New Linux user, I need help setting up!

[Veovis Muad'dib]

I just installed the latest Ubuntu on my Macbook Pro, along with OSX, Windows XP, Windows Vista on another drive, and rEFIt. I'm trying to get Linux usable, but I have no idea how.

Here's what I want to do:

I want to know if it is possible to always default to starting in OSX, so that rEFIt is always started. If that is not possible, could I get rEFIt in Linux and Windows? I just want to always have rEFIt open first thing when I restart. The thing that makes this difficult is that I use Startup Disk in OSX and Boot Camp's system tray icon in Windows to switch OS's. Do I have to give that up to always start in rEFIt?

I would like my backlighting on my keys to work, even if I can't adjust the brightness at all, although manual change and ambient light sensing would be a plus. Speaking of brightness, my brightness keys don't work either.

I would like one finger tap to left-click, two finger tap to right-click, and two finger scrolling to work, both horizontally and vertically.

Sound is very quiet in Linux compared to my other operating systems, so I'd like to get that fixed.

I'm not even going to bother getting my iSight up and running, I barely ever use it.

Also, could someone please give me a link to basic keyboard shortcuts in Ubuntu?

I'm not asking people to find all of this info for me, but if you can help with one of my problems, I would really appreciate it. Thank you very much.

[karlr42]

Sound is very quiet in Linux compared to my other operating systems, so I'd like to get that fixed.
Try typing "alsamixer" into a terminal, then checking what volume your speakers are set at- they're probably too low. I had the same problem(though I'm not on a Mac).

[Veovis Muad'dib]

I tried that, but it didn't help. :'( Thank you though, any kind of help is appreciated.

More info that might help:

This is the newest Macbook Pro, I just bought it a month and a half ago.

I cannot hear anything through my speakers or my headphones, but I can hear it if I use my Logitech X-540's and turn it all the way up.

[Oscar Pradilla]

Read the Macbook wiki post, is the first post of all in this forum. There's almost everything you need.

[Veovis Muad'dib]

I looked at that, but I wasn't sure if it applied to Macbook Pros as well.I guess it does, so I'll go take a look. Thank you.

[cyberdork33]

I just installed the latest Ubuntu on my Macbook Pro, along with OSX, Windows XP, Windows Vista on another drive, and rEFIt. I'm trying to get Linux usable, but I have no idea how.
It would be more helpful if you identified the MacBook Pro version that you had. See the "Before you post..." link in my thread for details. Here are the MacBook Pro wiki pages though:
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/MacBookPro
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/MacBookPro/SantaRosa
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/MacBookPro/Penryn

Here's what I want to do:

I want to know if it is possible to always default to starting in OSX, so that rEFIt is always started. If that is not possible, could I get rEFIt in Linux and Windows? I just want to always have rEFIt open first thing when I restart. The thing that makes this difficult is that I use Startup Disk in OSX and Boot Camp's system tray icon in Windows to switch OS's. Do I have to give that up to always start in rEFIt?
If you installed rEFIt properly, it will show on every boot, and by default, it starts OS X after a timeout period. rEFIt is not really "installed on OSX" it is an efi executable that is started from the Mac firmware directly, thus, it is not necessary to install it in "Linux and Windows". Changing the "boot disk" in OS X or Windows will defintely prevent rEFIt from starting on bootup. This is because using that utility is essentially telling the firmware, " do not boot refit, but rather boot this OS."

I would like my backlighting on my keys to work, even if I can't adjust the brightness at all, although manual change and ambient light sensing would be a plus. Speaking of brightness, my brightness keys don't work either. You probably need pommed. These things are covered in either the wiki page for your hardware or in the Apple Intel FAQ. Applicable Bug Reports:
https://bugs.edge.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux-source-2.6.22/+bug/125918
https://bugs.edge.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/pommed/+bug/128786

I would like one finger tap to left-click, two finger tap to right-click, and two finger scrolling to work, both horizontally and vertically.
use the command 'man synaptics' and view the options that should be set there. There are also various threads in the forum on these topics. If you have one of the very latest MacBook Pros with the multitouch touchpad, then there is a new driver that you should use that enables the multitouch functions. http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=840040

Sound is very quiet in Linux compared to my other operating systems, so I'd like to get that fixed. First make sure that you are following the directions in the wiki page. The low volume is apparently a bug on MacBook Pros. There is no solution as of yet. https://bugs.edge.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux-source-2.6.22/+bug/125332

I'm not even going to bother getting my iSight up and running, I barely ever use it.That is probably the easiest of your questions. It might "just work" try the applicaotions cheese or ekiga. If not, here is the how to, and linked in the FAQ:
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=764616

[Veovis Muad'dib]

Thank you very much, I can't test it right now, since I'm on my iPod and not my computer. However, it looks like you've solved just about every problem I have.

[cyberdork33]

Thank you very much, I can't test it right now, since I'm on my iPod and not my computer. However, it looks like you've solved just about every problem I have.
I wouldn't say they will be solved, but rather you now have a lot more information on each of the issues you mention.