Alrighty people! I now have Ubuntu 11.10 aka Oneiric Ocelot on a Mactel laptop and I am totally relishing the computing experience.
However, it seems the MacBook has some quirks while running Ubuntu, namely to make use of function keys, I have to couple them with the fn key, else I end up adjusting my LED brightness or sound levels! Also, my left internal speaker had gone dead for some odd reason!!
But as Geoff Johns says, “no fear”, as I was working on Linux. 🙂
To use the function keys without having to press the fn key, simply run the following commands:
$sudo -i $echo 2 > /sys/module/hid_apple/parameters/fnmode
That was a temporary fix. A more permanent fix is this one:
$ echo options hid_apple fnmode=2 | sudo tee -a /etc/modprobe.d/hid_apple.conf $ sudo update-initramfs -u $ sudo reboot
And on restart, you’ll have your Function keys working just the way you’d want them to.
To fix the speaker problem, just install a little tool called GNOME AlsaMixer by running the command
sudo apt-get install gnome-alsamixer
Then go to the Alsa Mixer, unmute the Surround Sound and bring it up to max and we’re good to go! 😀
A very important tweak that I always use is changing my login screen background. This symbolized the customizability of linux. To change your login screen background, type:
gksu gedit /etc/lightdm/unity-greeter.conf
This opens the configuration file where there is an entry called background. Just change that to point it to your favorite image and there you go! Mine personally is The Dark Knight logo. 😀
As a music freak, another important tweak is getting tuxguitar running. But on simple apt-get installs, you usually encounter sound problems. Thankfully, there is a very simple command for that:
sudo apt-get install timidity tuxguitar-jsa
Run a gp5 file after it finishes. If you still don’t get any sound, go to Tools->Settings->Sound and in the MIDI Sequencer drop down list, select ‘Real Time Sequencer’. In the MIDI Port field, select ‘Gervill’ and click on Ok. Click on Yes when it asks for confirmation.
As a final tweak, installing the Gnome3 desktop is always a great idea, so just run
sudo apt-get install gnome-shell
and enjoy the Gnome experience!
Eviva!