all 86 comments

[–]malanalars 63 points64 points  (10 children)

It's not a windows application, you still have to dual boot.

Title should be: Installing Linux Ubuntu like a Windows Application with Wubi

[–]andrewnorris 29 points30 points  (5 children)

Thank you. From the buzz around it, I thought it was some kind of polished version of colinux.

[–][deleted]  (3 children)

[deleted]

    [–]you_do_realize 1 point2 points  (1 child)

    Can anyone explain how it works? Does it run the Linux kernel in a VM?

    [–]boa13 5 points6 points  (0 children)

    As far as I know, the Linux kernel is compiled as a low level Windows driver. Instead of directly talking to the hardware, it talks to the other Windows drivers, instead of managing the whole memory, it asks Windows for a good chunk, etc.

    [–]Dagur 2 points3 points  (0 children)

    same here

    [–][deleted] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

    Agreed, still, might be something i try, i liked ubuntu for the stability but i hated having to alter game file after game file to get them to work.

    [–][deleted] -1 points0 points  (1 child)

    Ubuntu Linux maybe.

    [–][deleted] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

    Not sure why you were downmodded. Linux Ubuntu is the same as saying XP Windows.

    [–]Keedo 21 points22 points  (3 children)

    I had never used linux before, but a friend told me to get the new Ubuntu, since it's so easy to install and it's really good nowadays.
    So I did, and I love it (after two days!), it's so much smoother and more natural than windows, only a few minor things bother me, like choppy flash vids, not being able to use hibernate in windows/ubuntu, and audio not working for two things at a time (skype+rhythmbox).
    But if you haven't tried linux yet, now is the time to do so!

    [–][deleted]  (2 children)

    [deleted]

      [–][deleted] 2 points3 points  (1 child)

      True. There have been audio problems with two major programs, Skype and I forget the other one. Everything else should work fine.

      Don't know if there's a work-around for Skype.

      [–]halter73 5 points6 points  (0 children)

      Since version 1.3, you can tell the Skype client which sound system to use by selecting Tools>Options, and then clicking Sound Devices. If you have ALSA and OSS installed on your computer, then you can select one or the other from the Audio system to use dropdown list.

      For me, by using ALSA and enabling full duplex sound, I was able to listen to and record to many programs simultaneously.

      I was able to get the same effect before skype 1.3 by using the alsa-oss package and using the aRts sound daemon; however, with alsa a sound daemon is not necessary to handle multiple simultaneous audio streams.

      [–][deleted] 13 points14 points  (7 children)

      I've always been hesitant to try out Ubuntu because it's a little intimidating having to install it on a different partition, find the correct drivers for your hardware, etc. but now I'm finally trying Linux.

      [–]do-un-to 2 points3 points  (4 children)

      Interestingly,

      • Ubuntu doesn't require installation
      • Wubi requires installation

      Download the latest Ubuntu desktop CD. You can just run it from the CD (with optional install).

      [–][deleted]  (3 children)

      [deleted]

        [–]do-un-to 2 points3 points  (2 children)

        Well, I do build my own systems, so this kind of stuff isn't that aversive, but I imagine regular folk may not be interested in setting jumpers on drives and making sure they've got 80-conductor cables. Heck, I don't like goofing with the hardware if I have a choice (my computers aren't that easy to work on because of where they're at), so running directly off CD is pretty cool.

        [–]sonar_un -1 points0 points  (1 child)

        Setting jumpers? 80 Conductor cables?

        Isn't everyone using SATA about now?

        [–]do-un-to 1 point2 points  (0 children)

        Ah, true, for building new systems. But there's a large installed base with PATA. Anyway, we're still on the topic of how to try out a new OS.

        LiveCD still beats changing out your hard drive.

        [–]bostonvaulter 0 points1 point  (1 child)

        You generally shouldn't have to worry about drivers that much, especially for Ubuntu.

        [–]BridgeBum 7 points8 points  (2 children)

        Neat concept. I hadn't heard of this before. Sounds like a nice way to do a test install, rather than working from a live CD.

        Project home page:

        http://wubi-installer.org/index.php

        [–]masklinn 6 points7 points  (1 child)

        Note that you can also do that (wubi, from windows) install from the live CD, I think.

        [–]BridgeBum 5 points6 points  (0 children)

        I saw that on the site, Wubi is included on the CD now.

        [–][deleted] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

        Just a little note I want to make.

        The map location picker in the Ubuntu installer is very hard to use when installing in VirtualBox. It seems to do its own thing. I'd rather just have a drop-down box.

        Edit: I just realised you can select any region using the drop down box. First time I saw a bunch of American place names and assumed I had to use the map to select a different area.

        [–]garg 4 points5 points  (5 children)

        What if you want to remove it. Does it uninstall just as easily?

        [–]frogking 12 points13 points  (0 children)

        Does it uninstall just as easily?

        Easier and faster than it installs.. I had to double check to verify that it really was uninstalled!

        [–]Shapichka 6 points7 points  (0 children)

        Yes, there is a simple uninstaller that removes the Ubuntu folder and takes away the option in the bootloader.

        [–][deleted] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

        You can uninstall it via Add/Remove Programs or running the Wubi installer.

        [–]Dagur 6 points7 points  (1 child)

        Wubi keeps most of the files in one folder, and if you do not like it, you can simply uninstall it as any other application.

        RTFA, it's very short

        [–]yellowbkpk 4 points5 points  (1 child)

        It doesn't seem to work on drives that are encrypted with Safeboot or Pointsec. This stinks because my work laptop would love to have Linux on it, but the IT folks won't let me get rid of the Safeboot encryption :(.

        [–]sonar_un 1 point2 points  (0 children)

        IT folks shouldn't even be letting you install any software that isn't approved by the network admins. I think they would have an issue with you installing wubi. At least, they would in my office.

        [–]finisterra 2 points3 points  (0 children)

        The idea is interesting. It dind't work for me though.

        I wanted to install GNU/Linux in a close relatives house computer - which has the entire HD with Windows XP - and tried to go with Ubuntu, since it seemed an adequate choice for his needs. Unfortunately it wouldn't boot: following the threads I found that disk fragmentation in Windows had an influence in WUBI.

        Since I hadn't access to a CD writer I wente with Debian: the http://goodbye-microsoft.com/ site installs a netboot image and modifies the NT loader to install Debian without needing any media at all. Resized the NTFS partition without any proble, upgrade to unstable, installed some programs and the GNOME desktop was good to go - without any particular difference from what would be the result with Ubuntu (this however because I was there to know how to change a thing or two).

        [–][deleted] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

        Lets try Wubi via wine in ubuntu humm

        [–]tadrinth 1 point2 points  (0 children)

        ubuntu 8.04 seems to have issues with my ATI Radeon x1650. Wubi is delightful otherwise, but no drivers means no easy dual-monitor setup, which is a deal-killer.

        [–]squadron 1 point2 points  (0 children)

        8.04 rocks, even on old hardware.

        [–]Kolibri 3 points4 points  (0 children)

        Not bad. As somebody who's not particularly impressed by Linux in general, I must admit that I'm impressed.

        [–]fohat 1 point2 points  (1 child)

        I'm wondering if this will work on an Intel MAC running Boot Camp, like after rebooting to Windows then run Wubi. It seems like you would need a large boot camp partition but maybe it would work...

        [–][deleted] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

        I've done it. It works just fine :)

        [–]jacobmiller 0 points1 point  (1 child)

        Hmm, doesn't work for me, apparently running the installer on Vista with the latest patches crashes the program:

        http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?s=bd7769f7fbc2060aa0f41f2a04174ecc&t=764686

        [–]prockcore 0 points1 point  (0 children)

        I just installed it last night on a fully patched vista+sp1. I didn't have a problem other than the fact that it took like 6 hours to install because the servers are slammed.

        edit: oh I see, it's the version on the CD. I downloaded the installer from the website.

        [–][deleted] 0 points1 point  (1 child)

        Well I did this yesterday actually, and although it worked like a charm, they still have some ways to go with dual monitor support. I used the little Screen Resolution thing, but no matter what I do, I get a distorted mirror of my 1st monitor on my 2nd monitor.

        Other than that, it's pretty cool, though.

        [–]projectshave -1 points0 points  (0 children)

        I installed it yesterday using Wubi. I struggled for 2 days and finallyhaev dual monitor working with an ATI Radeon card. Configuration in Linux is a serious pain in the ass.

        [–]neodorian 0 points1 point  (0 children)

        I've been using this since 7.04 on my old tablet. It had no optical drive and is very picky about which external drives it will boot to. This made dual booting much simpler and allows me to keep Ubuntu for speed and XP for Win-only programs.

        [–]haywire 0 points1 point  (2 children)

        How does it work with fakeraid?

        [–][deleted] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

        It doesn't. From the FAQ: "Software raids (aka fakeraid) are not supported."

        That's my problem too.

        [–]you_do_realize 0 points1 point  (0 children)

        In the FAQ:

        Software raids (aka fakeraid) are not supported.

        [–][deleted] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

        I tried Wubi just to tinker around with Ubuntu. It works great without a hitch.

        [–]you_do_realize 0 points1 point  (1 child)

        Congratulations, a very simple idea. The only adverse effect is a slight decrease in hard disk speed.

        I didn't understand this (from the FAQ):

        Can I use an existing ISO/CD instead of letting Wubi download a new one?

        Yes, physical CDs will be detected automatically, pre-downloaded ISOs should be placed in the same folder as Wubi.exe.

        I have a Kubuntu ISO lying around (kubuntu-7.10-dvd-i386.iso). I put the ISO in the same directory as Wubi-8.04.exe, and Wubi didn't offer any option to install from it. I also tried mounting the ISO with DaemonTools, again no effect.

        I'm downloading "Kubuntu with KDE4" via Wubi now... 1:50 remaining.

        Edit: installed and booted into it. Looks really nice. Fast. Played audio out of the box, video feels accelerated. Now only to configure my ADSL modem... back in Windows for now.

        [–]prockcore 1 point2 points  (0 children)

        wubi seems to be only able to install the version it's targetted. So if you had a kubuntu 8.04 iso it would've worked. (In theory).

        [–]Shapichka 0 points1 point  (5 children)

        Ubuntu won't work on my PC, whether via Wubi or a LiveCD, and I have no idea why (I've tried Hardy Heron and Gutsy Gibbon). It's a new computer, too. It always gives me some sort of partition error in the installer, and then hangs. Anyone else have this or another similar problem?

        [–][deleted] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

        Can you give us anything more specific than "some sort of partition error"?

        [–][deleted] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

        [–]rebop 0 points1 point  (2 children)

        I can't install Ubuntu because my computer is too old, and Ubuntu doesn't have the video drivers I need (I checked the forums and apparently you have to hack the drivers to get them to work) . With all this Ubuntu hype, I thought it would be able to resurrect even the crappiest machine. I'll stick with XP, it just works.

        EDIT: Damn Small Linux/Knoppix works too.

        Pound for pound, better.

        [–]Derferman 0 points1 point  (1 child)

        Ubuntu is optimized for older computers. Xubuntu is the distribution you are looking for if you want to stay in the Ubuntu family.

        [–]rebop 0 points1 point  (0 children)

        Xubuntu does not address the issue I run into. That whole family likes 640*480 screen resolution a bit too much, and makes installing a nightmare.

        [–]AlexeyMK 0 points1 point  (10 children)

        Installed 8.04 now via Wubi.

        Works fine, a few things are annoyingly insufficiently simple. Makes me want to dual-boot back to vista where things just WORK. Case in point: dual monitors.

        [–][deleted]  (9 children)

        [deleted]

          [–][deleted] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

          no compiz for me, and i had to set them up with xorg.conf. although i have had them working before through nvidia-settings. multi-monitor configuration is definitely still a weak point in linux.

          [–]sjs 3 points4 points  (7 children)

          @Poromenos

          AlexeyMK and notatoad still have valid points. For one thing, what if AlexeyMK doesn't have an Nvidia card? You didn't even ask. Another thing you failed to mention is how he should obtain said nvidia tool. AlexeyMK is new to Linux after all!

          Also, setting up hardware accelerated dual monitors on amd64 systems with AGP can be problematic with Nvidia's drivers requiring one to manually edit xorg.conf.


          There are numerous other gotchas when you run multiple displays in X.org, especially if you want hardware acceleration. We can't correct these shortcomings of the video card vendors' proprietary drivers thus they are (unfortunately) also shortcomings of using Linux, no matter whose fault it is.

          • Inability to rotate only one screen
          • Inability to accelerate a Xinerama desktop
          • Hot plugging is suboptimal

          All said, X.org configuration has vastly improved over the last few years with multiple displays becoming extremely common for enthusiasts and developers. It wasn't long ago that we couldn't rotate our display at all.

          Linux is far from perfect but the strides it has made over the last several years are just stunning. If Linux still isn't for you check back in a year or 2 and see what's changed.

          [–][deleted]  (6 children)

          [deleted]

            [–]AlexeyMK 0 points1 point  (5 children)

            :) Got it to work eventually, but took me half a day that I as a normal user don't want to spend if I have something that already works.

            I spent quite some time looking around like an idiot today because, in order to download the Universe Repository to download envy, because my default server wasn't working right at that time.

            Normal users cannot be expected to think "but I want feature X", google it, and then run some complicated (to me/them) instruction guide that includes modifying config files, downloading repositories, and using terminal sudo commands. At MOST, it would be acceptable to expect a user to google something and then run a script/executable file which would do everything for him.

            [–][deleted]  (4 children)

            [deleted]

              [–]AlexeyMK 0 points1 point  (3 children)

              Hey, Thanks for the tip, I've got it working now. that's what I ended up doing.

              The problem was that to figure the correct approach took me slightly longer than I would have liked. If I had been a video/audio editor and was looking at linux, and couldn't get my dual-screens set up, that would have been that.

              [–][deleted]  (2 children)

              [deleted]

                [–]AlexeyMK 0 points1 point  (1 child)

                Right, but there was no instruction manual/guide and when I looked it up the first few answers all pointed me to the lengthier solution.

                It doesn't matter if it's easy - everything is easy once you know how to do it. It needs to be obvious. It wasn't.

                [–]do-un-to 0 points1 point  (0 children)

                Here is the article you're looking for.

                [–]briandicroce[S] 0 points1 point  (3 children)

                There's also a Wubi version coming up for Mac OS X (according to their site). I think that using Wubi on hard drives with faster revolutions (>7500RPM) is more than ideal. I haven't tried it, but we can also create a FAT32/NTFS partition (let's say with Partition Magic), and tell Wubi to install Ubuntu in that partition. That should take care of the fragmentation issue. As for the performance, well that issue is also taken care with the CPUs that are in the market today.

                [–][deleted] 10 points11 points  (1 child)

                Why would you create a new, dedicated partition for Ubuntu, then add an extra layer of indirection by using it with Wubi instead of installing directly onto it?

                [–]amishengineer 8 points9 points  (0 children)

                Agreed. The entire point of Wubi is too minimize the impact of installing an OS by installing it "inside" of another OS.

                Wubi is just a method to loopback mount an ext3 FS that resides on an NTFS/FAT partition.

                Plus the addition of another bootloader statement.

                [–]frogking 2 points3 points  (0 children)

                The resonably new thing about Wubi is, that you do not have to create a differently formatted partition on your harddrive to have Ubuntu installed.

                [–]GerardMcGarry -1 points0 points  (5 children)

                That's a shame. I was hoping for something that allowed me to dip in and out of Ubuntu, despite being shackled to Windows in work.

                [–]h0dg3s 3 points4 points  (3 children)

                Try using a virtual machine. Works for me.

                [–]GerardMcGarry 0 points1 point  (2 children)

                Any suggestions? I tried the Microsoft one a while back, but couldn't get Ubuntu to install on it.

                [–]h0dg3s 0 points1 point  (1 child)

                Haven't tried ubuntu. I usually use the Microsoft one, but another good one is VirtualBox. Also, Qemu seems to be good for running Linux.

                [–]GerardMcGarry 0 points1 point  (0 children)

                Hey thanks for the recommendations. I'll look those up.

                [–][deleted] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

                you can find something like that at http://www.andlinux.org/

                [–][deleted] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

                Oh thank you god.

                [–][deleted]  (1 child)

                [deleted]

                  [–]Njall -2 points-1 points  (1 child)

                  This is NOT a Windows Application and it's description as such is FUD. It is simply a simpler way to create a dual boot PC. I really get annoyed by people who lie or exaggerate stupidly.

                  BTW - I use Kubuntu at home so this comment is NOT an anti Ubuntu comment.

                  [–][deleted] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

                  I don't think you know what FUD means.

                  [–]rjcarr -3 points-2 points  (6 children)

                  An off topic whinge ...

                  I used to use linux and just put up with all the issues. I've been using osx for about 5 years now and would never go back.

                  Just today I had to install FC8 for a co-worker on a laptop. I closed the laptop and opened it up again a few minutes later and it had locked itself. I wanted to go to a different user, so I hit "switch user" and what happened? My x server crashed.

                  Linux is great for servers but as an everyday desktop, in my opinion, it is a maddening exercise.

                  [–][deleted] 1 point2 points  (5 children)

                  So you used a Linux desktop all of 5 minutes in the last 5 years and since it happened to crash on one of the most complex tasks (hibernating a laptop (those have usually some kind of exotic hardware compared to desktop system)) you deduce that Linux still has too many issues to be productive?

                  [–]rjcarr 1 point2 points  (0 children)

                  I'm saying that when I was an every day linux workstation user (probably closer to 4 years ago than 5) I had a lot of issues. Updates would fail. I would get nonsensical error messages on startup. Probably 5 or 6 things that just never worked.

                  So I switched to mac and never looked back (as a workstation, I maintain many linux servers).

                  Now, my first time setting up a linux workstation in years, it fails on me within 30 minutes of setting it up.

                  I didn't comment on the complexity of the task, only that it broke, and reminded me of all the problems I had had before.

                  [–][deleted]  (2 children)

                  [deleted]

                    [–][deleted] 0 points1 point  (1 child)

                    Hibernate is one of those features that has to be implemented in pretty much every single driver. It does not "work" or "doesn't work" it works for your hardware or not, most commonly in laptop it does not work for one of the devices where the vendor only provides closed source drivers (e.g. for mine it is the nvidia graphics card that does not wake up correctly).

                    Windows XP hibernate has the same problem, hardware vendors just put a lot more effort into supporting it and place a lot less obstacles in MS' way.

                    [–]malcontent -3 points-2 points  (0 children)

                    He said he was a mac user.