Kubuntu Karmic Beta 3

[tim S]

Finally bluetooth is working! In as far as the mouse (in my case), finds itself
after re-boot. This is on an X41 and everything else appears to be OK as well,
so I can finally move on from Hardy!
Tim S

[tim S]

Unfortunately it still can't find hidden networks but it's still early in the Beta testing.
My guess is that this, and my previous post, would apply to all distros.
Tim S

[tim S]

I tried Ubuntu Karmic Alpha 3 on my X41, and while the interface is pretty much unchanged from Hardy,
It is now capable of finding hidden networks, but my bluetooth mouse looses connection every now
and again. All in all both (Karmic) Ubuntu and Kubuntu seem pretty solid, at least on my Thinkpad.

Tim S

[tim S]

So I can now confirm that Karmic Ubuntu alpha 3 CAN find (my) hidden network and
does re-acquire (my) bluetooth mouse on re-boot.
I can also confirm that Karmic Kubuntu Beta also finds (my) bluetooth mouse on
re-boot but still CANNOT find (my) hidden wireless network.
Both of the above are using a Thinkpad X41, a Targus bluetooth mouse and a Linksys 54G
wireless router, so your mileage may vary.
It seems that the latest and greatest from Linux, especially the Ubuntu series, are
going to become very viable O/S's.
Tim S

[emeraldgirl08]

I'm very eager to add that to my collection

I'm pretty sure Jaunty doesn't support my Intel graphics from what I can tell.

I'm hoping Karmic does!

[tim S]

Thanks emeraldgirl 08 for replying, I was beginning to think this was my own personal space on Thinkpads Forum!
I do have a surprising update in that Kubuntu Beta 3 will connect to hidden networks, or at least, it does now.
Karmic Ubuntu Alpha 3 has a radio button to select a hidden network while Kubuntu doesn't. I connected Kubuntu (originally) when the network was visible; I made it hidden to test Ubuntu and now Kubuntu finds it on re-boot which is great for me.
Now the negative! I can only print blank pages with Ubuntu, but the printer (HP C6280) works fine with Windows XP and Kubuntu.
But again both OS's are only alpha or beta releases right now, so I'm looking for great things in October when they are both officially released.

Tim S

[emeraldgirl08]

Don't worry. I'm pretty sure someone else would have eventually!

I'm not very comp savvy but I have two big issues with software now. I have my Xp and Rescue and Recovery partition I need to Partimage (or an equivalent of that) to DVD. I need the disk space! The other issue is getting the integrated graphics to work nicely! I have the Intel graphics working in W7 so now my attention is on Ubuntu.

[tim S]

In my experience with Linux, primarily with Kubuntu and Ubuntu flavors, I've found that in many cases distros behave very differently on different computers/laptops.
So while I may have had success with a particular distro(s), on my X41, the same may or may not hold true for someone else with a different configuration or needs.
While it is always possible to dual boot between Windows and Linux, I think the safest way is to have a dedicated hard drive for each OS. The partitions types are completely different for Windows and Linux and I don't think they are really happy co-existing together in spite of the fact that many users do indeed dual boot.
Since you have the IBM restore partition to think of and perhaps all kinds of problems should it get erased, I'd get a second drive.
Here's my method.
I have a USB floppy as well as the dock with CD/DVD. I downloaded and wrote to a floppy 'Super F disk' (Google). I booted my machine with the floppy and followed directions on the screen with regard to formatting the new drive etc. By the way removing the MBR will completely erase the drive of ANY OS very quickly. Just format to FAT32 afterwards and you're good to go.
Remove the floppy, install the Linux distro CD of your choice, re-boot and that's it. You can use the whole disk install option now without worrying about partitions etc.
I have XP on a 60G drive, Kubuntu Hardy on a 40G drive, Karmic Kubuntu on another 40G drive and Karmic Ubuntu on an 8G CF card with adapter.

Tim S

[emeraldgirl08]

He he.

Thanks for the advice but I have W7 and Jaunty co-existing on my R52. I use Grub for boot and I haven't had any problems yet

I do have Jaunty only on my T30 with a FAT32 partition that has music and videos. I had the made for when I had my XP on it so I could transfer files between Jaunty (ext3) and XP (NTFS)....which reminds me

Since I'm pretty sure I've gotten everything on that FAT32 to DVD I'm going to erase that partition and restore XP. Sounds easy but I have to move Jaunty second to the back of that drive first! RnR goes dead-last then swap, ext 3 (Jaunty), and finally XP (from last to first).

[Louis]

I have issues with Jaunty not working properly with my hidden wireless network. It will not connect automatically and when i do it manually it often forgets the password and takes about 5 minutes of trials to finally connect. Initially i thought this might be a driver's issue but when it does connect it stays connected. Could this be what you guys are mentioning about issues with wireless networks? Should I give Karmic a shot?

Thanks!!