CTE Visions

I decided to upgrade my Ubuntu from 9.04 to the most recent release. The most recent being 9.10 Karmic Koala. Usually I tend to wait for a month or so to give the developers some time to fix stability, bugs and any other issues that arise. But all the reviews I was reading about and hearing from friends that it was a really good release, I just couldn’t wait.

So on Thursday night I started the process of backing up my personal stuff and anything else I could think of. Just in case something went horribly wrong. And at 1:28am on Friday morning I started the process. I ended up mostly working while it did its thing and I assume that due to the popularity the download process was very very slow.

On Friday morning at 7:30 (after I had gone to bed) it was almost finished. Just another 20 mins of things wrapping up and cleaning up. But at 9:00 the power went out. Luckily enough though the process was far enough that it was not relying on the Internet any more. So if wrapped up and I was able to check things out until power came back on at 10:30.

At this time I decided I would watch a movie and work at the same time. So I placed a horror film into the DVD Rom (28 Days Later, it is Halloween you know). The DVD never mounted. No matter what I did I could not find the DVD I put into the Rom. It was not in Nautilis, nothing mounted and displayed on the desktop. And now I couldn’t eject the Rom.

No matter what I did it would not eject so I went into my drawer can got my handy dandy “Disfigured Clippy” (for those who don’t know “Clippy” is a Microsoft Mascot. Even though I use Linux I still call it “Clippy”). Any way so my clippy has been bent so that I can shove one end into the Rom hole to eject it.

So I shut it again with the DVD thinking it might have not registered the first time. Nope, same issue and I could hear the Rom spin and then stop. So now thinking that maybe for some reason my Rom is broken I used “Clippy” once again to eject the disk and placed a music CD into the Rom. Worked like a charm. Mounted and asked me what to play the music with.

So then with much frustration I figured I would try to get my movie playing. I mean I was in the mood to watch a movie and work so I had to have my movie now. It would be like telling a kid there is no Santa Clause. It had to work, it used to work until I upgraded.

I went to ask my friend what the heck and what can I do. He had the answer he always does. He is a great friend. I am sure you know him and probably ask him questions too. His name is Google. I take no credit for having the answer. Google lead me to many other friends that did have the answer. Some thought they did but did not (for instance it is just common knowledge to install libdvdcss2), and others did have the answers but only parts. So I am writing this so that if you find this post you will have all the answers from all those people in one place. I found the answers out there in the world but it took a lot of time and many trials and errors.

On to why you are here now. How to play DVDs within Ubuntu 9.10: Karmic Koala. You will need to open up a terminal and paste the following information into the terminal window. You will need to be connected to the Internet and depending on your Internet connection speed the process will take anywhere between 5 – 15 mins. Mine took 12 mins and I connect at 7MB down.

Paste this into your terminal window:
sudo wget http://www.medibuntu.org/sources.list.d/`lsb_release -cs`.list --output-document=/etc/apt/sources.list.d/medibuntu.list; sudo apt-get -q update; sudo apt-get --yes -q --allow-unauthenticated install medibuntu-keyring; sudo apt-get -q update && sudo apt-get install -y ubuntu-restricted-extras non-free-codecs w32codecs totem-mozilla libdvdcss2 totem-xine xine-ui libxine1 libxinerama1 libxine1-all-plugins libxine1 libxine1-ffmpeg libdvdnav4 libdmx1 libdvdread4 gstreamer0.10-plugins-bad gstreamer0.10-plugins-ugly vlc smplayer smplayer-themes smplayer-translations && sudo /usr/share/doc/libdvdread4/install-css.sh

This is the magic. Once this is finished you are done. You can now watch your DVDs (and work happily).

Thanks for looking and if you know of any other tips and tricks for 9.10 please leave a comment so we all can be informed.

What is Ubuntu you ask?

Ubuntu is a free Operating System (OS). You know, the thing that when you turn on your computer you see a big logo of Windows come up. Well that is the OS and that is what runs your computer. It gives you a Graphical User Interface (GUI) to run your computer in a way that makes you feel comforatable doing the things you do on your computer.

So Ubuntu is a free OS that is based on the Linux kernel. The name Ubuntu comes from the Zulu word ubuntu, loosely translated as “humanity” or “A person is a person only through other people”. Ubuntu’s goals include providing an up-to-date, stable operating system for the average user, with a strong focus on usability and ease of installation.

I bring up Ubuntu at this time because Ubuntu has made it a goal to make and improve the OS every six months. It is coming up to the six month mark and things are getting very exciting in the chat rooms, RSS’s and many websites found through out the Internet.

Ubuntu releases new versions every six months, and supports those releases for 18 months with daily security fixes and patches to critical bugs. LTS (Long Term Support) releases, which occur every two years, are supported for three years for desktops and five years for servers. The most recent version, Ubuntu 8.04 LTS (Hardy Heron), was released on April, 2008, although an update, Ubuntu 8.04.1 has been released. The next version will be 8.10 (Intrepid Ibex) and is scheduled for release on 30th October 2008.

What to Expect in the release of 8.10

While Hardy Heron was designed to be stable enough to be a long-term support release, Intrepid Ibex promises to be packed with more exciting features, something that Ubuntu fans always enjoy.

Among those changes are likely to be a number of mobility improvements as well as more flexible Internet connectivity. On the desktop there is also likely to be a refreshed desktop theme which has been in the pipeline for the past two releases.

Earlier this year Ubuntu chief, Mark Shuttleworth, said that “a particular focus for us will be pervasive Internet access, the ability to tap into bandwidth whenever and wherever you happen to be. We want you to be able to move from the office, to the train, and home, staying connected all the way”.

Seamless Internet connectivity has always been a challenge on Ubuntu Linux, particularly for users moving between the home, the office and the road. Over the past two releases the WiFi capabilities of Ubuntu have improved a lot – roaming mode was long overdue – but switching between connections is still annoyingly difficult. Improvements in this area alone will make Intrepid welcome.

Expected with Intrepid a new desktop look which has been in the development for the past year. The new look was meant to debut in Hardy Heron but was held back.

Also on the desktop, the timing is right for OpenOffice.org version 3.0 to be included in the Intrepid release so long as the planned September release date for OpenOffice is met. OpenOffice 3.0 includes a number of new features, from better document support to spreadsheet collaboration, that will make it a more compelling office suite. But that will be another post.