Ubuntu does not "completely work" for me. What's the best thing I can do?

[wersdaluv]

It has been about two months since I switched to Ubuntu. It required a lot of my time and effort.

Ubuntu works for me becuase I love its philosophy and the OS itself.

It's just that, I have a problem. Ubuntu does not "completely work" for me.

It is because my USB devices do not work with Ubuntu/Kubuntu Edgy (see this thread (http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?p=2123265#post2123265)) and I do not think I can solve it. Every time I have to use a USB device, I have to restart my laptop and boot Windows XP. It's requiring me too much effort that I am having a hard time managing my schedule.

There are things I am planning to do and I just want to hear your opinions on these. My options are to

Wait for Feisty (and hope my USB devices will work with it)
Continue with this setup (in case Feisty still wont work)
Try if other distros will work
or Simply switch back to Windows


Among the list, what is the best option, in your opinion. Is there a better option that is not in the list?

[Koybe]

You can try another distro if you want, but if you get used to ubuntu I think it's better to stick with it. Feisty should do the trick.

Let's try to find out a little more in the other thread.

[macogw]

Have you tried USB devices other than the mouse? I know I had problems getting my mp3 player to show up until I tried a different USB cable.

You can't boot with noapci and get wireless, I don't think. noapci disables that part of your hardware.

[muguwmp67]

From the other thread, it looks like you got your USB problems worked out. It looks like there's still a problem with wireless, but you are making progress.

I guess you could move back to windows, but I think sticking with Ubuntu is a fair bet. It sounds like you enjoy using it when it works, and you would most likely run into problems with other distros as well. And most other distros don't have the range of community support that ubuntu has.

You've run into problems (an incredibly annoying one, it appears) but they are starting to get resolved. I hope getting the wireless working isn't as hard. It looks like your original support thread got lost in the shuffle, but the community did come to your aid once it got bumped back to the top again

For future reference, if you still need help for a critical issue that hasn't been answered after 12 hours or so, post a reply to bump it back to the top. This will allow others to see it again, and will also allow people in other timezones to see it. Most people reading the support forums don't go more than 2 or 3 pages back.

Remember to use google, as well. I did a search for ubuntu and joybook and came up with a number of hits. One of which looked especially useful (http://www.cancullet.org/benqjb7000/BenqJB7000_linux.html)
I'm sure you will find even more useful information if you look for more specific topics.

[pirothezero]

have you tried the usb drive in different ports, try switching the inputs around, on my stuff i have a few ports that don't pick up usb drives for whatever reason. Other then that ya try another OS that claims complete connectivity/zero setup on external drives like that.

[H.E. Pennypacker]

Why would you switch to Windows if Ubuntu doesn't do what you need? Ubuntu is only a single distro. There are others available that may very well work with all your hardware. The best idea is to see what the experiences of other users have been. See how much luck the users of Suse, Fedora Core, PCLinuxOS, and others have had with what's not working for you.

I am saying Windows is not necessarily your only option.

[wersdaluv]

Have you tried USB devices other than the mouse? I know I had problems getting my mp3 player to show up until I tried a different USB cable.

You can't boot with noapci and get wireless, I don't think. noapci disables that part of your hardware.

Yup. Nothing worked.

In noacpi, they worked but, as you have said, the wireless doesn't work.

[wersdaluv]

From the other thread, it looks like you got your USB problems worked out. It looks like there's still a problem with wireless, but you are making progress.

I guess you could move back to windows, but I think sticking with Ubuntu is a fair bet. It sounds like you enjoy using it when it works, and you would most likely run into problems with other distros as well. And most other distros don't have the range of community support that ubuntu has.

You've run into problems (an incredibly annoying one, it appears) but they are starting to get resolved. I hope getting the wireless working isn't as hard. It looks like your original support thread got lost in the shuffle, but the community did come to your aid once it got bumped back to the top again

For future reference, if you still need help for a critical issue that hasn't been answered after 12 hours or so, post a reply to bump it back to the top. This will allow others to see it again, and will also allow people in other timezones to see it. Most people reading the support forums don't go more than 2 or 3 pages back.

Remember to use google, as well. I did a search for ubuntu and joybook and came up with a number of hits. One of which looked especially useful (http://www.cancullet.org/benqjb7000/BenqJB7000_linux.html)
I'm sure you will find even more useful information if you look for more specific topics.

Thanks for the helpful information.

As for the link, I don't think I can relate with it because we have different laptop models, specs, and it is an old article. Thanks anyway. I appreciate it when I see people having links for me.

[wersdaluv]

have you tried the usb drive in different ports, try switching the inputs around, on my stuff i have a few ports that don't pick up usb drives for whatever reason. Other then that ya try another OS that claims complete connectivity/zero setup on external drives like that.

Tried all ports and all those combinations.

[st33med]

If you really want to use another Linux, try Debian. It's like Ubuntu. But, if you ask me, I wouldn't know if the USB bus would work.

[wersdaluv]

Why would you switch to Windows if Ubuntu doesn't do what you need? Ubuntu is only a single distro. There are others available that may very well work with all your hardware. The best idea is to see what the experiences of other users have been. See how much luck the users of Suse, Fedora Core, PCLinuxOS, and others have had with what's not working for you.

I am saying Windows is not necessarily your only option.

I understand that. In fact, I am going to have openSUSE and Fedora Core CDs on Wednesday. As for PCLinuxOS, I am waiting for the 2007 final version which has been delayed for about 27 days.

PCLinuxOS is my best choice so far. They also have active forums and it seems to be most suitable for new users like me if I cannot use Ubuntu/Kubutu well.

I hope those other distros work. After trying them out, if they don't work, I'll choose between buying a PCMCIA USB Slot/PCMCIA Wireless LAN in order to make things run, or simply stick with Windows whre everything worked except the security and the philosophy.

[H.E. Pennypacker]

I understand that. In fact, I am going to have openSUSE and Fedora Core CDs on Wednesday. As for PCLinuxOS, I am waiting for the 2007 final version which has been delayed for about 27 days.

PCLinuxOS is my best choice so far. They also have active forums and it seems to be most suitable for new users like me if I cannot use Ubuntu/Kubutu well.

I hope those other distros work. After trying them out, if they don't work, I'll choose between buying a PCMCIA USB Slot/PCMCIA Wireless LAN in order to make things run, or simply stick with Windows whre everything worked except the security and the philosophy.

Hopefully things will go well, but if not, there are lots of people who find cheap hardware alternatives to those that don't work. Let us know if things fail, and you need hardware to see if any people can recommend certain brand names.

[wersdaluv]

Hopefully things will go well, but if not, there are lots of people who find cheap hardware alternatives to those that don't work. Let us know if things fail, and you need hardware to see if any people can recommend certain brand names.

Thanks.

I will do that, but I sure wish that things will work because I do not want to see a pcmcia device considering that I the built-in devices.

[Bezmotivnik]

I have found that distro-jumping away from Ubuntu usually is a complete waste of time. If it doesn't work in Ubuntu, it's probably not going to work in any other Linux distribution. I've tried at least 12-16 distributions and none of them even work as well with my stuff as Ubuntu. :(

Face it, Linux just doesn't have the hardware support you need, and it probably won't until your unsupported stuff is obsolete, if ever. That's just reality.

My solution is just to stick Ubuntu into a B box and connect it into my office setup with a KVM switch. I use Ubuntu where it works for me and conceivably has some advantages and have Windows on my A box to do the other stuff and run my peripherals.

Sloppy and inefficient, yes, but there's no other practical solution without buying a bunch of different stuff or beating my brains out for a year trying to kludge limited, buggy peripherals functionality out of Linux.

[prizrak]

You should grab Feisty Herd 4 CD and run it (just the LiveCD don't have to install it) it's in feature freeze now so all the drivers should already be in it. Try some other distros, one's with LiveCDs should be pretty quick and easy to try ;)

[wersdaluv]

I have found that distro-jumping away from Ubuntu usually is a complete waste of time. If it doesn't work in Ubuntu, it's probably not going to work in any other Linux distribution. I've tried at least 12-16 distributions and none of them even work as well with my stuff as Ubuntu. :(

Face it, Linux just doesn't have the hardware support you need, and it probably won't until your unsupported stuff is obsolete, if ever. That's just reality.

My solution is just to stick Ubuntu into a B box and connect it into my office setup with a KVM switch. I use Ubuntu where it works for me and conceivably has some advantages and have Windows on my A box to do the other stuff and run my peripherals.

Sloppy and inefficient, yes, but there's no other practical solution without buying a bunch of different stuff or beating my brains out for a year trying to kludge limited, buggy peripherals functionality out of Linux.

What I am hoping for now is to have other distros work for me or to have this problem solved. You have a point when you said that, if Ubuntu doesn't work for me, others won't too. I believe that Ubuntu is the best distro out there. I'm just being adventurous with distros that are good for new users and are KDE-centered like PCLinuxOS.

What I can do now is to try to solve this thing with Ubuntu. I'll ask more comprehensively when it comes to booting on normal mode and in normal mode or under noapic.

If I have time, I'll try to hit a BenQ service center one of these days.

[wersdaluv]

You should grab Feisty Herd 4 CD and run it (just the LiveCD don't have to install it) it's in feature freeze now so all the drivers should already be in it. Try some other distros, one's with LiveCDs should be pretty quick and easy to try ;)

Good idea! I'll download herd 4 right now and try it when I get home later!

[prizrak]

Good idea! I'll download herd 4 right now and try it when I get home later!
Best of luck to you

[macogw]

Try Knoppix. It has GREAT hardware support.

[PatrickMay16]

It has been about two months since I switched to Ubuntu. It required a lot of my time and effort.

Ubuntu works for me becuase I love its philosophy and the OS itself.

It's just that, I have a problem. Ubuntu does not "completely work" for me.

It is because my USB devices do not work with Ubuntu/Kubuntu Edgy (see this thread (http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?p=2123265#post2123265)) and I do not think I can solve it. Every time I have to use a USB device, I have to restart my laptop and boot Windows XP. It's requiring me too much effort that I am having a hard time managing my schedule.

There are things I am planning to do and I just want to hear your opinions on these. My options are to

Wait for Feisty (and hope my USB devices will work with it)
Continue with this setup (in case Feisty still wont work)
Try if other distros will work
or Simply switch back to Windows


Among the list, what is the best option, in your opinion. Is there a better option that is not in the list?

I suggest you stay with windows until the next release of ubuntu is out, or trying other distributions to see if they work better.

[wersdaluv]

Best of luck to you

My USB still doesn't work in Feisty Herd 4. :(

[mips]

Try another distro, we wont hate you if you try something else. Even I think ubuntu is not that great or for me.

[wersdaluv]

I'm going to look for a new minipci usb card for my laptop tomorrow.

Do you think a built-in minipci usb card can be replaced?

If so, what brand do you recommend?

[mips]

I'm going to look for a new minipci usb card for my laptop tomorrow.

Do you think a built-in minipci usb card can be replaced?

If so, what brand do you recommend?

Sure you don't mean pcmcia/cardbus card ?

miniPCI is a completely different beast to what you are describing.

[GameManK]

You could download a Feisty preview CD (herd 5 comes out tomorrow) and see if it works instead of waiting until release. The kernel is not going to change much at this point.
EDIT: I only read the first page :-\

[Roberticus]

If I were you I would try Linux Mint. If I've understood right they have good support for wireless and other sorts of hardware.
http://linuxmint.com/index.html

(Or I might have misunderstood this thread completely...)

[wersdaluv]

Sure you don't mean pcmcia/cardbus card ?

miniPCI is a completely different beast to what you are describing.

I have a pcmcia slot but as much as possible, but I want to change the miniPCI USB card inside my laptop. Do you think that's possible?

[mips]

I have a pcmcia slot but as much as possible, but I want to change the miniPCI USB card inside my laptop. Do you think that's possible?

I'm not aware of miniPCB USB cards. That slot usually get used for wireless miniPCI cards. There are not a lot of uses for that slot currently.

What brand model laptop do you have ?

You can change the minipci cards but it is not always plain sailing. Some manufacturerers whitelist cards that only work in their product, usually their own stuff.

[wersdaluv]

I'm downloading Herd 5. I hope it works.

If it doesn't I'll give PCLinuxOS 2007 a shot.

If both don't work... Well... Goodbye Linux. :(