How to install Ubuntu 9.04 on an Intel-based Mac laptop, by Richard Cavell v1.1. (June 2009)
Part 2 of 3
Okay, now you have Ubuntu installed. You're now going to configure it to work with your Mac.
Every time you power on or restart your computer, if you want to use Ubuntu, you need to hold down the "alt option" key while you do so. If you did not come here from Part 1, then power on or restart your computer while holding down the "alt option" key now. Keep the "alt option" key held down until you get the boot menu. It might take a minute to appear. Now release the "alt option" key.
After you have blessed the Ubuntu partition in the next step, your boot menu will appear much quicker. However, if you try to get the boot menu while you have an external hard disk or USB key attached, or a CD or DVD in the drive, it will slow the process down. This is because your computer will habitually search each of those items for a bootable operating system before giving you the boot menu.
The boot menu gives you all of the devices and partitions that you can boot from. Typically, this will include any internal hard disk partitions that have operating systems installed. If you chose to keep OS X on your internal hard disk, you should see it now. It will appear as a grey image of a hard disk, and have a label. You should have noted the name of your OS X installation in step 1 of Part 1. The default label is "Macintosh HD". You may have changed the label. You should still be able to recognize this as your OS X installation.
You should have an Ubuntu installation, either beside or instead of the OS X installation. This partition may be labelled "Windows". If it is, don't worry about it. The Apple firmware is unable to tell the difference between Windows and Linux, that's all. You can improve on this by installing rEFIt, which can tell the difference and label the operating systems properly, or you can just learn to live with it. If you happen to have an external hard drive or USB key connected, or a CD or DVD in the drive, you may also see icons that give you the option of booting to one of them instead. Before proceeding, confirm that your internal hard disk partitions are laid out the way you intended.
Step 1: Bless the Ubuntu partition
If you have chosen to erase OS X from your setup altogether and have no way of booting into OS X, you can skip this step.
If you have kept OS X on your internal hard disk, use your mouse or trackpad to move your pointer to the OS X partition and
select it by clicking and releasing, and then skip the next paragraph.
If you have erased OS X from your internal hard disk but kept it on a USB key, external hard disk, then plug in the USB key or external hard disk now (if it's not already plugged in). If you kept OS X on a CD (including your primary OS X installation CD that came with your computer), shove the CD in the drive now if it's not already in. If you only just attached the OS X USB key or external disk, or put the OS X CD in the drive, your computer may take up to a minute to examine it before adding it to the menu. You may also need to reboot once more for your computer to recognize the OS X installation (hold down "alt option" and use your power button at the top right of the keyboard - see Part 3 for more info). When your boot menu sees your OS X installation, use your mouse or trackpad to move your pointer to the OS X installation and select it by clicking and releasing.
Your computer should boot into OS X. It should work the same way that it did before. If you kept it on your internal hard disk and resized the partition, it may have less space available on the internal hard disk than it did before, but it should still work fine.
Before proceeding, ensure that OS X is still working.
OS X cannot ordinarily read and write to a Linux partition, since they use different file systems. Resist the temptation to try to examine your Linux partition within OS X, or else you might break something. If you run into trouble while trying to set up Ubuntu, remember that you always have the option of rebooting into OS X.
You need to
open up a terminal now. To do this, move your pointer down to the middle of the bottom edge of the screen. The Dock should appear. On the left hand side will be a kind of Cubist face. If you move your pointer over the face, the word "Finder" should appear above it. Click and release on the face. A window should appear. On the left side of that window, you should find an item called "Applications". Click and release on that. Now you should have a list on the right hand side of all the applications on your OS X installation. You need to find the item called "Utilities". Your applications will probably be in alphabetical order, so you may need to use the scrollwheel on your mouse or use the scrollbar to the right of the Finder window. When you find the Utilities folder, double-click on that folder. A new list of utility applications should appear. Find the item called "Terminal", and double click on that.
You should now get a window called "Terminal - bash - 80 x 24". It will contain some text.
Type the following command:
and then press the "
enter" key. You should get a list of your partitions. It will look something like this:
/dev/disk0
#: type name size identifier
0: GUID_partition_scheme *55.9 GB disk0
1: EFI 200.0 MB disk0s1
2: Apple_HFS OS X 35.9 GB disk0s2
3: Microsoft Basic Data 16.9 GB disk0s3
4: Linux Swap 2.9 GB disk0s4
This is my partition map. The Ubuntu partition is labelled incorrectly as "Microsoft Basic Data". That's just because OS X cannot properly interpret the Linux partition type. On my system, Ubuntu is on the "disk0s3" partition. Find out what the identifier is for your Ubuntu partition. Now
type the following command, but replace the "disk0s3" part with the name of your Ubuntu partition's identifier:
Code:
sudo bless --device /dev/disk0s3 --setBoot --legacy
and then press the "
enter" key. It will probably ask you for your OS X password, so
type your OS X password and press the "
enter" key.
Now you need to consider whether you wish to be able to access your files in your home directory on the OS X partition while you are logged into Ubuntu. By default, Ubuntu will not allow you to access anything that is owned by your OS X username.
My OS X username is "richard", and my home directory is "/Users/Richard". Your username and home directory are probably named differently. In general, your OS X files live in your OS X home directory and can only be accessed by a person logged into OS X under your username. However, if you follow these instructions you'll be able to access those same files when you are logged into Ubuntu as well.
If you don't care about accessing your OS X home directory's files from within Ubuntu, then skip to the last paragraph of this step where it says "Now restart your computer...".
While you're in the OS X Terminal,
type the following command:
and press and release the "
enter" key. Note the number that the Terminal gives you. It is probably just over 500. This is your OS X user ID. Now
type:
and press and release the "
enter" key. Note the number. This is your OS X group ID. If you are using 10.4 (Tiger), it is probably the same as your user ID. If you are using 10.5 (Leopard) or 10.6 (Snow Leopard), it may be equal to 20.
Now
restart your computer, while holding down the "
alt option" key. [See Part 3 if you're not sure how to restart.]
You should now have that boot menu again. Release the "alt option" key.
Step 2: Resync your partition tables (if necessary).
You should have a boot menu. Use your mouse or trackpad to move your pointer to the Ubuntu partition. It may be incorrectly called "Windows".
Select it by clicking and releasing
. You are now attempting to load Ubuntu.
The rest of these instructions must be done from within Ubuntu. While following these instructions, if you boot into OS X accidentally, just restart the computer and boot into
Ubuntu. If you run into a roadblock while trying to follow the instructions below, you always have the option of rebooting into OS X to save your bacon. You can access the Ubuntu Forums from OS X. If you chose to keep OS X on your hard disk, it should still work the same as it did before.
Your computer should engage in some activity. Presently one of two things will happen. If your computer gives you a text screen with a box, and a list of items, and the top one looks something like "Ubuntu 9.04, kernel 2.6.28-11-generic", then your partition tables are synchronised, so skip the next paragraph.
Alternatively, your computer may give you the message: "No bootable device -- insert boot disk and press any key", or simply give you a black screen with a blinking cursor at the top left. If it does, the problem is that the partitioning software in the Ubuntu installer has left your MBR and GPT tables out of sync. It is a known bug in the software, and it seems to be common with Intel-based Mac laptops. It does not mean that there is anything wrong with your Ubuntu installation. Don't panic,
and don't mess with the Ubuntu partition. What you need to do is to resync the tables. One way to do this is to reboot into OS X, install rEFIt, and use its gptsync.efi utility.
How to do this is beyond the scope of this guide.
If you do not get a kernel selection menu, resync your partition tables before proceeding.
If you needed to resync your partition tables, reboot your computer holding down "alt option", and then select the Ubuntu partition by clicking and releasing on it with the pointer.
You should get a text screen with a box, and a list of items. The top one will look something like "Ubuntu 9.04, kernel 2.6.28-11-generic". Notice that below it is the same thing with the phrase "(recovery mode)" added. You should remember that the recovery mode is there for future reference. Sometimes if your Ubuntu installation won't boot properly the normal way, the recovery mode will allow you to boot. There is a timer in the lower right corner of the screen.
The top item will be the default option. You can press and release the "enter" key or let the timer run down.
If you selected "Log in automatically" when you were installing Ubuntu, you won't get a login window. If you didn't, then you will see a login window. It is mostly black and has a 3D Ubuntu logo in the lower right corner. It will have a white text box in the middle of the screen. It will first ask you for your username, so type that in and press and release the "enter" key. Then it will ask you for your password, so type that in and press the "enter" key.
Your computer should boot to a desktop. As this is the first time, it may be a little slow. As long as it looks like it's doing something, let it proceed. If you never end up getting a desktop, ask the Forums for help. There is a startup sound that normally plays when (if) you get a login screen, and also when the Ubuntu desktop is booted. These sounds may be quite soft or entirely absent for you right now, since your sound setup still needs to be configured.
Your trackpad is likely to be a little awkward to use at this point, since it has not been configured yet. We will fix it up later. For now, it would help if you plug in a USB mouse and use that instead, temporarily.
The rest of these instructions are performed in the Ubuntu desktop. If you want to take a break while following them, you may do so. To do this, go to the top right of the screen where you will find your name and a power symbol. Click and release on this and then click on the "Shut Down..." option. You will get a window called "Shut Down". Click and release on the "Shut Down" button. Then when you come back to your computer the next day, hold down the "alt option" key while you press the Power key at the top right of your keyboard. Keep the "alt option" key held down until you get the boot menu, and then release it. Select the Ubuntu partition (which may be called Windows). Select the topmost kernel and log in if necessary, get to a desktop, then continue where you left off.
Step 3: Modify your Ubuntu user ID and group ID to match your OS X user ID and group ID.
You only need to do this step if you have kept OS X on your setup and you intend to access your OS X files from within Ubuntu. If you have no desire to access your OS X files (particularly your home directory) from within Ubuntu, then skip this step.
You should have obtained your OS X user ID and group ID from step 1 above. If you didn't, then reboot into OS X and get them now. If you need to perform this step, refrain from doing any other activities (such as surfing the Internet) until it is complete, and don't skip ahead to subsequent steps until it is done.
If you need to do this step, wait until you have completed this step before proceeding with these instructions. Don't skip ahead!
You need to do this step from within a Terminal window. To use the Terminal, go to the top-left of your screen and select the "
Applications" menu by clicking and releasing on it. Hover over the "
Accessories >" menu item, and select "
Terminal" from the drop-down list by clicking and releasing on it. A window should appear with a prompt. My prompt is "richard@richard-laptop:~$". Your prompt will be something different, depending on what you called yourself and your computer when yo
u installed Ubuntu. The window will also be named after the prompt. Notice that it's similar in some ways to the Terminal that you g
et in OS X. However, you need to follow these instructions in the Ubuntu one, not the OS X one. Notice also the dollar sign that is to the left of the blinking cursor. This means that the Terminal is prompting you for a command. Whatever appears to the left of that dollar sign is for your information only. Whenever you have that dollar sign, you can type a command. Make sure you don't type a command when you don't have the dollar sign, because it won't do what you want.
(Advanced users may note that Linux user ids should be over 1000, so it is arguably more elegant to alter the OS X user and group ids. However, novices could lose access to their OS X data and not know how to get it back if they try this. The method given here does not carry that risk.)
Read the following instructions carefully and make sure you substitute the appropriate elements in the commands.
Resist the temptation to engage in non-essential activities, such as surfing the Internet, while doing the rest of this step.
Type the following command. However,
replace the number "501" with your OS X group ID. It is likely to be either 20, or a number just over 500. Also, of course,
replace the name "richard" with whatever your Ubuntu login name is. Your login name is to the left of the @ symbol in your prompt.
Code:
sudo groupmod -g 501 richard
and then press and release the "
enter" key. You will probably be asked for your password, with the following text, though of course your username will probably be different to mine:
[sudo] password for richard:
So
type your password and the press and release the "
enter" key. You should get a prompt back almost straight away. Now
type the following command, but
replace the first number "501" with your OS X user ID, and
replace the second number "501" with your OS X group ID, and
replace the name "richard" with your Ubuntu login name...
Code:
sudo usermod -u 501 -g 501 richard
...and press and release the "
enter" key. Your computer will pause for a second before giving you another prompt. Now
type the following command:
and press and release the "
enter" key. The Terminal window should disappear. If you have any other programs open, close them down now. Now go to the top-right of your screen, and
click and release on your name at the top-right corner. A drop-down menu will appear. Select "
Log Out..." by moving your mouse pointer to it and clicking and releasing. You will get a window called "Log Out" with a timer in it.
Click and release on the "Log Out" button in the lower-right corner. At some point you may get a message in the top left of your screen that says "A program is still running:" If you do, just click on "Logout Anyway" at the lower right corner. Your computer should give you a login screen. It will prompt you for your username. If you have selected automatic login, you won't usually see this screen when you boot up, and all you need to do now is let the timer run down. If you have not selected automatic login,
type your username and press the "
enter" key. It will then ask for your password, so
type that and press the "
enter" key.
When you are logged back in, open up another Terminal window by going to the top-left of your screen, and selecting "
Applications", then "
Accessories >", then "
Terminal". Within the Terminal,
type the following command. However,
replace the name "richard" with your login name. The login name probably does not start with a capital letter. Note the rightmost character here is a tilde. It is typed on a Mac keyboard by holding down the shift key and pressing the button that is above "tab" and below "esc" at the top-left of the keyboard. Note also that the "-R" part of this command contains a capital R, not a lowercase r.
Code:
sudo chgrp -R richard ~
Now press and release the "
enter" key. You will have to
type your password and press and release the "
enter" key. You should get a prompt back.
You should now be able to look through your home directory on your OS X partition without running into "Permission denied" errors. You can look through your OS X partition by going to the "Places" menu at the top of your screen, to the right of "Applications", and clicking and releasing on it, then going down to its name on the list and clicking and releasing on its name. It is probably under the "Computer" icon. You will have to type your password to bring it up (to "mount" it in Linux jargon), as a precaution against accidents.
Within the Terminal window,
type the following command and press and release the "
enter" key:
The Terminal window should disappear.
Step 4: Add the Mactel repository to your Software Sources.Now
connect to the Internet. If you unplugged your Ethernet cable in Part 1, put it back in. It may take your computer a few seconds to realise that it's plugged in. You should see a dark translucent box come up at the top right of the screen that says something like "Auto eth0 connection established". If you don't, then fix your Internet connection. You should see an icon appear at the top-right of the screen that looks like two dark computer screens. If your Internet connection drops out, this may change to a symbol that looks like two circles with a blue comet swirling around them.
You should be within the Ubuntu desktop. At the top-left of the screen, you will see three menus: Applications, Places, System. Use your mouse or trackpad to go to the "
System" menu at the top of the screen. Click and release on it, and then move your pointer down to "
Administration >", which will be the second option. A list of further menu subitems will appear. Move your pointer into this list, and go down the list to "
Software Sources", and click and release on it. You may be asked for your password at this stage. If so,
type in your password and press the "
enter" key.
A window will appear, with the title "Software Sources". It will have five tabs, called Ubuntu Software, Third-Party Software, Updates, Authentication, Statistics. Click and release on the tab near the top of the window marked "
Third-Party Software". Now the window will change. Click and release the "
+Add..." button at the lower left. A new window will appear, called "Enter the complete APT line of the repository that you want to add as source". Now type the following:
and press and release the "
enter" key. The new window will disappear, and you'll be back at the Software Sources window. You should notice that you now have a new item in your Third-Party Software list. Now click and release on the "
Authentication" tab near the top right of the "Software Sources" window. The contents of the Software Sources window will change again. Leave that open, and click and release on the
Firefox logo at the top of the screen. It is to the right of the System menu, and to the left of the envelope icon. Go to this website: [see Part 3 to see how to visit a website]
When it has loaded, a few lines down you will see the text:
Signing Key: 1024R/2B97B7B8 (
What is this?)
Click and release on the "
1024R/2B97B7B8". You should see a new webpage appear. The first two words will be "Search results", and the page should contain the phrase:
pub 1024R/
2B97B7B8 2009-01-19
Launchpad PPA for Mactel Support
Click and release on the "
2B97B7B8". A new page should appear, called "Public Key Server -- Get ``0x8db7f87a2b97b7b8 "", with what looks like random letters and numbers. This is normal.
Click and release your mouse or trackpad somewhere among the letters and numbers. Hold down the
Ctrl button that is three to the left of your spacebar. Press "
A". The text should now turn orange. Keep holding down Ctrl, and now press "
C". Now
release the "Ctrl" key.
Point your mouse up to the top left most menu on your screen, which is "
Applications". Click and release on this. Move your pointer down to "
Accessories >", which will be the first menu item. Hover your mouse pointer over this. A drop down submenu will appear. Go to
"Text Editor" in the drop down menu, and click and release on it. You should see a basic word processor appear. It will be called "Unsaved Document 1 - gedit". Hold down the
Ctrl key, and press "
V", then
release the Ctrl key. The text that you saw before should appear in the word processor. Use your mouse to select the "
File" menu at the top left of the word processor, and then select "
Save As..." from the menu items by clicking and releasing on it. A dialog should appear. To the right of "Save in folder:", there will be a box that allows you to choose from a number of options. If it's not already selected, choose "
Desktop" by clicking and releasing on the box, moving your pointer to "Desktop", and then clicking and releasing on it. Go up to "Name:", and click and release in the box to the right of it. Type:
Now click "
Save" in the lower right corner of that box. Exit the text editor by clicking and releasing on the "
X" in the top-right corner. Exit Firefox by clicking and releasing on the "
X" in its top-right corner. Go back to the "Authentication" tab in the "Software Sources" window. Click and release on "
+Import Key File..." in the lower-left corner. Find your desktop. It is likely to be highlighted in orange at the top, so
double-click on it. Then
double-click on the "Mactel key.txt" file, which is likely to be the only file on the list. Back in your "Software Sources" window, you should now see that your list of "Trusted software providers" includes an additional item, called "Launchpad PPA for Mactel Support". If it appears, then this step has succeeded. If it does not appear, then something went wrong. Don't close the window yet. If the "Launchpad PPA for Mactel Support" message appeared, then take note that the file called "Mactel key.txt" is no longer needed. You can delete it later.
Before you proceed, ensure that you have added the Mactel repository successfully.
Step 5: Update your packages list. If your Software Sources window is still open, move your pointer to the "
Close" button at the lower-right of that window, and click and release. Your computer will probably give you a dialog box telling you "The information about available software is out-of-date." If it does, then click and release "
Reload" at the bottom of the dialog box.
If you don't get this message, or you didn't come from the Software Sources w
indow, then go to the "System" menu at the top of your desktop and click on release on it, then hover your pointer on the "Administration >" menu item, then select "Update Manager" in the drop-down list by clicking and releasing on it. You should now get the dialog box telling you "The information about available software is out-of-date." If it does, then click and release "Reload" at the bottom of the dialog box. If you still don't get this message, then within the Update Manager window, click and release on the button marked "Check", with a blue curling arrow to the left of the word "Check".
You may be asked for your password. If so, type it in and press the "enter" key.
It should say "Downloading package information". Make sure the progress bar moves every so often. If it doesn't, then your Internet connection may be unreliable. This step may take ages - on a high-speed ADSL
connection, this took half an hour for me. As long as it's progressing, just let it do its thing. It will become much faster in future. If your connection drops out, just begin this step again, and keep on doing so until there is nothing left to download.
When you have fully downloaded all of the package information, your Update Manager window will contain the text "The package information was last updated less than one hour ago."
Note that if you become curious and look at "Show for individual files", and see that some of the files come up as "Failed
", that's not a bad thing as long as some of them come up as "Hit" or "Done". In my case, because I am in Australia, Ubuntu looks for Australian English translations of several text files, and no one has bothered to provide translations into Australian English. That is no great loss.
Step 6: Update your Ubuntu installation. At one point during this update process, your screen may turn off completely. If it does, press the
brightness up button (which is F2 on my keyboard) to get it back.
You should have the "Update Manager" window open, and you should have updated your package list within the last 5 minutes. If not, then go back to the previous step and do it again.
Now press and release "
Install Updates" to the right of the "Check" button in the middle of the "Update Manager" window. Your computer will proceed to download updates now. This could take ages if your Internet connection is slow or unreliable. Please note that if your connection fails, you should just go back to the previous step and start again. It will resume where it left off, so you won't lose anything that has succeeded so far. If at any time you wish to shut your computer down for the day and pick up again tomorrow, you may do so. Again, whatever you have achieved so far will stay put, so you will not lose anything by shutting down overnight.
Presently your computer will start to apply the updates. Your computer may have to restart at some stage during this part. Just do as it requests, and when you restart, remember to hold down "alt option". Then go back to the previous step. Your computer may also ask for your password at some stage. Again, just do as it requests.
Keep installing the updates until the box at the top of the Update Manager window is empty. Once you have installed all the updates, you should go to the Update Manager window and press "
Check" again, to see if anything slipped through the net, and keep on installing updates until the upper box is completely blank. Once you have installed every update,
reboot your computer and boot into Ubuntu. (Remember to hold down "
alt option").
Before you proceed, ensure that your package list is up to date and that your Ubuntu installation is fully updated.
Step 7: Turn on sound output and turn up the sound output volumes.
A default Ubuntu installation is pretty quiet on a Mac laptop. Also, the headphone out jack has zero volume by default, so if you like to plug in headphones or a some other audio device, you won't hear anything until you complete this step.
There will be a speaker icon at the top right of your desktop, to the left of the current date. Click and release on that. A window should appear with a "Volume Control" button. Click and release on that. A window should appear. Its title will be "Volume Control", perhaps with a colon and some extra text.
Click and release on the "Preferences" button at the bottom. A new window should appear called "Volume Control Preferences", though the window is narrow and perhaps not all of the title bar will be displayed on your machine. There is a list of items, each with a box to the left that either has a check mark or doesn't have a check mark. If anything is checked, leave it checked. Scroll up and down this list and look for "Capture" and "Surround". If you see one or both of them, make sure that they are checked. Now press and release the "Close" button at the bottom-right.
Back in the "Volume Control" window, select the "Playback" tab at the top left (below the word "Device:") if it is not already selected. There is a series of sliders. Make sure every one of them is pushed all the way to the top. At the bottom of each slider is a speaker icon. There may be a tiny prohibition symbol superimposed over the speaker icon, indicating that the function is muted. Click on any speaker that has a prohibition symbol to unmute all the functions. Now click on the "Recording" tab, which is immediately to the right of the "Playback" tab. Push the sliders to the top and unmute the speaker if necessary. If the microphone icon has a small "X" superimposed, click on it to remove the "X". Now press and release "Close" at the bottom right of the window.
Click and release on the System menu at the top of the screen, and move the pointer down to the "Preferences >" menu item. Select "Sound" from the drop down menu list by moving the pointer to it, and clicking and releasing. A new window will appear called "Sound Preferences". The topmost three items will be called "Sound playback:". To the right hand side of each is a button called "Test". For each of the top three items, click on the "Test" button, and ensure that you hear a sound, and that its loudness is comparable to the loudness of OS X. Press "OK" when you are satisfied with the sound.
If you are in the habit of using your headphone jack, plug headphones or some other audio device in and test the headphone jack output by clicking any of the "Test" buttons. When you are happy with the volume level, press "OK".
If any of your sound output tests do not work, or if the sound is too soft, do this step again and ensure that every relevant option is switched on, that all speakers are unmuted, and that all sliders are at maximum.
Step 8: Set up Sound Capture. If you don't intend to ever use the microphone on your laptop, you can skip this step.
If the "Sound Preferences" window is not already open, open it by using your pointer to point at the "System" menu and click and release on it, then hover your pointer over "Preferences >", then click and release on "Sound" from the drop down menu.
The fourth item is called "Sound capture:". To the right of this is a box with some text in it. Press your mouse button or trackpad button or trackpad on this box and mouse up or down to select "ALSA - Advanced Linux Sound Architecture", then release. You should see "ALSA - Advanced Linux Sound Architecture" in the box.
Click and release the "Test" button to the right of the box. Now put your fingers near your laptop microphone (which is probably at the top of your LCD screen) and click your fingers next to the microphone a few times. You should hear it echo. When you know that it's working, press and release "OK" to finish that, and then press and release "Close" at the lower right of the "Sound Preferences" window.
Step 9: Uninstall the mouseemu package.Apple mice and touchpads generally only have one button. Mouseemu is a package that allows you to create a middle-click or right-click using the keyboard. When mouseemu is installed, pressing F11 is the same as pressing the middle mouse button, and pressing F12 is the same as pressing the right mouse button. Mouseemu is installed by default. You can try generating mouse clicks using F11 and F12 to see how it works.
However, mouseemu has some incompatibilities. Although at the moment your "caps lock" key will correctly toggle on and off to generate all-capitals, the little light on the key will not illuminate to tell you when caps lock is on. Mouseemu can cause your mouse pointer to do some strange things. Also, it is incompatible with the xmodmap techniques used in these instructions, which allow you to map the unused keys on your keyboard. You can simulate mouse clicks in a more sophisticated way using that xmodmap technique if you follow these instructions. So I suggest getting rid of mouseemu.
For the next few steps, you are going to use the Terminal to modify your packages. Some users may choose to use Synaptic package manager for these tasks, but if you're not sure what that means, stick with these instructions. Don't be scared of the Terminal.
To use the Terminal, go to the top-left of your screen and select the "
Applications" menu by clicking and releasing on it. Go to the "
Accessories >" menu item, and select "
Terminal" from the drop-down list by clicking and releasing on it. T
ype:
Code:
sudo apt-get remove mouseemu
and press and release the "
enter" key.
Type your password and press and release the "
enter" key if it asks you for your password. Also, type "Y" and press and release the "enter" key if your Terminal prompts you to at some point.
It may take a few seconds for this package to be uninstalled. Wait until you get another prompt before continuing. You may now experiment with your "caps lock" key and notice that the light now works properly.
While you're here, if you still have the Mactel key on your desktop, you can remove it now. If you deleted it already, then move on to the next step.
Type:
Code:
rm ~/Desktop/"Mactel key.txt"
(with the quotes), and press and release the "
enter" key. You should see it disappear from your desktop.
Step 10: Install the Mactel packages. Connect to the Internet if you're not already connected.
The Mactel packages enable your function keys to act as brightness up/down hotkeys and volume mute/down/up hotkeys. They enable your eject key. If you have a keyboard backlight, perhaps with an ambient light sensor, they will be enabled too.
Advanced users may note that applesmc-dkms and bcm5974-dkms do not need to be installed for some users and will provide no benefit. However, it does not hurt to install them. Also, these packages may not be suitable for version 9.10 (Karmic) and later of Ubuntu, which is due for release in October 2009.
Within the Terminal,
type:
Code:
sudo apt-get install pommed applesmc-dkms bcm5974-dkms
and press and release the "
enter" key. Type your password if necessary, and press and release the "enter" key. If it asks you to, type "Y" and press and release the "enter" key.
Your screen may go blank. If so, you can get it back by pressing the brightness up key, which on my keyboard is F2. You will see all sorts of interesting messages appear in your Terminal window. Let it work. It will take a minute.
Wait until you get the following message:
and another prompt before continuing.
Press your brightness up and brightness down keys (which are F1 and F2 for me), to see that you can alter the brightness. Note that it may behave chaotically right now, sometimes going brighter when you hit brightness down and sometimes going dimmer when you hit brightness up. We'll fix that later. For now, just make sure that the function keys can alter the brightness of your screen.
Step 11: Install the X11 utilities packages.
You will need these packages to make your keyboard's extra keys do something useful.
These packages are installed by default on a standard installation of Ubuntu, so if you have downloaded the desktop CD and installed it as described in Part 1, you should already have these packages. However, just in case you got here from installing a remix (a modified Ubuntu installation), here are the instructions.
Get a Terminal window open if you don't already have one.
Type:
Code:
sudo apt-get install x11-utils x11-xserver-utils
and press and release the "
enter" key. You may need to type your password and press and release the "enter" key, and you may need to type "Y" and press and release the "enter" key when requested to do so. Wait until you get another prompt before continuing. If you used a default installation, it won't need to download or install anything.
Step 12: Fix GNOME Chess' 3D mode (only if you wish to play Chess in 3D mode).
A default installation of Ubuntu includes a chess game called GNOME Chess. You can find it in your "Applications" menu, under the "Games >" menu item, listed as "Chess". GNOME Chess includes a 3D mode. If you are not interested in playing Chess in 3D mode, then you can skip this step.
If you are interested in playing chess using the 3D mode,
then you need to install some extra packages. One of the packages that needs to be installed (mgltools-opengltk) is not correctly documented within GNOME Chess, and you will get unexplained errors if you don't complete this step.
Get a Terminal window open if you don't already have one.
Type:
Code:
sudo apt-get install python-gtkglext1 python-opengl mgltools-opengltk
and press and release the "
enter" key. You may need to type your password and press and release the "enter" key, and you may need to type "Y" and press and release the "enter" key when requested to do so. Wait until you get another prompt before continuing.
Step 13: Install the hfsprogs package (only for advanced users).
This step is only for advanced users. Do you know what fsck and mkfs are? If you don't know what they are, then skip this step. You will not miss out on anything.
This package will give you fsck and mkfs for the HFS and HFS+ file systems, so it will allow you to manipulate OS X partitions from within the Ubuntu Terminal. You will end up with four new commands: fsck.hfs, fsck.hfsplus, mkfs.hfs, and mkfs.hfsplus. If you have no desire to perform these actions from within Ubuntu, then skip this step.
Get a Terminal window open if you don't already have one.
Type:
Code:
sudo apt-get install hfsprogs
and press and release the "
enter" key. You may need to type your password and press and release the "enter" key, and you may need to type "Y" and press and release the "enter" key when requested to do so. Wait until you get another prompt before continuing.
Step 14: Install the hfsplus package (only for advanced users).
This step is only for advanced users. Do you know what ls, mount and mkdir are? If you don't know what they are, then skip this step. You will not miss out on anything.
This package will give you a number of commands for the HFS and HFS+ file systems, so it will allow you to manipulate OS X partitions from within the Ubuntu Terminal. You will end up with nine new commands: hpmount, hpumount, hpls, hpcd, hpcopy, hppwd, hpfsck, hprm and hpmkdir. If you have no desire to perform these actions from within Ubuntu, then skip this step.
Get a Terminal window open if you don't already have one.
Type:
Code:
sudo apt-get install hfsplus
and press and release the "
enter" key. You may need to type your password and press and release the "enter" key, and you may need to type "Y" and press and release the "enter" key when requested to do so. Wait until you get another prompt before continuing.
For really advanced users, you may be interested in investigating the hfsutils package. It deals only with HFS volumes (not HFS+), and offers little advantage over hfsplus. However, it does have one command (hattrib), which is an equivalent of the OS X setfile command. Hfsplus does not have an equivalent of setfile. This hattrib command allows you to change file attributes on your HFS volumes from within Ubuntu. This means that you can bless files from Ubuntu. If this is important to you, you should install hfsutils.
Step 15: Install the airport-utils package (only if you have an external Airport base station).
Do you have an external Airport base station, Airport Express, Airport Extreme or Time Capsule attached to your Apple laptop? If you don't own any of these devices, or you don't know what they are, then skip this step. You will not miss out on anything.
This package will give you a number of programs to manage your Airport from within Ubuntu. If you have no desire to perform these actions from within Ubuntu, then skip this step.
Get a Terminal window open if you don't already have one.
Type:
Code:
sudo apt-get install airport-utils
and press and release the "
enter" key. You may need to type your password and press and release the "enter" key, and you may need to type "Y" and press and release the "enter" key when requested to do so. Wait until you get another prompt before continuing.
Step 16: Install software for your iPod or iPhone (only if you have one).If you don't own an iPod or iPhone, you can skip this step.
If you have an iPod or an iPhone (which contains iPod functionality), you may wish to install software to allow you to perform various functions from within Ubuntu. There are countless dozens of packages that provide all kinds of iPod utilities. It's up to you to find which packages you want to use. If you don't wish to manipulate your iPod from within Ubuntu, you can skip this step.
Click and release on the "
System" menu at the top of your screen, then hover over "
Administration >", and select "
Synaptic Package Manager" from the drop down list. If you are asked for your password, type it in and press and release the "enter" key. A new window will appear entitled "Synaptic Package Manager". On the left hand side, below the "Reload" button, there is a list of options. Ensure that the top one, "
All", is selected.
At the top of the screen is a "Quick search" box.
Type:
into the Quick search box and press and release the "
enter" key.
Scroll through all the packages that are available and see whether any of them appeal to you. If so, you can install them by clicking and releasing on the box to the left of the package's name, and then selecting "
Mark for Installation" from the menu that appears. When you are finished selecting which software you want, you can then install it by clicking on the "
Apply" button at the top of the window.
While the Synaptic package manager is open, you won't be able to do any package work from the Terminal. You'll have to do package work using the package manager, or else close the package manager before using the Terminal. So if you're done using Synaptic package manager, close it by clicking the "
X" in the top-right corner.
Step 17: Install other optional packages.You may wish to install some of the following packages, which I find useful. All of them are free. In all cases, go to a Terminal and type:
Code:
sudo apt-get install name
where "name" is the name of the package in question, and then press and release the "enter" key. You may need to type your password or type "Y" at some point, remembering of course to press and release the "enter" key afterwards.
- boinc-manager and boinc-client, software that allows you to participate in distributed computing
- clamtk, a virus scanner
- dclock, a digital clock with an alarm
- firestarter, a firewall
- gkrellm, a system monitor program
- gparted, a partition editor
- grsync, a backup program
- solarwolf, a game
- phoronix-test-suite, a benchmark suite
- trickle, a utility to limit bandwidth to your Internet programs
- virtualbox-ose, virtualization software that allows you to run other operating systems within Ubuntu
- wine, a Windows compatibility layer
- zenmap, a port scanner
To investigate what other packages are available, click and release
on the "System" menu at the top of your screen, then hover over "Administration >", and select "Synaptic Package Manager" from the drop down list. If you are asked for your password, type it in and press and release the "enter" key. A new window will appear entitled "Synaptic Package Manager". On the left hand side, below the "Reload" button, there is a list of options. Ensure that the top one, "All", is selected.
At the top of the screen is a "Quick search" box. Type the appropriate search term into the Quick search box and press and release the "enter" key. If you have a portable device that has a calendar that you like to sync with your Mac, you can investigate this by trying some relevant search terms. You may also be interested in foreign language packs, translations and dictionaries. Just type the name of the language in and press and release the "enter" key.
Scroll through all the packages that are available and see whether any of them appeal to you. If so, you can install them by clicking and releasing on the box to the left of the package's name, and then clicking and releasing "Mark for Installation" from the menu that appears. When you are finished selecting which software you want, you can then install it by clicking and releasing on the "Apply" button at the top of the window. When you are done, close the Synaptic package manager by clicking on the "X" in the top-right corner.
Step 18: Autoremove unused packages. When you're done installing packages, remove any packages that are unused. Get a Terminal window open if you don't already have one. When you have a prompt, within the terminal,
type:
Code:
sudo apt-get autoremove
and then press and release the "
enter" key. Type your password or "Y" as necessary, pressing and releasing the "enter" key afterwards, of course. Any unused packages will be disposed of. If you install software from the Internet without using the official Ubuntu channels in future (for example, by installing the latest builds of wine, skype, firefox or virtualbox directly from their websites), this command may backfire, so do it this one time and don't do it from now on.
Step 19: Fix your eject key. If you don't already have a Terminal window open, get one by going to the Applications menu, and selecting the Accessories menu item and then selecting Terminal from the drop-down list. Once in a Terminal, when you have a prompt, type:
Code:
sudo gedit /etc/hal/fdi/policy/eject.fdi
and press and release the "
enter" key. You may have to type your password, and of course press and release the "enter" key afterwards. A text editor should appear, called:
eject.fdi (/etc/hal/fdi/policy) - gedit
Below the row of icons (such as New, Open and Save) there will be a tab with "eject.fdi" on it and a small "X" to the right of it. Below that is a window where you can type text. There shouldn't be any text in the window. If you see the text quoted after this paragraph already in the text editor window, it means that you've already done this step, and you don't need to do it again, so press the "X" in the top right corner of the text editor window to close it, and skip to the next step. If your window is blank,
type the following exactly as you see it (or copy and paste it from an electronic version of this document).
Code:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<deviceinfo version="0.2">
<device>
<match key="info.capabilities" contains="button">
<match key="info.product" string="Apple Computer Apple Internal Keyboard / Trackpad">
<merge key="input.x11_driver" type="string">evdev</merge>
</match>
</match>
</device>
</deviceinfo>
It's okay if some of the lines wrap to the next line. You can use your mouse pointer to grab the right-most border of the text editor window and expand it to the right if you like, so the lines will unwrap. Now move your pointer to the "
Save" button, which is the third icon from the left within the text editor window, and click and release. Close the Text Editor by pressing the "
X" at the top right of the window.
If you installed the pommed package above, your eject button (the one at the top right of your computer keyboard, not including the power button) will be recognized. If there is a CD or DVD inserted in your drive, then it will be ejected. Even if you don't have a CD or DVD inserted, there should be an 'eject' logo that appears on a translucent dark window at the top right of your screen.
However, it won't work right now. You need to log off and log in again before it will work. If you want to see it work right away, then you can re-login again now, or you can continue with these steps and check it later.
Step 20: Fix your touchpad.This instruction only applies to those laptops that have an appletouch touchpad. MacBooks from first to fourth generation, and MacBook Pros from first to third generation have an appletouch touchpad. No MacBook Air has an appletouch touchpad. This is correct at the time of writing (mid 2009), and it is likely that this will not change in future. If you don't have an appletouch touchpad, skip this step.
If you have a MacBook that is fifth or later generation, or if you have a MacBook Pro that is fourth or later generation, or if you have a MacBook Air, skip this step. If you don't already have a Terminal window open, get one by going to the Applications menu, and selecting the Accessories menu item and then selecting Terminal from the drop-down list. Once in a Terminal,
type:
Code:
sudo gedit /etc/hal/fdi/policy/appletouch.fdi
and press and release the "
enter" key. If it asks for your password, type it and press and release the "enter" key.
A text editor should appear, called:
appletouch.fdi (/etc/hal/fdi/policy/) - gedit
The text editor window should appear without any text in it. If you see the text quoted after this paragraph in the window, it means that you have already done this step, and you don't need to do it again, so close the text window by pressing the "X" in the top-right corner and move to the next step. If the text editor window is blank, then
type the following exactly as you see it (or copy and paste it from an electronic version of this document).
Code:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1"?>
<deviceinfo version="0.2">
<device>
<match key="info.capabilities" contains="input.touchpad">
<match key="info.product" contains="appletouch">
<merge key="input.x11_driver" type="string">synaptics</merge>
<merge key="input.x11_options.SHMConfig" type="string">true</merge>
<merge key="input.x11_options.VertEdgeScroll" type="string">false</merge>
<merge key="input.x11_options.HorizEdgeScroll" type="string">false</merge>
<merge key="input.x11_options.VertTwoFingerScroll" type="string">true</merge>
<merge key="input.x11_options.HorizTwoFingerScroll" type="string">false</merge>
<merge key="input.x11_options.VertScrollDelta" type="string">20</merge>
<merge key="input.x11_options.RTCornerButton" type="string">false</merge>
<merge key="input.x11_options.RBCornerButton" type="string">false</merge>
<merge key="input.x11_options.LBCornerButton" type="string">false</merge>
<merge key="input.x11_options.LTCornerButton" type="string">false</merge>
<merge key="input.x11_options.TopEdge" type="string">0</merge>
<merge key="input.x11_options.LeftEdge" type="string">0</merge>
<merge key="input.x11_options.RightEdge" type="string">1100</merge>
<merge key="input.x11_options.BottomEdge" type="string">800</merge>
<merge key="input.x11_options.FingerLow" type="string">5</merge>
<merge key="input.x11_options.FingerHigh" type="string">15</merge>
<merge key="input.x11_options.TapButton1" type="string">1</merge>
<merge key="input.x11_options.TapButton2" type="string">3</merge>
<merge key="input.x11_options.TapButton3" type="string">2</merge>
<merge key="input.x11_options.ClickFinger1" type="string">1</merge>
<merge key="input.x11_options.ClickFinger2" type="string">3</merge>
<merge key="input.x11_options.ClickFinger3" type="string">2</merge>
<merge key="input.x11_options.MinSpeed" type="string">0.5</merge>
<merge key="input.x11_options.MaxSpeed" type="string">2.5</merge>
<merge key="input.x11_options.AccelFactor" type="string">0.15</merge>
<merge key="input.x11_options.PalmDetect" type="string">true</merge>
</match>
</match>
</device>
</deviceinfo>
Now press "
Save", which is the third icon from the left. Close the Text Editor by pressing the "
X" at the top right of the window. Now
log off and log in again (see step 3 above for more info on how to do this). Your touchpad should behave differently, and should feel much more natural. If you plugged a mouse in to get you through the installation, you can unplug your mouse and use your trackpad now.
Step 21: Install a thaw script.
This step will install a script that will be run when you try to thaw (that is, bring your computer back to life after suspending it to RAM). Advanced users may note that this step is not necessary for some users and brings no benefit to them, but it does no harm to install it.
If you don't already have a Terminal window open, get one by going to the Applications menu, and selecting the Accessories menu item and then selecting Terminal from the drop-down list. Once in a Terminal,
type:
Code:
sudo gedit /etc/pm/sleep.d/99-macbook.sh
and press and release the "
enter" key. Of course, type your password and hit and release "enter" if necessary.
A text editor should appear, called:
99-macbook.sh (/etc/pm/sleep.d/) - gedit
The text editor window should appear without any text in it. If you see the text quoted after this paragraph in the window, it means that you have already done this step, and you don't need to do it again, so close the text window by pressing the "X" in the top-right corner and move to the next step. If the text editor window is blank, then
type the following exactly as you see it (or copy and paste it from an electronic version of this document).
#!/bin/bash
case $1 in
resume)
/etc/init.d/bluetooth stop
/etc/init.d/bluetooth start
;;
thaw)
modprobe -r appletouch
modprobe appletouch
;;
esac
Now click and release on the "
Save" button, which is the third icon at the top of the Text Editor window. Close the Text Editor by pressing and releasing the "
X" at the top-right of the Text Editor window.
In Ubuntu jargon, "Suspend" means to turn the computer almost off but retain the contents of the memory, so that it may be quickly re-awakened by pressing the power button. Suspend ought to work properly now. Test it now. If it does not work properly, you may need to perform a hard reset and reboot.
Step 22: Set up your trackpad preferences. Go to the "System" menu at the top, and click and release on it. Move your pointer down to the "Preferences >" menu item. Go to the "Mouse" item in the drop down list, and click and release on it. Click through the "General" and "Touchpad" tab items and look at the options there. Play with the settings until you get the touchpad to work the way you want it to. If you have an appletouch touchpad (see the previous step), note that the Linux appletouch driver tends to be quite jumpy when performing two-fingered scrolling, whereas the Windows and OS X drivers don't have this problem. You may be sufficiently annoyed by this jumpiness that you turn off multi-touch gestures altogether, which is done in the "Touchpad" tab, by unchecking "Enable vertical scrolling" and "Enable horizontal scrolling". It's up to you. When you are done, click and release on the "Close" button at the lower-right of the "Mouse Preferences" window.
Step 23: Remap your keyboard. Remapping is when you tell the operating system to interpret a key on your keyboard as doing something different to what it is set to do by default. This step is optional. If you don't wish to remap your keyboard, then skip this step.
Now look at your keyboard. If you are using your laptop keyboard, you probably have command keys (they're the ones left and right of the space bar with the Apple logo on them) that don't do anything useful in Linux. You might want to remap them. You may also want to assign special functions to the enter key that is two to the right of the space bar, and the F11 and F12 keys. You can't remap the fn key in the lower-left corner, and if you have set up your eject key according to these instructions, you can't remap that one either. If you have installed the Mactel packages, it is likely that you can't remap any function key below number 11 successfully, since the first 10 function keys are used as hotkeys. If you're using an external keyboard, you may have additional keys that you wish to remap. Your external keyboard might have a Windows logo key, for example.
Decide which keys you would like to remap, and what you want them to do. You need to be judicious. For example, if you like to use Firefox's full-screen mode by pressing F11, then you should not remap that key. I have set up my left command key as "control", my right command key as the middle mouse button and my enter key as the right mouse button. I have set up F11 to mimic the Expose function of OS X, and F12 to "Show Desktop", using compiz-config-settings-manager. How to do these latter two things is beyond the scope of these instructions.
For each one of the keys you wish to remap, you need to know its keysym. Here are some common keysyms that I have looked up for you already. If you selected the "USA Macintosh" or "USA" keyboard layouts when you were installing in Part 1, then these keysyms will work for you.
- Left command key (to the left of spacebar on laptop keyboard): Super_L
- Right command key (to the right of spacebar on laptop keyboard): Super_R
- enter key (two to the right of spacebar on laptop keyboard): KP_Enter
- F11 key: F11
- F12 key: F12
If all the keys you wish to reassign are on that list above, and you selected "USA" or "USA Macintosh" keyboard layout, skip to beyond the indented instructions. If you wish to reassign a key that is not on the list above, or you have a foreign keyboard layout, you need to find its keysym by using the following indented instructions.
Get a terminal open. At the prompt, type:
Code:
xev | grep "keysym"
and press and release the
"enter" key.
You should get a new window with
a rectangle in it. Select that window by moving your mouse pointer over the rectangle that appeared in that new window and clicking and releasing on it.
Press and release the key that you wish to assign a function to.
Every time you press and release the key, you should get a bunch of text in the Terminal window that looks something like this:
state 0x0, keycode 133 (keysym 0xffeb, Super_L), same_screen YES,
state 0x40, keycode 133 (keysym 0xffeb, Super_L), same_screen YES,
According to that text, the keysym for that key on my keyboard is Super_L. (I was pressing the left command key when I got that output). Depending on which key you pressed, and what model of Mac you have, it might be some other keysym. Also, some of the other text might be a bit different. Whatever it is, remember that keysym code. For every key on your keyboard you wish to reassign as a mouse button, press and release it and look for its keysym, until you know every one of those keys' keysyms.
Now close that new window with the rectangle in it by clicking and releasing on the "X" in the top-right corner of it.
Now move your pointer to
the "System" menu at the top of the screen, and click and release. Move your pointer down to the "
Preferences >" menu item, and hover over it until a drop down list appears. Move your pointer to "
Startup Applications" in the drop down list, and click and release on it. A window should open with "Startup Applications Preferences" at the top.
For each key on your keyboard that you wish to assign as a mouse button, repeat these indented instructions:
Click and release on the "
+Add" button to the right of the "Startup Applications Preferences" window. A new window called "Add Startup Program" appears. To the right of "Name:", you should have a cursor. If you don't, then click and release in the text box. Now
type an appropriate phrase for the key you're trying to assign. You may choose one of the following phrases, or make up something that sounds appropriate:
Map Left Command Key
Map Right Command Key
Map Enter Key
Map F11 Function Key
Map F12 Function Key
The actual text doesn't matter much - it's just to let you remember what it does.
To the right of "Command:",
click and release on the text box so that you get a cursor. Choose one of the following commands depending on what you want your key to do, and t
ype the command to assign the nominated function.
Each of these commands will remap the left command key. If you're trying to remap a key other than the left command key, substitute the keysym of the key you're trying to map in the place of "Super_L". Note that the quotes are part of the command in each case. The part from the hash symbol (#) onwards is a comment and you can leave that out if you like. The "delete" key on a Macintosh laptop keyboard deletes to the left of the cursor and is known in Ubuntu (and some full size keyboards) as a "backspace" key. The "delete" key mapping below will delete to the right of the cursor, like the "delete" key on a full size keyboard. The "menu" key is like the menu you get when clicking the right mouse button in some applications, but it is often different to the right mouse button menu.
Choose only one of these commands! Replace the text "Super_L" with the keysym of the key you're trying to map.
Code:
xmodmap -e "add control = Super_L" # control key
xmodmap -e "add mod1 = Super_L" # alt key
xmodmap -e "add shift = Super_L" # shift key
xmodmap -e "keysym Super_L = Delete" # delete key
xmodmap -e "keysym Super_L = Menu" # menu key
xmodmap -e "keysym Super_L = Pointer_Button1" # left mouse button
xmodmap -e "keysym Super_L = Pointer_Button2" # middle mouse button
xmodmap -e "keysym Super_L = Pointer_Button3" # right mouse button
xmodmap -e "keysym Super_L = Pointer_DblClick_Dflt" # double click
Advanced users should know that there are other possible assignments. If you are an advanced user, look at /usr/include/X11/keysymdef.h to see all the possible values. Remove the prefix "XK_" from the value code before assigning it.
Now click and release on the "
+Add" button at the lower right.
Repeat this step for any key on the keyboard that you wish to remap.
If you have remapped any of your keys to perform mouse/trackpad actions including button presses, then you need to read the rest of this step. However, if you have not done so, then skip to the last paragraph of this step.
Move your mouse pointer to the "System" menu at the top of the screen and click and release on it. Move down to the "Preferences >" item, and then move to the "Assistive Technologies" item from the drop-down list. Click and release on it. You should get a window called "Assistive Technologies Preferences". You should see a checkbox called "Enable assistive technologies". If it is not already checked, check that box by clicking and releasing on it. One of the items in your window ought to be "Keyboard Accessibility". Click and release on that button. Select the "Mouse Keys" tab from the top row. There will be an item called "Pointer can be controlled using the keypad". If it is not already checked, check it.
If you are using your laptop keyboard, then from now on, whenever your num lock key (which is F6 for me) is pressed, your numeric keypad (which are keys 789UIOJKLM for me) will control the mouse pointer instead of delivering numbers. If you want to use those keys as normal numbers and letters, ensure that num lock is switched off. If you want to use the numeric keypad as a numeric keypad in future, you will need to disable Mouse Keys and then turn num lock on. If you are using an external full-size keyboard, your numeric keypad will control the mouse pointer unless you disable Mouse Keys. However, the corollary is that if you disable Mouse Keys, your keyboard will no longer be able to produce pointer button presses.
So as long as Mouse Keys is on and num lock is off, you will be able to use those keys as mouse buttons.
You will need to wait until your next login before the remapping will work. You can re-login now to test it, or continue with the instructions and check it later.
Step 24: Make your brightness controls work properly. If you're not already within Startup Applications Preferences, go to the "
System" menu and click and release on it, then hover over the "
Preferences >" menu item, and click and release on "
Startup Applications" from the drop-down list. Click and release on the "
+Add" button on the right side of the "Startup Applications Preferences" window.
To the right of "Name:",
type:
To the right of "Command:", click and release to get a cursor there, and
type:
Code:
xrandr --output LVDS --set BACKLIGHT_CONTROL combination
Then click and release on the "
+Add" button. Now close the "Startup Applications Preferences" window by clicking and releasing the "
Close" button at the lower right. After yo
u re-login and then use the brightness up/down keys, you should notice that the brightness control works much better. You can log off and log in again now to check it or continue on and check it later.
Step 25: Additional configuration. You may now perform whatever additional configuration you would like. Some ideas from me are:
- Within Firefox, install the DownThemAll! plugin
- Install Compiz Config Settings Manager, and set up your function keys to mimic the Expose function of OS X.
- Search the Ubuntu Forums for ways to extend your battery life.
- Add a bookmark for
www.ubuntuforums.org.
- Install skype.
- Google for methods that allow you to use your webcam in Ubuntu. It doesn't work well, and it requires some technical knowledge to get working.
- Install rEFIt if you're confident enough, to avoid having to hold down the "alt option" key every time you want to use Linux.
- Install some cool icons for rEFIt, and a banner with your name on it.
- Search Google for the phrase "make Firefox go faster".
- Install the Flash player for Linux (if you have a 64-bit distro, use the 64-bit Flash player alpha - it works fine).
- If you have horizontal two-fingered scrolling turned on, use CompizConfig to disable Viewport Switching, because it is too jumpy.
- It is possible to get finer-grained control over the volume and brightness hotkeys. If that matters to you, Google for that.
- Edit your menu.lst to disable the boot menu once you know that your config works okay.
- The performance of the Intel GMA950 chipset, if you have it, is diabolical. Search Google for ways to improve its performance, which includes using a previous version of the driver.
- I can't seem to get the hibernate function to work on my computer, so I have disabled it from my Actions menu for both my login name and root.
- Ubuntu only includes two desktop background images by default. Use Google to search for images that you find interesting and are the same size as your desktop.
You're done!
If you use these tasks to successfully install Ubuntu, please send me at PM on these forums to let me know how you got on, and please let me know whether the instructions are 100% compatible with your machine. If you have suggestions for improvement, please send them to me. If you bollocked your computer by following these instructions, don't bother suing me because I don't have any money.
If you have questions or need support, please start a support thread. Or you can find me on the freenode IRC server at #ubuntu.
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