How to install the Device Manager in Ubuntu
When using Windows, you might have come across Device Manager, the handy tool that lists your PC's hardware. Ubuntu offers a similar piece of software,but it isn't installed by default.
After you can connect to the Internet, you can install Device Manager using the Synaptic Package Manager, as follows:
1) Select System > Administration > Synaptic Package Manager.
2) Click the Search button on the toolbar, and then type gnome-device-manager in the Search field. Click the Search button.
3) Click the program’s entry in the list of results. Select to mark it for installation (don't worry if a dialog box appears telling you additional software needs to be installed).
4) Click Apply on the toolbar.
If your computer is not yet online, you'll need to use a computer that is online (perhaps another computer, or Windows XP if you dual-boot) to download the software, and then copy it across to your Ubuntu computer for installation. To download the software, visit the following two addresses in your browser. You will be prompted to download a file after typing each address:
http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/pool/universe/g/gnome-device-manager/
gnome-device-manager_0.2-1_i386.deb
http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/pool/universe/g/gnome-device-manager/
libgnome-device-manager0_0.2-1_i386.deb
After the files are downloaded, copy them to the desktop on your Ubuntu machine, using a floppy disk or maybe a USB memory stick. Then open a command-prompt window on the Ubuntu computer by clicking Applications > Accessories > Terminal. In the terminal window, type the following, hitting Enter after each line:
cd ~/Desktop
sudo dpkg –i libgnome-device-manager0_0.2-1_i386.deb
sudo dpkg –i gnome-device-manager_0.2-1_i386.deb
After you've installed Device Manager, you can open it by selecting Applications > System Tools > Device Manager. You'll need to click View > Device Properties to ensure Device Manager adds the useful Properties tab.
You should be aware of a few important differences between the Windows and Ubuntu versions of Device Manager. Though the aim of Ubuntu's Device Manager is to manage hardware devices, the project is still in its infancy and can only provide hardware information as of the time of writing. On the other hand, Ubuntu's list is far more comprehensive than that in Windows. In Ubuntu, Device Manager thoroughly probes the hardware to discover its capabilities.
Perhaps the biggest difference, however, is that just because a piece of hardware is listed within Ubuntu's Device Manager, it doesn't mean that the hardware is configured to work with Ubuntu. In fact, it doesn't even imply that the hardware will ever work under Ubuntu. Device Manager's list is simply the result of probing devices attached to the various system buses (PCI, AGP, USB, and so on) and reporting the data.
Nonetheless, Device Manager is the best starting place if you find that a certain piece of hardware isn't working. If a piece of hardware is listed, then it proves, if nothing else, that the system recognizes that the hardware is attached.
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