Ubuntu, is an open-source Linux-based operating system, which you probably already know if you are reading this post. If you haven't been in Computer Studies, probably doesn't sound familiar to you at all. All Linux OS's potentially targets the geeks and nerds, but, mind you,Ubuntu, among all of those is the least geeky one.

I would not discuss further about it but if you are new to this and you're intersted, head on over to their website to learn more. They have an online demo!
www.ubuntu.com

Ubuntu will most likely install on your device properly without any trouble, if you're lucky, every component might even work. But this isn't always the case. Chances are, your either your Wi-Fi, trackpad or bluetooth won't work out of the box.

I recently installed Ubuntu 14.10 on my Acer TravelMate B115, and as expected, there were a bunch of things to tinker with before finally ending up with how I wanted my new Linux-powered device to behave.

Here are 6 problems I came across, and what I did to solve them.

1) I couldn't enter the Boot Menu.

The Boot Menu isn't enabled by default.

- Hit F2 and enter BIOS
- navigate to the Main tab
- scroll down to F12 Boot Menu
- Hit Enter, choose "Enabled" and enter again
- Press F11 to save and exit
- Wait for your PC to restart, as the Acer logo appears, hit F12. That should bring up the boot menu. From then you can choose to boot from your media source (flash drive/CD/HDD) with the Ubuntu Installer.

2) Ubuntu boot loader doesn't show on startup.

Your PC will continue to use Windows Boot Manager even after you have installed Ubuntu, if you don't tell it otherwise. (This wasn't the case with Windows 7 and earlier versions). Assuming you have already fully installed Ubuntu (not just Try Before Installing),

- press F2 again to enter BIOS
- go to Boot tab
- You will see Windows Boot Manager and HDD right below it. HDD is the new partition created when you installed Ubuntu, move HDD to the top (follow the instructions on the right pane).

3) Wi-Fi is not working.

Wi-Fi didn't work out of the box. This is probably one of the most common issues. It can easily be solved by installing the correct wireless driver. You're going to need wired connection to fix this.

- Connect to your routher through an Ethernet cable. The ethernet connection didn't work for me at first. I just did a restart with the cable still plugged in, and it worked!
- Hit the Window key > search for "Drivers" > Click "Additional Drivers"
- Wait for this to show up



 

- Select "Using Broadcom 802.11 Linux STA wireless driver", then click on Apply Changes.

-If this doesn't appear, go to the Ubuntu Software tab and check all the boxes. See details below:

- Go back and try again.

- Click on the network icon in the upper right corner of your screen to check if there are any Wi-Fi Networks detected. Unplug your Ethernet cable to test the wireless connection.

4) Right-click doesn't work.

Took me ages to figure this out. Turns out, the physical clickers don't work at all. It works like a MacBook where you have to tap with 2 fingers to do a "right-click". This is so hard to adapt to coming from Windows. It's a hit or miss and takes a lot lot lot of getting used to.

5) My PC doesn't have light indicators for Caps Lock.

Lucky for us, there's an applet for that!

Press Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard to open terminal.
Run the following commands ONE BY ONE:

sudo add-apt-repository -y ppa:tsbarnes/indicator-keylock

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install indicator-keylock

You should now start seeing this when you hit Caps Lock:


(How many times can I say HIT in one post??)

6) My screen is set to maximum blinding freaking light every time I log back in.

This is straight up annoying since I have uber sensitive eyes. Here's what you can do to adjust your default screen brightness.

- Go to

/sys/class/backlight/intel_backlight

- Set value from 0-3125 depending on how dim/bright you want your screen to be. Mine is on 156 but that just might be too dark for you.