Friday, April 3, 2009

Installing Ubuntu Netbook Remix in Ubuntu 9.04/9.10

unr_favorites
- Ubuntu Netbook Remix 9.10

UNR 9.04
- Ubuntu Netbook Remix 9.04

Installing Ubuntu Netbook Remix in Ubuntu 9.04 and 9.10 is easy. Unlike Ubuntu 8.04 or 8.10, you do not have to add any extra repositories to install UNR or add programs to the Startup Applications to get it to work.

The UNR packages have been added to the official universe repository. The developers have also created a package, ubuntu-netbook-remix-default-settings, that configures and adds the necessary programs, netbook-launcher and maximus, to your start-up applications.

To install Ubuntu Nexbook Remix
In a terminal type:
sudo apt-get install ubuntu-netbook-remix

Once you have installed Ubuntu Netbook Remix, you can configure your panels to give it the UNR look and feel. To do this, right click the Gnome Panel and select "Add to panel".
UNR 9.04 Add to Panel
- Add the go-home-applet & window-picker-applet to the gnome panel.

UNR 9.04 window picker
- UNR with the go-home-applet and window-picker-applet running.

If you want to switch to the normal Ubuntu desktop you can use the desktop-switcher.

If you want to uninstall Ubuntu Netbook Remix
In a terminal type:
sudo apt-get remove ubuntu-netbook-remix

If you are getting an "E: Couldn't find package ubuntu-netbook-remix" error. Try updating your source list.
In a terminal type:
sudo apt-get update
Then try installing the Ubuntu Netbook Remix packages.

Have a question or problem that this article doesn't cover?
Ask our Ubuntu Mini 9 Google Group for help.

34 comments:

Jimbo said...

The download page describes the UNR USB image as a "live" environment. From my Windows laptop, I was only able to get UNetbootin to write the .img file to the USB. This apparently works, but when I boot from the USB it brings me to a shell instead of a GUI.

How can I successfully prepare a live USB of Ubuntu 9.04 Netbook Remix?

redDEAD said...

Try, try again. It could be your stick even if it's on the list. It could be your image but it's probably the program itself.

Try this .deb and how to

https://wiki.ubuntu.com/MobileTeam/Mobile/HowTo/ImageWriting

az said...

I assume Netbook remix still doesn't work with Compiz' effects enabled? I want a nice simple launcher (I even liked Dell's launcher) but I don't want to give up my jigglies and drop shadows :\

Unknown said...

Thanks so much to redDEAD and the other contributors to this site! Thanks to you, I managed to get Intrepid Ibex running on my Mini.

I'm a bit confused as to the different versions of 9.04. What's the best way to install 9.04 UNR? Should I first install the normal 9.04 and then add UNR (as described in this post) or should I download the specific UNR image from the Ubuntu website and install only this (as Jimbo seems to do)?

Thank you for answering a probably very stupid question.

redDEAD said...

jayherrr,

doesn't make a difference. It's two ways of doing the same exact thing. Both methods leave you with 98% of the same programs. The only programs UNR leaves out is transmission and gimp. Ubuntu proper doesn't include the UNR (you have to add them hence the guide), cheese and the e-book reader.

koneng said...

I installed 9.04, and then installed UNR. The display is acting up when I open apps. When I move my mouse, the apps disappear from my view. If I click on the screen where the app was, it will partially come back (parts of the menus are hidden). If i move my mouse over the hidden areas, they temporarily become visible again. This makes my mini9 unusable. Any ideas?

Anonymous said...

I've been thinking about upgrading to 9.04: do Wacom tablets work in it, and is the battery life any worse than the default 8.04 installation?

JapanLover said...

Do you guys experienced the (infamous?)problem related with the Desktop Switcher? I myself had the problem that once switched... the PC upone restarting get the entire GUI messed up. There is a "sort of" solution but after having applied it I still had probs with the desktop icons and progz...

Unknown said...

redDEAD,

This is just to say that the installation following your guide (i.e. first 9.04, then add UNR) worked like a charm. Thanks for all your help, very much appreciated!

Sam said...

So I installed netbook remix, and everything's fine - except that I think I accidentally deleted my navigation bar [my hand slipped twice and deleted the top and bottom one ... I now, hard to believe ... heh], and Maximus isn't working. All of my windows pop up without anything surrounding them, and when I try to edit the 'windows' tab, it tells me that windows manager 'unknown' isn't working.
How do I fix this? I'm sure it's some easy way, but I want my navigation bar back. It makes navigating a little irritating. Also, if I take netbook-remix away, I just have a blank screen. :P

bendik said...

I had now problem with installing UNR, and everything work great!
But after I updated all packages all went bad!
After removing UNR and Maximus, and adding gnome-panel and metacity to sessions (now called "Startup Applications") things work ok again.
But no UNR:(

redDEAD said...

It's beta software guys. When it hit release time this bugs will be ironed out. I've submitted a few bugs now for these same problems.

redDEAD said...

bendikwl

It's BETA software, I've always got abotu 4 hours of battery life on my non-lpia Dell Mini 9 setup. the software is probably reading your battery wrong.

Anonymous said...

@koneng

exact same problem. had to uninstall UNR (actually, had to reinstall 9.04). suppose I'll wait till this gets out of beta.

Anonymous said...

The software works fine, you just have to switch off the desktop effects on a netbook because the desktop can become garbled.

Wolfram said...

You can't use compiz effects and the netbook remix interface at the same time, well at least for now and I wouldn't be surprised if this will still be the case in the Jaunty release. So either use compiz with the normal desktop or netbook remix without compiz.

Unknown said...

koneng: i had the same problem. 1) as others have said, it's a beta so it isn't perfect and... 2) turn off windows effects/compiz. this is a result of compiz and remix running.

Anonymous said...

Fantastic! And the wife loves it too, everything works out of the box, wireless, wi-fi, webcam. Used Ubuntu Hardy to write the UNR img to a usb stick using the new tool from Ubuntu, first usb stick I tried wouldn't boot but the second one worked fine, just waiting for the official release to then install to the internal SSD...great site, J

Christy said...

I installed UNR after installing Jaunty. After installation, the top toolbar only shows up if you mouse over it. When starting apps, there is some artifacting and bleed-thru of underlying desktop items, toolbars, etc. I uninstalled UNR and still have the desktop manager (?) like I had in UNR.

Anonymous said...

Do NOT switch to "normal" mode on your Mini 9. Having done so out of curiosity, I lost all desktop functionality and had to revert via an xterm launcher. It's now gimped my netbook desktop as well - gnome-panel doesn't launch automatically and windows are anchored to the top-left corner (covering up their own close buttons). There's at least one thread about this on the official forums - or god's sake stick with the netbook mode for now.

RENE said...

I installed things differently.
Not wanting to replace the original Windows XP completely - I installed the Remix on a Pendrive.
Now the Remix version is a NON PERMANENT version if you put it on a pendrive so this is what I did.
Opened the MINI and took the drive out (to be sure getting nothing on my Windows OS during the installation.
So the REMIX Pendrive in one USB where I booted from and a new one to put the final Ubunto on, I rebooted and installed it on the only drive it proposes i.e. the (HP formatted - 16G in my case) new one.
Go through the whole installation procedure, restart included.
Now we switch the whole thing off, put the drive back in, at startup change the boot priority so it boots from USB first.
In practice it means if you boot without the new pendrive you'r in Windows and with it you get into Ubuntu with PERMANENT settings.
Hours of fun....
My next project is to involve the new Windows7, will keep you posted
Rene

redDEAD said...

RENE,

Nice job with the USB Ubuntu but this site isn't about Windows. No one (and I mainly mean me because I dictate what gets published) cares about Windows 7.

Anonymous said...

So, I tried using unetbootin to build a bootable USB stil for 9.04.

I used the same stick that worked for my 8.1 install.

When I used the regular live Ubuntu distro, I can live boot, but when I choose to install 9.04, parted gives me a 141 error.

I read here and there on google posts that this seems to be a known issue with the Ubuntu live CD, parted doesn't recognize partitions.

So I put the netbook remix install on the USV stick, but that just boots me to a shell.

Downloads were the most current versions available as of today.

Should I have tried the beta instead a month or two ago? That seemed to work better.

Thoughts welcome, I don't find anything via google yet to help get one or the other going.

Andileo said...

Hi, I'm a Linux newbie so this may be a dumb question... when i try to install UNR using your command line, i get " Couldn't find package ubuntu-netbook-remix
"
what did i do wrong?

redDEAD said...

you did nothing wrong, are you using Ubuntu 9.04? If you are not using Ubuntu 9.04 you need to use this guide:

http://www.ubuntumini.com/2008/10/installing-ubuntu-netbook-remix.html

Andileo said...

Yes! that worked. Thanks.

Unknown said...

I am having the same issue as Andrew above. After entering a terminal and typing sudo apt-get install ubuntu-netbook-remix, I get the error "E: Couldn't find package ubuntu-netbook-remix."
I am using 9.04 am I spelling it wrong?

redDEAD said...

If you are getting an "E: Couldn't find package ubuntu-netbook-remix" error. Try updating your source list.
In a terminal type:
sudo apt-get update
then try installing the Ubuntu Netbook Remix packages

Marcio Andrey Oliveira said...

Hi.

Installing UNR over 9.04 desktop gives you the ability to switch to the old desktop.

What about memory usage? Performance?

Can I easily uninstall files needed only by Ubuntu Desktop without any side effect?

Regards

Anonymous said...

Have 9.04 on my Dell mini 10, dual boot. Followed the guide to install the remix. It was basically unusable. Tried the fixes, no avail. Uninstalled the remix, but it left many of the packages behind and my regular desktop with slow, erratic mouse movements, etc. Uninstalled all packages of the remix, and I am back to square one. Interesting exercise, but I would not recommend this to anyone who has any problems or the lack of knowledge to did deeply into your system. This is not for the weak at heart in linux.

Cophi said...

Hi
Does this work in Lucid ?
I installed both ubuntu-netbook-remix and ubuntu-netbook-remix-default-settings and my Desktop is stil the same Lucid standard
Thanks

redDEAD said...

Philippe,

At the login screen, log into the Ubuntu Netbook session.

Cophi said...

I was in automatic login so I did not see anything at start-up !
I change the session type and everything is correct !
Thanks

Cophi said...

Sorry yet another question !
I have no "Add to panel option" in the upper gnome panel.
When I right click on the upper panel I have a menu with Preferences, About, Remove from panel, Move, Lock Panel.
The last three are greyed.