I Love my Acer Revo 1610! (the 3600 is dual core) The Nvidia ION makes video playback smooth as can be. Since Lucid recently came out, I decided to just do a clean install and actually document it this time. This little guide is by no means meant to be all comprehensive, just a little guide of some of the stuff I did when installing.I hope this is of use to someone.
Download the .iso from www.ubuntu.com and burn it if you have an external drive, if not just dig up a 1GB flash drive and head over to www.pendrivelinux.com to make a bootable flash drive.
boot and install Ubuntu.
After installation and booting, an icon should appear on the upper panel to the right of the screen, then it asks you if you want to use the proprietary drivers. Yes you do. If you are using HDMI cable, you might not hear anything - to fix it go to System->Preferences->Sound->Hardware tab and select Digital Stereo (HDMI) Output + Analog Stereo Input from the drop down, then click close.
If you have an LCD monitor, be sure sub-pixel smoothing is turned on by going to System->Preferences->Appearance-> and the Fonts tab.
Click System -> Administration -> Software Sources (password required) -> Other Software -> put a check mark next to http://archive.canonical.com/ubuntu lucid partner.This lets you get everything from the repository.
Since I am behind a router and use occasionally need it, I changed my IP configuration from DHCP to static. (note: you don't wan't to do this if you are on dial up or are directly connected to a cable modem) If you don't need it, don't do it.
sudo nano /etc/network/interfaces
If you are using DHCP you will see the following...
auto eth0
iface eth0 inet dhcp
Just put a # in front of the 'iface eth0 inet dhcp' line and add the following lines, adjusting for your individual situation
iface eth0 inet static
address 192.168.1.100
netmask 255.255.255.0
network 192.168.1.0
broadcast 192.168.1.255
gateway 192.168.1.1
Now we can install a bunch patches that have been issued since the cd was finialized and a library to help with video playback. ION specific. If you don't have an ION, you prpbably don't need it.
Go to Applications -> Accessories -> Terminal and enter the following commands (or just cut and paste)
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get upgrade
sudo apt-get install libvdpau1
Update your video drivers...
sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install nvidia-195-modaliases nvidia-glx-195
Install the restricted extras to get for audio/video codecs media playback
sudo apt-get install ubuntu-restricted-extras
Add the Medibuntu repository.
sudo wget --output-document=/etc/apt/sources.list.d/medibuntu.list http://www.medibuntu.org/sources.list.d/$(lsb_release -cs).list && sudo apt-get --quiet update && sudo apt-get --yes --quiet --allow-unauthenticated install medibuntu-keyring && sudo apt-get --quiet update
Now we can download a library to decode encrypted DVD's for playback. (you want this)
sudo apt-get install libdvdcss2
Now you are ready to install the other applications you want from the Ubuntu Software Center. I recommend Skype, Alien Arena, Wine (so you can run some windows programs) VirtualBox (you can install an entire OS 'inside' Ubuntu), Samba (for filesharing on the network), Foomatic (to ease printer installs) look around, you'll find all kinds of goodies. (don't install VLC just yet.. read on)
There are also many apps not in the repositories you might want to have....
VLC is my favorite all around media player (I'll do XBMC soon...) but the version in the repository is outdated, do the following to get the latest version. (if you already installed it from the Ubuntu Sortware Center, remove it first)
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:c-korn/vlc && sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install vlc
Google Chrome is my favorite browser, fast and you can set up bookmark sync across other computers if you have a gmail account. The following command will install it and add it to the update list so it will stay current.
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install google-chrome-beta
Google earth is a favorite time-waster of mine and if you have added the Medibuntu repository (see above) it's a snap to get.
sudo apt-get install googleearth googleearth-data
Dropbox is just cool to have, you set it up and you have a folder that you can save stuff to and it syncs to other computers you have it installed on. Very useful for work and school, you'll never be without that document again. Don't have dropbox on the computer you are sitting at? Just head over to dropbox.com, login and you can download your files through the browser. Slick.
Get it at www.dropbox.com
Ubuntu Tweak lets you change all kinds of settings easily, I highly recommend it.
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:tualatrix/ppa
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install ubuntu-tweak
The repository has some pretty good games, but if you yearn for more download this and run it
http://archive.getdeb.net/install_deb/playdeb_0.3-1~getdeb1_all.deb
then go to http://www.playdeb.net/updates/#how_to_install, find a game and click to install.
There is a great guide put out by the Ubuntu people themselves, give it a look
http://ubuntuguide.org/wiki/Ubuntu:Lucid
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