The author has learned the hard way that trying to solve a problem that she has solved before while forgetting how she'd solved the problem and how painful it was solving it, meant reliving the pain. So she figured it'd be a good idea to record her findings.
This is the guide to future me from the current me who's had some troubles installing the guest OS on her computer in the past, but now sort of get it.
This will give you an iso disk image of the UBuntu distro. I use Ubuntu 14.04.3 LTS, which was the most recent at the time.
STEP 2 Set up the guest OS on Virtualbox.
Follow this tutorial:
Summary:
1. New > Name and choose your operating system > Memory Size : Half of your installed RAM (depending also on what you'll use the VM for) > Hard Disk: Create a virtual Hard Disk > Dynamically allocated (Fixed size is okay but it will take a lot of time) > Size (40 GB or what's appropriate)
Creating a virtual hard disk is like installing a hard disk for your guest OS, but it uses the space of the real hard disk at the host OS. This separates all operations of the guest OS from the host OS so that anything you do on the guest OS will not affect your host OS. By dynamically allocating the disk space, your guest OS will not take up 40GB of hard disk space initially, but will grow in size until it reaches the limit as you add stuff to it. Fixed size, according to my understanding, will take up that 40GB of space as you install it, as if reserving that space for future works.
2. Settings >
> Processor > Processor (Set to as many processors you wish your Guest OS will utilize)
> Storage > Controller: IDE > Empty (Set optical drive to the UBuntu ISO disk image, which is, according to my understanding, is the installer of the OS)
3. Install
Run the OS and follow your instinct (LoL) This may take a while, especially if you opt for fixed allocation so do not shut down or bail or give up or whatever.
TIPS:
Tip 1: If your VT-x virtualization is not enabled, go to BIOS > advanced setting > CPU > enable VT-x virtualization. For the love of god, try scrolling down if you can't find the VT-x virtualization option. Don't be stupid like me. And don't ask me what that is because I don't know that either. All I know is that it's a thing that makes hosting virtual machines possible.
Tip 2: Skip the virtualbox Guest Additions installation instruction because his doesn't work for the circumstances are different. Instead, go to step 3.
STEP 3
Now that you got your shit together, you may have noticed, as you launch your new guest OS, the resolution is shit. You need a VirtualBox Guest Additions to fix this.
1. "Now click "Devices > Insert guest additions CD image" in the virtualbox window. This will insert the guest additions cd image into the guest OS. On Xubuntu the cd should get mounted automatically inside the /media directory." And wallah, you're done.
It was 6.45 am and there was a nagging voice inside my head that told me not to go back to bed and be productive this time. So I turned on my PC begrudgingly, and still lazy, I've decided that using the mouse is too bothersome.
Perhaps it's not too late to learn the shortcuts to navigating windows?
And I did something extra. I took all the tips on the page, and fit it in a sticky note which i put up on my desktop for easy reference and training.
KEYBOARD SHORTCUTS Windowsclose | ctrl+f4 menu | alt+spacebar(Sp) window operations:resize | win + down max | win + up window mode | alt + Sp > restore > enter move | alt + Sp > move > arrow keys switch windows | alt + tab navigate fields | tab, Sp , arrow, enter browser operations:Close tabs | ctrl + F4 Switch tabs | ctrl + tab / ctrl + shift + tab new window | ctrl + n new tab | ctrl + t close tab | ctrl + w documents navigation:one word / paragraph at a time | ctrl + arrow keys Begin of document | home key End of codument | end key Highlight text | shift + arrow ( + ctrl / + end key) Right click | shift + f10
I've learned to keep backup copies of all the files I've downloaded in the past to avoid future complications, which happens, because, as I've learned the hard way, not everything uploaded on the internet stays on the internet forever, because, data needs servers and sometimes data owners have the power to delete data. Which is kind of ironic, really, because I'm using google drive to backup this copy.
Once you've set up a typical installation, don't forget to rename C:\MinGW (tip: Why is my compiler just not working? ), if you've had a previous MinGW installation on your computer. Or else, you'd get an error during compilation. In my case, I changed the name to C:\MinGW_ext and that solved the problem.
Extra note:
Now, I was doing this because I needed to work with OpenGL and glut (Setup instructions here: OpenGL with Dev C++) and my lecturer preferred Dev C++. I though all was well, but it turns out that all was not well when I encounter another problem with glut.h. I tried to compile a code without an #include <iostream> and got an error. So to fix that, make sure you include <iostream>. (Tip: Glut in Dev C++ error “redeclaration of C++ built-in type `short'”.)
