Now on Linux

[Joseph Hewitt]

I've been having a lot of computer troubles lately. Once every few years this laptop starts not booting. The solution in the past has been to reformat and reinstall. This time I decided to try Ubuntu Linux, and after some initial problems with Karmic Koala managed to install Hardy Heron.

I've just installed FPC and have run into loads of problems. For now I'm using gedit for editing; does anyone have any better suggestions? To compile I opened a terminal window and cd'd to the proper directory. My old editor (PFE) could open a DOS window to the same directory as your source files; is there any way to do this here, or set up a shortcut for a terminal which starts in the proper directory? I then compiled with -dASCII, which seemed to work, but there was no way to run the resulting executable. Double clicking on it from the file browser did nothing. Do I have to set permissions before I can run the file?

I tried writing a "Hello world!" program to test. Again, it appeared to compile successfully but I couldn't get the program to run.

I think my workflow may be too 1990s... Do the rest of you use an IDE for programming, and if so which one?

Flash is not working, but I found a wiki page with details on how to fix that.

For tonight, I'm going to try and get my tablet working, then go to bed. Any help would be appreciated.

[Burzmali]

I've been having a lot of computer troubles lately. Once every few years this laptop starts not booting. The solution in the past has been to reformat and reinstall. This time I decided to try Ubuntu Linux, and after some initial problems with Karmic Koala managed to install Hardy Heron.

Welcome to the light!  Sorry you are having problems with 9.10, you have specs on the laptop?  Ubuntu should run on just about anything, the only thing I can think of is that you might be low on the memory.  It could be the system memory, the minimum for a full install jump from 256M to 384M a few releases back.  What was running on the system before? 9.10 is better than 8.04 in a lot of areas so you should get it if you can.

I've just installed FPC and have run into loads of problems. For now I'm using gedit for editing; does anyone have any better suggestions?

Emacs and VI have always been popular for power users.  Nano is good for light stuff.  I usually use gEdit myself, the syntax highlighting works for Pascal IIRC.

To compile I opened a terminal window and cd'd to the proper directory. My old editor (PFE) could open a DOS window to the same directory as your source files; is there any way to do this here, or set up a shortcut for a terminal which starts in the proper directory?

You have a couple options, I found a link for compiling and run free pascal with gedit, and here's a link for opening a terminal from nautilus, the file explorer window.  Also geany seems to have some of the features you are looking for.

I then compiled with -dASCII, which seemed to work, but there was no way to run the resulting executable. Double clicking on it from the file browser did nothing. Do I have to set permissions before I can run the file?

You need to right click, go to properties, then permissions, then set the file to launch as an executable.  Then you can double click it.  You can also launch it from the bash shell using ./arena or ./gearhead depending on the version.

Good luck and let us know how it works out!

[Daemonward]

Flash is not working, but I found a wiki page with details on how to fix that.

All you have to do is install the flashplugin-nonfree package. Though if you've installed gnash or any other flash alternatives you should uninstall those beforehand.

[Burzmali]

You also might want to take a look at this post on stuff to do after installing Karmic Koala.  Lots of good info there.

[Joseph Hewitt]

Flash is now up and running. My tablet works mostly perfectly- the default settings are apparently different from the Wacom installation, so I'm going to adjust the pressure sensitivity a bit.

Welcome to the light!  Sorry you are having problems with 9.10, you have specs on the laptop?  Ubuntu should run on just about anything, the only thing I can think of is that you might be low on the memory.  It could be the system memory, the minimum for a full install jump from 256M to 384M a few releases back.  What was running on the system before? 9.10 is better than 8.04 in a lot of areas so you should get it if you can.

Previously running WinXP, 1Gb ram, Dual Core processor, this computer should be able to handle it. The LiveCD for Karmic works OK but hard drive installation doesn't: I get a "Device not found" error. This is apparently a known bug in 9.10, which will hopefully be fixed soon.

The newest version of The Gimp can't be installed on v8.04. This is bad, because v2.4 (which comes preinstalled) is hateful. I'll try upgrading to v8.10 tonight, since that version can use 2.6... What's the deal with these version limitations, anyhow? Could I get around it by compiling Gimp on my own, or is Hardy Heron truly incapable of running the program?

Emacs and VI have always been popular for power users.  Nano is good for light stuff.  I usually use gEdit myself, the syntax highlighting works for Pascal IIRC.

The syntax highlighting is nice. I haven't had syntax highlighting since my days on the Amiga... now, if only I could find a decent folding editor I'd be all set. I've downloaded the terminal-from-nautilus package, and am going to try Geany for a bit. Could you send me your modified JEDI-SDL files so I could try them out?

[Burzmali]

Previously running WinXP, 1Gb ram, Dual Core processor, this computer should be able to handle it. The LiveCD for Karmic works OK but hard drive installation doesn't: I get a "Device not found" error. This is apparently a known bug in 9.10, which will hopefully be fixed soon.

Hmm, so you didn't get that error until after the initial installation completed?  No reason that a machine like your's couldn't handle Karmic.

The newest version of The Gimp can't be installed on v8.04. This is bad, because v2.4 (which comes preinstalled) is hateful. I'll try upgrading to v8.10 tonight, since that version can use 2.6... What's the deal with these version limitations, anyhow? Could I get around it by compiling Gimp on my own, or is Hardy Heron truly incapable of running the program?

Well, you can always compile, that is the only manly way to do things, but the version in the repository has been exhaustedly tested to work with that particular version of Ubuntu.  On the other hand, if you are willing to live a bit dangerously, I see that GetDeb has version 2.6 of Gimp for Hardy.

Emacs and VI have always been popular for power users.  Nano is good for light stuff.  I usually use gEdit myself, the syntax highlighting works for Pascal IIRC.

The syntax highlighting is nice. I haven't had syntax highlighting since my days on the Amiga... now, if only I could find a decent folding editor I'd be all set. I've downloaded the terminal-from-nautilus package, and am going to try Geany for a bit. Could you send me your modified JEDI-SDL files so I could try them out?
[/quote]
I sent over the whole pack, but be warned that I have only corrected the files related to Gearhead so no warranty extended or implied and all that.

[Joseph Hewitt]

Well, you can always compile, that is the only manly way to do things, but the version in the repository has been exhaustedly tested to work with that particular version of Ubuntu.

You've seen how I program. You know that I live a life of danger.

I tried compiling GH2 SDL this afternoon. The version I had installed didn't have the extras (such as OpenGL), so I removed it and reinstalled FPC manually (can't use the package manager at school, since my laptop has no internet connection here). The latest version of FPC comes with SDL units as standard. Woo-hoo! No more fooling around with installing Jedi! Unfortunately the compilation still failed since I don't have all the SDL packages installed. I can do that tonight when I get home.

Edit- I've compiled it, it works. It's a bit slower than it was under Windows; walking isn't bad but turning takes a long time. I've uncommented MINIMAL_SCREEN_REFRESH for the time being. As I keep saying, this is why we need a graphics programmer.

[Burzmali]

Edit- I've compiled it, it works. It's a bit slower than it was under Windows; walking isn't bad but turning takes a long time. I've uncommented MINIMAL_SCREEN_REFRESH for the time being. As I keep saying, this is why we need a graphics programmer.

Have you installed the restricted drivers for your video chipset?

[Joseph Hewitt]

I installed the drivers for Hardy at the time. After getting home from work I upgraded to Intrepid and installed the new drivers. I'm happy to say that not only do I now have Gimp 2.6, but GearHead2 runs faster than it did under Windows!

I think I'm going to stick with gEdit. All the other editors/IDEs I've looked at have been too busy. I don't want a wall of features, just let me look at the code. Looking through the programs list, I found something called "Kommander Editor". It looks like we could use this to rig up some GH content-creation wizards. I'm going to play around with it for a bit.

[Burzmali]

I installed the drivers for Hardy at the time. After getting home from work I upgraded to Intrepid and installed the new drivers. I'm happy to say that not only do I now have Gimp 2.6, but GearHead2 runs faster than it did under Windows!

And it always will

I think I'm going to stick with gEdit. All the other editors/IDEs I've looked at have been too busy. I don't want a wall of features, just let me look at the code. Looking through the programs list, I found something called "Kommander Editor". It looks like we could use this to rig up some GH content-creation wizards. I'm going to play around with it for a bit.

We probably can.  First though once you're settled in, getting both graphical and ASCII versions of Gearhead into the Repos and PlayDeb should be looked at.

[Kornel Kisielewicz]

Joseph, why don't you try Lazarus?

P.S. Did you get my e-mail?

[Joseph Hewitt]

I tried Lazarus but didn't really like it. Again, it's too busy. Maybe someday I'll try it again.

Yes, I got your email, I'll reply to it today. I've been a bit of a recluse this month.

[Joseph Hewitt]

And... the computer is once again not booting, this time with Linux. I press the button, the light comes on, but all I get is a black screen. I had to power cycle four times this morning before the hard drive kicked in... Note that this is apparently the same problem which caused me to reformat in the first place, which is different from the problem I had with Koala, so it seems that it's my hardware which is fracked. Eunsuk called the Samsung place today and we'll probably have to bring it in for service. In the meantime, I'm saving all my files on USB and wondering if I can convince the school techie to let me run SVN on this computer.

Hopefully this is something that can be fixed easily and cheaply.

[Burzmali]

Did the BIOS load?  How about the POST beeps?  At what point does it freeze?

[Joseph Hewitt]

With Windows, it froze right after the Samsung screen. With Linux, it gets to the Ubuntu screen with the bar and freezes after that. So, it seems that the BIOS is working. After the freeze there's nothing- no beeps, no hard disk access.