<para>Your computer consists of a number of connected devices, which are collectively known as computer <emphasis>hardware</emphasis>.</para>
<para>Ubuntu normally configures your hardware automatically, but there may be occasions when you need to make changes to hardware settings yourself. This section provides information on tools which can be used to configure your hardware.</para>
<sect1 id="restricted-manager" status="review">
<title>Restricted drivers</title>
<para>Some devices attached to your computer may need restricted drivers to be installed in order to work properly.</para>
<para><emphasis>Restricted drivers are drivers for your hardware which are not freely available or open-source.</emphasis></para>
<para>Most of the devices (hardware) attached to your computer should function properly in Ubuntu. These devices are likely to have <emphasis>unrestricted</emphasis> drivers, which means that the drivers can be modified by the Ubuntu developers and problems with them can be fixed.</para>
<para>Some hardware does not have unrestricted drivers, usually because the hardware manufacturer has not released details of their hardware which would make it possible to create such a driver. These devices may have limited functionality or may not work at all.</para>
<para>If a <emphasis>restricted driver</emphasis> is available for a certain device, you can install it in order to allow your device to function properly, or to add new features. For example, installing a restricted driver for certain graphics cards may allow you to use more advanced <ulink type='help' url='ghelp:desktop-effects'>visual effects</ulink>.</para>
<para>Some computers may not have any devices which can use restricted drivers, either because all of the devices are fully supported by unrestricted drivers or because no restricted drivers are yet available for the device.</para>
<caution>
<para>Restricted drivers are often maintained by the hardware manufacturer, and so cannot be modified by Ubuntu developers if there is a problem.</para>
Select the device to partition from the drop-down list
at the top-right of the main window.
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
A list of partitions will appear. Select the one called
<guilabel>unallocated</guilabel> and click
<guibutton>New</guibutton>.
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
From the <guilabel>Filesystem</guilabel> drop-down list
choose the desired type of filesystem to use and click
<guibutton>Add</guibutton>.
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
To apply all the changes made, click
<guibutton>Apply</guibutton>.
</para>
</listitem>
</orderedlist>
</para>
</sect3>
</sect2>
<sect2 id="partition-formatting" status="review">
<title>Formatting a partition</title>
<para>
You can use &gnome-partition-editor; to format disk partitions (see <xref linkend="partitioning-device"/> for more information on &gnome-partition-editor;).
</para>
<para>
To format a partition, do as follows:
<orderedlist>
<listitem>
<para>
Press &gparted;.
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
Select the device to partition from the drop-down list
at the top-right of the main window.
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
A list of partitions will appear. Select the desired partition
and choose <menuchoice>
<guimenu>Partition</guimenu>
<guimenuitem>Unmount</guimenuitem>
</menuchoice>.
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
Select the partition you want to format and choose <menuchoice>
<guimenu>Partition</guimenu>
<guimenuitem>Format to</guimenuitem>
</menuchoice> and select from the list the type of
filesystem to format the partition to.
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
To apply all the changes made, click
<guibutton>Apply</guibutton>.
</para>
</listitem>
</orderedlist>
</para>
<warning>
<para>
Pressing <guibutton>Apply</guibutton> will cause all of the
files on the partition to be permanently deleted.
</para>
</warning>
</sect2>
<sect2 id="to-format-meaning" status="review">
<title>What is formatting?</title>
<para>
To format a hard disk, device or partition means to prepare
that particular device to be used for storing data.
</para>
<para>
The operation of formatting a hard disk or partition is when
a specific data-storage format is applied to that device; this format is
the <quote>filesystem</quote>.
</para>
<para>
When you buy a disk it is usually not formatted, and cannot yet
be used for storing data. When you format the device, you will
notice that the free space on it is less than the original size. This
is due to the fact that some space has to be used to make the
device usable; this space is occupied by the filesystem. Also, disk
manufacturers often use a different standard to measure disk capacity,
which results in a further discrepancy.
</para>
</sect2>
<sect2 id="what-is-filesystem" status="review">
<title>What is a filesystem?</title>
<para>
A filesystem is a particular way of storing and organizing files
on a storage device such as a hard disk,
and is an important part of an operating system. Without a
filesystem, accessing and storing files would be impossible.
</para>
<para>
There are different types of filesystem. The most common are:
<itemizedlist>
<listitem>
<para>
ext2 and ext3: these are usually found on GNU/Linux operating
systems. Ubuntu uses <emphasis>ext3</emphasis> as its
default filesystem.
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
<acronym>FAT16</acronym> and <acronym>FAT32</acronym>: these are Microsoft Windows filesystems
found on older computers. If you would like to share data
between two computers, the <emphasis><acronym>FAT32</acronym></emphasis>
format is a good choice.
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
<acronym>NTFS</acronym>: this is the filesystem type
used by more modern versions of Microsoft Windows.
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
<acronym>HFS+</acronym>: this is the Mac OS X default filesystem type.
</para>
</listitem>
</itemizedlist>
</para>
</sect2>
<sect2 id="partition-meaning" status="review">
<title>What is a Partition?</title>
<para>
A partition is a means of dividing the storage capacity of a device,
such as a hard disk, into several parts which can then be treated
as separate storage devices (<quote>logical devices</quote>).
</para>
<para>
Each logical device is seen by the operating system as a
distinct device, and thus is treated as an independent disk.
</para>
<para>
Partitioning a hard disk can be done for several reasons:
<itemizedlist>
<listitem>
<para>
To retrieve free space
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
To install different operating systems
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
To better organize data on the hard disk
</para>
</listitem>
</itemizedlist>
</para>
</sect2>
<sect2 id="mount-and-umount" status="review">
<title>Mounting and Unmounting Devices</title>
<para>When you connect a removable storage device to your computer, it must be
<emphasis>mounted</emphasis> by the operating system so that you are able to
access the files on the device.</para>
<para>
To find out how to mount and unmount storage devices, see <ulink
<para>When you copy files to a storage device, they are not always written to the device
immediately. Instead, they are often stored in a queue so that they can all be transferred
across to the device at the same time (for reasons of efficiency). If you disconnect the
device before all of the files have been transferred, then you could lose the files. To prevent
this, you must always <emphasis>unmount</emphasis> a storage device before
disconnecting it.</para>
</sect2>
</sect1>
<sect1 id="laptops" status="review">
<title>Laptops</title>
<para>This section contains information for people using Ubuntu on a laptop computer.</para>
<sect2 id="laptops-pm" status="review">
<title>Power management settings</title>
<para>You may wish to change the power management settings of your laptop in order to help extend its battery life and reduce energy wastage.</para>
<procedure>
<step>
<para>Press &power-management;.</para>
</step>
<step>
<para>Change the settings as appropriate. Changes are applied instantly.</para>
</step>
</procedure>
<para>Displaying a screensaver may use more power than simply letting the screen go blank. Turning off the screensaver could slightly improve the battery life of your laptop.</para>
<procedure>
<step>
<para>Press &screensaver;.</para>
</step>
<step>
<para>Change the <guilabel>Screensaver theme</guilabel> to <guilabel>Blank screen</guilabel>. This will simply display a blank screen as a screensaver.</para>
</step>
</procedure>
<note>
<para>When your laptop is running on battery, one of the biggest drains on power is the display. Turning the brightness of the display down could improve battery life significantly; many laptops allow you to do this by pressing <keycombo><keycap>Fn</keycap><keycap>F7</keycap></keycombo> several times.</para>
</note>
</sect2>
<sect2 id="laptops-touchpads" status="review">
<title>Touchpads</title>
<para>Most laptop computers come with a touchpad, which is used to control the mouse pointer. There are many ways of changing the way that the touchpad behaves; the most basic touchpad settings can be configured in the following way.</para>
<procedure>
<step><para>Press &mouse;.</para></step>
<step><para>Select the <guilabel>Touchpad</guilabel> tab.</para></step>
<step><para>Here you can change the touchpad settings to your liking. Changes should take effect immediately.</para></step>
</procedure>
<para>Some touchpads may be detected as normal mouse devices, even though they are actually touchpads. In this case, the <guilabel>Touchpad</guilabel> tab will not be available in the mouse preferences.</para>
<note>
<para>See the <ulink url='https://help.ubuntu.com/community/SynapticsTouchpad'>community support pages</ulink> for more information on touchpads.</para>
<para>Many laptops are regularly tested by the Ubuntu community to ensure that various features work correctly. The results of these tests are available for you to read, and may offer insight into any problems you might be experiencing with your laptop.</para>
<itemizedlist>
<listitem><para>See the Laptop Testing <ulink url='https://wiki.ubuntu.com/LaptopTestingTeam'>community support pages</ulink> for a full listing of available laptop tests.</para></listitem>
</itemizedlist>
<para>You can participate in laptop testing yourself by contacting the <ulink url='https://wiki.ubuntu.com/LaptopTestingTeam'>Laptop Testing Team</ulink>.</para>
</sect2>
</sect1>
<sect1 id="pm-suspending" status="review">
<title>Suspending and hibernating your computer</title>
<para>
In order to save power, you can put your computer into one of a number of
power-saving modes when you are not using it:</para>
<itemizedlist>
<listitem>
<para>
<emphasis role='strong'>Suspending</emphasis> a computer is like
putting the computer to sleep. The computer will still be turned on and
all of your work will be left open, but it will use much less power.
You can wake the computer by pressing a key or clicking the mouse.
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
<emphasis role='strong'>Hibernating</emphasis> is turning the computer
off completely while saving the current state of the computer (such as
keeping all of your open documents). When you turn the computer back on
after hibernating, all of your work should be restored as it was before
hibernation. No power is used when the computer is hibernating.
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
<emphasis role='strong'>Shutting down</emphasis> is turning the
computer off completely, without saving the current state of the
computer. No power is used when the computer is shut down.
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
<emphasis role='strong'>Resuming</emphasis> is bringing the computer
out of a power saving mode and back into normal operation. You can
resume the computer from being suspended by pressing a keyboard button
or by clicking the mouse. You can resume from being hibernated by
pressing the power button on your computer.
</para>
</listitem>
</itemizedlist>
<para>
You can manually put your computer into a power-saving mode by pressing
the <application>User Switcher</application> in the top right hand corner
of the screen and then pressing the appropriate button.
</para>
<caution>
<para>
Some computers may have problems going into certain power saving modes.
The best way of checking if your computer can handle a power-saving mode
is to try to switch to that mode and see if it behaves as you expected.
Always make sure you save important documents before suspending or
as program</guilabel> and click <guibutton>Close</guibutton>.
</para>
</step>
<step>
<para>
Open a Terminal (&terminal;), type
<userinput>./quirk-checker.sh</userinput> and press <keycap>Enter</keycap>.
</para>
</step>
<step>
<para>
Follow the suggestions that the script makes. These may involve editing
important system files, so you should seek support if you are unsure of
what you are doing.
</para>
</step>
</procedure>
<caution>
<para>
Before making the changes recommended by the Quirk Checker, create back-up
copies of the files that you are going to change.
</para>
</caution>
</sect3>
</sect2>
<sect2 id="pm-hibernate-pattern" status="review">
<title>Why do I get a strange pattern on the screen when I hibernate my
computer?</title>
<para>
Your screen may show a black and white pattern just after you click to
hibernate your computer. This is usually nothing to worry about and is just
how the graphics cards of some computers respond to the initial stages of
the hibernation process.
</para>
<para>
If the computer displays the pattern for a prolonged period of time without
turning itself off then you may have a problem with hibernation. See
<link linkend="pm-suspend-hibernate-fails">My computer does not suspend
or hibernate correctly</link> for more information.
</para>
</sect2>
</sect1>
<sect1 id="input-devices" status="review">
<title>Mice and keyboards</title>
<para>This section provides instructions on using and configuring mice, keyboards and other input devices to make them more comfortable for you to use.</para>
<sect2 id="input-mice" status="review">
<title>Mice and other pointing devices</title>
<para>You can change numerous options related to your mouse, such as how fast the pointer moves and how clicks are interpreted by the computer.</para>
<para>Instructions on how to change various settings related to your mouse, such as whether the mouse is left-handed and how fast the pointer moves.</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para><emphasis role='strong'><ulink type='help' url='ghelp:gnome-access-guide#dtconfig-1'>Accessibility - Configuring the Mouse</ulink></emphasis></para>
<para>Information on changing mouse preferences for users of assistive technologies.</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para><emphasis role='strong'><ulink type='help' url='ghelp:gnome-access-guide#sysadmin-37'>Accessibility - Configuring Alternative Pointing Devices</ulink></emphasis></para>
<para>Information on using a pointing device other than a mouse.</para>
</listitem>
</itemizedlist>
</sect2>
<sect2 id="input-keyboard" status="review">
<title>Keyboards</title>
<para>There are many options related to your keyboard which you can change, such as the keyboard language and keyboard shortcuts.</para>
<para>The manual of the Keyboard Indicator, which allows you to change between different keyboard layouts.</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para><emphasis role='strong'><ulink type='help' url='ghelp:gnome-access-guide#dtconfig-0'>Accessibility - Configuring the Mouse and Keyboard</ulink></emphasis></para>
<para>Information on configuring the mouse and keyboard for users of assistive technologies.</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para><emphasis role='strong'><ulink type='help' url='ghelp:gnome-access-guide#keynav-0'>Using the Keyboard to Navigate the Desktop</ulink></emphasis></para>
<para>A guide on how to navigate the desktop using only a keyboard.</para>
