Ubuntu Linux Help

Earlier this month, I posted Part 1 of “Browser Problems - Creating a Linux Based Virtual Box” where the issue of being able to load different environments to test web site development was discussed. In this post (Part 2), I’ve received all the hardware (Shuttle SN68SG2) and am happy to note that the unit is Linux compatible. I’ve installed Ubuntu Linux 8.04 x64 (Hardy) on it.

I did have two issues to fix after the initial install.

1) The integrated network card did not seem to work.
2) The integrated video was showing poor graphics.

The fix to get ethernet working was easy. Here’s how I got it functioning:

The specifications of the Shuttle SN68SG2 said that the embedded network card was a Marvell 88E1116.

We can use modeprobe in a terminal to try loading it:

sudo modeprobe marvell
sudo modeprobe marvell 88e1116

After the above command, the network card started to work and I was able to connect to the network.

The second issue, poor video because the drivers were not loaded, had already been solved by Alberto Milone in Italy. I found his solution, on his web site: http://www.albertomilone.com/nvidia_scripts1.html. And I used the instructions to install EnvyNG via apt-get (for this Ubuntu Linux 8.04 - Hardy installation).

As indicated, I needed to ensure the “universal” repository was enabled (and it was by default) and then ran the commands:

sudo apt-get install envyng-gtk

After the install, I found the “EnvyNG” configuration application in System tools (Under applications in the GUI). I selected the nVidia drivers and the script completed successfully. Both the network and the video issues were easily fixed.

Now I’m ready to install VirtualBox, so that I can virtually host testing environments for different operating systems, browsers, applications, etc. The terminal command:

sudo apt-get install virtualbox

will download and install the package. After the installation is complete, you will find “VirtualBox OSE” within Application -> System Tools in your GUI (in the same place the launcher for EnvyENG was found). Just launch VirtualBox and follow the prompts. Easy!

The above may seem like it’s over simplified, perhaps it is, but only in the respect that I’ve not included the many different fixes I tried. Instead, I’ve just posted the network card and video card fixes that worked (without subjecting you to a lengthy rendition of what did not work).

Needless to say, I’ll soon be installing various virtual environments with this great new tool.

I hope this post and the “Part 1″ post are of help to some of you!
Enjoy…

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