How to disable CD-ROM/DVD Source

Hi :)

The quick answer is to open Synaptic Package Manager

System - Administration - Synaptic

Then from it's menu's click on

Settings - Repositories - "Ubuntu Software" (1st tab)

& untick the Cd tick-box in the white box at the bottom.

To get a much better understanding of what is going on try running through the Medibuntu worksheet
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Medibuntu
as it should sort most of your multimedia issues out at the same time! It's always a good idea to run this as soon as reasonably possible after installing or upgrading to a new release of Ubuntu. A few months late doesn't hurt anything tho :)

Good luck and regards from
Tom :)

On Administration->Software Sources, under the first tab, you can see something like "CD/DVDROM source" - Uncheck this option and click on the Close button. On the next window that pops up, click on Reload.

HTH.

Hi :)

Ahh, yeh, that is an excellent short-cut to exactly the right place. I just find that it's useful to get more familiar with Synaptic as a central place for sorting a huge range of different issues

Good luck and regards from
Tom :)

Apologies for my lack of computer knowledge. I clicked on Admin>Software Sources, the bottom part of the window is headed "Installable from a CD-ROM/DVD", and it states :- "To install from a CD-ROM or DVD, insert the medium into the drive."

That is the only mention of a CD or DVD in the whole 1st tab box. There is no check box to untick.

There are 5 tickable boxes and they are all ticked. They are :-

1/ Canonical-supported open source software (main)
2/ Community- maintained open source software (universe)
3/ Proprietary drivers for devices (restricted)
4/ Software restricted by copyright or legal issues (multiverse)
5/ Source code.

Cheers and thanks for your input so far Allistair

You could just open/edit and comment out the line which states something about "CD/DVDROM" as sources with:

gksudo gedit /etc/apt/sources.list

After commenting the line, save and do:

sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get upgrade

HTH.

Hi :)

I think this whole thing about the Cd is a "Red Herring". It appears to be already done by default so i don't understand what HP are fussing about. What is the next instruction?

 ... By the way ...
The big white box labelled "To install from a CD-ROM or DVD, insert the medium into the drive." was exactly the right place. Inside there is usually at least 1 cd labelled something like
"CD-ROM with Ubuntu 10.04 'Lucid Lynx'"
and just to the left of that is a very faint margin with a faint box to tick, or in this case make sure its unticked.

 ... The proper linuxy way ...
I have a feeling that you can completely ignore the instructions anyway. Just try plugging your printer in to the machine, open Synaptic Package Manager

System - Administration - Synaptic

Use either search tool to find "hplip" and click on it to install it. There will probably be a few other packages that start with "hplip" but then have other bits added to the names. For now just ignore all those unless you happen to spot you particular printer named in one of them in which case let us know. I didn't notice one & the main hplip should have everything that's required for most printers anyway.

Generally when there is a package named in Synaptic that has the same name as something that you could download then the one in Synaptic is better. So, synaptic is always the best place to start searching when you want to increase functionality of your system. In this case the functionality is "printer" functions.

Err, either should be good tho. Try either way of installing hplip and then see if your printer springs into life. If not then try the other way ;) Linux is very much more forgiving about all this sort of stuff. Probably another reason that malware has such a tough time in linux that no-one even bothers to try writing stuff like that.
Please let us know how this goes!
Good luck and regards from
Tom :)

Hi Ian, sorry, but I'm very much a novice with computers and Linux. I
went to Admin> Software Sources but couldn't highlight anything under
the Ubuntu software tab.

I suspect I'm in the wrong place.

When you say "Comment out the line", do you mean to highlight the
sentence and replace it with what you suggest ? Cheers Allistair

Ian Ace A. Culallad wrote:
> Your question #107910 on gnome-terminal in ubuntu changed:
> https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/gnome-terminal/+question/107910
>
> Status: Open => Answered
>
> Ian Ace A. Culallad proposed the following answer:
> You could just open/edit and comment out the line which states something
> about "CD/DVDROM" as sources with:
>
> gksudo gedit /etc/apt/sources.list
>
> After commenting the line, save and do:
>
> sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get upgrade
>
> HTH.
>
>

Tom wrote:
> Your question #107910 on gnome-terminal in ubuntu changed:
> https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/gnome-terminal/+question/107910
>
> Tom proposed the following answer:
> Hi :)
>
> I think this whole thing about the Cd is a "Red Herring". It appears to
> be already done by default so i don't understand what HP are fussing
> about. What is the next instruction?
>
> ... By the way ...
> The big white box labelled "To install from a CD-ROM or DVD, insert the medium into the drive." was exactly the right place. Inside there is usually at least 1 cd labelled something like
> "CD-ROM with Ubuntu 10.04 'Lucid Lynx'"
> and just to the left of that is a very faint margin with a faint box to tick, or in this case make sure its unticked.
>
> ... The proper linuxy way ...
> I have a feeling that you can completely ignore the instructions anyway. Just try plugging your printer in to the machine, open Synaptic Package Manager
>
> System - Administration - Synaptic
>
> Use either search tool to find "hplip" and click on it to install it.
> There will probably be a few other packages that start with "hplip" but
> then have other bits added to the names. For now just ignore all those
> unless you happen to spot you particular printer named in one of them in
> which case let us know. I didn't notice one & the main hplip should have
> everything that's required for most printers anyway.
>
> Generally when there is a package named in Synaptic that has the same
> name as something that you could download then the one in Synaptic is
> better. So, synaptic is always the best place to start searching when
> you want to increase functionality of your system. In this case the
> functionality is "printer" functions.
>
> Err, either should be good tho. Try either way of installing hplip and then see if your printer springs into life. If not then try the other way ;) Linux is very much more forgiving about all this sort of stuff. Probably another reason that malware has such a tough time in linux that no-one even bothers to try writing stuff like that.
> Please let us know how this goes!
> Good luck and regards from
> Tom :)
>
>
Hi Tom, nothing else in the "Software sources" box apart from " to
install from a CD-ROM etc" There is nothing at all to the left to untick.

When I go to System>Admin>Synaptic, the search box cannot activated. It
cannot be highlighted to type anything in.

When I scroll down the packages the only HPLIP selected is hplip-doc
Installed version 3.9.8-1ubuntu2 Latest version 3.9.8-1ubuntu2
Size 893 kB

There is hplip - hplip-cups - hplip-data - hplip-dbg - hplip-gui
in addition to the selected hplip-doc.

The version is all listed as 3.9.8-1ubuntu2

All of the packages in the left column have an ubuntu icon next to them
except hplip-cups and hplip-gui

My printer is not mentioned in any of the hplip packages.

Regards Allistair

Hi Allistair :)

Please use the links in the email to navigate into this thread at the launchpad website. Then you can really see what is going on here.

When you open synaptic it is usually too small for all the buttons so at the right hand side is little arrow allowing you to select the 'hidden' buttons, including the "Search" button. There is a "Quick search" white space that you can just type things into as soon as Synaptic pops up, or you can click into it later. Is it the "Quick search" that is giving you problems? While you are there it is a good idea to click on the "Mark all updates/upgrades" button.

Check that the printer is plugged in and switched on.

Try right-clicking on the white box to the left of hplip & hplip-cups then choose install for each of them. The hplip will ask you if it is allowed to install various other packages it depends on in order to function. Click Ok to let it do that. Probably "hplip-cups" will be one of those it ticks for you. Then click on the "Apply" button.

If this is the first time updates have been applied since you installed Ubuntu then it will probably take half an hour or so to complete this time. If it's just installing hplip's stuff then probably only 5mins or less.

Hopefully your printer might rattle away at some point just to make you jump.
Good luck and regards from
Tom :)

Hi Tom, thanks for your patience !!! In Synaptic Packet Manager there
are no arrows at all that exposes hidden buttons.

I have a quick search slot that can't be activated for whatever reason,
and right next to it on the right hand side I have a Search button that
is operable.

 The only other buttons that do operate are the "Reload" and "Mark all
upgrades". I have clicked them both, but Synaptic still has the
lastest version of hplip as 3.9.8-1ubuntu2

Cheers Allistair

Tom wrote:
> Your question #107910 on gnome-terminal in ubuntu changed:
> https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/gnome-terminal/+question/107910
>
> Status: Open => Answered
>
> Tom proposed the following answer:
> Hi Allistair :)
>
> Please use the links in the email to navigate into this thread at the
> launchpad website. Then you can really see what is going on here.
>
> When you open synaptic it is usually too small for all the buttons so at
> the right hand side is little arrow allowing you to select the 'hidden'
> buttons, including the "Search" button. There is a "Quick search" white
> space that you can just type things into as soon as Synaptic pops up, or
> you can click into it later. Is it the "Quick search" that is giving you
> problems? While you are there it is a good idea to click on the "Mark
> all updates/upgrades" button.
>
> Check that the printer is plugged in and switched on.
>
> Try right-clicking on the white box to the left of hplip & hplip-cups
> then choose install for each of them. The hplip will ask you if it is
> allowed to install various other packages it depends on in order to
> function. Click Ok to let it do that. Probably "hplip-cups" will be one
> of those it ticks for you. Then click on the "Apply" button.
>
> If this is the first time updates have been applied since you installed
> Ubuntu then it will probably take half an hour or so to complete this
> time. If it's just installing hplip's stuff then probably only 5mins or
> less.
>
> Hopefully your printer might rattle away at some point just to make you jump.
> Good luck and regards from
> Tom :)
>
>

Hi :)

That all sounds good :) Although it sounds as though your machine is suffering from "weird errors that 'shouldn't be' happening". So, please can you go up to the top taskbar and click on

System - Administration - "Computer janitor"

Also if you use Thunderbird or Evolution for emailing then please could you empty their wastebins? Also please can you get to a command-line
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/UsingTheTerminal#Starting%20a%20Terminal
and copy&paste the results of these 2 commands?

free -m

sudo fdisk -l

where "-l" is a lower-case "-L" and sudo asks for your normal user password, not your SuperUser/Root one & it doesn't give you any stars as you type, for added security.

In Synaptic please could you try uninstalling (or even "completely remove" hplip? Then close synaptic, re-open it and try installing it again, this time with the printer all switched on and plugged into the machine?
Good luck and regards from
Tom :)

Hi Tom, I don't understand what is happening !!! Cheers Allistair

Tom wrote:
> Your question #107910 on gnome-terminal in ubuntu changed:
> https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/gnome-terminal/+question/107910
>
> Status: Open => Answered
>
> Tom proposed the following answer:
> Hi :)
>
> That all sounds good :) Although it sounds as though your machine is
> suffering from "weird errors that 'shouldn't be' happening". So, please
> can you go up to the top taskbar and click on
>
> System - Administration - "Computer janitor"
>
> Also if you use Thunderbird or Evolution for emailing then please could you empty their wastebins? Also please can you get to a command-line
> https://help.ubuntu.com/community/UsingTheTerminal#Starting%20a%20Terminal
> and copy&paste the results of these 2 commands?
>
> free -m
>
allistair@Assy-laptop:~$ free -m
             total used free shared buffers cached
Mem: 875 508 367 0 104 165
-/+ buffers/cache: 238 636
Swap: 1656 173 1483
allistair@Assy-laptop:~$
allistair@Assy-laptop:~$
> sudo fdisk -l
>

> allistair@Assy-laptop:~$ sudo fdisk -l
>
[sudo] password for allistair:
Sorry, try again.
[sudo] password for allistair:

Disk /dev/sda: 80.0 GB, 80026361856 bytes
138 heads, 12 sectors/track, 94384 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 1656 * 512 = 847872 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x887b03df

   Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sda1 * 2 45796 37917969 7 HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sda2 45797 92335 38534292 83 Linux
/dev/sda3 92336 94384 1696572 5 Extended
/dev/sda5 92336 94384 1696566 82 Linux swap / Solaris
allistair@Assy-laptop:~$

> where "-l" is a lower-case "-L" and sudo asks for your normal user
> password, not your SuperUser/Root one & it doesn't give you any stars as
> you type, for added security.
>
> In Synaptic please could you try uninstalling (or even "completely remove" hplip? Then close synaptic, re-open it and try installing it again, this time with the printer all switched on and plugged into the machine?
>
Completely removed hplip, closed Synaptic, reopened,reinstalled, checked that printer was plugged in and turned on. Went back and had a look in Synaptic and the installed version is still 3.9.8-1ubuntu2.

> Good luck and regards from
> Tom :)
>
>

Tom wrote:
> Your question #107910 on gnome-terminal in ubuntu changed:
> https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/gnome-terminal/+question/107910
>
> Status: Open => Answered
>
> Tom proposed the following answer:
> Hi :)
>
> That all sounds good :) Although it sounds as though your machine is
> suffering from "weird errors that 'shouldn't be' happening". So, please
> can you go up to the top taskbar and click on
>
> System - Administration - "Computer janitor"
>
Quite a few packages in the unused column, nothing in the recommended
column, and 4 packages in the optimize column.
> Also if you use Thunderbird or Evolution for emailing then please could you empty their wastebins?
Spam and waste bin emptied (Thunderbird)
> Also please can you get to a command-line
> https://help.ubuntu.com/community/UsingTheTerminal#Starting%20a%20Terminal
> and copy&paste the results of these 2 commands?
>
> free -m
>
> sudo fdisk -l
>
> where "-l" is a lower-case "-L" and sudo asks for your normal user
> password, not your SuperUser/Root one & it doesn't give you any stars as
> you type, for added security.
>
> In Synaptic please could you try uninstalling (or even "completely remove" hplip? Then close synaptic, re-open it and try installing it again, this time with the printer all switched on and plugged into the machine?
> Good luck and regards from
> Tom :)
>
> Sorry, forgot to let you know the results of the first aprt of youe email. As a matter of interest where abouts in the world are you ? I'm at the bottom of New Zealand in a town called Gore.

Hi again :)

Please try to avoid just replying to the emails. Please try to click on the links to navigate into your thread here at Launchpad. Alternatively when you click on reply please immediately delete all the bit that we sent you (CtrlA & then delete). At the moment i see all my replies posted at least twice and it's getting very very confusing and quite difficult to keep scrolling up to try to find the bit that is your reply.

Don't worry, we all did something similar when we first started using Launchpad as each forum works slightly differently. I should have said something earlier.

Good luck and regards from
Tom :)

Hi :)

Ok, we need to be certain that the printer is plugged in and switched on DURING install of hplips. At the moment you are a bit vague. Your last note says that sometime AFTER the install you switched it on. Which gives us NO IDEA of what happened. Did you switch it after the install, was it on during or not? PLEASE

1. Unisntall hplips
2. Plug in the printer at the mains so it gets electrickery to power it.
3. Plug the printer into the computer WHILE it is still plugged into the mains electrickery
4. Make sure the main power is switched on
5. Make sure the printer is switched on and lights light up?
6. install hplips while the printers lights are on and it is still plugged into the computer.

Did the printer rattle around a bit? Can you print now?
Regards from
Tom :)

Hi Tom, trust you receive this without any thing not wanted.

1/ hplip completely uninstalled. It also uninstalled hpijs and hplip-gui
2/ Printer has _always_ been plugged in with the power on in past and
present trys. Lights are on, on
     the printer.
3/ hplip reinstalled. (Note hplip-gui was uninstalled but did not
reinstall)
4/ Printer did not make any sound at all, and did not print.
5/ The print job shows up on the "Document Print Status" but doesn't
actually print.

Regards Allistair

Hi :)

Sorry, i was having a bad hair day yday! Many apols about that!

Ok, now can you try un-installing & reinstall with printer switched off for the whole thing? The version number shouldn't matter. The one from Synaptic has proper tweaks for working 'better' in Ubuntu hopefully. It shouldn't make any difference but it often does and sometimes it is better with the printer switched on & sometimes better with it switched off so we have to be certain that both ways are tried.

Sorry about this!
Regards from
Tom :)

>
> Hi Tom, No need for apologies, my lack of computer knowledge would make the most patient of persons have a bad hair day.
>

1/ Power to computer completely turned off. (Power plug removed and
printer cable removed.)

2/ Using "Synaptic", hplip completely removed, then reinstalled.

3/ Installed version still shows up as 3.9.8-1unbuntu2

4/ Power re-connected and printer cable re-connected.

5/ Printer clicked and clacked, then printed an alignment page that I
scanned as requested. The alignment page printed the Blue part ok but
the Red part was not very good.

6/ I typed out a coloured test page, that when I went to print it, only
printed in Black.

7/ When I clicked on the HPLIP Toolbox icon on the top bar, to check
the printer settings,it came up with an error message :- "Could Not
Launch Appplication" Failed to execute child process
"home/allistair/cups/lpoptions" (Permission denied).

At least now the printer is working all be it in Black only, although
the alignment page printed in colour. It has a new coloured cartridge
installed.

Cheers Allistair

>
Hi again Tom Short answer Yes ! Cheers Allistair

Hi :)

Phew. At last! Sorry it was the 2nd way around. Inevitably (according to Murphy's Law or something similar) when there are a number of different ways of doing something and only 1 will be the right answer it doesn't matter which you start with the right one will be last. lol

If you add a new icon to the top taskbar that might work. If so then just delete the one that doesn't work. Usually things are not quite so temperamental but printers are notorious amongst IT Managers

However, i would avoid doing anything further about this right now. Just give it a few days and the situation will probably sort itself out. As things get updated and after a couple of reboots these sorts of residual issues tend to iron themselves out.

If your printer has a separate black cartridge then it might be interesting to physically remove the coloured cartridge in a couple of days and see if you can still print black. Some cheaper printers have a combined ink cartridge with no real black ink and they use up all the colours to try to make something look almost black. With a more expensive printer it's sometimes considered worth ensuring that printing black is using the black cartridge and not mixing up the colours somehow because their colour cartridges tend to be a little more expensive (but last a LOT longer).

If you go to the top taskbar and click on

Applications - Accessories - "Manage Print Jobs"

does that give a better interface for seeing what the printer is doing? Is that the one you added to the taskbar or something different?

Regards from
Tom :)

Hi :)

You asked reasonable questions and gave reasonable answers. Just because that wasn't precise enough for me is no excuse for me to get frustrated. Ubuntu's tag-line is "linux for human beings" and our community is better without the old "RTFM" attitude. There are plenty of more rewarding ways of relieving frustrations, such as dancing at a live music gig. So, if you get answers that are unfriendly please don't settle for it. Ask again or ask for clarification.

There is another forum for general linux questions which can be useful.
http://www.linuxquestions.org
Sometimes it's worth posting the same question on both places and the other official ubuntuforums.com just to see what quality of answers you get from each. Ideally when i do that i try to post the link to the correct answer back into the 2 threads that didn't quite get there. This helps spread the knowledge around a bit & keeps all the forums more useful which helps the linux community

Good luck and regards from
Tom :)

Tom wrote:
> Your question #107910 on gnome-terminal in ubuntu changed:
> https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/gnome-terminal/+question/107910
>
> Status: Open => Answered
>
> Tom proposed the following answer:
> Hi :)
>
> Phew. At last! Sorry it was the 2nd way around. Inevitably (according to
> Murphy's Law or something similar) when there are a number of different
> ways of doing something and only 1 will be the right answer it doesn't
> matter which you start with the right one will be last. lol
>
> If you add a new icon to the top taskbar that might work. If so then
> just delete the one that doesn't work. Usually things are not quite so
> temperamental but printers are notorious amongst IT Managers
>
> However, i would avoid doing anything further about this right now. Just
> give it a few days and the situation will probably sort itself out. As
> things get updated and after a couple of reboots these sorts of residual
> issues tend to iron themselves out.
>
> If your printer has a separate black cartridge then it might be
> interesting to physically remove the coloured cartridge in a couple of
> days and see if you can still print black. Some cheaper printers have a
> combined ink cartridge with no real black ink and they use up all the
> colours to try to make something look almost black. With a more
> expensive printer it's sometimes considered worth ensuring that printing
> black is using the black cartridge and not mixing up the colours somehow
> because their colour cartridges tend to be a little more expensive (but
> last a LOT longer).
>
> If you go to the top taskbar and click on
>
> Applications - Accessories - "Manage Print Jobs"
>
> does that give a better interface for seeing what the printer is doing?
> Is that the one you added to the taskbar or something different?
>
> Regards from
> Tom :)
>
>
Sorry for the long delay in replying to you but I think I have a dodgy
modem/router and I couldn't get on line sooner to send a reply.

That guy "Murphy" has a lot to answer for hasn't he ?

I printed out two emails I received, one had a sentence in "Blue" and
the other a bit in "Green". They both printed OK in their respective
colours.

I thought "Yes" it's working. So I typed a test page in various colours
in OO word and checked it in "Print" > "Page Setup" and it looked
good. However, when it printed it only printed in Black !!!!!!

I'll let it settle for a few days as suggested and see how it goes.

My printer is just a low priced HP F2180 and has a small Black Cartridge
and a small tri-colour cartridge.

Applications>Accessories> Manage Print jobs, brings up a "Document Print
Status" window. It only has anything in it when a print job is there.

Thank you once again for your input and incredible patience. Cheers
Allistair

>
>
What does RTFM stand for ?

As for relieving frustrations, you wouldn't have seen me dancing. Not
a pretty sight !

Having not grown up with computers, a lot of the computer jargon is a
bit above my head. I can understand computer literate people getting
frustrated trying to help guys like me out. Cheers Allistair

Hi :)

It sounds like you are exactly one of the types of people that Ubuntu is developed for. Many people that have been brought up with computers only know MicroSquish and have developed some very bad habits and slightly warped ways of viewing the world. They are the ones that have the most trouble adapting to linux. Ubuntu is designed to be fairly easy for people relatively new to computers so they can develop good habits right from the start.

The MicroSquish attitude to security is to try to "lock the stable-door after the horse has bolted". With linux it's all built in from the ground-up right from the very start of a package's life. This leaves almost nothing for normal users to worry about on that score.

This worries new linux users (noobs or newbies) fresh from the world of Windows so they sometimes start trying to do complex things before they are really ready. Also when experienced or knowledgeable linux users that hear a package is "proprietary" they tend to be fairly wary of it because it's likely to have been written by 'experienced' Windows programmers/developers NOT by proper Linux developers using established routes for alpha & beta testing.

Security is just one of many issues that makes it difficult for people that have developed bad habits in the Windows world to adapt to the linux-world.

Murphy's Law does give us interesting work-arounds such as... When starting a complex or scary procedure that you have no clue about just back-up all your data & settings to somewhere 'safer' so that if it all goes horribly wrong then you should be able to find some way of copying everything back. We call this a "back up". Doing back-ups is something we should all be doing regularly anyway but it can be a boring and slightly annoying procedure. Often you will then find that the complex procedure somehow works flawlessly and might even have made some sense!

The reason this often works (according to Murphy's Law) is that because the procedure is flawless you really didn't need to make the back-up but if you hadn't made the back-up then something would probably have gone wrong with even a simple harmless procedure and that would have needed you to have a back-up. So by making the back-up you have almost ensured that you didn't need to make one! This is slightly annoying but less painful than really losing those precious family emails and stuff.

Forums like this, emails, txting & lots of "Instant Messenger"ing is all text based so it's difficult to see "what tone of voice" a person is using. Often people use capital letters to denote shouting or anger. So, RTFM is rude but Rtfm is kinda Ok. Except that Rtfm stands for "Read The eFfing Manual" which is a really unhelpful answer. I try to give links to the specific bit of the manual that are directly relevant to the question but then also try to explain what the manual is saying for the specific case the question i being asked about. I think it is important for people to have access to Community Documentation and to be able to begin to understand some of it. Also i think it's important for people to see that i am not just making up the answer to their problem as i go along or leading them astray. Even so i have occasionally been told (as an admonishment) that my answer "looks a bit RTFM, mate". Supposedly even just a few years ago a lot of noobs were put-off trying linux because the only answers they seemed to get in forums were rude, with RTFM being quoted as a classic example. Allegedly that still happens in forums with a tiny community and for other unix-based but non-linux platforms.

However, it does seem a very rare attitude nowadays and i haven't seen it myself in the 3 or 4 years that i have asked stupid questions in a range of different forums.

I think the colour problem is just with OpenOffice? If so then it might be worth posting a new question about that as the original question here has been solved, i think? By asking a new question about printer colour settings in OpenOffice you will hopefully get new people contributing answers. Generally people have 1 or a few areas they really know or are prepared to explore and help with. As i don't have a printer this is not something i can really help you with now. By posting a new question you should hopefully get answers from people that know something about OpenOffice and/or colour printer settings. I'm more into sorting installing stuff and getting some of the basics working
https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+addquestion

However, it might be worth clicking (in OpenOffice) on
File - "Printer Settings" (near the end of the menu) - Options
and check the "Print black" box is UNticked. Go back to the pop-up where the "Options" button was & this time click on the "Properties" button, beside where your printer is named in the drop down menu. In the new pop-up box click on the "Device" tab at the top and at the bottom make sure the "Colour depth" is more than 2. Also see what the setting is for "Colour driver", it might be worth testing that one way and then change that driver setting to "colour". We kinda know whichever setting you try first wont be the right one, don't we? Sadly i can't think of a work-around Murphy's Law for that.

Also have a look in (from the main OpenOffice menus again)
Tools - Options - OpenOffice.org - Print
to make sure the box "Convert colours to greyscale" is UNticked

While you still have that last pop-up box up try clicking on the + beside "Load/Save" - General
Now, at the bottom of that page see where it says "Document Type" & "Always Save As..." just above 2 drop-down menus? Set the first box to
Text Document and the 2nd drop-down to "MicroSquish Word 97/2000/Xp"
then change the first drop-down to
Spreadsheet & the 2nd to "MicroSquish Excel 97/2000/Xp"
and then
Presentation to "MicroSquish PowerPoint 97/2000/Xp"

The 2nd column drop-down values are always 1 or 2 places backwards up the list. Avoid the ones that have "template" in the name. It's only those 3 options in the 1st column drop-down that have MicroSquish alternatives so don't worry about the rest.

Note that changing these defaults to the very much less 'safe' formats does not put you at risk. It just means the documents might get infected when other people open and read them on infected Windows machines. You can quite safely open infected documents on your machine without noticing or getting any problems. One day there might be some malware that can harm a linux system but i think we are likely to remain quite safe with Office documents! (unlike Windows users).

The reason for changing those defaults to the less safe MicroSquish formats is that they are the only formats that most Windows users can read/write! Although OpenOffice is freely available for Windows machines people are often happier to spend £50-£200(perhaps more in some combinations) per machine to buy the MicroSquish Office products! To understand why just read "The Emperor's New Clothes"

Back to "Load/Save" look at "VBA Properties" and "MicroSquish Office" to make sure all the boxes are ticked there. Again it is theoretically slightly unsafer but it allows you to communicate with Windows users a lot more seamlessly. Again the risk is almost entirely only an issue on Windows machines and even then really fairly limited to MicroSquish Office users that are already infected potentially being able to pass on infections to other people that will then only be affected if they also use MicroSquish Office!

Ironically if a MicroSquish Office user tries to open a document in the safer OpenDocument formats they get warned that it's possibly a virus! MicroSquish does a number of these neat little manoeuvres to keep people admiring the Emporer's New Clothes. I have been around countless security websites and corresponded with a lot of people about security issues but i have never yet seen 1 mention or even heard of someone that has heard of a mention of OpenDocument formats doing anything slightly dodgy. On the other hand MicroSquish formats have often reached the news over security problems. So, we call their little warning an example of "FUD" (=Fear Doubt & Uncertainty)

As a new user you are doubtlessly going to face people that are steeped in Fud and totally believe it. So, my suggestions for changing the formats should help you avoid falling foul of their mis-placed paranoia and the excessively long post should help you dig out the facts if required.

Apols for such a long posting!
Good luck and regards from
Tom :)

Hi Tom, I really appreciate the effort and time you have taken to help
me. It is very much appreciated.

The problem living in a small town with only 2 computer outlets is that
no one knows about Linux and there is no one to go to for help.

I initiated all the changes you suggested but my printer is till not
printing colour in OO.

I will post a question as suggested on the forum and see what happens.

Cheers Allistair

Hi again Tom, my original question 107910 to Lauchpad was how to
install hplip 3.10.2. I had started through the instructions but did
not know how to disbale the CD-ROM/DVD Source I still don't have hplip
3.10.2 installed. I understand it is a good thing to have installed.
What are your thoughts on that ? Allistair

 Applications>accessories>terminal type

gksudo gedit /etc/apt/sources.list

if first line look like

deb cdrom:[Ubuntu 9.10 _Karmic_Koala - Release i386 (20081029.1)]/ karmic main restricted

change it to

#deb cdrom:[Ubuntu 9.10 _Karmic_Koala - Release i386 (20081029.1)]/ karmic main restricted

save and close file.

sudo apt-get update

Now try to install package you need.

Hi Zvacet, I am a very much a novice when it comes to computers. The
following is the result when I went to

gksudo gedit /etc/apt/sources.list

# added by the release upgrader
# See http://help.ubuntu.com/community/UpgradeNotes for how to upgrade to
# newer versions of the distribution.

# Line commented out by installer because it failed to verify:
# Line commented out by installer because it failed to verify:

## Major bug fix updates produced after the final release of the
## distribution.
# Line commented out by installer because it failed to verify:
# Line commented out by installer because it failed to verify:

## N.B. software from this repository is ENTIRELY UNSUPPORTED by the Ubuntu
## team, and may not be under a free licence. Please satisfy yourself as to
## your rights to use the software. Also, please note that software in
## universe WILL NOT receive any review or updates from the Ubuntu security
## team.
# Line commented out by installer because it failed to verify:
# Line commented out by installer because it failed to verify:
# Line commented out by installer because it failed to verify:
# Line commented out by installer because it failed to verify:

## N.B. software from this repository is ENTIRELY UNSUPPORTED by the Ubuntu
## team, and may not be under a free licence. Please satisfy yourself as to
## your rights to use the software. Also, please note that software in
## multiverse WILL NOT receive any review or updates from the Ubuntu
## security team.
# Line commented out by installer because it failed to verify:
# Line commented out by installer because it failed to verify:
# Line commented out by installer because it failed to verify:
# Line commented out by installer because it failed to verify:

## Uncomment the following two lines to add software from the 'backports'
## repository.
## N.B. software from this repository may not have been tested as
## extensively as that contained in the main release, although it includes
## newer versions of some applications which may provide useful features.
## Also, please note that software in backports WILL NOT receive any review
## or updates from the Ubuntu security team.

## Uncomment the following two lines to add software from Canonical's
## 'partner' repository. This software is not part of Ubuntu, but is
## offered by Canonical and the respective vendors as a service to Ubuntu
## users.
deb cdrom:[Ubuntu 9.04 _Jaunty Jackalope_ - Release i386 (20090420.1)]/
jaunty main restricted

# Line commented out by installer because it failed to verify:
# Line commented out by installer because it failed to verify:
# Line commented out by installer because it failed to verify:
# Line commented out by installer because it failed to verify:
# Line commented out by installer because it failed to verify:
# Line commented out by installer because it failed to verify:
deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ karmic main universe restricted
multiverse
deb-src http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ karmic universe main
multiverse restricted #Added by software-properties
deb http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ karmic-security universe main
restricted multiverse
deb-src http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ karmic-security universe main
restricted multiverse #Added by software-properties
deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ karmic-updates universe main
restricted multiverse
deb-src http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ karmic-updates universe main
restricted multiverse #Added by software-properties
deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ karmic-backports universe main
multiverse restricted
deb-src http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ karmic-backports universe main
multiverse restricted #Added by software-properties

Cheers Allistair

Hi :)

I think it's worth staying with the latest hplip in the Ubuntu repositories. You can often get programs that have a more recent version outside of the repos but they tend not to have been carefully tweaked for Ubuntu. So, generally i would stick with the repos.

@ zvacet i don't think allistair has hplip on Cd-Rom. I think he has the tarball downloaded onto his desktop but i am not sure of the name. So far i have managed to avoid installing stuff that isn't in repos lol

Regards from
Tom :)

Thanks Tom for your advice. Will stick with what is on the Ubuntu
Repository. Regards Allistair

Hi :)

I would recommend trying a LiveCd version of Ubuntu 10.04
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/LiveCD

Either now
http://cdimages.ubuntu.com/daily-live/current/
or sometime soon after it's official release on the 29th
http://www.ubuntulinux.org/

If you like the LiveCd version enough then adding it to make your system a dual-boot (or even multi-boot)
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/WindowsDualBoot

This would mean that you can keep using the (relatively) stable install of Ubuntu that you currently use while giving yourself plenty of time to tweak & adjust the newer one to your personal tastes (i found a link to put the buttons back on the right). Then when you are ready you can move things around to make the newer one your new stable version.

Each install of Ubuntu is supported for 18months which usually gives you 3 chances of upgrading to a newer one before the time runs out. Although that only means programs stop being available for easy download so it's not really such a worry as it sounds! The 10.04 is LTS and the Long Term Support means 3 years of support and this includes bug-fixes being back-ported to it as a priority, ahead of subsequent releases. I'm hoping to move a few people to 10.04 but only if they like the look of it from a LiveCd demo
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/LiveCD

Usually linux users are so used to "swimming against the tide" that usually after advising someone NOT to do something i then describe how to set about the task lol. Sadly i haven't got a clue in this case but i might be able to help you work through Zvacet's answers if they are too technical for you. I know the 10.04 uses the driver you keep saying.

Good luck and regards from
Tom :)

Hi Tom, I will get a cd from a bloke in Dunedin who distributes all
flavours of Linux.

Thank you for your ongoing offer of help

I don't understand the last sentence in your email e.g.

"I know the 10.04 uses the driver you keep saying."

There's a lot to learn eh !! Cheers Allistair

@ Tom

As OP said in first post

" Disable the CD-ROM/DVD source if you do not have the Ubuntu installation media inserted in the drive. "

Only obvious thing I can think of is to follow that instruction.

@ allistair

edit your source list with

gksudo gedit /etc/apt/sources.list

and you can replace your source list with

#deb cdrom:[Ubuntu 9.10 _Karmic_Koala - Release i386 (20081029.1)]/ karmic main restricted
# See http://help.ubuntu.com/community/UpgradeNotes for how to upgrade to
# newer versions of the distribution.

deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ karmic main restricted
deb-src http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ karmic main restricted

## Major bug fix updates produced after the final release of the
## distribution.
deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ karmic-updates main restricted
deb-src http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ karmic-updates main restricted

## N.B. software from this repository is ENTIRELY UNSUPPORTED by the Ubuntu
## team. Also, please note that software in universe WILL NOT receive any
## review or updates from the Ubuntu security team.
deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ karmic universe
deb-src http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ karmic universe
deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ karmic-updates universe
deb-src http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ karmic-updates universe

## N.B. software from this repository is ENTIRELY UNSUPPORTED by the Ubuntu
## team, and may not be under a free licence. Please satisfy yourself as to
## your rights to use the software. Also, please note that software in
## multiverse WILL NOT receive any review or updates from the Ubuntu
## security team.
deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ karmic multiverse
deb-src http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ karmic multiverse
deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ karmic-updates multiverse
deb-src http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ karmic-updates multiverse

## Uncomment the following two lines to add software from the 'backports'
## repository.
## N.B. software from this repository may not have been tested as
## extensively as that contained in the main release, although it includes
## newer versions of some applications which may provide useful features.
## Also, please note that software in backports WILL NOT receive any review
## or updates from the Ubuntu security team.
deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ karmic-backports main restricted universe multiverse
deb-src http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ karmic-backports main restricted universe multiverse

## Uncomment the following two lines to add software from Canonical's
## 'partner' repository. This software is not part of Ubuntu, but is
## offered by Canonical and the respective vendors as a service to Ubuntu
## users.
deb http://archive.canonical.com/ubuntu karmic partner
deb-src http://archive.canonical.com/ubuntu karmic partner

deb http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu karmic-security main restricted
deb-src http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu karmic-security main restricted
deb http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu karmic-security universe
deb-src http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu karmic-security universe
deb http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu karmic-security multiverse
deb-src http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu karmic-security multiverse

save and close file.

sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get upgrade

zvacet wrote:
> Your question #107910 on gnome-terminal in ubuntu changed:
> https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/gnome-terminal/+question/107910
>
> Status: Open => Answered
>
> zvacet proposed the following answer:
> @ Tom
>
> As OP said in first post
>
> " Disable the CD-ROM/DVD source if you do not have the Ubuntu
> installation media inserted in the drive. "
>
> Only obvious thing I can think of is to follow that instruction.
>
> @ allistair
>
> edit your source list with
>
> gksudo gedit /etc/apt/sources.list
>
> and you can replace your source list with
>
> #deb cdrom:[Ubuntu 9.10 _Karmic_Koala - Release i386 (20081029.1)]/ karmic main restricted
> # See http://help.ubuntu.com/community/UpgradeNotes for how to upgrade to
> # newer versions of the distribution.
>
> deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ karmic main restricted
> deb-src http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ karmic main restricted
>
> ## Major bug fix updates produced after the final release of the
> ## distribution.
> deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ karmic-updates main restricted
> deb-src http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ karmic-updates main restricted
>
> ## N.B. software from this repository is ENTIRELY UNSUPPORTED by the Ubuntu
> ## team. Also, please note that software in universe WILL NOT receive any
> ## review or updates from the Ubuntu security team.
> deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ karmic universe
> deb-src http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ karmic universe
> deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ karmic-updates universe
> deb-src http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ karmic-updates universe
>
> ## N.B. software from this repository is ENTIRELY UNSUPPORTED by the Ubuntu
> ## team, and may not be under a free licence. Please satisfy yourself as to
> ## your rights to use the software. Also, please note that software in
> ## multiverse WILL NOT receive any review or updates from the Ubuntu
> ## security team.
> deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ karmic multiverse
> deb-src http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ karmic multiverse
> deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ karmic-updates multiverse
> deb-src http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ karmic-updates multiverse
>
> ## Uncomment the following two lines to add software from the 'backports'
> ## repository.
> ## N.B. software from this repository may not have been tested as
> ## extensively as that contained in the main release, although it includes
> ## newer versions of some applications which may provide useful features.
> ## Also, please note that software in backports WILL NOT receive any review
> ## or updates from the Ubuntu security team.
> deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ karmic-backports main restricted universe multiverse
> deb-src http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ karmic-backports main restricted universe multiverse
>
> ## Uncomment the following two lines to add software from Canonical's
> ## 'partner' repository. This software is not part of Ubuntu, but is
> ## offered by Canonical and the respective vendors as a service to Ubuntu
> ## users.
> deb http://archive.canonical.com/ubuntu karmic partner
> deb-src http://archive.canonical.com/ubuntu karmic partner
>
> deb http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu karmic-security main restricted
> deb-src http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu karmic-security main restricted
> deb http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu karmic-security universe
> deb-src http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu karmic-security universe
> deb http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu karmic-security multiverse
> deb-src http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu karmic-security multiverse
>
> save and close file.
>
> sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get upgrade
>
>
Hi Zvacet, On the advice of Tom, I have ordered a Live cd of 10.04,
and should have it in a few days. Perhaps it would be wise to wait till
that is installed before I make any changes. Cheers Allistair

Hi :)

With my skill-set about printer issues i would say this is a problem solved and not worry about colour printing. Perhaps post a question or/and a bug-report but basically leave it.

However, if i really needed colour & someone like Zvacet was around then it might be worth trying the newer driver.

Given the troubles we had getting this far i would probably make a small(ish) 10-15Gb partition to install a 2nd install of Ubuntu onto so that i could test it on that first without risking problems with my main "stable" install. This would then be a useful partition to install 10.04 on when it arrives to test-drive the 10.04 before committing to it.

Alternatively just back-up files like "sources.list" before over-writing them so that the older version is easily restored. For example, in this case, with the sources.list

sudo cp /etc/apt/sources.list /etc/apt/sources.list.280410

That should create a copy of "sources.list" in the "/etc/apt" system folder & gives the back-up the name "sources.list.280410" so that if you need the back-up you are not left trying to figure out which is the most recent backup.

Normally "cp" should not be used with "sudo" but in this case we are backing up a system-file in a system-folder so the permissions were already set to stop normal users being able to edit it.

Also note that while "sudo" is fine for command-line actions the "gksudo" is better when you open a gui (=graphical user interface) such as the gedit text-editor. Sudo probably would work to open gedit and gksudo would probably work to do command-line actions but we are developing good habits with your rapidly increasing linux skills

@ Zvacet
Ooops, i mis-read your post of 22hours ago! I thought you were UNcommenting the "cd-rom" line! Commenting-out that line by adding "#" to the start of the line was smart. Sorry chap :)

Good luck all and regards from
Tom :)

Hi Allistair again :)

When i said "I know the 10.04 uses the driver you keep saying." i meant that i had noticed that 10.04 has hplip 3.10.(?)

I'm not certain the 3.10 does add colour-printing but it might?

Regards from
Tom :)

Tom wrote:
> Your question #107910 on gnome-terminal in ubuntu changed:
> https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/gnome-terminal/+question/107910
>
> Tom posted a new comment:
> Hi :)
>
> With my skill-set about printer issues i would say this is a problem
> solved and not worry about colour printing. Perhaps post a question
> or/and a bug-report but basically leave it.
>
> However, if i really needed colour & someone like Zvacet was around then
> it might be worth trying the newer driver.
>
> Given the troubles we had getting this far i would probably make a
> small(ish) 10-15Gb partition to install a 2nd install of Ubuntu onto so
> that i could test it on that first without risking problems with my main
> "stable" install. This would then be a useful partition to install 10.04
> on when it arrives to test-drive the 10.04 before committing to it.
>
> Alternatively just back-up files like "sources.list" before over-writing
> them so that the older version is easily restored. For example, in this
> case, with the sources.list
>
> sudo cp /etc/apt/sources.list /etc/apt/sources.list.280410
>
> That should create a copy of "sources.list" in the "/etc/apt" system
> folder & gives the back-up the name "sources.list.280410" so that if you
> need the back-up you are not left trying to figure out which is the most
> recent backup.
>
> Normally "cp" should not be used with "sudo" but in this case we are
> backing up a system-file in a system-folder so the permissions were
> already set to stop normal users being able to edit it.
>
> Also note that while "sudo" is fine for command-line actions the
> "gksudo" is better when you open a gui (=graphical user interface) such
> as the gedit text-editor. Sudo probably would work to open gedit and
> gksudo would probably work to do command-line actions but we are
> developing good habits with your rapidly increasing linux skills
>
> @ Zvacet
> Ooops, i mis-read your post of 22hours ago! I thought you were UNcommenting the "cd-rom" line! Commenting-out that line by adding "#" to the start of the line was smart. Sorry chap :)
>
> Good luck all and regards from
> Tom :)
>
>
Hi Tom, I don't know what these commands I'm using are meant to do or
what they mean, but I entered

sudo cp /etc/apt/sources.list /etc/apt/sources.list.280410 into the terminal, and hit enter, but can't seem to find it when I entered it in the search function to see if it copied ok. Couldn't find any files. Where should I be able to find the /etc/apt folder ?

Is there a dictionary or something that explains in reasonably simple terms what things like cp, gksudo and sudo mean ? Cheers Allistair

Tom wrote:
> Your question #107910 on gnome-terminal in ubuntu changed:
> https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/gnome-terminal/+question/107910
>
> Tom posted a new comment:
> Hi Allistair again :)
>
> When i said "I know the 10.04 uses the driver you keep saying." i meant
> that i had noticed that 10.04 has hplip 3.10.(?)
>
> I'm not certain the 3.10 does add colour-printing but it might?
>
> Regards from
> Tom :)
>
>
 Hi again Tom, I have ordered a 10-04' cd and should get it Monday
3rd Cheers Allistair

Sorry forgot to delete your message before replying last two emails.
Allistair
>

Hi :)

Lol, don't worry but if you can use the links to navigate straight into Launchpad then you might find some of the useful things you are looking for.

I find this link quite handy for the command-line
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/UsingTheTerminal
Particularly section 9. Hmmm, it could probably be argued that any link i give you has not really made me "king of the command-line" but perhaps that's just because i only use them as reference rather than really reading & grokking.

Monday seems soon enough to start worrying about hplip 3.10 :) When you first get the Cd it might be well worth using

Applications - "Sound & Vision" - Brasero

to make a copy of the Cd. There's no elaborate anti-copying encryption on the Ubuntu Cds and having a spare copy, or even better, keeping an iso image copy on your hard-dive helps protect against scratches (via Murphy's Law).

Good luck and regards from
Tom :)

Thanks Tom, have made a note of the link in my notebook (Paper
version)(My developing Computer Bible)

How do I install the info on the cd to my hard drive (iso image copy) ?
Cheers Allistair

Hi :)

You would re-"uncomment out" that line in sources.list
=
delete the # from the beginning of the cd-rom line
.

As a gui fan i would do this from Synaptic Package Manager

Settings - Repositories - "Ubuntu Software" (1st tab)

and then just tick the box beside the cd-rom in the bottom. Even this is quite a lot more technical than the reality. As soon as you put a Cd with any installable software into the optical drive (=cd/dvd-drive) you get a pop-up asking if you want to install anything lol. It is a bit of a pain to keep that Cd box ticked because it searches for the Cd each time you try to install something then! (even if you are going to install the package from the internet
Good luck and regards from
Tom :)

Ooops! Ignore my last posting! lol I thought we were talking about something completely different!

Ok, so put the cd in & go up to the top taskbar and click on

Applications - "Sound & Vision" - Brasero - "Disc Copy"

Good luck and regards from
Tom :)