Don't know about you, but I tend to like decent surprises.
But I'll save that for a moment. On to other, more mundane surprises.
I'd switched the Thinkpad T30 over to Precise Puppy 5.6.1, and had no problem with it. However, I've recently developed a strange interest in the Slacko side of the Puppyverse, so...
Yeah, I did the whole download/burn/install "thing" on the T30, ending up with an install of Puppy Slacko 5.6. (Actually, there was a whole "going south" scenario, which involved faffing up the "Save" file creation, leading to me having to do a delete and recreate... Leave it to me...)
Everything is working fine now, but I find myself just...not happy with it. I mean, yeah, it runs fine, and looks OK, but... I notice the fan now cranks much more than usual. I monkeyed with the processor regulator (no, I can't remember what it's really called), and set it to "Powersave" mode for my running things off battery. That seemed to help a bit, but...
I don't know. I think I'm developing a serious case of Everything's-Wrong-OCD...
Anyway, I'm still giving Slacko the big chance. I toted the system with me down to the local Historical Society session, but never got 'round to using it. (Damn, that little thing is heavy, especially when compared to my T410s. But when you compare the build quality of the two... Well, let's not talk about "heavy", shall we?)
While I was downloading Slacko, I also grabbed a copy of Carolina Linux 1.0. For those of you who don't know, Carolina is a fork off of Saluki Linux. I've been considering Carolina ever since noting that Saluki was no longer being developed. My main concern with Saluki was the seeming lack of an up-to-date web browser. (I think the latest version that I'd then found of Firefox was 10.0 in the Saluki repos.) I was really a bit concerned about using Saluki on my Thinkpad X60s.
So, through the download/burn/live boot cycle... I had problems on the T410s. It just seemed like Carolina didn't like booting from CD. So, after some more of my famous faffing, I got it booting, and then decided to do a USB thumb drive install. I had a 16 GB Kingston drive I'd gotten on the cheap from Amazon, so... Instead of doing the quick-n-dirty install I normally do, I partitioned the drive with Gparted, then used the Puppy Universal Installer included with Carolina to install to the USB drive.
And then had the boot problems again on T410s. Not sure what that was. Teething problems..?
Anyway, I had the USB drive version working, and had dragged the X60s out to recharge, when I decided to check through Saluki again, to see what files I'd left on the computer, etc. While I had Saluki booted up, I decided to give a run through the Package Manager, just for giggles. I didn't, however search under .SFS packages, but under the standard Puppy packages.
The fact that I'm now typing this under Firefox 24.0... Well, I'm just going to leave it at that...
Faffing, indeed...
Needless to say, Saluki is staying on this system now. I did test boot of Carolina here, and it worked perfectly. (A slight sound problem that required a couple quick clicks under the ALSA setup to fix was it.) So Saluki will stay as the main OS, and Carolina will be backup. A nice surprise for the evening.
I can handle those...
Wednesday, September 25, 2013
Sunday, September 22, 2013
The (minor) Silliness Patrol
So, I had my first full, official session with the T30 running Puppy Precise 5.6.1, and it did great. I actually managed to run the (new) battery down, as I was cranking through old Youtube videos.
So, after I'd got the T30 back on the charger, I decided to do some more video browsing, so I grabbed the T410s, and headed to the kitchen table. Was there for a while before the family starts giving me the evil eye. There's this sleep thing they wanted to partake in, and me sitting in the kitchen with all the lights on seems to be a hindrance to that. So...
(Insert Trouble Here)
I put the 410s to sleep, got a drink to tote back to my room, then went to pick up the laptop. Started to lift it by the front corner, and felt something like a small panel sliding off. I looked, and...
Yeah, a little chunk of plastic right at the front corner of the machine had come off. A quick inspection showed a very nice little break, like the system had been impacted very precisely on that corner. I am honestly not sure when/where/how that happened. Let's just say I wasn't happy.
Repair time. But I couldn't remember if I had any glue to do the repair. And I'm looking at a little few-millimeters-by-few-more-millimeters plastic chip, and knowing that it isn't going to survive long in my cluttered up room...
A quick search, and to my great relief, I found a tube of super glue left over from a long-ago repair job. It even had a nice, precision application tip that would work fine with this particular task. So, after a dry run (where I nearly lost the broken piece after making sure which way it fit), I applied a tiny bit of glue to the edges, and then replaced the broken bit.
The instructions were to hold the piece in place for 30 seconds. In my overly fixated way, I exceeded that by about 25 seconds. (You can never be sure!) Then I went to check my handiwork.
Which would've been much easier if my finger would've come freely away from the corner of the T410s...
Yeah, I did.
A tiny drop of the glue had squeezed out when I'd pushed in on the piece. And my finger was firmly attached to the edge with the glue.
The response, of course, was a very short, painful jerk away from the corner of the machine. I half-expected the piece to come loose, but it didn't. It was firmly attached.
And I'm now genetically encoded to my laptop via a tiny organic matrix chip on the body of the machine.
How's that for high-tech security?
So, after I'd got the T30 back on the charger, I decided to do some more video browsing, so I grabbed the T410s, and headed to the kitchen table. Was there for a while before the family starts giving me the evil eye. There's this sleep thing they wanted to partake in, and me sitting in the kitchen with all the lights on seems to be a hindrance to that. So...
(Insert Trouble Here)
I put the 410s to sleep, got a drink to tote back to my room, then went to pick up the laptop. Started to lift it by the front corner, and felt something like a small panel sliding off. I looked, and...
Yeah, a little chunk of plastic right at the front corner of the machine had come off. A quick inspection showed a very nice little break, like the system had been impacted very precisely on that corner. I am honestly not sure when/where/how that happened. Let's just say I wasn't happy.
Repair time. But I couldn't remember if I had any glue to do the repair. And I'm looking at a little few-millimeters-by-few-more-millimeters plastic chip, and knowing that it isn't going to survive long in my cluttered up room...
A quick search, and to my great relief, I found a tube of super glue left over from a long-ago repair job. It even had a nice, precision application tip that would work fine with this particular task. So, after a dry run (where I nearly lost the broken piece after making sure which way it fit), I applied a tiny bit of glue to the edges, and then replaced the broken bit.
The instructions were to hold the piece in place for 30 seconds. In my overly fixated way, I exceeded that by about 25 seconds. (You can never be sure!) Then I went to check my handiwork.
Which would've been much easier if my finger would've come freely away from the corner of the T410s...
Yeah, I did.
A tiny drop of the glue had squeezed out when I'd pushed in on the piece. And my finger was firmly attached to the edge with the glue.
The response, of course, was a very short, painful jerk away from the corner of the machine. I half-expected the piece to come loose, but it didn't. It was firmly attached.
And I'm now genetically encoded to my laptop via a tiny organic matrix chip on the body of the machine.
How's that for high-tech security?
Morning after
Yeah...
And no, it's not that bad. The T30 is doing fine. Except for one little problem. The infamous "Older Thinkpad + Linux = Suspend Problems".
If you only suspend for a few minutes, then resume, you're fine. But leave it suspended for around 10 minutes, and the screen won't come back on. You have to do a hard reboot to get back to the system.
Annoying, but not a deal killer.
So... After some agonizing this morning, I decided to make a change. I grabbed my Precise Puppy 5.6.1 CD, booted, and fired up Gparted. Set the hard drive up, then let the Puppy Universal Installer do the rest for a frugal install. Figure I'll just avoid the suspend issue altogether...
And, to be honest, Puppy's probably even lighter on this system than CrunchBang. So, what the hey?
Right now I'm running it on the first official boot, and haven't even set up my "Save" file yet. Take care of that in just a few.
I might do some later experiments. I've been meaning to Give Precise 5.7.1 a try. Maybe even monkey with Slacko, who knows? Last night I downloaded several Puppy .ISO's on the T410s. Haven't done any burning or installing yet, but... We shall see...
Until I settle on something else, I'll be quite happy with Precise. I'm comfortable with it, and it performs great. And, much as I love #!, Puppy is...well, just a little bit brighter...
Though I really do need to reset the screen background..........
And no, it's not that bad. The T30 is doing fine. Except for one little problem. The infamous "Older Thinkpad + Linux = Suspend Problems".
If you only suspend for a few minutes, then resume, you're fine. But leave it suspended for around 10 minutes, and the screen won't come back on. You have to do a hard reboot to get back to the system.
Annoying, but not a deal killer.
So... After some agonizing this morning, I decided to make a change. I grabbed my Precise Puppy 5.6.1 CD, booted, and fired up Gparted. Set the hard drive up, then let the Puppy Universal Installer do the rest for a frugal install. Figure I'll just avoid the suspend issue altogether...
And, to be honest, Puppy's probably even lighter on this system than CrunchBang. So, what the hey?
Right now I'm running it on the first official boot, and haven't even set up my "Save" file yet. Take care of that in just a few.
I might do some later experiments. I've been meaning to Give Precise 5.7.1 a try. Maybe even monkey with Slacko, who knows? Last night I downloaded several Puppy .ISO's on the T410s. Haven't done any burning or installing yet, but... We shall see...
Until I settle on something else, I'll be quite happy with Precise. I'm comfortable with it, and it performs great. And, much as I love #!, Puppy is...well, just a little bit brighter...
Though I really do need to reset the screen background..........
Saturday, September 21, 2013
Dancing con't
OK, CrunchBang 11 Waldorf installation complete. Everything working perfectly.
I am impressed. This is just a reminder of how all that "obsolete" technology out there... Well, it might not be obsolete. Here's a c.11 year old computer, running a thoroughly modern OS, able to keep pace with any of my modern machines. (I was most impressed watching the Pentium 4 processor hardly break a sweat while cranking through a test brace of YouTube videos. I wouldn't want to do that constantly, but...Well done!)
We're all too quick to jump on the new is better bandwagon. However...
This little computer is another example of something I'd put on my "back to school" tech list. (The one where, if I were a starving student heading off to college, what would I try to get to use.) Loaded up with CrunchBang, I think this would hold it's own as a work computer. Easily.
Though, yeah, I know it won't play the latest games, etc. But, then, I'm not a game player, so...
I just plugged the new battery in. The original one was holding about an hour and a half charge (actually a little more), so I'll be interested to see if this one does better.
But, after about a whole hour of playing with the system through tests and installs, I have to say, I like this T30!
AND AN ADDITIONAL NOTE:
I'm doing a new battery rundown test, and the T30 is doing quite nicely. Though it's pretty late, and I'm running close to shutdown.
As a final note, I dug out a few Thinkpad Trackpoint caps that i picked up a while ago. I was going to put one of the newer ones (may the "mushroom" style) on it. However, it came with the standard "asbestos" style, so that's what I put on. The old one was in really bad shape, looked like paper had been glued to it.
So far, so good. I like it.
I am impressed. This is just a reminder of how all that "obsolete" technology out there... Well, it might not be obsolete. Here's a c.11 year old computer, running a thoroughly modern OS, able to keep pace with any of my modern machines. (I was most impressed watching the Pentium 4 processor hardly break a sweat while cranking through a test brace of YouTube videos. I wouldn't want to do that constantly, but...Well done!)
We're all too quick to jump on the new is better bandwagon. However...
This little computer is another example of something I'd put on my "back to school" tech list. (The one where, if I were a starving student heading off to college, what would I try to get to use.) Loaded up with CrunchBang, I think this would hold it's own as a work computer. Easily.
Though, yeah, I know it won't play the latest games, etc. But, then, I'm not a game player, so...
I just plugged the new battery in. The original one was holding about an hour and a half charge (actually a little more), so I'll be interested to see if this one does better.
But, after about a whole hour of playing with the system through tests and installs, I have to say, I like this T30!
AND AN ADDITIONAL NOTE:
I'm doing a new battery rundown test, and the T30 is doing quite nicely. Though it's pretty late, and I'm running close to shutdown.
As a final note, I dug out a few Thinkpad Trackpoint caps that i picked up a while ago. I was going to put one of the newer ones (may the "mushroom" style) on it. However, it came with the standard "asbestos" style, so that's what I put on. The old one was in really bad shape, looked like paper had been glued to it.
So far, so good. I like it.
Do the DANCE!
I am currently writing this via a live boot from CrunchBang on the Thinkpad T30. With the newly installed wireless card. YES!!
It's been a bit of frustration on this, as I had to get my head in the game, and get the old IBM patching software working properly. After I got my brain-case screwed on in the right direction (and remembered that it might be a good idea to read screen prompts), I got the patches applied, and got everything working right.
And, in a bit of an embarrassed revelation, this is my first wireless card transplant. I've not done one before. So, I'm kind of happy.
I initially tested Manjaro with Openbox on the system, but it wasn't mapping the keyboard right. (Something that I probably would take care of during a full installation.) Right as I was typing this, CrunchBang decided I was typing on a French keyboard, and I had to jump up to the screen bar and change it back. (The second time I started to edit this, and it decided I was using a British layout. Back to the screen bar... Again, I think this will be dealt with at install...)
Though I have yet to do a new install on this system, I'm happy that it now seems to be fully functional. (I had gotten the USB wireless adapter from the seller, but it won't really work properly. It'll see the networks, but it won't connect. I have a feeling it won't recognize WPA...) But the wireless card out of the R40 works fine. I'm very happy.
As a side note, I did the test on the 380XD running at 800x600, and it worked fine. But I haven't proceeded with the installation there, either. For some reason, a bit wave of sentimentality hit me. The Win98 installation on it has some odd features. And it has some odd branding, from the GE IT section, which hits me in my collector's spot. (I know. Silly. But...) So, I'm holding off for now, and transferring my attention to the T30 here until further notice.
And I'm very happy with the look/feel of this little beast. It's singing right along, and #! seems very complimentary to it. I strongly think I might just go ahead with the installation now, and see how it goes.
We shall see!
It's been a bit of frustration on this, as I had to get my head in the game, and get the old IBM patching software working properly. After I got my brain-case screwed on in the right direction (and remembered that it might be a good idea to read screen prompts), I got the patches applied, and got everything working right.
And, in a bit of an embarrassed revelation, this is my first wireless card transplant. I've not done one before. So, I'm kind of happy.
I initially tested Manjaro with Openbox on the system, but it wasn't mapping the keyboard right. (Something that I probably would take care of during a full installation.) Right as I was typing this, CrunchBang decided I was typing on a French keyboard, and I had to jump up to the screen bar and change it back. (The second time I started to edit this, and it decided I was using a British layout. Back to the screen bar... Again, I think this will be dealt with at install...)
Though I have yet to do a new install on this system, I'm happy that it now seems to be fully functional. (I had gotten the USB wireless adapter from the seller, but it won't really work properly. It'll see the networks, but it won't connect. I have a feeling it won't recognize WPA...) But the wireless card out of the R40 works fine. I'm very happy.
As a side note, I did the test on the 380XD running at 800x600, and it worked fine. But I haven't proceeded with the installation there, either. For some reason, a bit wave of sentimentality hit me. The Win98 installation on it has some odd features. And it has some odd branding, from the GE IT section, which hits me in my collector's spot. (I know. Silly. But...) So, I'm holding off for now, and transferring my attention to the T30 here until further notice.
And I'm very happy with the look/feel of this little beast. It's singing right along, and #! seems very complimentary to it. I strongly think I might just go ahead with the installation now, and see how it goes.
We shall see!
Tuesday, September 17, 2013
Two outta three ain't bad...
Yeah... 2 out of 3...
A quick recap: Number one is, of course, Manjaro on the T410s, which is performing absolutely perfectly. It has its quirks, but I rather like it. I've been toting this system around with me everywhere, and not a single problem.
Number two is the Thinkpad 380XD. The 64 MB RAM expansion arrived yesterday, and I installed it as soon as I could, replacing the 16 MB stick that was in the system. Worked perfectly. So, I decided to move on to Phase II, which was a test boot with Wary Puppy 5.3.
The 380XD booted fine off the CD. The only problems encountered were my first time 'round, when I tried the boot with the Compaq PCMCIA wireless card (which came with the system when I bought it) installed. The software almost booted, then gagged on PCMCIA drivers. A second attempt with a later IBM-branded card boggled also. Booting without the cards installed worked fine. (I did make a slight mistake when I accepted the "recommended" screen resolution of 640x480. The 380 series uses 800x600.) (And, yeah, don't those resolution numbers bring back memories..?)
Number three, however, is the "out"... The T30 arrived today, and appeared to be in quite good shape. However, when I went to test it, I quickly discovered... NO wireless, even though it was advertised with wireless included. (!?!) Not the least bit happy, I sent a message to the seller
While waiting for a reply, I remembered the late, lamented R40 was lying about, waiting to donate parts to the cause. It just happened to have a wireless card...
Well, you know where this is going. I rapidly did the transplant, closed everything back up, and went to reboot...
And got a major error message. What I have since found is the 01C9 and 1802 errors. It appears the chipset in the wireless card reads as "ethernet" to the system, and that just isn't kosher.
Well, I went all wonky, and started fiddling with hardware, thinking I should remove cards or something. Unplugged one of the cards in the wireless bay, not even sure what the hell it was, and tried a reboot, which didn't make any difference anyway.
Disgusted, I put the T30 away, thinking I'd take it to the Shop-Across-the-River tomorrow. (I think I made up a few new words, too...)
In the meantime, the seller had contacted me, and very graciously offered to correct the wireless screwup by sending me the appropriate parts. Not really wanting to get into it, I accepted. (This did make me feel better about the gentleman. He was very professional and pleasant about it, something that is far too lacking today.)
And, in the further meantime, I also did what I should've done in the first place concerning the card errors. I let my fingers do the walking. I typed my question, not into Google, but into DuckDuckGo (hey, I'm being experimental here!), and got back a good analysis of the problem. And a possible quick solution, using some Linux tools.
However, I'm just a bit too worn out right now. However, I feel a bit better about Number Three. Maybe it's not all too wonky-ed up...
We shall see.
In the meantime, do you think anyone would notice if I hold onto my T410s like it's a teddy bear..?
A quick recap: Number one is, of course, Manjaro on the T410s, which is performing absolutely perfectly. It has its quirks, but I rather like it. I've been toting this system around with me everywhere, and not a single problem.
Number two is the Thinkpad 380XD. The 64 MB RAM expansion arrived yesterday, and I installed it as soon as I could, replacing the 16 MB stick that was in the system. Worked perfectly. So, I decided to move on to Phase II, which was a test boot with Wary Puppy 5.3.
The 380XD booted fine off the CD. The only problems encountered were my first time 'round, when I tried the boot with the Compaq PCMCIA wireless card (which came with the system when I bought it) installed. The software almost booted, then gagged on PCMCIA drivers. A second attempt with a later IBM-branded card boggled also. Booting without the cards installed worked fine. (I did make a slight mistake when I accepted the "recommended" screen resolution of 640x480. The 380 series uses 800x600.) (And, yeah, don't those resolution numbers bring back memories..?)
Number three, however, is the "out"... The T30 arrived today, and appeared to be in quite good shape. However, when I went to test it, I quickly discovered... NO wireless, even though it was advertised with wireless included. (!?!) Not the least bit happy, I sent a message to the seller
While waiting for a reply, I remembered the late, lamented R40 was lying about, waiting to donate parts to the cause. It just happened to have a wireless card...
Well, you know where this is going. I rapidly did the transplant, closed everything back up, and went to reboot...
And got a major error message. What I have since found is the 01C9 and 1802 errors. It appears the chipset in the wireless card reads as "ethernet" to the system, and that just isn't kosher.
Well, I went all wonky, and started fiddling with hardware, thinking I should remove cards or something. Unplugged one of the cards in the wireless bay, not even sure what the hell it was, and tried a reboot, which didn't make any difference anyway.
Disgusted, I put the T30 away, thinking I'd take it to the Shop-Across-the-River tomorrow. (I think I made up a few new words, too...)
In the meantime, the seller had contacted me, and very graciously offered to correct the wireless screwup by sending me the appropriate parts. Not really wanting to get into it, I accepted. (This did make me feel better about the gentleman. He was very professional and pleasant about it, something that is far too lacking today.)
And, in the further meantime, I also did what I should've done in the first place concerning the card errors. I let my fingers do the walking. I typed my question, not into Google, but into DuckDuckGo (hey, I'm being experimental here!), and got back a good analysis of the problem. And a possible quick solution, using some Linux tools.
However, I'm just a bit too worn out right now. However, I feel a bit better about Number Three. Maybe it's not all too wonky-ed up...
We shall see.
In the meantime, do you think anyone would notice if I hold onto my T410s like it's a teddy bear..?
Saturday, September 14, 2013
Distroin'
OK, a real quickie here.
I decided to do a little distro hopping, especially after reading some reviews, etc. I went out and grabbed the latest version of Manjaro, 0.8.7.1, with the default XFCE interface... Since I was definitely thinking about the T410s, I grabbed the 64 bit version. Burned this to a DVD.
A quick live boot to make sure everything worked properly. (It did.) So, on to the install... (I sort of hated do away with Lighthouse 64, but... Well, I can reinstall it later...)
Manjaro installs quite painlessly. I probably should've spent a bit more time setting up the partitions, but everything went OK. I did use the GUI installer. I may do it later via CLI, just to see how it rolls.
Reboot was clean, and everything came up right as rain.
Except the clock...
The date was fine. But I had a hell of a time getting the damned clock to show the correct time. I checked that the system time was correct, and it was. (Memories of my first run with Manjaro with OpenBox began to drift back. Though that was on my old Toshiba, the system time was wrong, and I couldn't access the system BIOS to reset. I had to use a quick boot into a Puppy distro to correct that one...) So, off to the web. A quick check found the Manjaro for Beginners information...
My timezone was not set properly (even though I'd set it during installation). So, after resetting that, and downloading/installing the Network Time Protocol (anything to get this thing working...), I...
...still had wrongly set clock. So I finally just reset the system clock from the terminal. After a bit too painful wait, the correct time showed up on the panel, and my blood pressure began to settle just a bit. (Yeah, I did do the obligatory reboot, just to make sure...)
Otherwise, I like what I see here. I've always liked the XFCE experience. (My favorite with it was Saluki.) It seems fast and smooth. Everything seems to be working out of the box.
However, it's hitting 1 am here, so I'm not really in the mood to do much "testing"..
Besides, I'm zoning out to old MythBusters' episodes. In a showdown between playing with Manjaro, and watching Kari Byron...
Well...
I decided to do a little distro hopping, especially after reading some reviews, etc. I went out and grabbed the latest version of Manjaro, 0.8.7.1, with the default XFCE interface... Since I was definitely thinking about the T410s, I grabbed the 64 bit version. Burned this to a DVD.
A quick live boot to make sure everything worked properly. (It did.) So, on to the install... (I sort of hated do away with Lighthouse 64, but... Well, I can reinstall it later...)
Manjaro installs quite painlessly. I probably should've spent a bit more time setting up the partitions, but everything went OK. I did use the GUI installer. I may do it later via CLI, just to see how it rolls.
Reboot was clean, and everything came up right as rain.
Except the clock...
The date was fine. But I had a hell of a time getting the damned clock to show the correct time. I checked that the system time was correct, and it was. (Memories of my first run with Manjaro with OpenBox began to drift back. Though that was on my old Toshiba, the system time was wrong, and I couldn't access the system BIOS to reset. I had to use a quick boot into a Puppy distro to correct that one...) So, off to the web. A quick check found the Manjaro for Beginners information...
My timezone was not set properly (even though I'd set it during installation). So, after resetting that, and downloading/installing the Network Time Protocol (anything to get this thing working...), I...
...still had wrongly set clock. So I finally just reset the system clock from the terminal. After a bit too painful wait, the correct time showed up on the panel, and my blood pressure began to settle just a bit. (Yeah, I did do the obligatory reboot, just to make sure...)
Otherwise, I like what I see here. I've always liked the XFCE experience. (My favorite with it was Saluki.) It seems fast and smooth. Everything seems to be working out of the box.
However, it's hitting 1 am here, so I'm not really in the mood to do much "testing"..
Besides, I'm zoning out to old MythBusters' episodes. In a showdown between playing with Manjaro, and watching Kari Byron...
Well...
Quiet Before...
I've been sort of enjoying the quiet as Fall rolls in. We've been having some nice, cool temperatures, which has made getting out and about very enjoyable.
However, I am sort of hoping all this quiet will come to an end, and new project will come through soon. I'm beginning to feel rather 5th wheelish, as I sit and wait.
I do have some odds and ends coming my way, which will probably take up some of my time. I ran across an old IBM Thinkpad T30 and got it for a very decent price. It had the maximum RAM installed (1GB), which I was happy about. (Saved me from having to scrounge any up.) And I was able to quickly also acquire a new battery for it. Only has the 40 GB HD option, but that should suffice, as I simply intend to install Crunchbang on it. Should be here next week sometime. (Yeah, I know... I needed another Thinkpad like I needed a pet elephant, but... You know...)
Also, I bit the bullet and ordered some new RAM for the old Thinkpad 380XD that's been sulking under the desk. I'm going to max it out (96 megs...yes, megabytes), and do a little experiment...
I've tried several times to get Damn Small Linux running on the 380XD, with minimal success. I keep running into the screen driver problem. (It boots up fine, then the screen goes wonky and you can barely see the icons, etc. Apparently, this is a common problem with DSL on these old Thinkpads. Changing screen resolution, etc., doesn't seem to help at all.) However...
Doing some research, I've come across multiple reports of folks being able to get various versions of Puppy Linux up and running on even older Thinkpads. Models with slower processors and less RAM than the 380s... So, of course, caution-to-the-wind-thrower that I am, I'm going to give it a shot. I'm hoping the maxed out RAM gives me a slightly better chance. (Yeah, I know Puppy usually demands at least 128 MB, but... Well...)
I can naught but be reduced to swearing and gnashing my teeth, so...
ETA on the RAM is sometime next week. So I'd say next week is going to be bit of a ball.
We shall see...
However, I am sort of hoping all this quiet will come to an end, and new project will come through soon. I'm beginning to feel rather 5th wheelish, as I sit and wait.
I do have some odds and ends coming my way, which will probably take up some of my time. I ran across an old IBM Thinkpad T30 and got it for a very decent price. It had the maximum RAM installed (1GB), which I was happy about. (Saved me from having to scrounge any up.) And I was able to quickly also acquire a new battery for it. Only has the 40 GB HD option, but that should suffice, as I simply intend to install Crunchbang on it. Should be here next week sometime. (Yeah, I know... I needed another Thinkpad like I needed a pet elephant, but... You know...)
Also, I bit the bullet and ordered some new RAM for the old Thinkpad 380XD that's been sulking under the desk. I'm going to max it out (96 megs...yes, megabytes), and do a little experiment...
I've tried several times to get Damn Small Linux running on the 380XD, with minimal success. I keep running into the screen driver problem. (It boots up fine, then the screen goes wonky and you can barely see the icons, etc. Apparently, this is a common problem with DSL on these old Thinkpads. Changing screen resolution, etc., doesn't seem to help at all.) However...
Doing some research, I've come across multiple reports of folks being able to get various versions of Puppy Linux up and running on even older Thinkpads. Models with slower processors and less RAM than the 380s... So, of course, caution-to-the-wind-thrower that I am, I'm going to give it a shot. I'm hoping the maxed out RAM gives me a slightly better chance. (Yeah, I know Puppy usually demands at least 128 MB, but... Well...)
I can naught but be reduced to swearing and gnashing my teeth, so...
ETA on the RAM is sometime next week. So I'd say next week is going to be bit of a ball.
We shall see...
Tuesday, September 10, 2013
Off the Retro Reserve
Yeah, I haven't exactly been a writing machine as of late. Been taking some time for myself, lately. Haven't been exactly up to speed as of late, and I really didn't want the blog to turn into a big whine-fest, so...
But I'm sort of slipping back into my normal mode. Hopefully get some writing done soon.
Really haven't been doing much tech stuff. Did get the new battery into the T410s, which has lead to my carrying/using it more. Still running Lighthouse64 on the hard drive, but I find myself booting Puppy Slacko XL 5.5 off of USB more and more. I like that system on the on the T410s a lot. (I tried booting it on the X60s and the Dell XPS, but had problem with the sound on both, and the trackpad speed on the latter. I've stuck with straight PhatSlacko 5.5 on the Dell, booting off USB.)
I have actually left Win7 on the Dell, and for a very specific reason, I just spent several minutes installing Cloanto's Amiga Forever onto it. I installed the 2012 edition and did the upgrades. Right now, I'm sticking with that, rather than buying the 2013 edition. I was never an Amiga user back in the day, but I find the system fascinating. I discovered the Amiga emulation stuff, I think after watching some of techguruuk's videos. Well, one thing lead to another, and I ordered the emulator. Had it installed on my 17" Toshiba Satellite. But, as that system sort of got packed away due to my Mac fetish, I haven't been playing with with the emulator.
So, when the Dell XPS joined the fleet... Well, one thing lead to another... The Dell has more RAM and a bigger hard drive to play with, so,,,
Right now, I'm just running through some of the old demoscenes included with the package. (At present, "Nexus 7" by Andromeda, c.1994.) Pretty cool!
And, if you're wondering, no I'm not typing on the Dell. While I was waiting for the emulation software to install, I dragged out little Sony Vaio and started playing around. Haven't had it out in ages, so it's kind of fun to fiddle with. (Really should upgrade from Precise Puppy 5.6.1 to 5.7.1, but... I've actually been thinking of giving Upup Raring a run on this. We shall see...)
Well, I just finished downloading, and am "installing" AmigaSYS 4 in the emulator. Need to do the same with the AmiKit version they include.
My only problem with this setup is that I really am limited to the included software, which is mostly games. I'd love to find a source of general programs for the Amiga like the Macintosh Garden site for Macs. (I"m sure there is one, but I've just never really dedicated the time to properly search for it.)
Oh well... Getting a bit worried. The AmigaSYS install has been sitting at 50% for ages, and is just playing its musical accompaniment on and on. Better do some checking here...
Off to the Retro world... Gee, wonder where I hid my copy of Tron...
But I'm sort of slipping back into my normal mode. Hopefully get some writing done soon.
Really haven't been doing much tech stuff. Did get the new battery into the T410s, which has lead to my carrying/using it more. Still running Lighthouse64 on the hard drive, but I find myself booting Puppy Slacko XL 5.5 off of USB more and more. I like that system on the on the T410s a lot. (I tried booting it on the X60s and the Dell XPS, but had problem with the sound on both, and the trackpad speed on the latter. I've stuck with straight PhatSlacko 5.5 on the Dell, booting off USB.)
I have actually left Win7 on the Dell, and for a very specific reason, I just spent several minutes installing Cloanto's Amiga Forever onto it. I installed the 2012 edition and did the upgrades. Right now, I'm sticking with that, rather than buying the 2013 edition. I was never an Amiga user back in the day, but I find the system fascinating. I discovered the Amiga emulation stuff, I think after watching some of techguruuk's videos. Well, one thing lead to another, and I ordered the emulator. Had it installed on my 17" Toshiba Satellite. But, as that system sort of got packed away due to my Mac fetish, I haven't been playing with with the emulator.
So, when the Dell XPS joined the fleet... Well, one thing lead to another... The Dell has more RAM and a bigger hard drive to play with, so,,,
Right now, I'm just running through some of the old demoscenes included with the package. (At present, "Nexus 7" by Andromeda, c.1994.) Pretty cool!
And, if you're wondering, no I'm not typing on the Dell. While I was waiting for the emulation software to install, I dragged out little Sony Vaio and started playing around. Haven't had it out in ages, so it's kind of fun to fiddle with. (Really should upgrade from Precise Puppy 5.6.1 to 5.7.1, but... I've actually been thinking of giving Upup Raring a run on this. We shall see...)
Well, I just finished downloading, and am "installing" AmigaSYS 4 in the emulator. Need to do the same with the AmiKit version they include.
My only problem with this setup is that I really am limited to the included software, which is mostly games. I'd love to find a source of general programs for the Amiga like the Macintosh Garden site for Macs. (I"m sure there is one, but I've just never really dedicated the time to properly search for it.)
Oh well... Getting a bit worried. The AmigaSYS install has been sitting at 50% for ages, and is just playing its musical accompaniment on and on. Better do some checking here...
Off to the Retro world... Gee, wonder where I hid my copy of Tron...
Sunday, September 1, 2013
The Tingler
Well, I obviously haven't been doing much writing as of late. Kind of took a little time off. Still dealing with the loss of my canine friend. It's not easy, dealing with a loss. And he had been with us right at 17 years. Not easy.
I had an odd little occurrence this evening. I dug out my my MacBook Pro, as I hadn't used it since my last road trip. So, I've been playing in OS X Mountain Lion all day. Kind of like a homecoming, in a sense.
Anyway, it's late, and I just retreated to my bedroom to do some late night email checks and browsing. I'd been using it off battery for a while before, so I went ahead and plugged the MagSafe back in. Plunked down on the bed and started to work. I went to pull the system towards me...
And damn... It was like holding onto a joy buzzer. I got a quite a good shock. I jerked my hand away from the case. A quick look showed that I had had my hands on tiny screws on both sides of the case. I touched the case...Nothing. So I went to push the release button... And got the joy buzzer again...
Not good. Obviously not thinking, I unplugged the MagSafe.
Hmmm... No shock.
Plug it back up... Shock...
I'm getting a bit worried at this point. (And obviously not thinking still.)
Rather than think this through, I do what any good modern soul does, I hit Google... And there it is, "Electric Shocks on MacBook Pros"... I remember the odd vibrations I've felt on the metal palm rests...
And then I looked at the postings... And I suddenly feel the need for a solid faceplant...
It's rather warm here, so I'm sitting barefoot in my room, my foot on the floor...
Yeah...
Sitting cross-legged on the bed now, breaking the circuit... No shocks, no vibrations...
This does irk me, though. Guess it's common with metal cased laptops, etc. I've noticed the "odd vibrations" when I run my fingers across the brushed aluminum palm rests on the Dell XPS. I'd never given it much thought till tonight. Which makes me want to kick myself...
So much for basic science.
Cue eery music... Here comes "The Tingler"!
I had an odd little occurrence this evening. I dug out my my MacBook Pro, as I hadn't used it since my last road trip. So, I've been playing in OS X Mountain Lion all day. Kind of like a homecoming, in a sense.
Anyway, it's late, and I just retreated to my bedroom to do some late night email checks and browsing. I'd been using it off battery for a while before, so I went ahead and plugged the MagSafe back in. Plunked down on the bed and started to work. I went to pull the system towards me...
And damn... It was like holding onto a joy buzzer. I got a quite a good shock. I jerked my hand away from the case. A quick look showed that I had had my hands on tiny screws on both sides of the case. I touched the case...Nothing. So I went to push the release button... And got the joy buzzer again...
Not good. Obviously not thinking, I unplugged the MagSafe.
Hmmm... No shock.
Plug it back up... Shock...
I'm getting a bit worried at this point. (And obviously not thinking still.)
Rather than think this through, I do what any good modern soul does, I hit Google... And there it is, "Electric Shocks on MacBook Pros"... I remember the odd vibrations I've felt on the metal palm rests...
And then I looked at the postings... And I suddenly feel the need for a solid faceplant...
It's rather warm here, so I'm sitting barefoot in my room, my foot on the floor...
Yeah...
Sitting cross-legged on the bed now, breaking the circuit... No shocks, no vibrations...
This does irk me, though. Guess it's common with metal cased laptops, etc. I've noticed the "odd vibrations" when I run my fingers across the brushed aluminum palm rests on the Dell XPS. I'd never given it much thought till tonight. Which makes me want to kick myself...
So much for basic science.
Cue eery music... Here comes "The Tingler"!