Ubuntu and surfing the net

[user 22118]

I have an "older" laptop that was sucking the big anus. I wanted to get a netbook and then realized I would be seriously limited since I had no other computer at home. I had Ubuntu downloaded and was going to put it onto my laptop about August of last year and put it off, put it off, and then my power charger broke. Sure I could have spent like $30 and got a new one, but I didn't. I just used SWMBO's and got by. Then I bought a new laptop that was a real laptop and a super duper upgrade from what I had. I went from like 256mb Ram to 4gb. From 60gb hard to 350gb. Point is, a big upgrade for roughly double the price (still extremely affordable). I just recieved said laptop about two days back. It is awesome. It is also the same brand.

I plugged the old laptop in and it worked! Shocked, I decided to wipe the slow, sludgy, useless Vista from the underpowered laptop and install Ubuntu. It is a lifesaver that I wish I had put onto my computer when I first wanted to. Of course, I couldn't use various things like iTunes for my iPhone. But who really cares since I haven't plugged my phone into iTunes since I lost the use of my laptop.

Enjoy!

 

[user 22118]

Now, all that said, I am somehow unable to charge my computer now that I installed Ubuntu. I am not saying that I have just changed the world by installing it, but I don't know why it is not charging now. Any clues?

 

[DylansDad]

Did you change anything in the BIOS? After all this time the battery may be drained way more than you would expect, give it a full night and see how it is in the morning. However, it could easily be that the battery went bad.

 

[user 22118]

I will throw the charger on it overnight. It died rather quickly though. Let's see how it works. Otherwise though, I could invest in a new charger if that is all it takes to make the old one work.

 

[Homercidal]

Is it a Dell? They have a notorious problem with their charging systems. Either the plug end or the connector on the MOBO comes loose and it won't sense the type of charger, and therefore doesn't know what charging rate to use. They don't charge at that point because they don't want to overheat the battery.

 

[Brew-Happy]

Cool job on the Ubuntu! With much ram I am surprised you weren't frustrated with using that comp with Vista!

I am a few weeks away from dualing my Dell Inspiron 1100. I have tested a small distro (DSL linux) on it and surfed the web WHILE running DSL OS on a 1gb flash drive! This has been a lot of fun

Hopefully, I will be putting a larger harddrive in it and more ram. Then a Windows XP /Ubuntu 9.10 dual system for some real fun.

Do a google search for: Ubuntu "your computer make and model" issues

I found a glitch AND solution for my video card. You could find the same problem you are having plus someone's work around.

I may be reviving a friend's older laptop with Linux just to give her family a "netbook" for almost nothing!

Keep us informed. I know there are a ton of Linux users on here that would appreciate more positive PR for Linux.

 

[arch1tect]

if you're feeling a little experimental and know linux a little bit check out Sabayon. It's an Ubuntu type distro based off of Gentoo which has a much better package management system than Ubuntu.

 

[HIM_Tattoos]

This is a very common issue, I have the same issue with Ubuntu and my Dell laptop, it always tells me that I have 2% of the battery left, but I have more than that. I chalk it up to an old battery.

 

[Synovia]

if you're feeling a little experimental and know linux a little bit check out Sabayon. It's an Ubuntu type distro based off of Gentoo which has a much better package management system than Ubuntu.

I don't know if I'd call Gentoo's package management much better than ubuntu's. Sure, its got more functionality, but its also a lot easier to blow up your install.

 

[kaiser423]

Ubuntu for the win man!

I personally use Kubuntu (I like their general system better), but man do I ever love how Linux makes all my computers, even the slow old guys as fast as lightning.

 

[BioBeing]

I had an old Dell laptop that the battery died on, and plugging it in to the normal charger did not let me run it. Not sure if that was a connector issue, or a battery issue, but bottom line was I could not use that computer.

Anyway, I bought a cheap dock off ebay, as this puts the power in through a different port. Hey presto - it worked - while connected to the dock. Battery still never held a charge. Just ran a KVM to my desktop monitor and keyboard.

I put linux on that one too, but got rid of it recently when work decided to upgrade it for me anyway.

 

[user 22118]

overnight charge did nothing for it, I think because it wasn't charging for some reason. Any thoughts out there? I have an Acer and the new one is a beauty compared to the old one, but I would love to be able to use the older one if possible. Think I might just need a new battery and charger for it?

 

[Chudz]

I'm a big fan of Linux and have tried a number of distros. In fact, since I stopped playing WoW, I've hardly booted the Win XP partition on my desktop. Anyway, on to the battery thing. I recently loaded Ubuntu on a spare laptop, whose battery was working well the last time I used it, and I'm noticing the same issue. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to narrow it down using their forums. Of course, I haven't put too much time into it either. However, I'll post here if I find a resolution.

 

[nakros]

Can you use the old laptop while plugged into the charger? If so, then it's the battery at fault. If not, then the charger or something to do with the charging system is at fault.

That being said: I love Linux. I don't care which distro although I prefer debian-based ones (Ubuntu et al) as I love apt-get -- Best package management by far.

 

[user 22118]

I tried charging it with a brand new charger that worked prior to me putting Linux on the laptop. Now it is just sitting there doing nothing, though I would love to surf the net with it if I could. I thought it might be a battery issue, but I am not going to put another $150 into this machine if the battery isn't the problem.

 

[arch1tect]

does the computer stay powered on with the charger plugged in and the battery removed?

 

[user 22118]

No. Dead whether charging or battery in or out. I don't get it.

 

[s3n8]

if you're feeling a little experimental and know linux a little bit check out Sabayon. It's an Ubuntu type distro based off of Gentoo which has a much better package management system than Ubuntu.

+1 love portage and emerge. I miss it much. I have ubuntu server installed on my BALB (bad ass linux box) that I use for work.

 

[Chudz]

I just did a fresh install of Ubuntu 9.10, upgrading from 9.04. Of course I didn't read enough to realize that GRUB was upgraded, so that was interesting.

 

[user 22118]

Anyone have any thoughts on the battery/charging problem. I am now attempting to rid myself of the laptop onto SWMBO's mom who just wants to surf the net and having it be able to take a charge will save us some serious coin.

The quick rundown is that my old charger broke its tip off in the laptop and I stopped charging it. I stopped using it too. I put it in another room for about six months till I bought the new one and hooked it's charger up to the old one (same brand, I pulled the tip out also). Now I charged it up fully, played around for a bit and then installed Ubuntu onto it. As soon as I installed it fully I noticed that the battery meter was slowly draining and I thought nothing of it because the battery had charged fully before. Once it was dead though, it was dead and now I can't charge it with or without the battery.

Any help would be great since the title of this post was made in the hour that I had a working laptop surfing on Ubuntu

I even searched the linux forums briefly and got nothing.

 

[Synovia]

overnight charge did nothing for it, I think because it wasn't charging for some reason. Any thoughts out there? I have an Acer and the new one is a beauty compared to the old one, but I would love to be able to use the older one if possible. Think I might just need a new battery and charger for it?

Buy a new charger. They're like $10 shipped on EBAY.

 

[user 22118]

It isn't a charger problem. It is a charging problem though.

 

[RogerMcAllen]

I bet your battery died, same thing happened to me on my Ispiron E1505 (also to my buddy's dell).

One day fine, and then suddenly it wouldn't charge past 5% or so. The way it was explained to me is that over time the lithium in the battery oxidizes, and the battery loses it's ability to charge. Anything more than a year or two is borrowed time. I could practically replace the computer (3.5 years old) for the cost of a new battery, so I am currently the proud owner of a portable desktop.

 

[user 22118]

I hear what you are saying, but wouldn't that mean that I could use the laptop without the battery? Also, when I plug the charger in it doesn't light up any of the lights anymore (like the power, charging, battery lights).

 

[Chudz]

After re-reading this, I reckon that I'm in a different boat. I'm able to run my laptop when it's plugged into the charger. However, the battery charge seems to drain even while it's shut-down, if it's not plugged in. So, I have adjusted the power settings in Ubuntu to "Shut-off" when the button is pressed, when the lid is closed, etc. I'm going to test it out tomorrow and see what happens.

If you're experiencing failures without the battery and the charger plugged in, it could point to a motherboard issue.

 

[z987k]

if you're feeling a little experimental and know linux a little bit check out Sabayon. It's an Ubuntu type distro based off of Gentoo which has a much better package management system than Ubuntu.

I use both Gentoo and Ubuntu... but you care to qualify your statement? In most applications, I simply disagree. It is so incredibly rare not to have a dependency met, I can't remember the last time.