Suffering here...

[umuntu_ngabantu]

I only have a few weeks using ubuntu and boy am I suffering! Every single thing just seems so difficult. Trust me, I can see why ubuntu is best...but one has gotta know how to use it first! At this stage, ubuntu has really slowed my productivity down although I'm trying hard to learn.

Basic things like my 3G card, ipod and Nokia N73 phone still do not work with my PC and those are things I need the most. It's like I'm just sitting idling around and not doing any work. There seems to be posts about most of the issues I have, but these do not seem to be helping me.

There are lots of things I love about ubuntu, but overall, I'm suffering. I will stick it out though and see if I can't sort myself out. phew...I've invested so many hours into this thing already, it's not even funny, ut all I have to show for it at this stage is a sleek-looking Beryl themed desktop.

I guess ubuntu is not a ready-to-work-out-of-the-box sort of OS...yet, or is it? The one thing I'm striggling with is that every forum member seems to be speaing a foreign language, meanwhile I just wanna do some work...I really am committed to making a success of my switch, but it's so d*mn hard.

[Sqwishy]

So what exactly are you trying to say? Do you need help with your iPod? I'm confuzed?

[umuntu_ngabantu]

So what exactly are you trying to say? Do you need help with your iPod? I'm confuzed?

@ Sqwishy.

My post was/is a testimonial more than anything else, which is y I put it under testimonials, but to answer your question, yes I do need help with and have made posts elsewhere on the forum regarding:

1. mounting my ipod nano;
2. getting my vodafone 3G data card to work, and
3. connecting my phone via bluetooth.

Thank you for your reply and if you can help, I would really appreciate it.

[meng]

Well phone/bluetooth compatibility seems to be a common problem, so in that respect I think that Ubuntu doesn't meet the out-of-the-box functionality that you want. I'm not sure what proportion of users are affected by that (I only know that I'm not one of them). As for the ipod nano, that I'm sure is a common item, and you should search the forums for solutions, e.g.
http://www.ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=316244&highlight=ipod+nano
which is more up-to-date than another thread you saw/posted on.

[aysiu]

Believe it or not, your thread is not a testimonial. Testimonials are positive.

Maybe you could call it a personal experience, but it's not a testimonial. I've moved this to the Cafe. I may eventually merged it with the Desktop Readiness thread if it ends up going that road...

[mips]

2. getting my vodafone 3G data card to work, and


The best resource is a local one:

http://mybroadband.co.za/vb/showthread.php?t=21726

It works just fine under linux.

If you did a search on this forum for 'vodacom' you would also find results.

[umuntu_ngabantu]

To those who offered assistance, thank you very much for your posts. I will certainly try your suggestions and I am sure I will succeed.


@ Aysiu, I appreciate your response. Whatever you want to call or do with my post does not change much, I still said what I felt.

I believe positive or negative, user's thoughts on ubuntu matter.

I will continue to use Ubuntu because I guess we all have to start somewhere. Thank you all.

[Tomosaur]

bluetooth: Some devices just won't work properly - others will. You should really check whether yours is supported before making the switch. You may be able to find instructions on how to get yours working, but I wouldn't expect great results. You may just have to buy a supported device instead.

Data card: I assume you're talking about SD Cards? If so, then if you're inserting the card into an intermediary, external device (which then connects via USB or whatever), then again, you may have problems depending on whether linux drivers for that device exist or not. If your SD cards go directly into your machine, then they should work. Depending on how SD support is compiled into your kernel, they should either be working perfectly, or require you to load the sd modules. I can't remember the names, but a google search should help you out.

Ipod nano - They're not directly supported by Linux, but there are several projects to get them working fine. Again, google for 'iPod linux' to see how.

[v8YKxgHe]

I only have a few weeks using ubuntu and boy am I suffering! Every single thing just seems so difficult. Trust me, I can see why ubuntu is best...but one has gotta know how to use it first! At this stage, ubuntu has really slowed my productivity down although I'm trying hard to learn.

That'll be you're problem, you've only been using it for a few weeks. You can't expect to jump from Windows, you which have most probably been using all you're life, to Linux which is _not_ Windows.

Things will be different, and done differently. Just think to you're self "Ok, this isn't Windows, it never will be Windows and I don't want it to be Windows" and you'll be fine. You will never be as productive to begin with, you have to get use to it, like I said before you've probably been using Windows all you're life so you know it inside and out, where as with Linux/Ubuntu you've been using it 2 weeks - hardly enough time to know the in's and out's of it.

Good luck, just keep posting on these forums if you get stuck and need help :)


I guess ubuntu is not a ready-to-work-out-of-the-box sort of OS...yet, or is it? I take it you've never installed Windows then? :P It's worse out-of-box!

[runningwithscissors]

I guess ubuntu is not a ready-to-work-out-of-the-box sort of OS...yet, or is it? The one thing I'm striggling with is that every forum member seems to be speaing a foreign language, meanwhile I just wanna do some work...I really am committed to making a success of my switch, but it's so d*mn hard.
Don't over exert yourself. If it feels uncomfortable, I'd advise you to drop it.

[v8YKxgHe]

Don't over exert yourself. If it feels uncomfortable, I'd advise you to drop it.

Drop it after 2 weeks of learning a new OS after using Windows all his life? Just keep at it and don't give up! You'll soon get use to it.

[meng]

Drop it after 2 weeks of learning a new OS after using Windows all his life? Just keep at it and don't give up! You'll soon get use to it.
It's a tough call. Many folks don't make the transition at first attempt.

[helliewm]

Keep going, its worth it. I don't miss ******* at all. Just have a single Ubuntu boot. It does get easier I have been using Linux for 8 months and Ubuntu since Oct.

You may want to try LinuxMint which is Ubuntu will lots of codecs much more out of the box than Ubuntu.

The other one to try is SUSE SLED Enterprise edition.It was the first Linux flavour I used. Its again more out of the box than Ubuntu but its repositories aren't that good. Other than that I found it a great distro.

Take a look at distrowatch www.distorwatch.com and read the reviews.

Helen

[maniacmusician]

It's a tough call. Many folks don't make the transition at first attempt.
ditto. It took me a couple of times before I got comfortable enough to ditch Windows.

[sloggerkhan]

I don't know which nano you use, but I am pretty sure all but the most recent versions work OK with banshee and rhythmbox.
I wouldn't give up, either.
My first time using linux it took me like a day to set up a system where most things didn't work.
Now I can do a clean install and moderate customization of everything and have practically everything working in under an hour.
Once you learn how it works it's actually easier and more satisfying.

[mips]

Data card: I assume you're talking about SD Cards? If so, then if you're inserting the card into an intermediary, external device (which then connects via USB or whatever), then again, you may have problems depending on whether linux drivers for that device exist or not. If your SD cards go directly into your machine, then they should work. Depending on how SD support is compiled into your kernel, they should either be working perfectly, or require you to load the sd modules. I can't remember the names, but a google search should help you out.


You know what they say about assumptions :) The keyword he used was 3G. The card he is referring to is a 3G/GPRS PCMCIA type communications card utilising cellular technology.

[umuntu_ngabantu]

Thank you all for the encouragement and helpful suggestions. :lolflag: If anything I must say if there's one thing I like about ubuntu is the way everybody gets involved and has something useful to say - even though some of us "two-weekers" get frustrated and we vent out every now and then.

I'm not about to drop Ubuntu. It's only been a few days, really. Hardgoing, yes, but I can't give up because of that. If other people can learn, so can I.

As for my ipod nano, I've installed gtkpod but the nano won't mount. There's a howto I'm looking at now, so let's see how it goes.

Linuxmint? Never heard of that, but will check it out.

As for the data card, Mips has got it right, it's a HSDPA/3G/EDGE/GPRS data card - and I'm working on it at the moment through the forums. A bit of a challenge for me at this stage though...but what the heck, no one will fix it for me but me.

I must say installing Ubuntu was a breeze compared to winxp. I just realised now that there's so many things I took for granted and that I "had no say" in when I was in winxp. Now I have (potentially, provided I master linux) have a say in how my PC works. Teething problems aren't fun though :biggrin:

The links and suggestion are interesting and I suppose I know where I'll be this weekend

[yanqui]

Don't over exert yourself. If it feels uncomfortable, I'd advise you to drop it.

It depends on what you want it to do out of the box. Using a bluetooth device isn't "out of teh box" either in Linux or Windows. YOu have to install and configure.

Ubuntu is fine out of the box; it's adding things later that can be confusing. But like I said, that's true in both platforms. Some stuff is just "install and use." Some stuff is "install, configure, and use." Some stuff is "install, and...well, I don't know what comes next."