Hi guys,

Buying a cheapo laptop to run a few linux distributions.

BUT

I have a wireless router, and was thinking I could acess files on my main PC (vista) via the wifi, pulling them across network, and running them on linux - music files for example.

Is this possible?

It's easy. Out of the box smb (windows) networking on most distros (that a normal person would want to use).

Yup. It's very easy. I recently re-visited Linux and it's amazing how much it's come on in the last couple of years (since I last delved into it). Then getting drivers for anything was tricky, now most things are recognised straight off. There are still some annoyances but it's so much better than it was.....

Setting up a Wifi router should be very easy....

Linux tends to trail behind Windoze a bit - party because they don't rush out with buggy software, and party because hardware suppliers are bad at letting non-Windoze people know about APIs.

So, get the most recent distributions, and don't use the very latest hardware.

Have a look on each distro's home page - they'll usually tell you which hardware is supported (it may take some finding though).

just one point, I have played with a number of modern linuxs recently. I have found that they all have problems if you define a fixed IP address rather than sticking to the default DHCP assigned address. Mostly, the problems can be fixed by fiddling but it sort of messes up the otherwise positive experience.

Try Mint linux it is a more sensible sorted Ubuntu -- The latest version Mint 6 "Felicia" came out today I have been running Mepis for a couple of years (after trying more than a dozen other Linux) the final beta of Mepis 6 for about 2 months ---- bug free no crashes all the multimedia stuff works.
http://www.linuxmint.com/

It will run booting from CD to try it out and installs from CD without hitch. Install software without problems is bullet proof in Mint.

Other Linux version you might to try are are Mepis, PCLinuxOS, Yoper and the tiny but perfectly formed Puppy Linux .


Links and info on most Linux versions can be found on the Distrowatch site.
http://distrowatch.com/

quote:

---

Originally posted by JonBowden
just one point, I have played with a number of modern linuxs recently. I have found that they all have problems if you define a fixed IP address rather than sticking to the default DHCP assigned address. Mostly, the problems can be fixed by fiddling but it sort of messes up the otherwise positive experience.

---

if you try putting a fixed IP in using the GNOME user interface in Fedora 9 or 10 or Ubuntu 8 or SUSE (can't remember version), they all screw up in one way or another.

In Fedora 10, there is a bug in the user interface.
in other cases, there is some sort of clever network manager that messes up and needs to be dissabled.
Some of the distributions (Ubuntu I think) have the ability to browse Windows shares straight out of the box, however when you get a fixed IP to work, this breaks. You can still get there but not as neatly.

I have just done a great deal of testing on the above system

Ah access Windows shares from a Linux box

Fedora's windows networking hasn't worked properly since version 2 --- Things that get broken due to changes in Fedora seldom get fi ed quickly Fedora isn't a true Linux it uses its own customised core and a while back a lot of people who contributed code to the Fedora project jumped ship to Ubuntu. Think of Fedora as early alpha Red Hat Fedora looks simply wonderful BUT it simply doesn't deliver. It also tends to be less than perfect when the user adds new software even from the official repositories or distribution disks --- I found add a new program something else breaks..

Ubuntu is also just a bit too cutting edge -- 6 monthly release schedule is just a bit too ambitious often some breaks (for example the last version had multimedia problems) however unlike Fedora things get fixed in the next release of Ubuntu.

I use Mint which is a more sorted version of Ubuntu but using the Gnome Desktop interface it just works no fuss no bother.


I run Mint Linux on my own PC I have two seperate networks in my home each network its' own ADSL router and broadband line -- this is to reduce the risk of losing our ADSL which is vital to our income.

On both networks I use fixed IP issued by the the routers DHCP server and although the PCs client have hosts files I tend to neglect keeping them up to date. The Windows PC also runs Treewalk caching DNS server. The Windows network is simple Windows Xp PC, HP network printer and a NAS box all with fixed IPs.

When I need to do any housing keeping on the Windows network I simple connect to it by wireless by insering a wireless USB key and I can then access any of the clients using Nautilus via Windows networking name or by simply typing in its IP address..


Here is a screen shot of it working
Here is the windows network access from the Mint Linux box both by IP and Windows names.

[Edited on 16/12/08 by britishtrident]

[Edited on 16/12/08 by britishtrident]
Rescued attachment Screenshot.png

Samba isn't installed by default in ubuntu but it's the work of seconds to do it.

Which reminds me, must look at why mine's just decided to stop seeing my fileserver...

quote:

---

Originally posted by britishtrident
I use Mint which is a more sorted version of Ubuntu but using the Gnome Desktop interface it just works no fuss no bother.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by David Jenkins

quote:

---

Originally posted by britishtrident
I use Mint which is a more sorted version of Ubuntu but using the Gnome Desktop interface it just works no fuss no bother.

---

It's strange - I've tried Mint and couldn't get on with it. Each to their own preferences, I guess.

I do usually wait at least a month before upgrading to the next version of Ubuntu, to get the first bugs out of the system. Several times I haven't upgraded for many months, simply because the new version didn't offer anything I desperately needed.

If the laptop isn't particularly powerful, you could try XUBUNTU - same kernel, and you can load the same programs, but the windows system puts far less load on the machine. I use it on an ancient toshiba lappie, and it starts and runs quicker than the Windoze 2000 than usually sits on it. (I swap hard drives, depending on what I want to do).

[Edited on 16/12/08 by David Jenkins]

---