easypeasy and BBC iplayer

General Discussion
1

Hi.

I recently tried out easypeasy from a disk and when I tried to watch BBC iplayer it said I needed flash I think it was.

However, I can’t figure out how to do this presumably I would actually have to load easypeasy onto the HDD first and
then what?

I’ve not tried Linux before but downloading and running new software using Windows is very simple and it virtually does it for you
so how do I do this in easypeasy or any other Linux programme for that matter? (I thought I might try Mint as well at some point)

Hope someone can shed some light on this for me.

Thank you.

2

Firstly, Easypeasy is badly out of date, it was released in 2010 … I’d seriously consider something more up to date as you’ll have problems getting up to date software for Easypeasy.

In reality downloading software for Windows does NOT do it for you, you have to search for it, download it, and install it, then you need to keep it updated.
Linux on the other hand will download, install and keep software updated with a few mouse clicks.

But you’re right, there’s no way to install anything permanently if you’re booting from a LiveCD.

You’re going to need to choose a Linux distribution and install it … Mint might be a good choice if your hardware if fairly recent, if it’s older less powerfull hardware there are other options.

Can you tell us a little about the hardware, and what you intend to use the PC primarily for ?

3

Hi. Mark

I have a fairly old laptop a Compaq 6710b with 2GB ram and 160GB HDD running Windows 7.

I suppose I’m used to Windows so I have no trouble downloading and running new software but Linux is baffling at the
moment!!

I was going to load Linux alongside Windows so that I could boot up into one or the other and also my friend has XP and I
thought if I can become passably competent using Linux I could put it on her laptop as XP isn’t going to get any better!

I thought easypeasy was a good idea as it doesn’t seem to need a very exotic machine to run on but if it’s not the best plan
would Mint be better or indeed could you suggest something else - my friend’s laptop has only 512mb of ram and 80gb HDD.

Many thanks for your advice would be grateful for any help.

4

With only 512Mb RAM Mint will be a little “heavy” … I’d go with Peppermint (disclosure - I’m on the Peppermint development team so read into that what you will), or possibly Lubuntu or Crunchbang

Your machine on the other hand will handle Mint … personally I’d still advise Peppermint, but the choice of a lighter distro is less important on a PC designed for Win7.

You might want to download Peppermint and burn it to a LiveCD and give it a whirl.

It’s interface is MUCH more like Windows than EasyPeasy, and it has easy access to all the softgware in the Ubuntu software repositories … all easily installable through the software manager.

It will easily install alongside Windows (XP or 7), in fact the installer will walk you through this if you choose.

You can find various videos on youtube about it, such as (this strange guy):

http://youtube.googleapis.com/v/Iqe6aEWMYRk

and

http://youtube.googleapis.com/v/xvznFERpHkE

Peppermint website:

Written review:
http://www.itworld.com/software/366809/peppermint-four-review-distro-clouds?page=0,0

Installation screenshots:
http://www.everydaylinuxuser.com/2014/03/how-to-install-peppermint-linux-in-10.html

5

Hi, Mark

Thanks for taking so much trouble and for the good advice, I’ve never heard of Peppermint but it sounds a good bet for me.

I didn’t say what I use my laptop for which is to do the usual stuff : letters, spreadsheets,internet and I have a digital camera
and a Sanyo Xacti video camera MP4 for and I use CDburnerXP to burn DVD discs.

Don’t know if the Xacti software would work with Linux or even if it matters and would need to check if CDburnerXP which I have found is fine with W7 would work with Peppermint?

Don’t play games but do watch You Tube and BBC iplayer would they work OK with Peppermint?

That’s about it really.

I think my laptop was designed for Vista as there is a sticker to that effect on the machine but I bought it from a refurbisher company and they have loaded W7 which seems to work very well.

Would Peppermint do the stuff I’ve mentioned especially making DVDs as I have loads of video of my grandchildren which I copy to DVDs
every few months as a record of them growing up?

Thanks Mark, I appreciate your time and advice.

6

Hi cicero

From what you tell us Peppermint would be perfect for your needs although I can’t say for certain it would recognise your Sanyo camera directly plugged in but it would read any sd card, the Xacti software you have will be for Windows and won’t run in any Linux distribution but there’s a lot of alternative software available for editing video and Brasero can do anything CDburnerxp can do, watching you tube and iplayer shouldn’t be a problem either,

probably the best thing to do is burn an iso of Peppermint on to a cd/dvd or usb drive and run a live session to have a look, it will give you an idea if it’s what you’re looking for without making any changes to your PC

If you need any help with that post back here and we’ll be happy to help you get started

Good luck

Graeme

7

As Emegra suggests, don’t expect your Windows software to run in Linux … it won’t.

There are ways of getting SOME windows applications to work in Linux through WINE (think of it a bit like an emulator, though in reality it’s a “compatibility layer”), but it can be hard to achieve and usually there are problems.

That said, and again as Emegra suggests, there is nearly always free Linux alternatives.

Web based stuff is “pretty much” platform independent … so your web browsing/email/fekbook/YouTube/BBC iPlayer needs are taken care of.
(there is the occasional streaming service that can be a pain in Linux, but most work without issue or can be worked around … eg. 4OD is currently being a pain IIRC)

Office stuff - there is LibreOffice, and Kingsoft Office which will even read/write Microsoft Office docs … or Google docs (online).

I seriously doubt if the Xacti software will work in Linux, but that doesn’t mean we can’t get the video off your camera and edit it … this may take a little homework, but we’ll figure it out :slight_smile:

CD burning - There are a few CD/DVD burning suites in Linux Brasero/Xfburn/K3b
Oddly, specially after what I said previously, the single Windows application I still use occasionally (running in WINE) is ImgBurn … not because there’s no Linux alternative, but just because I rarely use it any more so can’t be bothered to change.

Another 2 options for where you MUST have Windows software would be -

a) to dual boot (where you choose at bootup which OS to boot into)
or
b) to run Windows in a virtual machine inside Linux (this is probably not an option in 512Mb RAM, but should be OK on a system designed for Win7)

Anyway … burn yourself a LiveCD, or LiveUSB … take Peppermint for a test drive … then if/when you have any questions we’ll be more than happy to answer them :slight_smile:

–

8

Hi, Graeme, Mark

Thanks for the info.

I’ve now had a look at the Peppermint website and the instructions for loading and so on and bearing in mind I’ve only really used Windows the first thing I see is checking the integrity of a file, a picture of the screen LXterminal, and some text, none of which means anything to me! It doesn’t explain what a terminal is, or what it’s for, what goes in it or how you get it do whatever it does.

Reading further on I get the feeling that this is not for an absolute novice with no existing knowledge and being a bit dim doesn’t help, either. :slight_smile:

If I can load it onto a disk I’ll give it a go and just ignore the bits I don’t understand, which is most of it in truth!!

Cheers.

9

I’m sure you’re not dim if you were you wouldn’t be considering Linux

The vast majority of people who move to Linux come from Windows and know nothing but Windows (I know I did) I’m not a tech savvy person by any stretch of the imagination but now I’m much more comfortable in a Linux environment than a Windows environment so if I can do it anyone can do it but you have to want to do it, I’ve seen some people try Linux for 5 minutes decide they don’t like it and go back to Windows, there is a learning curve but it’s not as steep as some would have you believe and you would have all the help and support you need here and many other Linux forums online

There’s no need to be worried about LXterminal for the most part you will never have to use it other than when getting help where you may be asked to copy and paste commands into it but almost everything you use day to day is done through GUI’s (Graphical User Interface) just like Windows

If you decide you want to give it a proper try the Linux installer makes it very easy to install alongside your existing Windows system so you can choose what operating system you want to boot into at start up so you’re not taking any unnecessary risks but if after a while you decide Linux is not for you it’s very easily removed you have nothing to fear but fear itself.

Linux is just as easy to use as Windows in fact I would argue it’s easier and if you stick with it through the initial learning curve you’ll probably wonder why you didn’t do it years ago

Good luck

Graeme

10

Peppermint is about as much for a beginner as you’re going to get.

Don’t get confused or worried by pictures of the terminal … all you need to do is download the ISO image, then burn it to disk … then boot from it … the same as you would any other distro.
(seriously … if you think EasyPeasy is simple enough … Peppermint is easier)

Checking the ISO image integrity (probably not necessary unless you have problems burning the image to disk … so feel free to skip this bit if you wish) -

To do this in Windows, download this (free) application to the windows PC
http://www.md5summer.org/md5v12011.zip
unzip it, and use it to generate the MD5 hash for the ISO image … then check it against the MD5 checksum published at peppermintos.com

Help page for the MD5 application can be found here:
http://www.md5summer.org/help.html

Burning the ISO image to disk … either use your CDburnerXP

or…

Use ImgBurn (free windows app) in Windows to burn the Peppermint ISO image to either a CD or DVD

Download ImgBurn from here:
http://download.imgburn.com/SetupImgBurn_2.5.8.0.exe

Tutorial for burning an ISO image to CD/DVD with ImgBurn here:
http://neosmart.net/wiki/display/G/Burning+ISO+Images+with+ImgBurn

Hint - On the second picture, where it says
Write Speed: MAX
Change it to
Write Speed: X4

When you’re ready to install it to your hard drive, we’ll help you through it if necessary … but one thin g I can guarantee is there is NO simpler installation routine in the Linux world as the one Peppermint shares with Mint/Ubuntu/and even EasyPeasy :wink:

–

11

Hi, Mark

Sorry to bother you again!! :-[

I’ve downloaded the ISO image now can I just burn it to a disk (can I use a CD or is the file too big) or does it have to be unzipped
and if so how do I do this please?

Once I’ve done this would I have to download another image if I wanted to also put it on a flash drive or is the original file still available
to use again from the HDD? (It took something over an hour to download by the way so I don’t really want to do that again) Can I copy
the image perhaps?

It says use Unetbootin so presumably it’s the Windows version I need even 'though I’m putting a Linux program on the USB drive?

More daft questions no doubt but I did say I had no knowledge or experience but if this is becoming tedious please say so I wouldn’t wish
to waste your time.

12
I've downloaded the ISO image now can I just burn it to a disk (can I use a CD or is the file too big) or does it have to be unzipped and if so how do I do this please?

If you’re doing this in Windows the downloaded file will be a zip file do not unzip it just go ahead and burn it as an image file, I assume you’ve downloaded Peppermint 4 if so it will fit on to a CD or DVD

Once I've done this would I have to download another image if I wanted to also put it on a flash drive

You can use the same image if you wanted to run it from a flash drive but you would need software to do that such as Linux Live USB Creator which is free to download here http://www.linuxliveusb.com/

is the original file still availableto use again from the HDD?

Once you have the file downloaded you can copy/burn it as many times as you like to any media ie CD, DVD or USB

It says use Unetbootin so presumably it's the Windows version I need even 'though I'm putting a Linux program on the USB drive?

Yes it would have to be the Windows version I would personally suggest you use Linux Live Creator but that’s just my opinion Unebootin would probably be ok

More daft questions no doubt but I did say I had no knowledge or experience but if this is becoming tedious please say so I wouldn't wish to waste your time.

Ask as many questions as you like you are not being tedious (slightly annoying perhaps but not tedious) I’m only joking don’t take me seriously :slight_smile:

Let us know how you get on

Good luck

Graeme

13

Thank you, Graeme

Lots of questions and helpful replies I’m very grateful, thank you.

As for me being annoying, have you been talking to my wife? :slight_smile:

Cheers.

14

Questions are what we’re here for … would be a bit of a naff forum if we considered them tedious don’t you think :wink:

We’re all here because we enjoy Linux, but also because we enjoy helping others (usually like someone helped us) … so ask as many questions as you want/need to :slight_smile:

There are no stupid questions here … we all asked them once ourselves :wink:

15

Cicero, welcome to the forum, listen I joined a while ago knowing nothing, since then I have reached the stage where I have Ubuntu on a desktop and Peppermint on my laptop, originally it was dual booted with XP but have now dumped XP and don’t miss Windows at all. Haven’t seen a question on here that Mark has not been able to answer, and the other guys are all very helpful. Don’t worry about daft questions, I have asked them all already! ;D

Good luck,
Degsy

16

It’s been drawn to my attention that maybe I shouldn’t be promoting Peppermint 4 as it has a short shelf life before Peppermint 5 (due in May/June), and that support ends when Peppermint 5 is released.

I’d be happy to run Peppermint 4 for years after support ends … it’s still secure, and 99.9% of software will still be easily available.

There are still people running Peppermint One which still works, and I’d still consider more secure than ANY version of Windows with full AV and anti-malware.

Sure … if you’re already running Linux and you can wait for Peppermint 5, I’d say wait … but for people wanting to replace XP I’d say DO IT NOW, Peppermint 4 will be more secure than XP probably for ever … when Pepeprmint 5 is released you can reinstall (and consider the Peppermint 4 install “practice”), or wait until you’re ready, there’s no rush to move off Peppermint 4.

The other option would be to recommend Lubuntu 14.04 … I’ll not be doing that as it’s currently as buggy as hell, Peppermint 4 is a safer bet at least until Peppermint 5 is released, and probably for a short while afterwards whilst Peppermint 5 is assessed for bugs, and they’re either fixed or workarounds discovered.

In short … I personally have NO problem still recommending Peppermint 4 … just be aware Peppermint 5 is due out soon :slight_smile:

17

Peppermint 4 is running better and faster than XP ever did.

At the same time looking forward to Peppermint 5… :slight_smile: :slight_smile: :slight_smile:

Jocklad

18

Hi,

Thanks for the encouragement!

I’m going to have to get this up and running now or look a complete prat otherwise. :slight_smile:

19

This is also probably a daft question but if P4 is soon to be replaced by P5 why aren’t changes or whatever simply issued as updates like Microsoft do for Windows?

Is it because 5 will be very different to 4 such that regular automatic updates wouldn’t work?

And does this mean that every x months or whatever it’s necessary to download and install a complete new version from scratch?

20

Ubuntu and Mint DO do in-line “Upgrades” … Peppermint do not, they’re often (as with Windows) more of a pain than they’re worth, very often resulting in broken systems that are harder to fix than if you just planned for a fresh install.
(in-line upgrades for the server edition of say Ubuntu are a different matter … as they have no GUI desktop or apps they’re usually MUCH more reliable)

If you created a separate home partition when installing Peppermint, you’d be able to keep all your user documents across a reinstall anyway.

But in truth I still don’t even advise this as your home folder has a lot of configuration files that may (or may not) conflict with later versions.

As with Windows it’s one of those questions isn’t it … Upgrade or fresh install ?

Theoretically you could do an in-line upgrade of Peppermint by changing the repo’s and upgrading, but it’s neither officially supported nor IMHO advisable.