I have temporarily had to abandon Evolution and log into my exhcange email
account via Opera.
It appears over the past week, emails I have been sending and are showing as sent are not getting to the recipient when sent via Evolution.
I am currently seeking a solution or alternative client!!
Dissapointed ..
Tuesday, 19 August 2008
Saturday, 16 August 2008
DYMO LabelWriter 400
Today I needed to use my DYMO LabelWriter 400 label printer for the first time since installing Ubuntu. I had forgotten about this device and wondered if I could use it at all.
On XP I had a program with the Label Writer that managed the label printing, unfortunately on checking their website, they don't have anything for linux.
My first task was the driver. On plugging in the printer Ubuntu detected the label writer and prompted me for a driver. I selected the only DYMO driver in the list.
My next task was to set OpenOffice Writer to the correct paper size.
On mesuring the labels I found that the labels supplied by DYMO with the printer are 3.5cm wide by 8.8cm long.
To change the page settings in OO Writer you need to go to FORMAT then PAGE then the PAGE tab. After much fiddling and wasting around 10 labels I finally found the settings that work best:-
On XP I had a program with the Label Writer that managed the label printing, unfortunately on checking their website, they don't have anything for linux.
My first task was the driver. On plugging in the printer Ubuntu detected the label writer and prompted me for a driver. I selected the only DYMO driver in the list.
My next task was to set OpenOffice Writer to the correct paper size.
On mesuring the labels I found that the labels supplied by DYMO with the printer are 3.5cm wide by 8.8cm long.
To change the page settings in OO Writer you need to go to FORMAT then PAGE then the PAGE tab. After much fiddling and wasting around 10 labels I finally found the settings that work best:-
Thursday, 14 August 2008
Still Going Strong
After just over a week with Ubuntu as my main operating system I haven't had any problems other than Firefox crashing when using Flash.
Im slowly getting used to doing my accounts in OpenOffice instead of Excel, which takes a little getting used to.
I have some demanding jobs ahead of me with work and hopefully my Ubuntu wont let me down.
Im slowly getting used to doing my accounts in OpenOffice instead of Excel, which takes a little getting used to.
I have some demanding jobs ahead of me with work and hopefully my Ubuntu wont let me down.
Sunday, 3 August 2008
Printer Installation - Samsung SCX4100
Having so much fun with the install I completely forgot about my printer.
The printer I have is a Mono Laser MFP (Samsung SCX-4100)
The Ubuntu install actually found the printer and installed a driver for it but it wouldn't print. I figured this was due to some incompatible generic driver.
I went to the Samsung website and thankfully they had a Linux driver for my printer. My next task was working out how to install it.
I found this post on the Ubuntu Forum that did the trick :)
The printer I have is a Mono Laser MFP (Samsung SCX-4100)
The Ubuntu install actually found the printer and installed a driver for it but it wouldn't print. I figured this was due to some incompatible generic driver.
I went to the Samsung website and thankfully they had a Linux driver for my printer. My next task was working out how to install it.
I found this post on the Ubuntu Forum that did the trick :)
My first ever Linux FREEZE
When my Evolution-Exchange sync finished, the first thing I tried to do was send an email. On clicking reply the whole screen froze and became unresponsive.
Evolution seemed to go into 100%CPU usage. "Force Quit" resulted in Evolutions next startup in safe mode but clicking reply again resulted in the same freeze.
Searching the web I found many people having the same problem, apparently its something to do with the way Evolution/Ubuntu/Exchange deal with the Global Address List. Going into preferences in Evolution and switching off Auto-Complete fixed the problem. But I now dont have auto complete for my email addresses which is mildly annoying but im sure "I hope" the developers will fix this issue soon.
Evolution seemed to go into 100%CPU usage. "Force Quit" resulted in Evolutions next startup in safe mode but clicking reply again resulted in the same freeze.
Searching the web I found many people having the same problem, apparently its something to do with the way Evolution/Ubuntu/Exchange deal with the Global Address List. Going into preferences in Evolution and switching off Auto-Complete fixed the problem. But I now dont have auto complete for my email addresses which is mildly annoying but im sure "I hope" the developers will fix this issue soon.
Day 2
After everything went to plan with the install I hit a bit of a wall with my Outlook conversion to Evolution. Initially my attempt to get Evolution to Sync with the exchange server failed and no matter what I did, I couldn't get them to talk to each other.
My backup plan was to use a program called Outport, this required me to setup a spare laptop install a trial version of Office 2007 (again) import my .pst file then use outport to export all the emails, contacts, calendar etc.. to a folder that would be compatible with Evolution. This whole process took 14 hours !!
As the percentage bar was hitting 99% complete I had a thought that could impact my whole attempt at converting to Linux - "what if the outport solution works and I try Linux for a week and decide I need Windows back?"
How would I then get my emails, calendar etc.. back into Office 2007!!
This thought worried me a little and I decided when the outport process finished I would have one last go at getting Evolution to sync with Exchange.
OUTPORT = 100% Complete
I did the exact same process as yesterday setting up Evolution and the bloody thing worked straight away. This pleased me no end because now I know I can try Linux for at least 2 months (I have a free 2 month trial with Exchange) without worrying about loosing any data. Mixed in with my pleaseure was a slight annoyance in that I just spent 14 hours messing about with XP again.
One thing I did notice when setting up the laptop with XP to enable me to run Outport was that after using Ubuntu for only a few hours it makes XP visually look rough. I think Im hooked on the look and layout of Ubuntu already.
Having got Ubuntu up and running I have found that Linux "can" read NTFS and Openoffice comes with an Export to PDF feature, which all pleases me no end :)
Everything seems to run much quicker than when I had XP installed.
My backup plan was to use a program called Outport, this required me to setup a spare laptop install a trial version of Office 2007 (again) import my .pst file then use outport to export all the emails, contacts, calendar etc.. to a folder that would be compatible with Evolution. This whole process took 14 hours !!
As the percentage bar was hitting 99% complete I had a thought that could impact my whole attempt at converting to Linux - "what if the outport solution works and I try Linux for a week and decide I need Windows back?"
How would I then get my emails, calendar etc.. back into Office 2007!!
This thought worried me a little and I decided when the outport process finished I would have one last go at getting Evolution to sync with Exchange.
OUTPORT = 100% Complete
I did the exact same process as yesterday setting up Evolution and the bloody thing worked straight away. This pleased me no end because now I know I can try Linux for at least 2 months (I have a free 2 month trial with Exchange) without worrying about loosing any data. Mixed in with my pleaseure was a slight annoyance in that I just spent 14 hours messing about with XP again.
One thing I did notice when setting up the laptop with XP to enable me to run Outport was that after using Ubuntu for only a few hours it makes XP visually look rough. I think Im hooked on the look and layout of Ubuntu already.
This morning I just wanted an excuse to sit in front of my computer and use Ubuntu, like the feeling you get when you buy a new car and you havent got anywhere to go but you look for excuses to drive.
Having got Ubuntu up and running I have found that Linux "can" read NTFS and Openoffice comes with an Export to PDF feature, which all pleases me no end :)
Everything seems to run much quicker than when I had XP installed.
Saturday, 2 August 2008
Day 1 - (part 2) "The other side"
Well Im updating my blog in Firefox 3 from Ubuntu Hardy Heron :)
I guess something worked...
The install went perfect; I actually thought I had done something wrong at first because the total install took around 5 minutes. Then I was prompted to install 93 updates which took all of 2 minutes and there it was my new desktop.
First things first install Opera - Success.
My next task - Configure Evolution to sync with the exchange account I setup and synced my Outlook 2007 to before I shut down XP for the Ubuntu install.
This unfortunately didn't go to plan as at the moment I am searching for a solution. It doesn't want to authenticate me for some reason. Searching the Internet for a solution resulted in my first unexpected task - FLASH Player.
It appears that Ubuntu does not come with flash player already installed and requires a manual install. I found the following websites handy and managed to install Flash Player 10 for Linux.
I initially tried installing ver 9 but I just couldn't get Firefox to detect it.
My first thoughts on Ubuntu is - wow its much faster than my previous installs and the layout is pretty slick. So far so good.
I will now continue my search to get Evolution and the Exchange account talking.
I guess something worked...
The install went perfect; I actually thought I had done something wrong at first because the total install took around 5 minutes. Then I was prompted to install 93 updates which took all of 2 minutes and there it was my new desktop.
First things first install Opera - Success.
My next task - Configure Evolution to sync with the exchange account I setup and synced my Outlook 2007 to before I shut down XP for the Ubuntu install.
This unfortunately didn't go to plan as at the moment I am searching for a solution. It doesn't want to authenticate me for some reason. Searching the Internet for a solution resulted in my first unexpected task - FLASH Player.
It appears that Ubuntu does not come with flash player already installed and requires a manual install. I found the following websites handy and managed to install Flash Player 10 for Linux.
I initially tried installing ver 9 but I just couldn't get Firefox to detect it.
My first thoughts on Ubuntu is - wow its much faster than my previous installs and the layout is pretty slick. So far so good.
I will now continue my search to get Evolution and the Exchange account talking.
Day 1
My current setup consists of Windows XP Pro running a trial version of Office 2007 pro; the trial period has ended and I am loath to part with my well earned cash to allow me to manage emails, contacts and do my accounts (excel).
So today I have decided to give Linux "another" go as a Desktop O/S Alternative.
In my previous attempts (SUSE, FEDORA, RED HAT); I have failed miserably to last any decent amout of time in using Linux as my main operating system. The primary reasons being that although Linux is touted as being installable on almost any machine I have constantly found that it runs like a slug on anything that isnt a decent spec pc.
The other problem has been the open source office programs have not quite lived up to potential for me.
My main pc curretly does the following tasks:-
So today I have decided to give Linux "another" go as a Desktop O/S Alternative.
In my previous attempts (SUSE, FEDORA, RED HAT); I have failed miserably to last any decent amout of time in using Linux as my main operating system. The primary reasons being that although Linux is touted as being installable on almost any machine I have constantly found that it runs like a slug on anything that isnt a decent spec pc.
My current pc spec is :-
Intel Quad Core CPU, 2gig DDR2 Ram, 160gig SATA 8mb Cache the rest is unimportant.
The other problem has been the open source office programs have not quite lived up to potential for me.
My main pc curretly does the following tasks:-
- Emails (Outlook)
- Wordprocessing (Word)
- Accounts (Excel)
- Invoicing (Excel with Visage expert PDF)
- Basic HTML (Dreamweaver CS3)
- Web browsing (IE & Opera)
- Photo Manipulation (paint.net)
Having looked at what is available with linux, I have decided on UBUNTU with Evolution, OpenOffice & Komposer.
My first task is my 1.5gig of emails, contacts & calendar; How am I going to import these into Evolution? My initial idea (that im going ahead with) is firstly BACKUP EVERYTHING then save my outlook data as a .pst file.
I am then going to setup a "free trial" of a hosted exchange account with some online provider. I will get my account running in Outlook and then import my .pst file back into Outlook and sync with the hosted exchange server. Im hoping evolution on Linux will sync with the exchange server and grab all my outlook data :) - I will then close the hosted exchange account as I dont need it.
This is problably and hopefully my only major task.
I have installed a 2nd Hard-Drive in my machine and used a utility (EX2IFS) to create and access an Ext2 partition. I am then backing up all my files to the Ext2 partition in order for me to access them when Ubuntu is running.
I have just downloaded Ubuntu .ISO and burned to disk and I am now ready to wipe the drive and install. I am currently bloggin from my XP machine and I am very much hoping my next blog post will be from UBUNTU :)
See you on the other side....
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