Acer Aspire One...
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| Author | Content |
|---|---|
| KevSco2 Aug 02, 2008 5:14 PM EDT |
Hello folks, I'm new to the forums as well as to Linux. Is anyone out there familiar enough with the Acer Aspire One to advise me how to get some functionality from my older Windows programs and games? I've been reading up on WINE, but I'm generally unsure which version is compatible, or even if that program would be the best option. |
| bigg Aug 02, 2008 5:31 PM EDT |
Welcome to LXer. As I understand your post, you have Linux installed, but want to run some Windows programs as well. The hardware itself isn't too important. What matters is the Linux distribution you are running (let me guess, Ubuntu?) Here is my recommendation: 1. If you can run Windows virtualized (VMware or Virtualbox) that is the best option. You can run Windows from inside Linux as you would any other program. That guarantees everything will work but depends on having a sufficiently powerful system and a Windows install disk. 2. If you tell us the programs you want to run, there may be a free substitute that runs on Linux. 3. Only if the above fail do I recommend trying Wine. That's easy - you just install it with your distro's software installation tool. Then you double click on the .exe file to install the same as in Windows. Here is the best place to find out whether your programs will work: http://appdb.winehq.org/ There's little cost to installing Wine and just trying to run your programs. If they work, great. If you'd like more specific information, tell us what Linux distribution you've got, what the CPU and memory are on your Acer, and what you'd like to run. |
| tracyanne Aug 02, 2008 5:36 PM EDT |
If you are going to use WINE, I'd suggest buying a copy of Codeweavers Crossover, as it's the easist way to set up windows programs on Linux, the big advantage is that you can set up what they call bottles, for each application or application group, which makes it really easy to uninstall them later. |
| KevSco2 Aug 02, 2008 9:00 PM EDT |
The Aspire runs a GUI based off of Linpus. The machine has a base of 8 gigs on the solid state drive with 512 ram. I used the expansion slot to double the ram size. I think running Windows might be a problem because of the limited SSD's memory. The machine utilizes the Atom processor, which I gather is pretty new. I have an older version of MS Works that was originally from a Windows 3.1 machine back in the day. I know it's older but I like the program and the installed size is economical considering the minimal SSD's memory. I also want to use my old shareware copy of ACDCee. On the gaming side I have the original Warcraft that does not require the disc to run and the original Doom Trilogy. I can install them onto a flash drive or SD card and run the programs on other machines, but theis machine will not allow me to execute the programs. Thanks for the initial suggestions. I'm already digesting them. |
| Sander_Marechal Aug 03, 2008 12:08 AM EDT |
You're not going to be able to run Windows as a virtual machine on that hardware. Even if you could, you would severely limit the lifetime of your SSD. Windows isn't made to handle that (too many writes shorten the lifetime of your SSD). So, let's play the alternatives game :-) MS-Works: You can convert MS-Works files with doc2rtf: http://www.nativewinds.montana.com/software/docx2rtf.html (it runs under Wine). The problem with MS-Works is that not even MS-Office supports it. Your best bet actually is to take your documents to a friend who still has Windows and convert the whole lot to .doc and .xls which you can open with OpenOffice. ACDSee: It looks like ACDSee does not run on Wine. As an alternative, try F-spot or Google Picasa (http://picasa.google.com/linux/). Warcraft: IIRC the old Warcraft ran on MS-Dos as well. Try DOSBox. It's a Free MS-Dos for Linux and it works great. I've been playing many older games with it, like Discworld and Discworld 2. It should work great. Doom: Doom will also run perfectly under DOSBox. But you're in luck. Doom has been made open source quite a few years ago. As a result, there are many new open source Doom engines that are much, much better than the original Doom. Try FreeDoom, LXDoom, Doom Legacy, PrBoom, MBF, Doomsday and many more. |
| sleepy Aug 03, 2008 12:48 AM EDT |
I would also recommend the option of finding open-source alternatives wherever possible. You can usually find them in your distribution's repository, so they are easy to keep up-to-date. I'm not sure what parts of MS-Works you use most, but if you are looking for a lightweight word processor, Abiword might be worth a look. It tends to be lighter and quicker than OpenOffice (though not as full-featured). Ted is an even more lightweight word processor for working with .rtf files. For working with photos, I like Digikam, which is a KDE app, but F-Spot and Picasa as already mentioned are also very good. Applications like XnView and GQView are lightweight photo viewers. I always encourage people to browse their distro's package manager to see what applications are already there. |
| KevSco2 Aug 03, 2008 5:23 AM EDT |
DOSBox has numerous different versions available for dow,nload but none specifically say they are compatible with Linpus. I've read that Linpus is based off of Fedora, but the versions of this program under the Fedora compatibility list of downloads are numerous. Would any of the the DOSBox downloads work? I think that I opened quite a can of worms. |
| DiBosco Aug 03, 2008 10:56 AM EDT |
Is there not a repository with Linpus from which you can install DOSBox? What do you think of the machine, btw? I was thinking about getting one, but the Dell E promises much better battery life. The reviews of the aspire say the battery life is rather disappointing. What's the boot time like? The Asus eeePC really impressed me with its speed of boot. |
| KevSco2 Aug 03, 2008 1:51 PM EDT |
I'm still trying to figure out that repository thing. I've downloaded a few programs already with it. I'll have to check to see if DOSbox is listed in there and try that. I'm used to using XP, so the GUI still pretty new at this point. I only picked it up last Thursday. After some fooling around, I did unlock the Advanced mode which allows more features from a right click on the desk top. The normal/simple mode is really simple, I suppose I can understand why some folks call it a toy in reviews. Overall I'm impressed with it. I they were saying about 2.5 - 3 hours battery life. I left the thing run a played around for a while on Friday afternoon and got over 2.5 hours time before plugging it in. At that point I didn't leave the thing charge overnight to ensure a full battery however. The machine boots faster than my Toshiba laptop recovers from hibernation mode, firing up easy in under a half minute. The desktop opens in about 12 - 15 seconds and finishes loading the tool bar programs in another 2 - 3 seconds. It's maybe not as fast as the EEPC's boot up, but I've been comparing both $400.00 range models since seeing the first teaser on the Aspire One and I think his model was the better choice. |
| Sander_Marechal Aug 03, 2008 10:30 PM EDT |
Quoting:I've read that Linpus is based off of Fedora, but the versions of this program under the Fedora compatibility list of downloads are numerous. The best thing you can do is use the built-in "Add/Remove software" function to install DOSBox (See http://www.aspireoneuser.com/2008/07/09/aspire-one-advance-l... for a tutorial). If that does not work, then you need to find out which version of Fedora that Linpus was built on. Then you will know which packages to download from the Fedora repositories. Unfortunately, I'm a Debian man. I hope one of the other LXer people here can tell you how to find the version under Fedora, and tell you how to add the correct repositories. |
| Sander_Marechal Aug 04, 2008 12:04 AM EDT |
I spoke a friend who uses Fedora a lot. KevSco2, can you provide the following details: 1) The contents of /etc/fedora-release 2) The filenames of the files in the /etc/yum-repos.d directory |
| jacog Aug 04, 2008 1:30 AM EDT |
This should be easier. :-/ |
| azerthoth Aug 04, 2008 3:12 PM EDT |
IRC, most distro's have a support channel on irc.freenode.net. The volunteers in those channels are up to speed with any idiosyncrasies that their distro might have. |
| Sander_Marechal Aug 04, 2008 3:19 PM EDT |
Not so for Linpus. Only registered developers get support according to the Linpus website. Users should probably turn to their manufacturer. |
| DiBosco Aug 05, 2008 4:15 AM EDT |
Well, I've ordered one, should be with me tomorrow. First time I've ordered a machine with Linux preinstalled. |
| KevSco2 Aug 05, 2008 6:03 AM EDT |
Thanks for all the advice. I'm still a little iffy in areas, but it's filtering through. |
| number6x Aug 05, 2008 6:05 AM EDT |
KevSco2 and DiBosco, <sarcasm> Do you know how politically incorrect it is to choose screen names with that filthy dirty TLA 'SCO' in them? </sarcasm> :) Just kidding |
| DiBosco Aug 05, 2008 7:02 AM EDT |
Oh no, you've discovered that we're dirty spies in the camp. I thought it was such a subtle nickname! ;-) |
| wjl Aug 05, 2008 7:24 AM EDT |
Heh, nice name game DiBosco, if you're interested in battery life, then check the new Asus EEE 901. The German c't mag said that on that one, the batteries last for 7.5 hours Sadly, around here it cannot be bought with Linux pre-installed yet. Here you have to pay the M$ tax. I hope Asus will speed up the delivery issues - whatever they may be - with their 20G model. |
| DiBosco Aug 05, 2008 8:06 AM EDT |
I did look at the eee901, but the keyboard is horribly small and, even worse for me, has only one shift key! It's a shame really, because otherwise it looks like a grand little machine. Dell are claiming August for their Dell E, but from reports I've seen that's likely to slip by several months, so thought I'd have a go with one of these Acer devices. Battery life isn't the be all and end all, three hours will suffuce I reckon. Problem is you can wait and wait for something slightly better and end up never actually getting one. |
| NoDough Aug 05, 2008 9:47 AM EDT |
Heh. One of the employees here complained about battery life on his Dell Latitude. I got all set to start looking at the BIOS and Dell's installed tools. Then he said, "Yeah, after about 5 hours it just shuts off." |
| tracyanne Aug 06, 2008 12:42 AM EDT |
Quoting:Then he said, "Yeah, after about 5 hours it just shuts off." I'm speachless, I wish my laptop was that bad. |
| rijelkentaurus Aug 06, 2008 3:51 AM EDT |
I have a big StinkPad that barely gets an hour if I don't use and just let it sit there. Disc-intensive work takes it down to about 45 minutes. |
| NoDough Aug 06, 2008 5:28 AM EDT |
>> I'm speachless, I wish my laptop was that bad. We knew that this employee would be doing much of his computing from his vehicle, so we purchased an EVDO card and the upgraded battery (9-cell, 12-cell, can't remember.) We also purchased the cigarette lighter power adapter, but I don't think he ever uses that. If I ever get time, I want to try and get my EVDO working in Linux. That's something I never see news items about, but there seem to be plenty of howtos out there. |
| gus3 Aug 06, 2008 7:56 AM EDT |
@rijelkentaurus: My old ThinkPad was good for an hour and 45 minutes of steady typing and mousing, once I enabled "laptop_mode" in the sysctls. @NoDough: My EVDO phone works with the cdc_acm driver, but it also charges off of the USB controller (cuts laptop use time sharply). Not all phones do this, such as my last one; the charge was a separate connector. |
| DiBosco Aug 06, 2008 9:41 AM EDT |
Ahem, back to the Aspire. ;-) Just got mine and there is a repository with DOSbox. How to install apps: http://www.laptopmag.com/advice/how-to/aspire-one-apps.aspx?... Keyboard seems noticeably smaller than normal lappies, despite claimes of 92% size, but is more useable than the eeePC for sure. It really is an incredibly dinky machine! |
| wjl Aug 07, 2008 3:19 AM EDT |
Thanks, DiBosco, since that Aspire One is at the moment the only Atom-based ultra portable "Netbook" which can be bought with Linux around here (in Germany / Europe), I'll have a look into it |
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