Compgeeky – Page 27 – third world county

January 20, 2009

Drive-by Compy Post

So, UPS came and went. 10 minutes later (took longer than absolutely needed to, cos I was being very careful… something I try to do consciously when I’m caffeine-deprived *heh*), new vidcard, new drivers good to go. Not as hairy as it could have been. Not too much command line stuff to do for new drivers, hence not as much chance for my usual typos. :-).

Quick rundown: I don’t “do” computer gaming, so although the onboard video was not satisfactory and I’d intended to replace it all along, I waited until a suitable vidcard turned up before doing so. Still, “suitable” for me would definitely not be suitabe for a hardcore gamer. But all I needed was quick response for normal video, still graphics and text. I had “pretty good” with the onboard video, just not “good enough” IMO, and besides, it took as much as 512MB of my system memory, sooo…

EVGA nVidia 9500GT with 1GB of DDR2. Now, if I’d been a gamer, I would almost have had to shell out another $100 beyond the ~$70 I paid for this one for a 9800GTX with 1GB of DDR3 and a faster GPU, but this card

1. frees up 512MB of (DDR2) system memory
2. with 2 DVI ports, offers an extra video out (over the analog video out the onboar video offered) in addition to the S-Video port it has, while the onboard video (with its analog and S-Video ports) is still available should I need it.

(I don’t expect I’ll be enabling the HDMI port on the motherboard any time soon, but it’s there as well)

Immediate impression? The DVI video does make a difference on my 22″ “widescreen” Acer V223W LCD. An easy “test” for me is the wee lil favicons I have lining a toolbar at the bottom of Opera: much clearer than earlier today with the analog input.

‘S’all, folks. Just a drive-by status report. Contrary to some of my experiences adding “unsupported” peripherals to Ubuntu, no hosing of system today.

L8R

January 19, 2009January 19, 2009

Quick Tip

Sure, you keep all your software licenses safely filed in hardcopy in a filing cabinet or box, but if you need to reinstall software, it can be a real pain digging ’em out and typing the silly things in. At least half of the software you have that requires a typed-in license code will take it all in one text block, instead of requiring the silly and laborious type-n-tab-n-type-n… etc., that darned near every Messy$oft product now requires, so having a text file (saved on the computer AND backed up to external media) can be a real hassle reducer.

But what if it’s just a few pieces like that and you don’t want to even dig around for a text file and search through it, etc.?

I “triple up” and every time I get an email verification of software purchase (I purchase almost all software that I do buy over the internet; don’t you?), I will save that email–if it has a license code–in a folder that’s ONLY for those emails or “Edit as new” and insert any license, SAVE and then move it from Drafts to the folder designated for software licenses. That way, I don’t even have to open a file browser or browse through to my licenses folder on my hard drive with a text editor to open and view the license for a reinstallation, because my email client is ALWAYS open on one of my desktops (CTRL-ALT-ARROW KEY to proper desktop, if necessary, CLICK on licenses folder in email client, click on software license email and copy the license.) Lil bitty time saver/hassle reducer. Nothing big, but sure has been handy for me

Oh, and in case of a system crash? Have hard copy filed away and backed up text file (after all, what’s the good of being ABLE to back up all my data in case of emergency if I don’t do it? And email backups in the case of Thunderbird are muuuuch easier to do and easier to reimport on a new installthan on Outlook or Outlook Express.)

Oh, backups? I know what software I have installed (and have backups of installation files for purchased software) and reinstallation of Ubuntu and my other software is moderately fast n easy, almost trivial, so data only. Less time and media taken in backups, as safe as houses. I may move to a NAS solution to backups, soon, as Seagate terabyte drives are becoming almost commodity-priced (and Seagate’s year warranty is unsurpassed in the field) and NAS-enabled external cases are also becoming inexpensive and widely available. For around $150, a 1TB NAS? Doable. And it’d be a nice, easy way to externalize one form of backup (I’d still want optical media stored in fireproof safe and hardcopy where appropriate as well). And at least as inexpensive up front–and less expensive in power consumption–as adding a decent SATA interface to an old computer and plopping in a big drive. Besides: small case for single purpose over big case for single purpose. Almost no-brainer, eh?

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January 18, 2009

A Few of My Favorite Things… (3)

Well, although I’ve still not had updates utterly fail, as some Win2K and WinXP updates have done, when I came to this computer this a.m., I didcovered 291 updates waiting. Not all that unexpected, really, after an upgrade, but…

No, the updates didn’t fail, but some needed interaction with me and… popped the request for my input UNDER the update window, so it looked as if the updates were stalled but I had no information as to why… until I alt-tabbed to see what else might be going on. Come on, folks! Pop the message up ON TOP of the upgrade window! It’s a small and very simple thing, but one that I believe would be more than a little helpful. (Off to the Ubuntu forums to air this gripe… )

In the long run, I believe it will be the little things that will make or break Ubuntu, and not just for me but for the millions of folks Mark Shuttleworth wants to impact with this distro.

January 16, 2009January 15, 2009

A Few of My Favorite Things… (2)

…about Ubuntu

/sarcasm on

I just looooove the upgrade functionality!

/sarcasm off

*heh*

Besides the “breaking” of various configuration files that happens almost routinely whenever an upDATE occurs (though less and less in recent months), that’s NOTHING compared to an upGRADE from 8.04 to 8.10.

Killed my nVidia graphics drivers. Dead, dead, dead. Not only were the drivers for my nVidia GeForce 6100 gone, but the config file for my monitor had been consigned to the bit bucket as well. No listing for it in 8.10, where 8.04 (lately updated, granted) had a config file for my monitor. Try 800X600 resolution on a monitor with a native 1680X1050 resolution. *yech*

Soooo. in HUGE MODE, nav’ed to Terminal and used apt-get to REINSTALL the lame-o drivers for nVidia that Ub untu reluctantly makes available. Used them to get a sensible display resolution set. THEN I could actually get to the Synaptics Package Manager to easily reinstall EnvyNG (which downloads and installs much better drivers than Canonical does).

OK, a few hoops to jump through. Notaproblem, but would be for “Aunt Tilly” you know? (Of course, “Aunt Tilly” would probably not attempt upgrading from one version of the OS to another *heh*)

Still, not as bad as most version upgrades I’ve done on Windows computers, but still irksome. A “Favorite Thing”? Notsomuch.

January 13, 2009

A Few of My Favorite Things… (1)

…about Ubuntu 8.04.

Ripping media. Need to archive a DVD? Right-click, Rip. Need to archive a CD/convert wav to mp3 for portability, etc.? Right-click>open (I select one of two apps, usually Rhythmbox)>Add to Library. I’ve set my preference to mp3 with a decent bit level–128, only because with the tiny earbuds of an mp3 player, it’s difficult to tell the difference, especially given where I use my player: mowing the lawn, driving, etc.–so it automagically just does its thing,

Windows? Notsomuch. With all the DRM crap Microsoft insists on shackling folks with, and the fact that most folks just use “what came on the computer” I don’t know how many folks I’ve had come to me with complaints about Windows Media Player ripping their CDs into DRM-“protected” formats they can’t use anywhere else (at least not easily). WMAs? Hate ’em. WVMs? Ditto. Oh, there are ways to make WMP play more nicely, and there are even some nice lil freebie apps to convert those nasty WMA files to mp3s, but in a native Ubuntu session, I don’t have to mess with any of that.

One thing that’s easier, more friendly, just plain nicer about Ubuntu.

January 12, 2009January 12, 2009

Windows 7 Beta

Well, I never did get around to installing the UNofficial Windows 7 beta (really offically late alpha) in a VM. Now, I need to reinstall VMWare Server, after a kernel update seems to have fried things (oh, the joys of “almost ready for Aunt Tilly” Ubuntu). Why? Well, because I need my WInXP, Win2K, Win98 and various other ‘nix-flavored “computers” running in VMs and because… I just downloaded the official Windows 7 Beta from Microsoft, and it’s only good through August (although I hear rumors there’s a way to kil the kill switch, I will NOT be attempting any such thing).

I did get a few of “page not loading” errors before I finally managed to get MS to cough up the download. Slow. Took 1.5 hours for the measly 3.15GB. *heh* And that’s another thing that kinda surprised me. I waited until tonight to download it. Microsoft announced that only 2.5 million downloads of the beta were being offered. Where was the demand?

Of course, I do NOT want to put it on a machine we’d need for daily use here at twc central, because Microsoft is waffling (so what else is new?) on its official release date for Windows 7 and because, well, it is beta software. Well, you can hardly blame ’em after the (well-earned) beating Microsoft has taken for Vista. (I’m still pulling out hair I can ill-afford to lose over Vista’s finicky networking. You try to get 64-bit Vista talking with 64-bit XP. The Microsoft Link-Layer Topology Discovery Responder patch that does an OK job making 32-bit XP computers visible to Vista computers is… 32-bit, and–so far–does NOT do the job with 64-bit XP computers I’ve tried it with [naturally] as the only “nearly-MS-approved” method, since a 64-bit version of the patch seems to be AWOL. Thanks, Microsoft. Yeh, yeh, I’ve downloaded the source code from Microsoft to build it for “other operating systems”, but… .)

Well, maybe I ought to just slap another compy together and see if the system requirements listed (1Ghz processor, 1GB RAM, etc.) by Microsoft will really run Windows 7. (My bet is NOT. MS consistently understates basic requirements, enticing folks who shouldn’t attempt to load an OS to do so, but maybe the zebra can change his stripes. And yes, I mangled the old metaphor because it sometimes seems that shrink wrap betas, bait and switches and other increasingly prevalent MS tactics shopuld deserve some stripes, at times. *heh*)

Anywho, I have through August to test this out, so I may just put it on the back burner for a while and concentrate on more pressing tasks around here. Yeh, that’s probably a Good Idea, what with all those Resolutions staring me in the face every day. 🙂

Note: Downloading the Win7 Beta requires having either Silverlight installed on your Windows box or Moonlight, an open source implementation of Microsoft Silverlight for Unix systems on your ‘nix box. Using Moonlight was not a happy-making thing on my Ubuntu box, and since I prefer burning ISOs outside VMs anyway (“anyway” because I need to reinstall VMWare Server, you recall), I used a 32-bit WinXP system to download and burn the 64-bit Win7 beta. But. Methought to meself, “Self, better d/l the 32-bit as well,” so went through that super-frustrating experience on my Ubuntu box using Moonlight. Succeeded, but not w/o losing some more hair…

That said and done, here are some direct download links that may work. No promises, and do scan these downloads for malware as you would ANY download.

32-bit Windows 7 Beta direct link

64-bit Windows 7 Beta direct link

Note also that you must visit the Silverlight ~~dis~~enabled Microsoft site to obtain your product key. Oh, you also have to have a Microsoft Live ID. Use a throwaway email address for that, if you wish.

Oh, and (another tagalong) Why Windows 7? The version number Windows 7 calls itself by is Windows version 6.1 (Vista was 6.0). An explanation at the Windows Vista Blog gives some reasons, and if you believe all that jazz, I have some nice bottom land I’d like to sell you (only I’d rather not mention just what it’s on the bottom of).

December 31, 2008December 31, 2008

CompGeeky: OSes, Browsers and Word Processors, Oh My!

Long ago, I stopped being flabbergasted by folks who have no idea what their operating system is. Some, when asked, will respond “Microsoft” or “Word” or “Microsoft Office” (or just “Office”) or “Internet Explorer” or some random word/phrase based loosely on “Windows” or variation of whatever program they use most often, usually just whatever came installed on the computer when they bought it, and they’re usually obstinately vague about whatever version of that most-used program is. Most don’t know (seriously–I’m not kidding here!) any difference between whatever web browser or email client they use (not that they know what email client they use) and their operating system.

And they don’t really care, as long as things look familiar, they can type and mouse and click to get wherever their stubby lil brains can manage to go on the internet using whatever browser they have been trained however poorly to use (usually by default Internet Exploder, but more and more often now some other browser, installed by a friend or relative who is simply tired of being bothered by a naif who gets in trouble using Internet Exploder).

So who really needs “upgrading” to Microsoft’s latest-greatest OS offering?

Microsoft will claim more than 300 million installations of Vista since its release, but most of those are consumer PCs sold through retailers and direct distributors. According to a recent survey by ITIC and Sunbelt Software of more than 700 senior corporate executives, only 10 percent had deployed Vista on their desktops, whereas 88 percent reported Windows XP as their primary client OS.¹

Most software and hardware works well enough with XP, and software that won’t you probably don’t really need anyway. WinXP 64-bit, for those who have made the move to 64-bit computers, is as stable as Win2K (M$’s best overall OS to date, IMO) and more nimble, less hardware demanding, than Vista. Not that Vista is a particularly bad OS, but why retrain for a new OS (with new, not always better and often more obscurantist ways of doing things) that is far more demanding of hardware when an existing OS is just “good enough”?

That’s probably one reason so many folks who’ve bought one of those new comps with Vista on them have called on techie friends or paid some tech to “downgrade” ’em to XP, and it’s certainly a big reason why nearly 90% of computers used in businesses still use XP. (Another reason many have downgraded or kept XP is likely just that they can’t handle the learning curve Vista requires them to climb–a learning curve that is in some ways steeper than simply switching to a modern Linux distro with a nice Windows-like GUI.)

Continue reading “CompGeeky: OSes, Browsers and Word Processors, Oh My!”

December 26, 2008December 26, 2008

Under the Tree at TWC

Notalotta outrageous gifting going on @twc this year. Biggest deals: My Wonder Woman okayed the purchase of a new (VERY inexpensive–cheaper than WallyWorld 17″-ers; gottalove Amazon.com) 22″ Acer LCD screen for my “old eyes computing,” Son&Heir and I exchanged (used) Xboxes (originals) for conversion to media servers–a fun lil project–and Lovely Daughter got a very nice new coat.

No biggies. Some other lil things.

Oh, one (very inexpensive) “biggie”–for a couple of years now, my Wonder Woman’s been kinda limping along with her otherwise exceptionally nice Toshiba Satellite A105 running on 512MB of memory. It was a compromise at the time of purchase, but memory prices have tumbled since then, so now it’s doing very nicely indeed with 4GB of memory. Which reminds me of a tip for those of y’all running 32-bit Windows with more than 3GB of RAM. Since 32-bit Windows doesn’t really see more than 3GB (oh, M$ claims it can see up to 4, but they can just pull the other one), it has to be tricked into seeing more. And even with (legitimate) trickery, it can still be a tad stinky about the 32-bit limits. But if you are one of those folks who added more RAM to a 32-bit Windows installation than the OS can see, here’s a workaround that at least partially works:

Enable DEP.

Yep. “Data Execution Prevention” is a M$ method of providing at least some OS protection against some malware. It’s not all that effective, so some folks don’t even bother to have it enabled. But the interesting thing about DEP is that enabling it also enables Physical Address Extension (PAE), “a feature of x86 processors that lets 32-bit operating systems overcome the 4GB memory limit.”¹

To enable DEP, simply go to Control Panel>System>Performance>Advanced>Settings>DEP and enable it… if it’s available on your hardware.

If PAE is not enabled on your system, you can do a teensy lil hack to enable it using Notepad (or some other PLAIN TEXT editor):

* Step 1. Choose Start, Run.
* Step 2. Type notepad c:\boot.ini and press Enter.
* Step 3. Under the [operating systems] heading, look for a line that contains the /noexecute switch, which turns software DEP. For example, it may be /noexecute=optin, /noexecute=optout, or /noexecute=always on. Place the cursor directly after that switch and type a space followed by /pae.

Save the file and reboot.

This neat lil trick is from Windows Secrets Newsletter. But be warned: if you’re not comfotable editing system files like boot.ini, leave it for your friendly local techie to do, ‘K?

OK, that lil diversion was all in aid of saying simply that my Wonder Woman’s lil Toshiba needed nothing in order to recognize and use the memory but a reboot and wipeout of a bum “System Restore Point” that wanted to insist she still had 512MB. (“System Restore” is a utility whose time has come… for being eliminated. Piece of junk, IMO.)

Looking at our laid back gift giving this year, I must admit it’s little different from other recent years since the kids gained adulthood. As a family, we have MORE than enough “stuff” and need very, very little. It’s nice to simply reflect on the Reason for Christmas apart from all the shopping and wrapping and all the other material effluvia.

But I will admit that it’s nice to see my Wonder Woman taking more pleasure in her computer use, Lovely Daughter dressing warmly (and stylishly) and Son&Heir having fun approaching his XBox/computer hacks. (OK, OK, we’re doing software mods/hacks rather than hardware hacks at this time. If the hardware hacks become necessary to get the performance we want, then we’ll look at that. Well, a couple of small hardware hacks to controller cables, but those’re trivial.)

December 7, 2008December 7, 2008

A-Pirating We Will Go?

No, not the Somali pirating that’s lately gained some notoriety. Software pirating-ish, sorta, kinda not quite.

When Me$$y$oft gave away demo/”preview” copies of Windows 7 alpha at WINHEC the other day, “Some one made the sketch his own” as it were, and almost immediately iso files (in torrents) were sprouting up all over the web.

OK, so I’m downloading one of ’em now. Of course, as I understand it, the thing has a 30-day kill switch and is designed to be a trial, so while I may be violating some law’s letter (I haven’t actually checked the nitty gritty on the licensing), I may actually be observing the spirit of the law better than those who stick to its letter. *huh*? The spirit of copyright law is, “Do no monetary harm to the copyright holder and do not harm the copyright holder by making unauthorized changes to his work.”Heck, I may (may) actually do Me$$y$oft some good if its claims for Windows 7 pan out by giving it a positive review.

Caveats: if the torrent fails, I’ll bail on checking out/reviewing Win7. AND, even if the torrent succeeds, this is a very, very early release and may be too buggy for even a fair VM tryout. VM? Yep. You don’t expect I’d hazard a REAL machine with an alpha-release OS, do you? *heh* Anywho, here’re a couple of graphics to whet your appetite:

BTW, while I don’t usually try out pre-release OSes, because I just don’t like “sacrificing” a working machine for the task, VMs are giving me a LOT of flexibility there. Using up a lot of hard drive space, too, but that’s what large hard drives were made for, eh? (Still, I may have to buy a couple of nice big drives somewhere soon down the road, but with 500GiB drives for $50 that probably won’t be that big a deal. Need spares, anyway.)

Also note another Very Good Reason to try this iso out in a VM: