Ubuntu Wii for Farter Kernel

I'm currently recommending that you use the "Whiite Linux Installer" to install Ubuntu Wii. I've put the new instructions at the beginning of the original "Ubuntu Wii" message. The filesystem I included there is roughly the same as this one with a few bug fixes. I've taken down the old image so that people will use the new one.

Thanks to Amy of 3dsbuzz for bringing this to my attention.

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The original message follows for archival purposes:

I have made an Ubuntu (Xubuntu Feisty) image that works with the Farter kernel.

This solves the overscan problem as well as color-corruption in text mode. Hopefully it will solve the problem with PAL as well (I don't have a PAL machine to test it on).

You will need the Farter kernel here. I uploaded it myself since hotfile.com is down. This link should work.

The kernels are in a subdirectory called "ppcboot".

Here is the filesystem tar to use with the new kernel.

You also need the mikep1-armboot.bin. Gc-linux.org is still up and hopefully will continue to be, but I didn't think there was any harm in uploading it to my account at ubuntuone.com as well. It goes in "bootmii/armboot.bin".

I'm guessing that most people who are interested in this are able to figure out how to install it. If anyone's interested, I can adapt my instructions for use with this.



Edited 5 time(s). Last edit at 02/22/2014 01:12AM by q885.

I installed this but the colours are all messed up

So I just installed from scratch (even downloaded the files from the links to make sure they were working) and couldn't reproduce your error. (I did notice some green lines at the top of the screen during boot, but I'm not going to worry about that.)

Are you sure you're using the Farter kernel and not the Isobel? If you use the Isobel kernel, the colours will be messed up. This filesystem is for the Farter kernel. Download mikep5(vfb)-fartersoft.zip. The kernels are in a directory called "ppcboot". Pick the one that matches your video mode and copy it to "<sdcard-first-partition-path>/bootmii/ppcboot.elf" (replace "<sdcard-first-partition-path>" with the path to the first partition of your sd card, for example "/media/HBC/"). If that doesn't work, let me know.

You were correct, I was using the wrong kernel, it works perfectly now, is there a way to change the resolution? everything is sort of crammed

Awesome. Thanks for writing back to let me know it worked.

As for changing the resolution, there is no way. But what you can do is shrink the size of the text, the size of the icons, and the size of the menu bars (at top and bottom). Then pick the window theme that has the smallest frame (I don't remember what it's called). In Firefox, you can use <CTRL>+"-" to shrink the text size. I think that might work in Terminal as well. I don't have my Wii in front of me right now. When I get a chance, I will get on my Wii and make a list of what you can do and how you can do it.

Okay, here's a few things you can do to shrink things on the screen so you have a little more space.

First, click "Applications"->"Settings"->"Settings Manager". Hold down <ALT> and left-click and drag to see the whole window.

Click "User Interface". Click on the button below "Font". It will say "Sans 9" unless you've already changed the font. Under "Family", select "DejaVu Sans Condensed". Under "Style", make sure "Book" is highlighted. Under "Size", click "8". Click "OK". Click "Close".

In Settings Manager, click on "Panel". "Panel 1" or "Panel 2" will be selected. Under "Appearance"->"Size (pixels):", move the slider left 'til it says "18". Now, select the other panel and do the same thing. Close "Panel Manager".

In Settings Manager, select "Window Manager". Under "Style", select "Meenee". For "Title font", select "DejaVu Sans Condensed", "Book", Size "8". (Click "OK".) Click "Close".

Close Settings Manager. If you open it again, you'll see that most of the settings icons can now be seen on the screen at once.

Double-click on the "Home" icon on the desktop. This will bring up "Thunar File Manager". The icons on the right for the files are huge. Press <CTRL>+"-" once and they'll be a more mangeable size. It will remember this setting in the future, so you can go ahead and close File Manager now.

Click on "Applications"->"Accessories"->"Terminal". When it comes up, the text is huge. Click "Edit"->"Current Profile". On the "General" tab, uncheck "Use the system fixed width font". Click on the button to the right of "Font" (it will say "monospace 12"). "Monospace" and "Regular" should be highlighted. For "Size", select "8". Click "OK". Click "Close".
Now, click on the unmaximize button (the square in the upper-right corner of the window). Hold <ALT> and left click and drag until you can see the lower-right corner. Click right on the corner and drag until you see "80x25" in the middle of the window. Now <ALT>/click/drag until you can see the whole window. Now Terminal is a good size. You can exit Terminal now.

Now, you can click the Firefox icon (orange and blue) to the right of "Applications" in the top menu bar.
First click "View"->"Toolbars" and unselect "Bookmarks Toolbar" since that wastes valuable vertical space.
Next click "View"->"Toolbars"->"Customize". Find and check "Use Small Icons". Click "Done".
Now, press <CTRL>+"-" twice. This is a good size that's not too too small. Unfortunately, it does not seem to remember this setting, so you will have to press <CTRL>+"-" twice every time you start Firefox. You can use the same method as you used with terminal to make the window fit on the screen.

If I think of any more, I'll let you know.



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 12/30/2013 11:39PM by q885.