I decided it was time to rebuild my Kubuntu system with a fresh install. Here's the steps I took to install Kubuntu 10.10 from scratch. I have a multi-core x86_64 based system with 4Gb RAM, and I was installing onto blank disks including a new SSD.

Download

I downloaded the Kubuntu 10.01 amd64.iso file and burnt it to CD. I then booted from this CD with a new SSD for my root drive, and an old SATA disk for /home. I configured the partitions manually, adding 2Gb for SWAP on the SSD.

NVidia

By default, the binary NVidia drivers are not installed. Instructions are available (https://help.ubuntu.com/community/BinaryDriverHowto/Nvidia) for how to install them.

First, remove the default open source driver:

sudo apt-get --purge remove xserver-xorg-video-nouveau

Then, at the K menu go to System/Additional Drivers. I selected the current NVidia driver and clicked Activate. This then downloaded and installed the nvidia driver.

This didn't get my second monitor working. Next, I ran the Settings/NVidia X Server Settings menu option. This allowed me to get the second screen working, but complained about a parse error when I wrote the xorg.conf file.

Following the instructions on the page linked to above, I then ran:

sudo nvidia-xconfig

which complained about a null in xorg.conf and rewrote the file.

I still couldn't write the xorg conf from NVidia X Server Settings - it didn't have permission. I therefore started it up from the command line using:

sudo nvidia-settings

This still couldn't write to the /etc/X11/xorg.conf file! I tried writing to my home area, and that failed too. So I gave up, backed up xorg.conf, edited it with vi and pasted in the preview from nvidia-settings. After a reboot it worked fine.

Additional Software

I installed some additional software using the command line:

sudo apt-get install gimp vim scribus python-psycopg2 mercurial

Sun (Oracle) Java

I had to add the partner repository to be able to install Java. To do this, I started KPackageKit and then went to settings. I then made sure the partner repository was checked and clicked Apply.

Once this is done, Java can be installed using

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install sun-java6-jdk

Can't See Files On a CD

Inserting a CD into the DVD drive brings up the Device Notifier in KDE4. Unfortunately, there is only one option - Copy with K3B. I don't want to copy it I just want to see the files!

Device Notifier has to be one of the wierdest applications for configuration I have ever seen. I can't work out what is wrong in the config to change it.

I can mount the CD manually with:

sudo mount -t iso9660 /dev/sr0 /media/cdrom

but the Device Notifier won't work. Grrr.

Network

I still don't understand the network setup in KDE4. I configured for a static IP in System Settings/Network Settings but it's still using DCHP at boot.

To get this to work I changed the file at /etc/network/interfaces to this:

auto lo eth0
iface lo inet loopback

iface eth0 inet static
    address 192.168.1.10
    netmask 255.255.0.0
    gateway 192.168.1.7

Note the addition of eth0 to the first line.

Numlock on at boot

I wanted to book up with numlock on. This can be done by going to System Settings / Input Devices / Keyboard / Hardware and selecting Turn on.

Printer

I have an Epson c1900 Colour Acculaser. This is connected via Ethernet.

• Go to http://localhost:631. If prompted to login, use your normal machine username and password.
• Select the Administration tab
• Choose Epson AL-C1900 that was auto detected
• Use Epson AcuLaster C1900 Foomatic/eplaser (recommended) for the driver

Add the same printer again, but use the ljet4 driver to get a mono version