How to install Ubuntu from hard disk (without CDROM)

There are times when you need to (re-)install Ubuntu on your computer and at the same time you are in situation where booting from CD-ROM is not possible.

Luckily I found a post from Deepblue Spaces: Install Ubuntu 8.04 from Hard Disk that contains step-by-step to start Ubuntu installer from the official Ubuntu ISO.

  • It involves downloading the Official Ubuntu ISO from http://www.ubuntu.com/getubuntu
  • Extracting /casper/vmlinuz and /casper/initrd.gz from the ISO file.
  • And modifying /grub/menu.lst file to include the boot the cd image.

For more information, please refer to the original tutorial : Deepblue Spaces: Install Ubuntu from Hard Disk.

This trick is particularly handy when you are installing Ubuntu from a computer with buggy BIOS or where CD-ROM is not readily available

Fancy Ubuntu Hardy Heron Shirt ?

I found this shirt while surfing the Canonical Store

The shirt is decorated with art based from the latest Ubuntu Hardy Heron wallpaper making it nice to be worn on LUG or Ubuntu meetups.

Hardy Heron

The downside is probably that once Intrepid Ibex comes out, the shirt would be the thing of yesterday, but rest assured as you can still wear it for other activities due to the generic nature of its design.

As for me, I would consider one if the shirt is available on the local market

How to : Dial-Up internet connection with Ubuntu

One of my friends ask me to make a tutorial on how to connect to the internet from Ubuntu using a dial-up modem. Here’s how to do it :

First go to System->administration ->Netwok, when a dialog appear, click Unlock, enter password.

Click Point-to-Point connection, then fill in the dialog with your dial-up internet account details, as shown.

Click OK to confirm your selection, and you are done.

Click the modem tab, put in your modem device port, typically it should be a serial device or /dev/modem

Hopefully this should be able to help you get on the internet!

How to install *.rpm in Ubuntu / Debian based operating system

There are times when you need to install an application that is only available in *.rpm package in Debian GNU/Linux or Ubuntu operating system. One of the main obstacles is that Debian / Ubuntu are using *.deb based packaging system which is incompatible with RPM.

However you can easily convert RPM package to *.deb and install it afterwards, here’s how to do it :

  • Install alien, its available in Debian, Ubuntu repository
  • Convert rpm package using command “sudo alien -k some-binary-package.rpm”
  • Install it using this command “sudo dpkg -i some-binary-package.deb

That’s all about it! Have fun installing application in your application.

Subscribed to Linux Hater’s Blog : Funny and hillarious blog

After discovering Linux Hater’s blog from Google Reader and Technorati, I decided to subscribe it as it was a funny and hillarious blog. It make fun of people who are using Linux for the wrong reasons (such as trying to act cool) and how some things in Linux are not better than any other operating system.

Linux Tux Logo

Other than that, it contains criticism of the Linux community in general, mainly directed towards fanboys and developers, although one can easily surmise that the author himself is a Linux user who has experience in writing applications, and presumably using a Debian-derived Linux distro.

Well I might be wrong, but Linux Haters Blog is a must read if you are a Linux user yourself because it offer insights of the overall of how GNU/Linux operating system compare to other OS and what would make Linux a better OS

How to save laptop battery when using Ubuntu Linux

When you are working outside with your laptop, the most important thing that you might consider is to maximize your battery lifetime. This is true especially when you are working on location where AC power is not readily available.

Laptop mypapit

Typical laptop might last from 1.5 hour to 3 hours of normal use. So you might want to squeeze out all the battery juice and put it to good use.

Here are a few tips that I got from surfing the internet to save battery life when you are using Ubuntu (or GNU Linux OS in general) :