Why does nothing work

**stalkingwolf** · November 1st, 2013

I like Mint13 Mate. I can add panels remove things i dont want , add things i do. And it has the panel applets i want.

**richardsdma** · November 1st, 2013

actually, you dont like mate, you like a windows XP like interface.

**shantiq** · November 1st, 2013

100% agree with your assessment TwistedName

2 things you can do

●change DE desktop environment install a lighter one [most of them are in synaptic one or 2 clicks and installed]then pick at login click on the ubuntu logo at right of box before logging in

●or go the whole hog there are so many choices of distros

http://www.techradar.com/news/softwa...ommend-1090058
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of..._distributions
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lightwe...x_distribution

hope you find your joy ... myself switched to lxde and most of the gremlins av gone 13.10 works well if your machine has the right DE for its specs ... maybe Unity cool if you have 5 or 6 GB of ram but for me with 2.5gb on 8 year old machine not a contender ... i was not aware of this bloatware term before i read this here

**richardsdma** · November 2nd, 2013

i am using 13.10 with unity on a 1 GB RAM machine and it works great, i dont understand how it does not work on your end since you have 2.5 GB....
but remenber, using a light DE is not quite a solution because actually, the apps need resources, not the DE.
in idle, my unity DE takes about 0.3-0.7 of CPU.

**shantiq** · November 2nd, 2013

hi richard

i am using 13.10 with unity on a 1 GB RAM machine and it works great

great news! pleased for you also a friend of mine has a really old computer and knows pretty much nothing about computing but a year and a half ago i installed 12.04 on it for him and it works like a dream; Unity glides like a leopard bathed in oil

but ... on my Packard-Bell

Code:

 sudo lshw

description: Desktop Computer
    product: 00000000000000000000000 (To Be Filled By O.E.M.)
    vendor: Packard Bell NEC
    version: PB34225301
    serial: 049652320227
    width: 64 bits
    capabilities: smbios-2.3 dmi-2.3 vsyscall32
    configuration: boot=normal chassis=desktop family=To Be Filled By O.E.M. sku=To Be Filled By O.E.M. uuid=549D0B9A-BE69-DA11-8000-4E45435F4349
  *-core
       description: Motherboard
       product: MS-7168
       vendor: NEC COMPUTERS INTERNATIONAL
       physical id: 0
       version: 1.0
       slot: To Be Filled By O.E.M.
     *-firmware
          description: BIOS
          vendor: American Megatrends Inc.
          physical id: 0
          version: 080012
          date: 09/06/2005
          size: 64KiB
          capacity: 448KiB
          capabilities: isa pci pnp apm upgrade shadowing escd cdboot bootselect socketedrom edd int13floppy1200 int13floppy720 int13floppy2880 int5printscreen int9keyboard int14serial int17printer int10video acpi usb ls120boot zipboot biosbootspecification netboot
     *-cpu
          description: CPU
          product: AMD Athlon(tm) 64 Processor 3400+
          vendor: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD]
          physical id: 4
          bus info: cpu@0
          version: AMD Athlon(tm) 64 Processor 3400+
          serial: To Be Filled By O.E.M.
          slot: CPU 1
          size: 1800MHz
          capacity: 2200MHz
          width: 64 bits
          clock: 200MHz
          capabilities: fpu fpu_exception wp vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 clflush mmx fxsr sse sse2 syscall nx mmxext fxsr_opt x86-64 3dnowext 3dnow rep_good nopl extd_apicid pni lahf_lm cpufreq
        *-cache:0
             description: L1 cache
             physical id: 5
             slot: L1-Cache
             size: 64KiB
             capacity: 64KiB
             capabilities: pipeline-burst internal varies data
        *-cache:1
             description: L2 cache
             physical id: 6
             slot: L2-Cache
             size: 512KiB
             capacity: 512KiB
             capabilities: pipeline-burst internal varies unified
     *-memory
          description: System Memory
          physical id: 2d
          slot: System board or motherboard
          size: 2560MiB
        *-bank:0
             description: DIMM DDR Synchronous 333 MHz (3.0 ns)
             product: PartNum0
             vendor: Manufacturer0
             physical id: 0
             serial: SerNum0
             slot: DIMM0
             size: 512MiB
             width: 64 bits
             clock: 333MHz (3.0ns)
        *-bank:1
             description: DIMM DDR Synchronous 333 MHz (3.0 ns)
             product: PartNum1
             vendor: Manufacturer1
             physical id: 1
             serial: SerNum1
             slot: DIMM1
             size: 1GiB
             width: 64 bits
             clock: 333MHz (3.0ns)
        *-bank:2
             description: DIMM DDR Synchronous 333 MHz (3.0 ns)
             product: PartNum2
             vendor: Manufacturer2
             physical id: 2
             serial: SerNum2
             slot: DIMM2
             size: 1GiB
             width: 64 bits
             clock: 333MHz (3.0ns)
        *-bank:3
             description: DIMM SDRAM [empty]
             product: PartNum3
             vendor: Manufacturer3
             physical id: 3
             serial: SerNum3
             slot: DIMM3
     *-pci:0
          description: Host bridge
          product: RS480/RS482/RS485 Host Bridge
          vendor: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI]
          physical id: 100
          bus info: pci@0000:00:00.0
          version: 10
          width: 32 bits
          clock: 66MHz
        *-pci:0
             description: PCI bridge
             product: RS4xx PCI Express Port [ext gfx]
             vendor: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI]
             physical id: 2
             bus info: pci@0000:00:02.0
             version: 00
             width: 32 bits
             clock: 33MHz
             capabilities: pci pm pciexpress msi ht normal_decode bus_master cap_list
             configuration: driver=pcieport
             resources: irq:0 ioport:7000(size=4096) memory:fc600000-fe7fffff ioport:bbf00000(size=603979776)
           *-display
                description: VGA compatible controller
                product: GT218 [GeForce 8400 GS Rev. 3]
                vendor: NVIDIA Corporation
                physical id: 0
                bus info: pci@0000:01:00.0
                version: a2
                width: 64 bits
                clock: 33MHz
                capabilities: pm msi pciexpress vga_controller bus_master cap_list rom
                configuration: driver=nvidia latency=0
                resources: irq:18 memory:fd000000-fdffffff memory:c0000000-cfffffff memory:dc000000-ddffffff ioport:7c00(size=128) memory:fe780000-fe7fffff
           *-multimedia
                description: Audio device
                product: High Definition Audio Controller
                vendor: NVIDIA Corporation
                physical id: 0.1
                bus info: pci@0000:01:00.1
                version: a1
                width: 32 bits
                clock: 33MHz
                capabilities: pm msi pciexpress bus_master cap_list
                configuration: driver=snd_hda_intel latency=0
                resources: irq:18 memory:fe77c000-fe77ffff
        *-ide:0
             description: IDE interface
             product: IXP SB400 Serial ATA Controller
             vendor: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI]
             physical id: 11
             bus info: pci@0000:00:11.0
             version: 00
             width: 32 bits
             clock: 66MHz
             capabilities: ide pm msi bus_master cap_list rom
             configuration: driver=sata_sil latency=64
             resources: irq:23 ioport:bc00(size=8) ioport:b800(size=4) ioport:b400(size=8) ioport:b000(size=4) ioport:ac00(size=16) memory:febffc00-febffdff memory:feb00000-feb7ffff
        *-ide:1
             description: IDE interface
             product: IXP SB4x0 Serial ATA Controller
             vendor: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI]
             physical id: 12
             bus info: pci@0000:00:12.0
             version: 00
             width: 32 bits
             clock: 66MHz
             capabilities: ide pm msi bus_master cap_list rom
             configuration: driver=sata_sil latency=64
             resources: irq:22 ioport:a800(size=8) ioport:a400(size=4) ioport:a000(size=8) ioport:9c00(size=4) ioport:9800(size=16) memory:febff800-febff9ff memory:fea80000-feafffff
        *-usb:0
             description: USB controller
             product: IXP SB4x0 USB Host Controller
             vendor: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI]
             physical id: 13
             bus info: pci@0000:00:13.0
             version: 00
             width: 32 bits
             clock: 66MHz
             capabilities: msi ohci bus_master cap_list
             configuration: driver=ohci-pci latency=64
             resources: irq:19 memory:febfe000-febfefff
        *-usb:1
             description: USB controller
             product: IXP SB4x0 USB Host Controller
             vendor: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI]
             physical id: 13.1
             bus info: pci@0000:00:13.1
             version: 00
             width: 32 bits
             clock: 66MHz
             capabilities: msi ohci bus_master cap_list
             configuration: driver=ohci-pci latency=64
             resources: irq:19 memory:febfd000-febfdfff
        *-usb:2
             description: USB controller
             product: IXP SB4x0 USB2 Host Controller
             vendor: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI]
             physical id: 13.2
             bus info: pci@0000:00:13.2
             version: 00
             width: 32 bits
             clock: 66MHz
             capabilities: pm msi ehci bus_master cap_list
             configuration: driver=ehci-pci latency=64
             resources: irq:19 memory:febfc000-febfcfff
        *-serial
             description: SMBus
             product: IXP SB4x0 SMBus Controller
             vendor: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI]
             physical id: 14
             bus info: pci@0000:00:14.0
             version: 10
             width: 32 bits
             clock: 66MHz
             capabilities: ht cap_list
             configuration: driver=piix4_smbus latency=0
             resources: irq:0 ioport:b00(size=16) memory:a0000000-a00003ff
        *-ide:2
             description: IDE interface
             product: IXP SB4x0 IDE Controller
             vendor: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI]
             physical id: 14.1
             bus info: pci@0000:00:14.1
             version: 00
             width: 32 bits
             clock: 66MHz
             capabilities: ide msi bus_master cap_list
             configuration: driver=pata_atiixp latency=64
             resources: irq:16 ioport:1f0(size=8) ioport:3f6 ioport:170(size=8) ioport:376 ioport:ff00(size=16)
        *-isa
             description: ISA bridge
             product: IXP SB4x0 PCI-ISA Bridge
             vendor: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI]
             physical id: 14.3
             bus info: pci@0000:00:14.3
             version: 00
             width: 32 bits
             clock: 66MHz
             capabilities: isa bus_master
             configuration: latency=0
        *-pci:1
             description: PCI bridge
             product: IXP SB4x0 PCI-PCI Bridge
             vendor: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI]
             physical id: 14.4
             bus info: pci@0000:00:14.4
             version: 00
             width: 32 bits
             clock: 66MHz
             capabilities: pci subtractive_decode bus_master
             resources: ioport:8000(size=4096) memory:fe800000-fe8fffff
           *-communication
                description: Modem
                product: SmartLink SmartPCI562 56K Modem
                vendor: Smart Link Ltd.
                physical id: 0
                bus info: pci@0000:02:00.0
                version: 04
                width: 32 bits
                clock: 33MHz
                capabilities: pm generic bus_master cap_list
                configuration: driver=serial latency=64 maxlatency=62 mingnt=1
                resources: irq:20 memory:fe8ff000-fe8fffff ioport:8800(size=256)
           *-network
                description: Ethernet interface
                product: RTL-8139/8139C/8139C+
                vendor: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd.
                physical id: 3
                bus info: pci@0000:02:03.0
                logical name: eth0
                version: 10
                serial: 00:13:d3:b6:0d:bb
                size: 10Mbit/s
                capacity: 100Mbit/s
                width: 32 bits
                clock: 33MHz
                capabilities: pm bus_master cap_list rom ethernet physical tp mii 10bt 10bt-fd 100bt 100bt-fd autonegotiation
                configuration: autonegotiation=on broadcast=yes driver=8139too driverversion=0.9.28 duplex=full ip=86.14.70.93 latency=64 link=yes maxlatency=64 mingnt=32 multicast=yes port=MII speed=10Mbit/s
                resources: irq:20 ioport:8400(size=256) memory:fe8fec00-fe8fecff memory:fe8e0000-fe8effff
           *-firewire
                description: FireWire (IEEE 1394)
                product: VT6306/7/8 [Fire II(M)] IEEE 1394 OHCI Controller
                vendor: VIA Technologies, Inc.
                physical id: 4
                bus info: pci@0000:02:04.0
                version: 80
                width: 32 bits
                clock: 33MHz
                capabilities: pm ohci bus_master cap_list
                configuration: driver=firewire_ohci latency=64 maxlatency=32
                resources: irq:9 memory:fe8fe000-fe8fe7ff ioport:8c00(size=128)
        *-multimedia
             description: Multimedia audio controller
             product: IXP SB400 AC'97 Audio Controller
             vendor: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI]
             physical id: 14.5
             bus info: pci@0000:00:14.5
             version: 01
             width: 32 bits
             clock: 66MHz
             capabilities: msi bus_master cap_list
             configuration: driver=snd_atiixp latency=64 mingnt=2
             resources: irq:17 memory:febff400-febff4ff
     *-pci:1
          description: Host bridge
          product: K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] HyperTransport Technology Configuration
          vendor: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD]
          physical id: 101
          bus info: pci@0000:00:18.0
          version: 00
          width: 32 bits
          clock: 33MHz
     *-pci:2
          description: Host bridge
          product: K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] Address Map
          vendor: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD]
          physical id: 102
          bus info: pci@0000:00:18.1
          version: 00
          width: 32 bits
          clock: 33MHz
     *-pci:3
          description: Host bridge
          product: K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] DRAM Controller
          vendor: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD]
          physical id: 103
          bus info: pci@0000:00:18.2
          version: 00
          width: 32 bits
          clock: 33MHz
          configuration: driver=amd64_edac
          resources: irq:0
     *-pci:4
          description: Host bridge
          product: K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] Miscellaneous Control
          vendor: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD]
          physical id: 104
          bus info: pci@0000:00:18.3
          version: 00
          width: 32 bits
          clock: 33MHz
          configuration: driver=k8temp
          resources: irq:0
     *-scsi:0
          physical id: 1
          logical name: scsi0
          capabilities: emulated
        *-disk
             description: ATA Disk
             product: ST3500630AS
             vendor: Seagate
             physical id: 0.0.0
             bus info: scsi@0:0.0.0
             logical name: /dev/sda
             version: 3.AA
             serial: 5QG10JMC
             size: 465GiB (500GB)
             capabilities: partitioned partitioned:dos
             configuration: ansiversion=5 sectorsize=512 signature=0001219e
           *-volume:0
                description: EXT4 volume
                vendor: Linux
                physical id: 1
                bus info: scsi@0:0.0.0,1
                logical name: /dev/sda1
                logical name: /
                version: 1.0
                serial: 686b43e4-2d7a-4c33-9c1d-c1b96a2ac679
                size: 463GiB
                capacity: 463GiB
                capabilities: primary bootable journaled extended_attributes large_files huge_files dir_nlink recover extents ext4 ext2 initialized
                configuration: created=2013-10-19 14:05:55 filesystem=ext4 lastmountpoint=/ modified=2013-11-02 07:15:35 mount.fstype=ext4 mount.options=rw,relatime,errors=remount-ro,data=ordered mounted=2013-11-02 07:15:35 state=mounted
           *-volume:1
                description: Extended partition
                physical id: 2
                bus info: scsi@0:0.0.0,2
                logical name: /dev/sda2
                size: 2557MiB
                capacity: 2557MiB
                capabilities: primary extended partitioned partitioned:extended
              *-logicalvolume
                   description: Linux swap / Solaris partition
                   physical id: 5
                   logical name: /dev/sda5
                   capacity: 2557MiB
                   capabilities: nofs
     *-scsi:1
          physical id: 2
          logical name: scsi5
          capabilities: emulated
        *-cdrom
             description: DVD writer
             product: DVD_RW ND-3550A
             vendor: _NEC
             physical id: 0.0.0
             bus info: scsi@5:0.0.0
             logical name: /dev/cdrom
             logical name: /dev/sr0
             version: 1.52
             serial: [
             capabilities: removable audio cd-r cd-rw dvd dvd-r
             configuration: ansiversion=5 status=nodisc
     *-scsi:2
          physical id: 3
          bus info: usb@2:4
          logical name: scsi6
          capabilities: emulated scsi-host
          configuration: driver=usb-storage
        *-disk:0
             description: SCSI Disk
             physical id: 0.0.0
             bus info: scsi@6:0.0.0
             logical name: /dev/sdb
             configuration: sectorsize=512
        *-disk:1
             description: SCSI Disk
             physical id: 0.0.1
             bus info: scsi@6:0.0.1
             logical name: /dev/sdc
             configuration: sectorsize=512
        *-disk:2
             description: SCSI Disk
             physical id: 0.0.2
             bus info: scsi@6:0.0.2
             logical name: /dev/sdd
             configuration: sectorsize=512
        *-disk:3
             description: SCSI Disk
             physical id: 0.0.3
             bus info: scsi@6:0.0.3
             logical name: /dev/sde
             configuration: sectorsize=512

it is not smooth in any way ... i see some guys av a great time with U others not so and for like the OP a bit of a fiasco so i am thinking there must be some systems better suited to it .... and what you say [and my friend's machine] indicates it is not RAM which dictates this ... so is it the make of the machine the age ... there must be patterns .. a survey in this forum might help see which direction to look in

**CDR Services** · November 2nd, 2013

PearOS is Cool but it is basically Ubuntu Reskinned to look like OSX!

**leeper69** · November 2nd, 2013

Hi if you dislike unity like a lot of us do you can try 12.4 with any desktop you want from the ubuntu repositorys. If you dont mind loging in you can install all of ubuntu's desktops on one machine and choose the one you like at boot up.
I use xubuntu and it works fine for me with compbiz,and runs kde and gnome programs on the same desktop with no problem. The menu is configurabel so you dont end up with all the junk programs you can edit them out by just removing the checkmark in the edit menu screen. I run puppy pricise on my old laptop a i586 866 mh intell it uses the ubuntu 12.4 repositories. if you like deb try mepis for kde desktop.

**CDR Services** · November 2nd, 2013

Originally Posted by help_me2

I just hit the "Like" button. Apps are where it's at. People can adapt to desktop environments. (at least most can) Then there are those that will complain until their last breath, as if it does any good.

I have a folder with 45gigs of other Linux distros that I have tried! I keep coming back to Ubuntu because in my opinion it is the best one out there for me. Mostly for me the choice was dependent on hardware, the wifi on my laptop, as well as ease of use. Im My opinion Unity is much better than Gnome 3 (seriously 3 clicks of the mouse to get to a big batch of icons for every application on your machine) what is this IOS!! Unity has a Doofy Menu interface, OSX has a Doofy Interface, Windows7, Windows Vista all have a Doofy Menu Interface! They all make you search for applications that aren't one of the 15 or so that will fit on your dock!
Why does nothing work? For me Ubuntu works about the best of any Distro i have tried, and the second and third runner up are still Ubuntu based (Linux Mint if you can get over the green, and PearOS for that cool OSX flavour) I have tried Ubuntu on dozens of different machines and yes there are some that for whatever reason just don't work properly ( Wifi, Sound, Display, or Just buggy and slow for some unknown reason) Put it is still my weapon of choice in the Linux world!!

**richardsdma** · November 2nd, 2013

for everyone of you who try ubuntu and feel laggy, try to open the terminal and type: "top" and watch for the load of the processor.
sometimes, it had happened to me: the problem was that compiz eat about 50% of my CPU. i dont know way! it is happening pretty rare, but is happening.
the solution was simply to restart "lightdm"

sudo restart lightdm

**rrnbtter** · November 2nd, 2013

Greetings,
Maverick, Natty, Oneric, Precise, Quantal, Raring and Saucy are just a train taking use from where we have been to where we are going. If you don't like what you have then try the destination. You can wait until April if you are a bit timid. I'm there and loving it right now!

PS. If you are off the train but not at the destination ............!