Using Ubuntu for thefirst time

AnAngelsDeath

AnAngelsDeath

Gawd
Joined
Feb 6, 2006
Messages
813
Never used Linux or any of it's various distro's (sorry if that's the wrong term) now that I have used it- friggingWOW, So awesome.But my reason for doing So is to un brick my buddies HardbrickedVZWGalaxyS3.So I need, to find out the Letter/Name my 16GB micro-SD. is on Ubuntu.Ran Some Commands &then the last was desmeg dt got a big list but it list alot of stuff. Can't Seem to see which USB is the one I an lookin for. Anyone have any tips?
 
Ubuntu and other Linux variants do not use drive letters. But they do usually auto-mount inserted SD media to a directory under /mnt, or to some other standard mount point. I would expect a window to appear on the desktop after insertion of the SD card, showing you the directory where the card was mounted. If that didn't happen, then pop open a terminal window, enter "mount", and hit enter. That'll show you everything that is mounted -- hopefully including your SD card. Scan the list for something that looks like your SD card, and you should see the directory (mount point) where it has been mounted.
 
If it's bricked it shouldn't appear.

But you can try this:

Open two terminals.
In the first type "tail -f /var/log/kern.log".
Then connect the device to the computer w/ the USB port.
You should see some messages pop up in the log including the USB device activated, if the device is powered on and establishing a link over USB.
Then in the second terminal run the commands you need to run and see if the log displays anything you're looking for.
 
I had assumed that it is the phone that is bricked -- not the SD card. But yeah, if the file system on the card is corrupted then it'll need to be reformatted before it'll mount.

Is there a reason why you're trying to do this on Linux? The file system on the SD card is probably FAT32. So if you're more comfortable with Windows or Mac you could reformat the card there, and/or view/modify its contents. But if you're using this as a learning opportunity, then by all means proceed as you were... :)
 
yea i was starting to think that, but I am a linux newb, all those years spent sharpening my windows toolset, for nothing, when all this time this awesomeness that is linux, was right here and it took a phone getting bricked, to finally get me to try it. Cause I always thought it was too complicated or something, since I only know entry-level C+/++, and some Android-based Jave coding. But this shit is awesome ! I am using Ubuntu 12.04 LTS dual-booted with Windows 7 Premium. (currently installing 147 updates tho, so obviously this was a lil behind the curve lol I love it tho thus far. its like a big ass Android enviroment

ANYWAYS -

I am following this guide on XDA forums tho, to setup this SD Card for what I am trying to do. And the OP said something about running that command line to find the letter of the SD card, which is weird cause she was using the same version I am, hence why i downloaded this specific one.

And I think i poorly explained what i was doing, I have a brand new 16GB MicroSDcardHC dropped into a Full size SDcard adapter plugged and plugged into the card reader on my laptop. Basically the internal storage in the Galaxy S3 is temp-dead lol so I am booting the aboot and recovery.img's on this SDcard, and doing it in this certain way tricks it into thinking the SDcard in the removable slot (this is why you need to use a 16GB card or if you are doing this with the 32GB model of the GS3, then a 32GB card, cause it needs to replicate what the device knows as it's internal/boot storage, is it's actual boot drive, just long enough for me to power it on so I can get back into Download mode and flash proper partions, firmware, modems, etc etc using ODIN. Tons of fun lol....the version of Ubuntu I am running shows the SDcard as a 16GB filesystem and its right there in the psuedo-my computer type thing, as well as the sidebar.

Location is /media and filesystem is msdos which I think I prolly need to change obviously. DOnt think that's the Filesystem Android devices use. Can't remember what they use, i think its Fat32 or some shit like that.
 
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Ah... so you can already get to the card from the GUI but are asking how to do so from the command line. Gotcha.
 
Ahhh, I misunderstood.

If it's in the sidebar and in the file explorer (Nautilus), then that means it was successfully mounted. You can probably find the info you need by right-clicking it in the file explorer and viewing the properties.

Or in the command line do a "df -h". The device typically mounts to a directory in /media.

Can you link the XDA thread?

Post the output of "df -h".
 
jojo69 said:
/dev/sd??
Click to expand...

That's a device file, not a mount point. If that's the correct device file then it could be used to manually mount the device from the command line. But that doesn't seem to be needed here.
 
oh and on a side note, rrythymbox keeps Force Closing everytime i try to get it to play music off my note 3, which it recongnizes just fine, just doesn't like its Audio files I guess, which are all MP3 and one album is FLAC, but i didnt expect that one to work stock, but i dont see why it keeps FC'ing on me.
 
jwcalla said:
Ahhh, I misunderstood.

If it's in the sidebar and in the file explorer (Nautilus), then that means it was successfully mounted. You can probably find the info you need by right-clicking it in the file explorer and viewing the properties.

Or in the command line do a "df -h". The device typically mounts to a directory in /media.

Can you link the XDA thread?

Post the output of "df -h".
Click to expand...

sorry guys, halloween and all, got caught up. here's the thread.http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2369125 She did this with a sprint GS3 so obviously I am following a different set of protocols and using a debrick.img that was made from a dumb of my old GS3 before i sold it that would be bad news bears.
 
No naysayers on that method either, we have come a long way, and we're gonna make it happin capt'n !

EDIT - on this command line she said to use in her guide,

>>>Sudo su
(Enter your password here)
>>>dmesg | tail

When i dmesg, i didnt do the end part, but I still got the list, i just couldn't find that paticular device on their, it said something about several USB devices, but nothing stood out enough to help me see which one was the sdcard and what ones weren't.

and like i said 2 posts back, it just says /media for the location when i click on properties....right click>properities is always the first thing to do when looking for a specified path. at least IMO......I said i was a linux newb, not a NOOB lol
 
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Don't have an answer to your problem, as I'm a Linux n00b as well, but I agree with you that Linux is pretty sweet. I installed Ubuntu 12.04LTS on a spare desktop and Linux Mint 15 on a spare laptop and I'm enjoying both. Pretty complex, but I'm slowly learning. The GUI on both distros are done well and for common tasks I'm able to do everything just fine. I haven't tried any gaming yet, but I have some sites bookmarked with info for when I do. Good luck! :D
 
AnAngelsDeath said:
No naysayers on that method either, we have come a long way, and we're gonna make it happin capt'n !

EDIT - on this command line she said to use in her guide,

>>>Sudo su
(Enter your password here)
>>>dmesg | tail

When i dmesg, i didnt do the end part, but I still got the list, i just couldn't find that paticular device on their, it said something about several USB devices, but nothing stood out enough to help me see which one was the sdcard and what ones weren't.

and like i said 2 posts back, it just says /media for the location when i click on properties....right click>properities is always the first thing to do when looking for a specified path. at least IMO......I said i was a linux newb, not a NOOB lol
Click to expand...


Try this BEFORE you insert the sd card: ' dmesg | tail -f '
(Control C gets you out of it)

The dmesg will show a live result of the kernel messages. This needs to be done before you put your card in so you can see it change. The moment you put the card in you will see some info that should be relevant to what you just did.

To give you an example, do the same thing but insert a usb key, you will see some debug info about what just happened and which /dev/sd* device was inserted.

If you use 'dmesg' by itself it will report the entire log from boot but you are mostly interested in what happens at the bottom. 'dmesg | tail' gives the last 10 lines. The bottom is the latest entry. So if you as mentioned you need to put your card in after your system is all ready, don't put it in before you booted or you may not see the results at the bottom.
 
Just do 'df -h' and you'll get the info you need for that guide. It looks like you just need the device letter.

You'll get an output that looks something like this:

Code: 
Filesystem            Size  Used Avail Use% Mounted on
/dev/sdc1             111G   61G   44G  59% /
udev                  3.9G  4.0K  3.9G   1% /dev
tmpfs                 1.6G  1.1M  1.6G   1% /run
none                  5.0M     0  5.0M   0% /run/lock
none                  3.9G   29M  3.9G   1% /run/shm
/dev/sda2             112G  106G  6.5G  95% /win7
/dev/sdb2             112G   29G   83G  26% /lion
madarao:/              56G   19G   34G  36% /net/madarao
madarao:/disk2        1.8T  745G  1.1T  41% /net/madarao/disk2
madarao:/disk2/media  1.8T  745G  1.1T  41% /net/madarao/disk2/media
/dev/sdd2             233G   40G  193G  18% /media/Expansion Drive 2
/dev/sdd1             233G  134G   99G  58% /media/Expansion Drive

In the list, find the name of your SD card in the right-most column which is going to be something like "/media/whatever-it-was-called-in-the-file-explorer". Then the left-most column is the info you want. Strip the number.

Post your "df -h" output here so we can check to make sure. If you mess this part up you'll have a bricked phone and a bricked computer. ;)
 
Just wanted to give an update on how things want. I managed to figure everything out, which I couldn't have done without all your guy's (and ladies) help by the way... Thank You

Anyways, I figured out how to find the drive My SD-card was located, then I learned how to run GPartition, format themicro-SDcard & write an image & have it partition properly. Had to have it partition a certain way cause, android reads each boot sequence in a specific order (which I am sure we all knew that already anyways) & once that was done, I dropped the card back in the Galaxy S3, said a bit of a Developers prayer LOL & plugged her battery back in. Bam! it actually worked! The S3 thought the external SD was its internal storage & Used the boot Sequence on it to do it's thing thus allowing me to reboot Back into download Mode & then use Odin, to re-partition the Internal drive & flash the 4.12 Android firmware. And the S3 was officially de-bricked. Which used to mean a death sentence if you didn't own a JTAG or Someone who did. That was one hell of an experience. In the process I learned how f**king awesome Linux is. Used to think it was only for super-Advanced programmers & Was only used for that. But I was obviously wrong LoL. Been using Ubuntu ever since, Just wish I could get Pro-Tools or Logic to run on Linux then I wouldn't need to boot into windows at all except for gaming. I am sure there a way to use Linux as a DAW, highly doubt that I amthe only person to Wanna do That. Tho it most be rare Cause I've been recording Since I was 16 (27 now) & been a performing musician since 18, & I never heard of anyone doing it. And I've been a professional engineer/producer for almost 5yrs now since graduating Music school here in WA state, & I've still never heard of it. I'm gonna make it happen if I can. I'm sure a quick google will tell me.

Anyways thanks for the help & helping Me learn my new favorite PC OS (Android favorite OS on any platform, tho Android is based off Linux & uses a Linux kernel So I guess you could almost classify it as a Distro of Linux) Goodsite fellow [H]'rs. Hit me up if you ever need to save a Galaxy S3 from being Hard-Bricked
 
very nice


so, are you going to get laid out of the deal?
 
LOL, Well I'm not gay so it was more of just a favor... If you want his number I'm Sure we could Come to an understanding $$$ haha....

Seriously tho, even if it was a chik, the being in a band thing helps a lot more then wooing her with ur mad android skills lol, trust me ;)
 
my bad, thought you said you were doing it for a girl but when I read back it was a reference to a girl that had unbricked a similar phone
 
jwcalla said:
There is a distro called Ubuntu Studio. Their community might be able to answer any questions you have regarding software or whatever.

edit: they have a sub-forum on the main Ubuntu forums: http://ubuntuforums.org/forumdisplay.php?f=335
Click to expand...

I friggin knew it haha. I was just sitting here talking with one of my bandmates about it, and he was telling me that he's never heard of it either, and that he doubts there is one, cause who the hell uses linux now a days, blah blah blah, which is completely stupid comment on two different levels haha, but hey, the guy is an amazing drummer, and they are hard to come by

Thank you so much,I had been meaning to start looking for one, but got side-tracked dealing with life. And ever since I posted my results on fixing that bricked S3, I've been getting people hitting me up left and right asking me to walk them through it, or to just do it for them lol
 
Oh and i was gonna start another thread to ask a quick question, but since this one is still on the first page,of this sub-forum, then i will just ask here,, cause I found multiple different answers when searching for it on my own. and I need to find out the best answer ASAP.

so basically, I am getting rid of this laptop cause its starting to show it's age, and my PC that I just finished building 4 months ago,was recently stolen ( I was almopst done putting together a custom water cooling system. wasn't happy with the pre-fab'd ones, so enlisted a buddy to machine soem blocks for me, and was putting together everything else on my own) and I am almost done building my new PC and I already bought a MacBook for on the go (normally not a Mac guy, but they are the industry standard for recording, and that's what the studio I work at prefers I use, and some clients do as well) So I need to remove Ubuntu from this, it's a dual boot setup with Windows 7, and like I said, I found multiple different ways to go about it, but I wanted to get a general consensus on what is the best/preferred method. I am not new to PC's obviously, so I don't need the most newb friendly method or anything, I just want the best way is all.

Also, is it possible to update Ubuntu from within the ecosystem, or do you have to remove and then install the latest version. (I am a newb still when it comes to Linux lol)
 
You can upgrade Ubuntu from one version to the next (e.g. from 12.04 to 12.10) with the caveats 1) oops, it might break something that you have to fix (like the bootloader; had that happen to me once -- but if you're unbricking phones you're an expert with this stuff) and 2) you have to go from one version to the next sequentially, 12.04 -> 12.10 -> 13.04 -> 13.10. You can't do one cumulative update.

To upgrade, you open the Update Manager (or Software Updater or whatever they're calling it these days) and press the "Settings" button at the bottom of the window, "Updates" tab, last line: "Notify me of a new Ubuntu version" -> "All new releases". Then restart the Update Manager and an Upgrade button will appear.

To remove Ubuntu from your system, I think the best way would be to boot into Windows 7 and use a partition editor to just delete the Ubuntu partition and extend your Windows 7 partition out to the end. Then you'll want to boot into your Windows 7 recovery disk and do a repair installation (to re-install the Windows bootloader and set the boot partition, etc.). Removing the partition won't actually wipe the disk so if you're concerned about security stuff before handing off your laptop to someone else, you'll still want to do whatever people do these days to completely wipe a disk (write all zeroes to every sector, etc.). I'm not really familiar with the Windows side of this.
 
Ubuntu studio dev team fell apart after 9.04, I don't know if they ever got their game back on, I do know shit was seriously borked for the next 3 releases when I stopped trying

ymmv
 
jojo69 said:
Ubuntu studio dev team fell apart after 9.04, I don't know if they ever got their game back on, I do know shit was seriously borked for the next 3 releases when I stopped trying

ymmv
Click to expand...

They decided to move away from the real-time kernel and now use the Ubuntu low-latency kernel that's in the repos. I think most of the important changes got pushed into the low-latency kernel, allowing them to avoid all the headaches associated with the real-time kernel.

Otherwise, yeah... There's no reason one couldn't just install stock Ubuntu and all the apps you need from the Software Center, and the low-latency kernel from the repos. It's pretty much the same thing, just a little more work on the user's part.
 
jwcalla said:
You can upgrade Ubuntu from one version to the next (e.g. from 12.04 to 12.10) with the caveats 1) oops, it might break something that you have to fix (like the bootloader; had that happen to me once -- but if you're unbricking phones you're an expert with this stuff) and 2) you have to go from one version to the next sequentially, 12.04 -> 12.10 -> 13.04 -> 13.10. You can't do one cumulative update.

To upgrade, you open the Update Manager (or Software Updater or whatever they're calling it these days) and press the "Settings" button at the bottom of the window, "Updates" tab, last line: "Notify me of a new Ubuntu version" -> "All new releases". Then restart the Update Manager and an Upgrade button will appear.

To remove Ubuntu from your system, I think the best way would be to boot into Windows 7 and use a partition editor to just delete the Ubuntu partition and extend your Windows 7 partition out to the end. Then you'll want to boot into your Windows 7 recovery disk and do a repair installation (to re-install the Windows bootloader and set the boot partition, etc.). Removing the partition won't actually wipe the disk so if you're concerned about security stuff before handing off your laptop to someone else, you'll still want to do whatever people do these days to completely wipe a disk (write all zeroes to every sector, etc.). I'm not really familiar with the Windows side of this.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the info bro I really appreciate it,

And thanks for the good laugh I needed that today. It wasnt my fault the damn thing bricked. Its this retarded friggin laptop and its cheapass USB ports. Miss my desktop so my h. But new desktop will be done by the end of the month
Also, I wouldn't say I am an expert or anything, but I have spent my fair share of time messing around with Android and various phones, starting with my first android phone, the Droid 2. If it wasn't for the guys/gals at XDA, and lots of patience on my part doing a lot of trial and error, I wouldn't know shit. For the last year and a half tho, I have been getting into the development side of things. Music comes first tho, so its definitely something I take my time with. But I have started my first custom ROM which will be a variation of Cyanogen Mod just cause its a good ROM to learn from. also working on my own Kernel and Modem tweaks.

which speaking of, fellow Nexus 4 Users (soon to be Nexus 5 user ) if you wanna be able to activate the 4G modem AK you can get 4G data (no voice over 4G) and still wanna be able to keep the benefits the latest stock modems give you (T-Mobile Users) then hit me up.

Anyways. I am in the process of backing everything up and installing Windows 8 on it. Gonna reinstall and update Ubuntu after that.
 
I should clarify that you can do an LTS-to-LTS upgrade in one shot. So, e.g., 10.04 -> 12.04 or 12.04 -> 14.04. But intermediate releases require sequential upgrades.
 
jwcalla said:
They decided to move away from the real-time kernel and now use the Ubuntu low-latency kernel that's in the repos. I think most of the important changes got pushed into the low-latency kernel, allowing them to avoid all the headaches associated with the real-time kernel.

Otherwise, yeah... There's no reason one couldn't just install stock Ubuntu and all the apps you need from the Software Center, and the low-latency kernel from the repos. It's pretty much the same thing, just a little more work on the user's part.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the clarification, so 9.04 was the last realtime release? I'm going to keep limping it along, can't stand modern ubuntus, last time I loaded one up it was trying to look like a tablet and had ads in it and shit...wtaf?
 
jojo69 said:
Thanks for the clarification, so 9.04 was the last realtime release? I'm going to keep limping it along, can't stand modern ubuntus, last time I loaded one up it was trying to look like a tablet and had ads in it and shit...wtaf?
Click to expand...

I think they dropped the real-time stuff around 10.04 or 10.10...? I remember I installed 10.10 and I think it just had the low-latency kernel. Getting a real-time kernel working with third-party video and wifi drivers seems to be a lot of trouble so they're focused on the low-latency kernel instead.

I don't know what to do about Ubuntu either. Not a fan of Unity, but I recently learned I can still get gnome-panel working in 12.04. But Canonical refuses to backport fixes for all the compiz bugs in 12.04. Then it appears that the gnome-panel option has been taken away in 13.10 (gee thanks!).

But Ubuntu Studio never adopted the Unity shell. They moved over to Xfce w/ 12.04 I think.
 
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