meerkat — Todoleo Tech Blog

I recently had a problem setting up a netbook with Ubuntu 10.10 Linux for a relative.

Installing Ubuntu 10.10 Maverick Meerkat Netbook Edition wasn't a problem, and everything worked fine except for wireless networking. Trawling through Dell and Ubuntu forums to find the solution was tough, but I eventually got to the bottom of it.

Before I go any further, I must underline a few details:

the Dell Mini 1018 netbook was purchased in the UK
the wireless card uses Realtek drivers (not Broadcom ones)
solving the problem involves a small amount of terminal use

I'll assume you have installed Ubuntu on your machine and have plugged it into a router to gain internet access. (Without internet access this tutorial won't work).

Before starting please update Ubuntu using the Update Manager.

Step One: Open A Terminal Window

Open a Terminal window (usually found in "Accessories" or "Applications")

Step Two:

Copy and paste the following text into the command prompt:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:lexical/hwe-wireless

You will be prompted to enter your "root" or "administrator" password. Go ahead and wait for the terminal gobbledygook takes you back to a command prompt.

Step Three:

Copy and paste the following text into the command prompt:

sudo apt-get update

Again, you may be prompted to enter your "root" or "administrator" password. As in the previous step, go ahead and wait for the terminal gobbledygook takes you back to a command prompt.

Step Four:

Now, copy and paste this last bit of text into the command prompt:

sudo apt-get install rtl8192ce-dkms

Again, you may be prompted to enter your "root" or "administrator" password. As in the previous step, go ahead. You might be prompted to confirm that you want to install a file. enter "Y" on your keyboard and then hit "Enter" on your keyboard. Now wait for the terminal gobbledygook takes you back to a command prompt.

Last Step (Hopefully): Restart Ubuntu

Now all you have to do is restart your computer and Wireless Networking should be working fine.

Thanks go to Keng-Yü Lin who provided the repository and did all the hard work to make this possible in a relatively pain free manner (https://launchpad.net/~lexical), and the friendly people at the Ubuntu Forums.

On the 10th of October 2010 (10-10-10 Get it?) Ubuntu 10.10 Maverick Meerkat was released for desktop, server and netbook.

Since this version of Ubuntu has been in Beta, I've been using it both on my desktop computer and on my netbook (an ASUS EEE PC 900A). The improvements since the Beta version have been noticeable to me, mainly in speed and stability of the user interface.

The new user interface on the Netbook Edition, called Unity, has a fixed dock and is completely different to the one from previous versions of Ubuntu Netbook Edition. After getting used to it, I find it more responsive and lighter on my netbook than the previous versions of Ubuntu Netbook Edition too.

As usual, you can download Ubuntu 10.10 Maverick Meerkat Netbook Edition for free from http://www.ubuntu.com/netbook. On the download page, there are also easy step by step instructions on how to set up a bootable USB flash drive. The bootable USB flash drive is particularly useful if you want to just try out Ubuntu 10.10 Netbook Edition without installing it. If you then decide you would like to install it, there is also an option to do that.

The installation process has been simplified, and makes setting up a dual-boot system much easier. Setting up a dual-boot system is the best way to have both Windows and Ubuntu on the same machine, giving you the option to choose between operating systems when you turn the computer on.

Overall I think this is a great netbook operating system once you get used to it.

Feel free to comment and let me know your views on Ubuntu 10.10 Maverick Meerkat.