the basic Wheezy ..



Later.