I am impressed with Ubuntu 17.10!

David Rolfe
David Rolfe New Member Posts: 98
Hi,

It has become apparent from the nature of the posts on this Forum, that UP users come from a variety of backgrounds and have a wide range of experience, expertise and expectations as to what they expect to achieve from their purchase.

Many are obviously highly qualified, whilst others (like myself) have more modest aspirations, and will be happy (say) just to install two separate operating systems, such as Windows and Linux, for example.

One of the first tasks many of us will undertake is to install a Linux derivative, and we are actively encouraged to try Ubuntu 16.04.3 64 Bit Desktop, or preferably Ubilinux, which was actually my first choice. I hoped that I would be impressed with the result, but I am afraid to say that I wasn’t, as it seemed far less intuitive or ‘user friendly’ than my previous forays into the world of Linux had led me to expect.

However, not being particularly concerned with support for the 40-pin header, and being a bit of a fan of the GNOME desktop, I decided to try the latest release of Ubuntu, namely 17.10. Now I know that this is currently still in beta, (although a ‘release candidate’ should be available later today), and as the final release is scheduled for 19th October, I decided to give it a try anyway, and duly prepared a USB stick, using Rufus on my desktop PC, first.

This was then duly plugged into my UP2 board, and away we went! Everything was so easy to follow, and understand, and it even offered to overwrite Ubilinux for me! I did not see any error messages at all, and was able to carry out an immediate update. My HP wireless connected networked printer was recognised immediately, as was my Wi-Fi /Bluetooth kit, once I had installed it in my official UP Squared metal chassis. Everything I tried worked as expected, I didn’t have to worry about downloading separate drivers, or installing an Office suite, and it even had a few games already installed for me to have a play with.

I had been slightly concerned about a possible performance ‘hit’, but was quite happy with the way it responded, although perhaps my choice of the ‘top of the range’ UP2 board might have helped a bit here!

My advice therefore for anyone who is still wondering which OS to install, is to give Ubuntu a whirl, and I hope that you will be as pleased with the result as I am.

Comments

  • David Rolfe
    David Rolfe New Member Posts: 98
    Just to let you know that the final version of Ubuntu 17.10 has now been released and can be downloaded from: https://www.ubuntu.com/desktop/1710

    I will be interested to hear how other users get on with it on their UP squared boards.
  • WereCatf
    WereCatf New Member Posts: 201
    I do like Ubuntu, but I want access to the GPIO, so I'm waiting until Aaeon/Emutex releases a suitable kernel or, like they did at one point say they'd try to do, if they manage to get the GPIO-drivers included in the mainline-kernels. (If anyone of you is reading this, it would be appreciated if you'd let us know, if you're still planning to mainline the drivers or not)
  • Chase
    Chase New Member Posts: 1
    Are you able to get sound working? I installed a 17.10 beta build a few weeks ago, I couldn't get the sound to work. The kernel has support for Atom HDMI output but it's still not working on my original UP.
  • Nicola Lunghi
    Nicola Lunghi Emutex Posts: 131 mod
    edited October 2017
    >> (If anyone of you is reading this, it would be appreciated if you'd let us know, if you're still planning to mainline the drivers or not)

    Working on ubuntu port for up/up^2 :-)

    The supported distro will be xenial with 4.10 kernel
  • David Rolfe
    David Rolfe New Member Posts: 98
    Are you able to get sound working? I installed a 17.10 beta build a few weeks ago, I couldn't get the sound to work. The kernel has support for Atom HDMI output but it's still not working on my original UP.
    Hi,
    I was given a new Bluetooth speaker for my birthday yesterday, so will be trying it out later on my UP Squared board which is now running the release version of Ubuntu 17.10
  • David Rolfe
    David Rolfe New Member Posts: 98
    UPDATE: I turned on my Speakers, followed by Bluetooth in Ubuntu. They were 'paired' immediately, and I gave them a quick test by playing a few songs from YouTube!

    I was rewarded by lovely sharp and clear sound, with no fading or dropping out. I paused things while I had dinner, and it picked up straight away again afterwards, without any problems at all.

    Easy, peasy!!
  • Kurt
    Kurt New Member Posts: 146 ✭✭
    >> (If anyone of you is reading this, it would be appreciated if you'd let us know, if you're still planning to mainline the drivers or not)

    Working on ubuntu port for up/up^2 :-)

    The supported distro will be xenial with 4.10 kernel
    Any idea on when this might happen?

    These days my Up2 is sitting mostly unused as I much prefer using Ubuntu so I use my original (replacement) UP board with Ubuntu.
  • DCleri
    DCleri Administrator, AAEON Posts: 1,213 admin
    We will publish the 4.10 Ubuntu Kernel early next week.
  • David Rolfe
    David Rolfe New Member Posts: 98
    dcleri wrote:
    We will publish the 4.10 Ubuntu Kernel early next week.
    How are things going with this please?
  • Nicola Lunghi
    Nicola Lunghi Emutex Posts: 131 mod
    Hi
    we're having problem with the ppa on launchpad
    Sorry for the delay

    Regards
    Nicola Lunghi
  • Kurt
    Kurt New Member Posts: 146 ✭✭
    Any luck yet, with UP2 and the updated kernel?

    Thanks