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Complete "Advanced Desktop" in a nut shell.
OK I did all this last night using the various threads. I have had my Eee PC for all of about 24 hours and have been dabbling with Linux since 1999, but am FAR from being an expert. I will try and keep this as direct as possible. I take no credit for figuring this all out. All I did was take the information that other people posted and applied it with a little tiny bit of extra guess work and sleuthing. I will give credit when possible. Before I did any of this I went to settings and ran the add/remove software to install the available updates.
Also I did all the software updates but didn't install the BIOS as I heard there may be problems with stability. I wrote all this from memory as I just did it last night, so if there is anything that doesn't work, please let us know. If you have already been hacking on your Eee I don't know how these instructions will effect your weee-puter. Mine is a virgin install fresh out of the box.
1. Power on and boot into Simple Mode
2. First you need to get access to a terminal by enabling the "start menu", to do that I used user o2smartphone's guide
a. Fire up the File Manager in Work Tab
b. Look inside the View Menu, tick "Show Hidden Files" and "Show All File Systems"
c. In the left pane, click on My Home, create a hidden folder .icewm
d. In the left pane, go down from All File Systems to /etc/X11/icewm
e. In the right pane, ctrl-A to select all files, ctrl-C to copy
f. In the left pane, select My Home, .icewm and do a ctrl-V to paste.
g. Right click on the file "preferences", choose open with -> text editor.
h. Find the line "TaskBarShowStartMenu", change the value.
i. Save the file and restart.
3. Now that you have a neat little start menu, you will ALWAYS have that even in Simple Mode.
4. Now use the start menu to run "Terminal" or "Xterm". I think they are the same thing. I used "Terminal".
5. You are going to need root access in the shell so type "sudo bash" and hit enter. This will give you a red prompt that indicates that you are root. Be VERY careful while you are the root user. As root you can delete vital system files and ruin the Linux install.
6. Now that you are root you can use apt-get to install a few important packages. None of the packages from Asus are "signed" for some reason and you will have to select yes when you get the "are you sure..." messages.
a. type: "apt-get update" and hot enter to make sure you get the latest repository information.
b. Now install "kicker" with "apt-get install kicker" and hit enter. (suggested by "Ant" our form admin)
c. Type "exit" twice to close the terminal and then reboot, you will notice that in the shutdown dialog you may now see "Full Desktop". Don't bother with that yet, as it won't work.
d. A reboot may not even be required, but I fumbled through this and this is how I did it.
e. Rebooted, run the "Terminal" again and then in the terminal type "sudo bash" to gain root.
f. Type: "apt-get install ksmserver" and it will do it's thing. (suggested by "oinker" in the forums)
g. You should now be able to use the shutdown menu to select "Full Desktop", but mine ran kinda strange until I did a full reboot, back into simple mode, shutdown to "Full Desktop", and it loaded wonderfully.
Hope this is a useful write up. Thanks to everyone who worked hard to try and figure this out.
Oh and lastly, every time you book up your Eee, it will always start in simple mode, you then will have to use the "Shutdown" dialog to go to "Full Desktop".
- Jason "Kiteless Dragon" H.
Last edited by Kiteless (2007-11-02 4:01:01 pm)
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Thank you for posting these instructions! I followed your instructions and am now happily writing this reply in full desktop mode, thanks again!
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When I am in the advanced Desktop, I only have 2 workspaces icon, how do I get the rest ?
Sorry, I found the setting in the Control Center under General Settings -> Desktop Behavior -> Multiple Desktops.
Thx.
Last edited by o2smartphone (2007-11-03 1:23:45 am)
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anyone know if it's possible to get it to boot right into the advanced mode?
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Amazing how much this opens up the Eee. This has literally turned it from an appliance into a computer. Thank you!
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Well put and I agree. It is now more of a full computer. It feels so much more complete now that I have access to the full desktop. I am glad these compiled instructions came in handy. A big thanks from me also goes out to the hard working folks on these forums who really figured it all out.
Monkey: Yeah I would not mind that one at all. I don't really like the simple mode, but I understand the role it plays, but like you, I want a more complete desktop.
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BigGeek wrote:
Amazing how much this opens up the Eee. This has literally turned it from an appliance into a computer. Thank you!
You just reminded me of an article I read last month: http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2007/oct/18/news
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ctrl + alt + t brings you straight into a terminal, which could save you some time on having to faff around with the icewm settings
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Two big thumbs-up for your method, Kiteless, worked for me. I'm a Linux noob, more or less, so I appreciate the recipe approach. Thanks.
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Kiteless wrote:
Oh and lastly, every time you book up your Eee, it will always start in simple mode, you then will have to use the "Shutdown" dialog to go to "Full Desktop"
Or you go can into settings --> personalisation and set log-in mode to full desktop
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Guys, we're duplicating information too often. Instructions almost identical to these were already posted in the Wiki. If these are much different, please modify the Wiki and add them as another alternative (as two different methods were already present in the Wiki last time I checked). I don't mean to sound rude, it's just that this same method has appeared before, and in order to keep things neat we might as well just keep these methods organized in the wiki, instead of posting them several times...
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Or how about:
Open a terminal in Easy Mode hit 'Ctrl+Alt+T'
# Install KDE 'Advanced mode' sudo aptitude update sudo aptitude install ksmserver kicker sudo reboot
Settings -> Personalization -> Login Mode -> Full Desktop Mode
Restart
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Since I an new to the Eee PC... what are the differences between Advanced Desktop Mode and Simple Mode? Also, can someone post images of what the Advanced Desktop Mode looks like?
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rozojc wrote:
Guys, we're duplicating information too often. Instructions almost identical to these were already posted in the Wiki. If these are much different, please modify the Wiki and add them as another alternative (as two different methods were already present in the Wiki last time I checked). I don't mean to sound rude, it's just that this same method has appeared before, and in order to keep things neat we might as well just keep these methods organized in the wiki, instead of posting them several times...
Hey thanks for the info. I had no idea there was a Wiki. Of course now that you say this I looked up at all the little quick links placed at the top and what do you know, a Wiki link. Had I known that this was there I would have checked.
Needless to say, I spent a good hour or so compiling all that information. On the plus side, folks who didn't know about the Wiki have found my compiled guide useful, so while it was redundant, it was helpful and that makes me happy. Anyway I will make sure to add stuff like this to the Wiki going forward.
- Kiteless
(Written on an Eee)
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Kiteless wrote:
rozojc wrote:
Guys, we're duplicating information too often. Instructions almost identical to these were already posted in the Wiki. If these are much different, please modify the Wiki and add them as another alternative (as two different methods were already present in the Wiki last time I checked). I don't mean to sound rude, it's just that this same method has appeared before, and in order to keep things neat we might as well just keep these methods organized in the wiki, instead of posting them several times...
Hey thanks for the info. I had no idea there was a Wiki. Of course now that you say this I looked up at all the little quick links placed at the top and what do you know, a Wiki link. Had I known that this was there I would have checked.
Needless to say, I spent a good hour or so compiling all that information. On the plus side, folks who didn't know about the Wiki have found my compiled guide useful, so while it was redundant, it was helpful and that makes me happy. Anyway I will make sure to add stuff like this to the Wiki going forward.
- Kiteless
(Written on an Eee)
Sure! Hope I didn't sound rude or anything (English is not my first language), good info BTW! ;-)
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One you do the conversion to Advanced Mode... can you switch freely between Advanced and Simple? Or are you strictly stuck in Advanced?
Also... does anyone have pics of what Advanced Mode looks like? Can you also give the pro's and cons of Advanced Mode?
Want to make sure I know everything beofre I decide what to do.
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moviecouple wrote:
One you do the conversion to Advanced Mode... can you switch freely between Advanced and Simple? Or are you strictly stuck in Advanced?
Also... does anyone have pics of what Advanced Mode looks like? Can you also give the pro's and cons of Advanced Mode?
Want to make sure I know everything beofre I decide what to do.
Look into the menu on change to easy mode.
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Can you please explain a bit further. I am a newbie to this and want as much detailed info on this before deciding.
One you do the conversion to Advanced Mode... can you switch freely between Advanced and Simple? Or are you strictly stuck in Advanced? If so... how?
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Beyond the redundancy (which I'm not taking issue with at this stage in the site's development), the reference to KDE in the wiki article's title may also intimidate some from using it since it does not explain the significancef in the context of the Eee. I'm sure the wiki editors will address this and other issues as it continues to grow and expand over time.
Last edited by silurius (2007-11-05 12:21:53 am)
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moviecouple wrote:
Can you please explain a bit further. I am a newbie to this and want as much detailed info on this before deciding.
One you do the conversion to Advanced Mode... can you switch freely between Advanced and Simple? Or are you strictly stuck in Advanced? If so... how?
Yes, you can. I'm not sure how myself, though (haven't gone through these steps yet).
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moviecouple wrote:
Can you please explain a bit further. I am a newbie to this and want as much detailed info on this before deciding.
One you do the conversion to Advanced Mode... can you switch freely between Advanced and Simple? Or are you strictly stuck in Advanced? If so... how?
Yes, very easily. In Advanced mode there is an option right there on the Launch menu. In Easy Mode the option is on the shutdown dialog (Reboot, Shut Down, Easy Mode). The X server restarts in the appropriate mode.
Easiest thing in the world to do.
Last edited by BigGeek (2007-11-04 11:06:38 pm)
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I dont understand what access to the advanced desktop is buying you. You arent getting access to any more utilities than you have on easy mode.
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Uh oh. I ran through these steps (ommiting the ksmserver step by mistake) and now I'm unable to boot. Now to determine if I need to reinstall from scratch or if I can fix via a recovery console.
Edit: Well, now I've had a chance to verify first-hand that reinstalling the base OS is the simplest system recovery I've ever gone through!
Last edited by silurius (2007-11-05 12:01:41 am)
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So I just want to make sure again... you can switch from Advanced Mode and then back to Easy Mode? Is this easy to do? Is there any harm that can happen to the system in switching to Advanced Mode?
Again... what are the advantages in going to Advanced Mode? I just want to get a complete and detailed answers to these questions.
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mw7301 wrote:
I dont understand what access to the advanced desktop is buying you. You arent getting access to any more utilities than you have on easy mode.
Synaptic, a text editor and better wireless mnagement are just a few. You also get the full-on KDE Control Center - power management, themes, networking tools and more.
Not to mention that you get a real tweakable, customizable KDE desktop, not the iPhone-wannabe environment (not that there's anything wrong with that).
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