Dad's Debian Install

June 18 2014

v 0.2

Of Windows, Skype and Printers

My Father has had a Pentium 4 3.2 gig IBM computer for a few years now.  It has 1 gig of memory and came with Windows XP installed.  Of course he never did software updates and it has not helped that I live on the opposite side of the Continent to him so I have forever been reminding him that Windows XP is the devil and that it will bit him if he is not careful.  I've had limited success training him NOT to use it for sensitive work.  My preferred option is for him to update, however he is adamant that this machine is fine and he does not want a new piece of hardware.

Well about a year ago, I installed Debian Wheezy in a dual-boot configuration and eventually convinced him to at least only do his banking and other critical work using Linux.  It has been unfortunate that Skype has not been functioning - no microphone detection and I was unable to help fix the problem, so he used Skype from the Windows side.  The other major problem was the old Epson printer / scanner just wouldn't speak to Linux.  It said it had installed, but just refused to function.

I've been visiting for the last week and one of the tasks I set myself was to get him set up safely so that he'd be less tempted to use Windows XP - he finally realised there were no more security updates, however like most people just does not understand how he can be badly burnt by malware.  The two major things I needed to do were to get Skype functioning and the Printer / Scanner on-line.

My starting point was Debian 7 Wheezy with Gnome 3.4 classic.  (I find this a very pleasing setup by the way ... elegant and fast)

Skype

When first sitting down to use Skype on Wheezy, I found everything worked except the microphone (combined with a logitech webcam which WAS detected).  Skype was at version 4.2 for me.  When I checked the sound options, I found that pulseaudio was the only microphone option I had.  I googled and found various recommendations for configuration file edits, but none worked.  I subsequently found that there is a bug in Skype that needs these edits, however this did not work for me.

Of course there was a simple fix.  The Gnome 3 settings have a "sound" icon where you can select the input device.  VICTORY! Gnome is the only desktop / manager that I've found that allows you to do this and Skype has ONLY worked for me in Gnome 3.

Printer / Scanner

I figured I'd just go and replace his old printer.  They are cheap and much improved on a few years ago.  I figured on an HP 8600 which I have found to be really great - particularly for scanning where you can scan double sided multiple sheets into a pdf file.  You can also save the scans/pdf to a memory card/stick, which is particularly simple.  This was not to be and I arrived home with an HP Deskjet 1510 having purchased it for the princely sum of $28.  "Nothing can go wrong now!"

Why did I go for an HP?  There is a linux support package called HPLIP that I have found makes integrating HP printers a breeze.  I simply went with what I know.

But of course there is a catch.  The version of HPLIP with Wheezy is too old for this printer.  Backports?  Nope.  I DID get the printer installed with the Gnome 3 setup though and it worked like a bought one.  The scanner though was not detected.  Sigh.

Distribution Upgrade

After some thought and looking at the HP support site, I thought that maybe it was time to bite the bullet and put the next Debian version Jessie (current testing branch) on and go from there.  This was more than I'd intended, but I figured I was probably going to have to do it eventually.  After backing up the files in the appropriate directories, I thought I'd give the in-place upgrade a whirl.  It was only partially successful and in retrospect I probably should have un-installed all but essential packages before progressing, however I took it as part of the learning experience.

Upgrading with Jessie DVD / CD ... 64 / 32

As luck would have it, I had a Jessie DVD with me and thought that would be perfect to use to upgrade, so off I went blowing away the old clagged installation.  Everything was going smoothly as I've found Debian installs generally go when one part of the installing packages caught my eye.  I was installing an amd64 Debian onto an i386 machine!!!  Bother.  But .... why was it installing then?  My initial urge to cancel and work out another plan gave way to curiosity so I let the install complete, reboot, and ... well .... well.... it works beautifully.  I had a smoothly working 64 bit Debian install on a Pentium 4 machine.  I'm left wondering if this was owing to the Debian "multiarch" characteristics I've read about or if the chip was secretly 64 bit.  Installing Skype proved a challenge however achievable (skype is only 32 bit and needs 32 bit support activated in 64 bit Debian), although the dependencies became too much of a bother for me so .. once again I decided to install it properly with a 32 bit version.  I downloaded and burnt a 32 bit Netinstall CD on another machine and tried again.

In trying to get both the HP printer/scanner and Skype working on the setup, I was getting driven nuts as things just weren't working.  After a few hours and somewhat dejected after trying various desktops I gave up for the evening.  Not happy.  (I subsequently found I was easily able to sort things after a night of my brain mulling over the problems).

Final Configuration

Whilst the default desktop for Debian Jessie is now Xfce, I have found that the ONLY desktop that conveniently does what I want this machine to do is Gnome 3 (3.8).  I did try putting some icons on the desktop for home and trash etc, however this killed the wallpaper, so I went back to the default settings.

Of course, how do you install Gnome3?  You can look in "Synaptic" however using the command line, it is simply:

# aptitude install gnome

Here is what I have and I am quite happy with it - it took a while to discover however there is nothing difficult about my setup:

Debian Jessie 3.8
GDM3 login manager
HPLIP and HPLIP GUI installed
HPLIP GUI made visible using the Main Menu editor
Skype works fine with the microphone selected in the Gnome Settings.
Printer installed
Scanner works fine - detected by scanning programs.


It works.
I am happy.

Debian Wheezy in VirtualBox - Part 6

v 0.2

I have to say that I'm really enjoying playing with Wheezy in Virtualbox.  It is letting me have a really good look at where things are going - although the downside is that it is too easy to just stop my work and have a bit more of a peek.  I'm no expert, however it is really interesting finding a problem and then seeing what information there is available to get around it.  It is made so much easier because I am starting with a solid base system that I'm not relying on that I can just incrementally improve.

On to what I have been doing ..

Documentation

There really is an amazing amount of documentation and how-to information available for Debian, not only on the Internet at large but also on the Debian Website and within the installation itself.  One example is the "Debian Reference" we installed in my last post. 

Another package to look at installing is the "menu-xdg" to compliment "menu", the Debian menu package.  I installed it thinking I would perhaps GET a Debian menu in Xfce, but not to be - I think I'll have to define a menu-hook for it and do it manually - but not right now.

" dhelp " is a package worth installing.  Once it is on your system, open a terminal and type " dhelp" .. it compiles a list of HTML documentation on your system and presents it in the default Web browser.

If you get really keen and open the file browser, look in " /usr/share/doc " .. a documentation package for almost every package you have installed .. even one that describes the Debian Menu system in detail.

Open Synaptic and search on "documentation" ... extensive stuff in the Debian Repositories.

Other places to find great stuff are The Linux Documentation Project , and the Rute User Tutorial , not forgetting the Linux Cookbook .  Of course, the Slackware Linux Book project is just wonderful, and I've really been impressed with the detail of the documentation at Gentoo Linux.

I think that is enough for today.



Later ...............

Debian Wheezy in VirtualBox - Part 5

v 0.2

This time I'd thought I'd talk about packages I've installed / uninstalled. 

• First up is the Flash plugin.  Wheezy comes with the latest IceWeasel browser (Firefox) however uses the Gnash plugin.  Whilst this is improving steadily, for what I want to do especially in Youtube, the Adobe Flash is much better.  Ensure you have  "main contrib non-free" activated for your repositories in "/etc/apt/sources.list" and after updating the repositories, fire up Synaptic and search for "Flash".  You will find the "Browser plugin for Gnash" is installed - mark it for removal, and at the same time, mark the Adobe Flash non-free for installation.  Apply, and now you have the Adobe Flash plugin installed.
• Some fonts.  Search for " ttf-mscorefonts-installer " and mark that for installation.
• Gdebi.  When you wish to install a " deb " package to your system that you have manually downloaded, if you use Gdebi to install, then all the dependencies will be checked and if available, downloaded from the Debian repository.  Once installed, it appears in the "System" section.
• Boot-Up Manager.  Look for " bum " .  What it does is to allow you to control which services run on startup.
• Debian-reference-en  .. an excellent book all about Debian.  This also installs the  debian-reference-common package.  If you are not careful and don't just choose your preferred language, you'll end up installing the lot.  You might also consider the debian refcard, and the installation guide as well.  Now, because of the wonders of the Debian menu system (worth finding out about), the Debian reference is now in the  "accessories" section.
• xchm - to view Microsoft compiled help files.  Once installed, it appears in the "Office" menu.  There is also kchmviewer, however though that is a little more capable, it is also somewhat larger.  If you are going to have a number of KDE applications though, it might not be so bad.
• xcal - an old and basic calendar / memo / alarm program - but interesting.  AND it brings up another question - that of modifying the Xfce menu, since xcal does not appear and can only be launched via the terminal (unless you create a launcher).

 Of course, the "application finder" spyglass on the dock could be used to do some modifying of the menu, however I've not chased it up yet.

Menus in Debian

Menus in Debian are interesting - there is an automated system to add and delete items that enables the menu of any desktop / window manager to be automatically updated as packages are moved in and out.  You can start reading about the Debian Menu System, and then,of course, Google is your friend.

Alacarte Menu Editor

The Gnome menu editor was the first to cross my mind .. " Alacarte" however when I went to install it, many of the Gnome packages were listed for installation as well, which was not what I was after.

The Debian Menu

One menu selection that is missing is the "Debian" menu, which DOES include all the installed applications.




Enough for the moment.



More later .......

Debian Wheezy in VirtualBox - Part 3

v0.2

I finished the previous part having just booted into a nice shiny Gnome 3 desktop in Virtualbox.  It certainly was a change to what I was used to.

Before I get started though, what the Guest Additions do for you are that they allow seamless mouse movement between Guest and Host, and the ability to re-size the Guest desktop.  Just drag and it all works.  Three other features I'll mention in passing here are the ability to mount a DVD drive or ISO image, the ability to use a USB memory stick (after you have introduced it to Virtualbox in the USB section) and the ability to set up a shared folder between the two operating systems.

Gnome 3

I have to say that my initial experience was somewhat jarring.  I sort-of worked out some of the functionality, however it still largely felt like a bad visit to cartoonland.  I think I shall have to let it sit for a while, see if I can find a straightforward set of documentation and then re-visit.

Despite my reservations, I can perhaps see the point of the developers in that new users MAY find it a good experience, though I still wonder.

Xfce

Whilst I had used Xfce a little in the past, I was keen to see how it had developed in the latest incarnation. Those who are used to Debian being associated with "old" software have obviously never visited the "Testing" branch.

I re-did the Netinstall and put Xfce as the desktop of choice so as to see what came with it.  I found the log-in screen a little different to what I was used to (I use gdm and I assume this was different) however it went fine.  I don't care for the Debian starry wallpaper and need to do some reading to see how to replace it for the bootup and login.  The Xfce desktop came up very nicely and I had a great feeling about it right away - I can understand Linus's comments now about abandoning Gnome for Xfce.  I checked the "About" menu option and found it was Xfce 4.8, the latest version.

About now would be a good time for a screenshot, but I won't.  Instead I shall use the wonder of text to describe it (you'll thank me for not exposing you to the starry paper background).

Debian has Xfce set up with three bands by default.

• Of course there is the desktop in the centre which has three icons at the top left for "Home", "Filesystem" and "Trash".  Right click the mouse and a menu allowing you to create desktop icons or select properties or applications, appears.  
• Along the top is a panel reminiscent of the Gnome 2 setup.  On the left is a main dropdown menu of applications, then a shutdown button next to it.  On the right at the top are the icons for the default 4 workspaces, the time and the network status.
• At the bottom is a panel in the centre that works a little like the OSX "Dock".  There are six icons by default.  Minimise Windows, Terminal, File Manager, Web Browser, Find Applications, and an icon that allows you to open any folder in your home folder in either the file manager or terminal.

It is rather pointless talking about standard applications that come with Debian because it is easy to simply use the package manager and install those you like and eliminate those you don't.  I will say though that those that stood out to me were Iceweasel v9.0 (ie the running latest release of firefox) and LibreOffice.  I also like the lack of some of the major applications that come with Gnome by default that I just don't use.

So in contrast with my initial impression of the latest Gnome, I rather like Xfce.  I'll leave this post here (and get back to what I should be doing) and next time I'll talk about some initial customisations I have done to make things just that bit better.


Later ..............

Debian Wheezy in VirtualBox - Part 1

v 0.2

 This post has grown significantly since I started, so I've had to split it up ...... here goes ..

I'm a fan of Debian Linux.  Whilst Ubuntu is fine, Debian just sits right with me.  Same with Virtualbox.  I have had a Debian Squeeze virtual machine on my laptop and desktop for some time and thought I'd explore a bit further. 

One thing I did recently was to explore the concept of using a Debian VM as an encrypted volume.  Whilst there are some other means of encrypting files and partitions, I've found it is quite effective to install a Debian encrypted VM and use that.  It is quite straight-forward, as I described in an earlier post installing to an old laptop. Free and neat.

What I have been thinking of recently, though, is exploring Wheezy (Debian Testing) and the new Gnome.  I'd been hearing a few things about it that disturbed me, and I have been eager to explore a bit, since I have shown a few people Debian recently, and they love it.  Gnome in Squeeze is quite easy for them and I've been wondering how they would fare.


Wheezy Netinstall

First, how do you find an ISO to install?  Easy - search on "debian installer" and it will take you to the page from which to download a "netinstall" image.

http://cdimage.debian.org/cdimage/daily-builds/daily/arch-latest/i386/iso-cd/

You can see from this that this is the link to the "i386" image.

http://cdimage.debian.org/cdimage/daily-builds/daily/arch-latest/i386/iso-cd/debian-testing-i386-netinst.iso

Now, what is a "Netinstall" iso image?  It is a Debian Installer cd image that will install a base Linux system onto your computer from which it then connects to a Debian Repository to download the remaining files to produce a complete system.  Note, you need to be connected to the Internet when you use the Netinstall image - I guess that is .. er .. why it is called "Netinstall".

Virtualbox

Given that Virtualbox is free and available for all common platforms, I've found it most useful.  I can run a copy of the same Linux VM on both my Windows desktop and my Mac Laptop. 

For those who don't know, Virtualbox started as a private, open-source project many years ago before being bought by Sun, who continued developing it, before in turn being bought by Oracle who have thankfully kept the project going.  The latest can be downloaded from http://virtualbox.org  .  You will need both the version for your platform, and the guest additions (which install into virtualbox easily).

Preparing Virtualbox for Gnome 3

I have two Wheezy VMs - one for Gnome and one for Xfce desktops, to see what is available and how best to tailor Wheezy for what I want, however I used the same recipie for both VMs.  It is pretty straight forward to prepare a VM in Virtualbox, and you can always read the documentation or Google for some pointers, so I'll only cover the particulars of my install.

• I started the new Gnome VM by calling it WheezyGnome - Virtualbox immediately figured it was going to be a Linux VM.  
• I created an expanding volume, max 15 gig
• In the Display section, I gave it 128 meg of video memory and ticked the 3d acceleration

Gnome 3 needs 3d acceleration to give you the best "experience" otherwise it starts in a fall-back mode.  When you first install any Linux distro with Gnome 3, you will need to start the fall-back mode until you have installed the "Guest Additions" to the VM.

Next ...

Next I'll talk about how I got Gnome 3 up and running in Wheezy ...



Later .....