how to install XFCE on Lubuntu 14.10 32 bit version

edwin · 2014-12-17 23:53:47

Hello,

What I am after is a set of dummy-proof instructions that walk me through a complete install of XFCE on my Lenovo Thinkpad R52 laptop running Lubuntu 14.10 (32 bit version). I do not have a PhD. in computer science nor do I wish to spend days and days trying to figure out how to get and install XFCE. Am after a standard install of XFCE, nothing more with easy to follow instructions. I suspect that a lot of it is typing in commands in a terminal window.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thank you and Merry Christmas.
Edwin

MountainDewManiac · 2014-12-18 00:08:11

I'd try pasting this into a terminal:

sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install xubuntu-desktop

Assuming it works (no errors displayed), log out and select XFCE from your login manager. I know you stated "standard install of XFCE," but you might want to type "xfce" (sans quotation marks) into Synaptic Package Manager (if you have it installed) and take a look at what you can add. For example, a lot of people use things from the xfce-goodies package.

Regards,
MDM

edwin · 2014-12-19 18:18:11

had these errors:

err http://download.videolan.org Sources
404 not found ip:195.154.236.208 80
err http://download.videolan.org packages
404 not found ip:195.154.236.208 80
W: failed to fetch http://download.videolan.org/pub/debian/stable/sources 404 not found ip:195.154.236.208 80
W: failed to fetch http://download.videolan.org/pub/debian/stable/packages 404 not found ip:195.154.236.208 80
E: some index files failed to download. they have been ignored or old ones used instead.

if this had worked you are to reboot and log in. choose 'xfce' as an option.

on my login screen I have 3 user options:
edwin
guest
other

there are not any options in a pick list for any desktop environments.

Edwin

MountainDewManiac · 2014-12-20 00:26:55

You don't have a drop-down list, like in this image?

Lubuntu-14.10-Login-Window.jpg

I thought that was how Lubuntu 14.10 was set up.

As for your errors... IDK. Have you edited your sources list, by chance? The only time I ever got errors like that when trying to install something was with an out-of-date distro, where the repos had been removed.

If you haven't changed your sources list, I don't know what could be the cause. I read that the last LTS of Lubuntu (14.04) was pretty buggy and that Lubuntu 14.10 was mostly a "bugfix release" (of the LTS, lol :irony: ). Maybe they missed one.

I suppose if you want to keep the Ubuntu... stuff and wish to have XFCE as your DE, you could always install Xubuntu instead of Lubuntu. That might be considered somewhat drastic if you've already done a lot of customization to your setup, though.

Aside from that, I'm out of ideas. I don't use Lubuntu and haven't used Ubuntu for a number of years (went looking for - personal opinion - a better distro with less issues). I just searched around via Google until I found the standard method of adding XFCE to Lubuntu 14.10 and then posted it for you. Perhaps someone here can advise on your errors. I'm guessing that the XFCE metapackage tried to install VLC media player and it wasn't at the expected location, but that's only a guess (and I would have expected XFCE, itself, to have been installed, regardless, so... IDK).

Regards,
MDM

edwin · 2014-12-23 18:31:40

Hi again,

have not changed/modified/edited a source list - don't even know what that is. Let me ask you this - Lubuntu 15.04 will be available in April 2015. Do you know what the desktop environment is that ships with it and that gets installed by default ?

I do get the login screen that you posted in your last reply to me. But I do not have a dropdown list of desktop options that are available to me.

Is there an available distribution package that has xfce all nice and bundled up so that it easily installs ? This is one of the things about being a new Linux user I don't care for - if this was Microsoft, they'd have a nice, simple .exe file I could just download and run and have it install and I'd have xfce up abd running in 10 minutes. If the Linux crowd wants people to convert from Windows, they're ging to have to make these setups easier to get and install.

Merry Christmas.
Edwin

MountainDewManiac · 2014-12-23 19:03:31

edwin wrote:

have not changed/modified/edited a source list - don't even know what that is.

That's odd. Perhaps something was screwy with the installation process of the Lubuntu .ISO.

edwin wrote:

Let me ask you this - Lubuntu 15.04 will be available in April 2015. Do you know what the desktop environment is that ships with it and that gets installed by default ?

The "L" in Lubuntu signifies that it uses the ultra-lightweight LXDE (Lightweight X11 Desktop Environment). The version of Ubuntu that comes with XFCE preinstalled is Xubuntu.

Personally, I use and recommend Mint XFCE. You can find it here:

32-bit http://www.linuxmint.com/edition.php?id=169
64-bit http://www.linuxmint.com/edition.php?id=170

That's the current version (Mint 17). A release-candidate for 17.1 is out, but when the "final" 17.1 happens, you'll be able to easily upgrade your system to it by simply selecting a menu choice in Update Manager.

Whatever distro you decide to go with (others will probably be along shortly with their favorites, lol), I strongly suggest that, after you've downloaded the .ISO and prior to burning it to DVD - or "burning" it to a USB flash drive - for installation, you check the .ISO's .md5 checksum against that which is listed for the original. This ensures that the file you downloaded is a bit-for-bit copy of the original. It's simple to do (just open a terminal, go to the directory where the file is located, type "md5 downloaded_file.iso" & press Enter. You will get a checksum after a little while. If you need assistance with this, just ask and someone ought to be able to walk you through it, regardless of the distro that you choose.

edwin wrote:

This is one of the things about being a new Linux user I don't care for - if this was Microsoft, they'd have a nice, simple .exe file I could just download and run and have it install and I'd have xfce up abd running in 10 minutes. If the Linux crowd wants people to convert from Windows, they're ging to have to make these setups easier to get and install.

If it was Microsoft, you'd have one choice of "distro" (whatever the currently-supported version of Microsoft Windows is), once choice of desktop environment (ditto), the installation process would most likely take you 3x the time, require several reboots, probably work, come with a limited selection of preinstalled "trial versions" of software which you were expected to pay for in order to continue using after 30 days or so, and cost you, what? $99? I'm just about positive that you could find someone to take your $99 and burn the linux distro of your choice to a DVD, lol, but all the preinstalled software would be "full versions" which would continue working (for free) - and that all of the 40,000+ things that you can install via Synaptic Package Manager would also be free, along with the vast majority of other software that runs under linux which is available. Come to think of it, most folks would be willing to do it for the whopping sum of $0 roll , the cost of a blank DVD, or if they were hungry, a sandwich.

Installing the average distro these days is just slightly more difficult than falling down and managing to hit the ground on the first try. There's no magic involved, and most people are happy to spoon-feed the newbies (at least initially, until the learn to read threads and use Google) with step-by-step instructions.

Regards,
MDM

Last edited by MountainDewManiac (2014-12-23 19:21:41)

Gabriel_M · 2015-01-06 02:20:16

Test this:
Open a terminal, Press Ctrl+Alt+T
Run it:

sudo -i
nano /etc/apt/sources.list

In the open file.
Delete the contents.
Paste the following:

Ctrl + O, save file. Ctrl + X, close nano.

Continue running:

apt-get update
apt-get dist-upgrade
apt-get install --reinstall aptitude deborphan
aptitude remove '?and(?reverse-depends(lubuntu),?not(?reverse-depends(?exact-name(xubuntu-desktop))))'
apt-get install xubuntu-desktop
deborphan
apt-get --purge remove $(deborphan)
deborphan --libdevel
apt-get --purge remove $(deborphan --libdevel)
deborphan --find-config
dpkg --purge $(deborphan --find-config)
apt-get autoremove
apt-get clean
reboot

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#1 2014-12-17 23:53:47

how to install XFCE on Lubuntu 14.10 32 bit version

#2 2014-12-18 00:08:11

Re: how to install XFCE on Lubuntu 14.10 32 bit version

#3 2014-12-19 18:18:11

Re: how to install XFCE on Lubuntu 14.10 32 bit version

#4 2014-12-20 00:26:55

Re: how to install XFCE on Lubuntu 14.10 32 bit version

#5 2014-12-23 18:31:40

Re: how to install XFCE on Lubuntu 14.10 32 bit version

#6 2014-12-23 19:03:31

Re: how to install XFCE on Lubuntu 14.10 32 bit version

#7 2015-01-06 02:20:16

Re: how to install XFCE on Lubuntu 14.10 32 bit version

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