The CloudBook doesn’t come with Skype, but considering that Skype makes a Linux version, I had high hopes that I’d be able to download it and start making calls. I went to the Skype Linux Download page and clicked on the Ubuntu version, because gOS is pretty-much Ubuntu Linux (in fact, you see the Ubuntu logo and the word Ubuntu all over the place in gOS).

Strangely, the file that downloads on Skype is called skype-debian_1.4.0.118-1_i386.deb which implies that it is, in fact, the Debian Linux version of Skype you’re getting. However, Joanna Stern spoke to her friends at Skype, who assured as that this is indeed an Ubuntu version of their software.

So what happened when I tried to install it? I got an error message.

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Now that I fixed the boot problem by replace the xorg.conf file on the CloudBook, it’s full speed ahead. However, since I fixed the machine (I also broke it), I got to take it home for the weekend to test.

Once I got home and connected (this time easly) to my WPA2-encrypted wireless router, I decided to try logging into WordPress, our blogging software, to see how it works on the CloudBook.

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Good news! I finally fixed the CloudBook. Indeed as some of the users suggested, there was a way to restore the original video settings by copying a configuration file. This is basic Linux 101 to those who use Ubuntu a lot, but I, like many potential CloudBook users, am a Linux newbie.

To restore the configuration file, I hit ESC at boot time and was given a menu (from Grub boot manager) which allowed me to select “recovery mode.” Unlike Windows, recovery mode in Linux, at least in gOS, is not graphical. You get a command prompt.

Fortunately, I know a few basic unix/linux commands so once I knew that the config file was a file called xorg.conf which is located in the /etc/X11 directory, I simply typed cd /etc/X11 at the command prompt. I then entered ls -l to see what files were in the /etc/X11 directory. As I hoped, there was a backup copy of the xorg.conf file which was named xorg.conf.1. I entered cp xorg.conf.1 xorg.conf to copy the original xorg.conf over the dysfunctional one. It worked!

I’ve really stepped in it now, causing the CloudBook to suffer a Blue Screen of Death.

Mark, our Editor-in-Chief, gave me the CloudBook to play with for 2 hours while he works on other things. One of the first things I tried to do was to extend the desktop to a second monitor. In our mini-review, we hooked it up to a DVI monitor and managed to mirror the desktop at the CloudBook’s default 800×480 resolution, but I wanted to try extending the desktop and see if I could get a higher resolution.

I went into the Screens and Resolution setting and enabled the second monitor to act as an extension. I wish I had screen shots handy to show what I did, but well the reason why I can’t will become obvious. The OS then told me that I had to log off before the changes (enabling the second monitor to act as an extension) would work. I logged off, the computer rebooted, and then it proceded to give me an error message stating something like “Ubuntu is running in low graphics mode. Do you wish to continue?” I clicked Yes, unsure of what low graphics mode was.

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