Ubuntu new user FAQ
How do I get started?
The first time you use your Free Geek Computer, it will come up to a login screen for the oem account. The username for this account is oem and the password is freegeek. While this account will work, and is the one we use to test the machine, it is not very secure to have an account for which hundreds of people know the password, so we provide a simple way of deleting this account, and at the same time allowing you to personalize the box with your own account settings.
When the box boots, after it does the POST (Power On Self Test), it will say “Grub loading” and then present you with a menu. Press a key at this point to stop the boot process, because otherwise the menu will disappear after a couple of seconds. Then use the arrow keys to highlight the last line “Reset users for first boot” and press “Enter”. Wait a few minutes and you will be asked for your choice of language, keyboard, and timezone, and then asked to fill out your Full Name, Username, and Password. The Full name field can be left blank or filled in. The Username field must have a single word in all lower case, ie no spaces and no capital letters. The two password fields must be identical, but can have upper case letters, lower case letters or numbers. In fact, the best password will have a combination of all three.
There are also some usernames that are not allowed, like “admin”
If you make a mistake in this process, and are unable to log in, restart the machine, and select the Reset users option again. Warning: If you select this option after your account is functional, anything you saved in your old account will be in /tmp/old-home/<username> and the account itself will be gone.
What software is included?
The Free Geek Ubuntu box has a full complement of useful software. The list below is not exhaustive.
- The Gimp - Image processing software roughly equivalent to Adobe Photoshop
- OpenOffice - Word Processing, Database, Spreadsheet, Drawing, Presentation Manager
- Firefox - Internet browser
- Evolution - Email, Calendar, Personal Information Manager
- Nautilus - File Manager and CD/DVD creator
- gThumb - Photo archive and Camera reader
- XSane - Scanner Software
- Lots of games
- Many utilities such as a calculator, screenshot taker, dictionary
How do I create new users?
New users are created by going to System>Administration>Users and Groups
The first user is set to have administrative privileges. This will not be true of new accounts unless it is specifically set under User Privileges.
How do I change my password?
Your password can be changed in System>Preferences>About Me.
Alternatively, all user passwords can be changed in System>Administration>Users
How do I change the name of my computer from "freekbox"?
Go to System>Administration>Networking and click on the General tab. After changing the computer name, you MUST reboot immediately.
How do I add a printer?
Make sure the printer is cabled to the computer and turned on. Go to System>Administration>Printers. Double-click on "New Printer". You will need to enter your password at this point. A dialog box will pop up. The large box in the middle should have the name of your printer in it, and if you press "Forward", reasonable defaults should already be filled in.
How do I connect to the internet?
Dialup
We recommend using gnome-ppp instead of the Ubuntu "Network Settings" dialog. On the Free Geek boxen, it is in the Internet menu, It is not part of the default Ubuntu installation, so if you install from CD, you will need to use the Add/Remove application to install it. When you first use the program, you should go to "Setup" and click on "Detect" to detect the modem. This should only have to be done once. Otherwise, most users should leave all the defaults alone and only put in the username, password and phone number in order to be able to connect. Make sure to check the "Remember password" box. Do not put anything in the "Dial prefix" box on the settings page, unless you need to dial an extra number (like 9) to access an outside line.
Broadband (cable or dsl)
For most cable and dsl modems, once the modem is set up, your ubuntu box will be able to connect without any extra configuration. If you are not able to connect, then check the following:
- The ethernet connection may need to be enabled. Go to System>Administration>Networking, highlight the ethernet connection and then click on properties. There should be a check mark in "Enable this connection". The Configuration should be DHCP unless you know it should be otherwise.
- The modem may need to be rebooted or reset.
- If the modem has not been configured, try browsing to the web interface of the modem. This can be found by checking System>Administration>Network tools. Change the network device to show the ethernet connection. If the IPV4 IP address starts with 169, or is absent, you are not connected. Otherwise, click on the Netstat tab. and check the routing information. The gateway address is the address of the modem. Just put that address in to firefox and you should see the administrative interface for the modem.
The gnome panels (the strips containing menus, icons and buttons on the top and bottom of the screen) are very easy to customize, and so are very easy to mess up. The following tips can help you recover them.
missing panel
It is easy to delete one of the panels. To replace it, right-click on the remaining panel, and choose "New Panel" from the menu. This will give you a new blank panel. You will need to replace the menus and other features of the panel.
You can add most features of the panels by right-clicking on the panel and choosing "Add to Panel". You will be presented with a large list of features to be added. Try them out. You can always delete them by right-clicking on the feature and selecting "Remove from Panel". Note that the Menu which was there originally is "Menu Bar", not "Main Menu".
Application icons are added by clicking on the menu and then right-clicking on the application icon in the menu and selecting "Add this launcher to panel"
panel in the wrong place
Panels can be moved to different sides of the screen by clicking and dragging.
Adding Software
The first place to look for software to add is in the Add/Remove utility (Applications>Add/Remove). This gives you access to the Ubuntu supported applications plus many others. More packages, and finer control over them, can be found by going to System>Administration>Synaptic Package Manager.
The Free Geek Ubuntu boxes come preinstalled with Automatix, a script which simplifies the installation of many kinds of software such as media players. (Applications>System Tools>Automatix)
Media and online games
For various reasons, the Free Geek boxen do not come preinstalled with software to play some types of media. Some "Store Specials" may come with DVD players physically installed, but again do not have the software installed. Automatix can be used to install software for these purposes.
- Flashplayer is necessary to play video on sites such as youtube.com.
- Totem-xine and Multimedia codecs allow the playing of DVD's
- Mplayer and FF plugin allows the playing of many kinds of online streaming video
- AUD-DVD allows the playing of encrypted DVD's such as current movies. Free Geek will not install this package due to legal issues.
- Java (found in both Automatix and Add/Remove) enables the playing of online games.