[ale] Fwd: Ubuntu/Gnome problems

[Brian Pitts]

>
> Bottom line problem:
> Getting Skype to work on one of two machines:
>
> Machine #1: Former FC7 box, now upgraded (what a disaster!) to FC11.
> I prefer KDE but KDE 4.2 is FUBAR so I am mostly using Gnome. There is a glitch
> in the sound system and when I try to use Skype it reports, "there is a problem
> with sound playback." I am using a Logitech camera/microphone that is supported
> by Linux and the OS clearly "sees" the combo.
> I'm guessing there is some sort of problem in the Alsa config, but I
> have no clue
> how to fix it.
>
>   
Skype's linux version is suffering from major bitrot, IMHO. Ekiga (which
works with any SIP client) and Empathy (which can do voice and video
with itself and voice with google talk) are nicer options. Sadly, I
still have to use Skype too. What you have to do is play with the Sound
In, Sound Out, and Ringing devices under Skype's sound options.
> Even mnore of a headache. When I first fired up this box with FC 11 "Cheese" (a
> gnome program for running the camera) worked okay -- at least it could record a
> video and show the image on the screen. Now it doesn't and I have no clue why.
> Obviously I have to get the camera/microphone working to make Skype work.
>   
Remove and reattach the camera. Run cheese from the command line and
look for errors. Check /var/log/messages for errors. From skimming linux
webcam developer mailing lists I've seen lots of reports of cameras with
usb chip problems that make them work intermittently.

> Machine #2 Acer Netbook with Ubuntu 9.04 freshly installed.
>
> Same problems. I can't get the built in microphone and camera to work.
>
> Also, what sort of package manager does Ubuntu (Debian?) use. I can do Yum and
> rpm and probably most of the others, but I have no clue what to use.
>
> Ubuntu 9.04 comes with an unknown default root password! WTF. There is
> no convenient way to install a root password. At one point in the install
> routine I was assured that I would get the chance to add other users to the
> machine. No such luck. Never happened.
> Now I can go to the command line and add user accounts and I can get to a root
> shell by interrupting the boot process, but I SHOULD NOT HAVE TO!
> There is no excuse for this.
Heh, maybe save the ranting until after RTFM? ;-) Both of these pages
are available from System->Administration->Help and Support.

https://help.ubuntu.com/9.04/add-applications/C/index.html
https://help.ubuntu.com/9.04/basic-commands/C/elevated-privileges.html

These two pages from the community documentation are even better, IMHO.

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/AptGet/Howto
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/RootSudo

Short answers: dpkg and apt-get are the equivalents of rpm and yum. The
root account doesn't have an unknwon password; it's locked. Use sudo.
Also, you can add users through the GUI (System->Administration->Users
and Groups, same as in Fedora 11) but the question about package
management make me think you're looking for command-line ways of doing
things.

You don't say what Acer netbook you have. Is it an Aspire One?

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/AspireOne

-- 

All the best,
Brian Pitts