Yeah, I did.
I went and put in an order with Mr. Volkerding, et al, from the Slackware Shop, and had a Slackware DVD (and a copy of the Slackware Linux Essentials book) waiting on me when I got back home.
I'd prepped prior to trying out the install process. And, thankfully, the install was painless. Just to test, I installed the 32-bit version of 14.1 on my Thinkpad T400 (Core2Duo at 2.53 Ghz, 3 GB RAM, and a 160 GB HD). Hardware detection was flawless, and everything was set up perfectly. (Even the touchpad, which had me a bit worried.) I installed Network Manager, and it picked up my wireless without a hitch.
Of course, being a drone who watches YouTube far too much, I immediately set about installing Flashplayer. (I know...) I ended up going to the SlackBuild route, which was an adventure, but one I wanted to take. I wanted to get familiar with the system, so... Luckily for me, smarter souls have left instructions. Took some minor modifications, but I got it installed. And I could watch movies.
But I couldn't hear them.
No sound, whatsoever.
OK, let's think this through logically. The first thing to do is panic, and desperately try to think what the hell I've done wrong? What didn't install right? What's wrong with the plugin? Etc., etc.
Luckily, through the haze of general ignorance came a sudden spark of realization: Remember all that time playing with Puppy Linux? Remember having to occasionally monkey with the sound manager?
Took me for freaking ever to remember the name "alsamixer". Jump into the terminal emulator, fire it up. A few seconds, and problem solved.
I now have a nice, functional install of Slackware 14.1. I chose to use XFce, as KDE and I don't always see eye-to-eye. Everything works, and Good Grief, how much software they jam into this thing! I am a bit curious about CalligraOffice, which I've not used much. (The BrainDump program from the Calligra folks looks particularly intriguing.)
And, as a side note, installing Slackware knocked the sense into me to figure out what I did wrong with that copy of Salix 14.1 that I thought I'd botched. I now have a nice install of Salix on one of the ancient Toshiba's.
So, there's been a bit of an overkill of Linux installations this weekend. But I'm having fun.
Until the next round...
Saturday, October 25, 2014
Tuesday, October 14, 2014
Cracking the Cabinet Door
So....
It has been a while. But it's been a busy while. I've been through one job which, while not being the greatest, at least paid the bills. And when that one wound to an end, thankfully a friend called and... I'm still employed. Though it was another move, and a whole lot of stuff dumped in my lap very quickly. With more to follow.
But I'm back. Sort of.
This is just a touching base sort of thing. I've been been so busy as of late, I had to pare back the computer stuff for the while. But I've kept my hand in.
Most of the time at work, I'm stuck using Windows 8.1. I have to admit, it works. It's fast booting (a large improvement over it's predecessor), and is about as stable as Windows 7 ever was. But...well... blah... I had to finally put my beloved little Thinkpad X220T on the shelf because it was...well, little. My eyes are not in the best of shape these days, and that 12" screen wasn't doing me much good. So, for office work, I've switched over to a Thinkpad Edge with a 15.6" screen. No touch capability, but I never used that anyway.
I still keep one foot in the realm of Mac, and on in the realm of Linux. And here, I've both stayed the same and moved about. Still using OS X 10.8. Mountain Lion isn't Snow Leopard (God, do I miss AppleWorks!), I've managed to configure the MacBook Pro up write as a "creative writing machine". I discovered Scrivener, and have started relying heavily on WriteRoom and Nisus. One of these days, I'll get round to making some comments on each.
Linux remains a hobby. I seem to have adopted CrunchBang as my fallback for everything. I have it on my Thinkpad X301 "Kodachi", which is my backup computer. However, I've been juggling my main "Linux box", from a T410s, currently running Manjaro XFCe, and a Thinkpad X1, running Mint 17 Cinnamon. I had Salix running on the T410s for a while, and loved it, but on a complete whim put Manjaro back on the system. However, I loved Salix so much, I'm going to have to find something to put it back on. (One of these days, I'm going to do a straight Slackware install on one of my systems, but I just haven't worked up to it yet. I'm still too much the "lazy slacker...")
Which brings me to Puppy. Puppy Linux is the evening's project. I'm actually typing this right now in Dpup Exprimo, booted off a USB thumb drive on the T410s. It's outdated, but I like it. I have a bad tendency to boot into this, even over Puppy Slacko, or Quirky (which definitely lives up to its name).
But tonight's fun was FatDog64 which, if you're not familiar, is a 64-bit Puppy. I've had a love/hate relationship with FatDog since way back when. I think I originally ran FatDog64 600, and rather liked it. But, when a new version came out, I updated, and the problems began. The main problem being, the newer versions would never find my Save file (containing all my system settings, etc.) on boot up from a USB stick. I never bothered to research this, just got mad, nuked the installation, and moved on to other things.
Well, the other day, on a whim, I downloaded the 700 Beta 1 edition to give it a try. And ran right into the same problem. I set up my Save file, reboot, and nothing. Only, this time, I decided to be a bit of an adult (what a bummer) and do a little research. Turns out it's a fairly simple fix. Seems FatDog "boots too fast" for older USB drives. Solution: Pass a boot parameter to slow the boot down by a few seconds. I added the line "waitdev=5" to the boot menu.lst, and things worked fine.
It's the strangest things that get you back in the game...
I'll definitely try to get back on. Maybe do some reviews. Some writeups.
We shall see...
It has been a while. But it's been a busy while. I've been through one job which, while not being the greatest, at least paid the bills. And when that one wound to an end, thankfully a friend called and... I'm still employed. Though it was another move, and a whole lot of stuff dumped in my lap very quickly. With more to follow.
But I'm back. Sort of.
This is just a touching base sort of thing. I've been been so busy as of late, I had to pare back the computer stuff for the while. But I've kept my hand in.
Most of the time at work, I'm stuck using Windows 8.1. I have to admit, it works. It's fast booting (a large improvement over it's predecessor), and is about as stable as Windows 7 ever was. But...well... blah... I had to finally put my beloved little Thinkpad X220T on the shelf because it was...well, little. My eyes are not in the best of shape these days, and that 12" screen wasn't doing me much good. So, for office work, I've switched over to a Thinkpad Edge with a 15.6" screen. No touch capability, but I never used that anyway.
I still keep one foot in the realm of Mac, and on in the realm of Linux. And here, I've both stayed the same and moved about. Still using OS X 10.8. Mountain Lion isn't Snow Leopard (God, do I miss AppleWorks!), I've managed to configure the MacBook Pro up write as a "creative writing machine". I discovered Scrivener, and have started relying heavily on WriteRoom and Nisus. One of these days, I'll get round to making some comments on each.
Linux remains a hobby. I seem to have adopted CrunchBang as my fallback for everything. I have it on my Thinkpad X301 "Kodachi", which is my backup computer. However, I've been juggling my main "Linux box", from a T410s, currently running Manjaro XFCe, and a Thinkpad X1, running Mint 17 Cinnamon. I had Salix running on the T410s for a while, and loved it, but on a complete whim put Manjaro back on the system. However, I loved Salix so much, I'm going to have to find something to put it back on. (One of these days, I'm going to do a straight Slackware install on one of my systems, but I just haven't worked up to it yet. I'm still too much the "lazy slacker...")
Which brings me to Puppy. Puppy Linux is the evening's project. I'm actually typing this right now in Dpup Exprimo, booted off a USB thumb drive on the T410s. It's outdated, but I like it. I have a bad tendency to boot into this, even over Puppy Slacko, or Quirky (which definitely lives up to its name).
But tonight's fun was FatDog64 which, if you're not familiar, is a 64-bit Puppy. I've had a love/hate relationship with FatDog since way back when. I think I originally ran FatDog64 600, and rather liked it. But, when a new version came out, I updated, and the problems began. The main problem being, the newer versions would never find my Save file (containing all my system settings, etc.) on boot up from a USB stick. I never bothered to research this, just got mad, nuked the installation, and moved on to other things.
Well, the other day, on a whim, I downloaded the 700 Beta 1 edition to give it a try. And ran right into the same problem. I set up my Save file, reboot, and nothing. Only, this time, I decided to be a bit of an adult (what a bummer) and do a little research. Turns out it's a fairly simple fix. Seems FatDog "boots too fast" for older USB drives. Solution: Pass a boot parameter to slow the boot down by a few seconds. I added the line "waitdev=5" to the boot menu.lst, and things worked fine.
It's the strangest things that get you back in the game...
I'll definitely try to get back on. Maybe do some reviews. Some writeups.
We shall see...
Friday, March 14, 2014
Lazy Slacker
Well, I'm slacking. In more ways than one.
Rather than belabor the fact that work is making me a blog slacker, let me focus on my other bit of Slack. I finally got round to installing Salix on my long-suffering T410s.
For whatever reason, I've been rather obsessed with fiddling with something Slackware-ish. However, Slackware proper is a bit on the intimidating side for a less-than-dedicated yutz like myself. So I had to work my way up. From baby steps, like playing with Puppy Slacko (yeah, I know it's not really Slack, but it uses the repositories, so don't you start nuthin'), to dipping my foot in with a copy of Slax on a USB (even with it's kind of toyish, but clever, package system)...
I didn't have the T410s with me on the road, so I just waited till I got back home for a weekend. (I did have the X60s, still proudly running Saluki, in all its cool glory, and backed up by a case-full of Puppy USBs.) I used the already installed Kubuntu (which just never really tripped my trigger) to do the download and burn.
Being slightly gun shy, I only downloaded the 32-bit Xfce version. I'm still a knuckle-dragging .ISO burner, and I just didn't want to waste a DVD-R on a system that might not work properly with my hardware. (And, I also had some delusions about testing it on a lower spec machine later.)
However... it worked perfectly. Hardware was all recognized out of the box. Trackpad, sound, everything. Even scrolling. There was a slight blip when setting up the wifi, but a reboot took care of that. I have even been impressed with the included version of Midori, a web browser that has never been on my favorites list. I may actually eschew installing Firefox, at least for a bit.
The only thing I have not tried doing is hibernating the system, which can be a pain in some version of Puppy. (Later Thinkpads tend to sometimes be a bit finicky about sleeping.) So, we shall see... (Does Salix have a suspend feature? Would you believe, I haven't even looked...)
So, all in all, if you're in the market for a lightweight implementation of Slackware, which has some lazy-slacker features (Dependency checking! Yes!), Salix might be the thing for you. I've obviously only used it a very short time, but I have to say I do like it. It might compete with Crunchbang as a clean, daily work version of Linux for me. I might even take this out on the road with me, and see how it goes.
Slackware for the Lazy Slacker. I can dig it.
Rather than belabor the fact that work is making me a blog slacker, let me focus on my other bit of Slack. I finally got round to installing Salix on my long-suffering T410s.
For whatever reason, I've been rather obsessed with fiddling with something Slackware-ish. However, Slackware proper is a bit on the intimidating side for a less-than-dedicated yutz like myself. So I had to work my way up. From baby steps, like playing with Puppy Slacko (yeah, I know it's not really Slack, but it uses the repositories, so don't you start nuthin'), to dipping my foot in with a copy of Slax on a USB (even with it's kind of toyish, but clever, package system)...
I didn't have the T410s with me on the road, so I just waited till I got back home for a weekend. (I did have the X60s, still proudly running Saluki, in all its cool glory, and backed up by a case-full of Puppy USBs.) I used the already installed Kubuntu (which just never really tripped my trigger) to do the download and burn.
Being slightly gun shy, I only downloaded the 32-bit Xfce version. I'm still a knuckle-dragging .ISO burner, and I just didn't want to waste a DVD-R on a system that might not work properly with my hardware. (And, I also had some delusions about testing it on a lower spec machine later.)
However... it worked perfectly. Hardware was all recognized out of the box. Trackpad, sound, everything. Even scrolling. There was a slight blip when setting up the wifi, but a reboot took care of that. I have even been impressed with the included version of Midori, a web browser that has never been on my favorites list. I may actually eschew installing Firefox, at least for a bit.
The only thing I have not tried doing is hibernating the system, which can be a pain in some version of Puppy. (Later Thinkpads tend to sometimes be a bit finicky about sleeping.) So, we shall see... (Does Salix have a suspend feature? Would you believe, I haven't even looked...)
So, all in all, if you're in the market for a lightweight implementation of Slackware, which has some lazy-slacker features (Dependency checking! Yes!), Salix might be the thing for you. I've obviously only used it a very short time, but I have to say I do like it. It might compete with Crunchbang as a clean, daily work version of Linux for me. I might even take this out on the road with me, and see how it goes.
Slackware for the Lazy Slacker. I can dig it.
Monday, March 3, 2014
WOW!
Well, the junker T43 I got a few days ago just will NOT work right. Tried it with Wary Puppy, which is about as basic as it gets, and it still froze up in the interface. When I just tried to boot into the copy of Windows on the hard drive, it of course demands you "activate" Windows. And then freezes.
On a lark, I dragged out the poor little X41 Tablet and pulled the extra memory stick out and stuck it in the T43 (which only had 512 MB). No go. Same problems. Same outcome.
Disgusted, I put the memory stick back in the X41. And then I got a wild hair... The X41 is missing it's hard drive, and is also missing keys off the keyboard, and one Trackpoint button. But...
But...
I went in and dug out an old thumb drive with Puppy Slacko 5.5 on it, plugged it in, hooked up the power brick, and hit the power button...
Damn.
The fan in the X41 kicked on and screamed... Then settled down. I hit F12 for boot devices. Took it just a second, but... There was the menu, and there was the USB drive. Select that...
It booted. Long story short, it booted. Even in the savage shape that little notebook was in, it booted. The lost 'G' slot still worked fine. And the seemingly stuck right Trackpoint button worked. (I didn't try the missing scroll button.)
When I'd had the back memory door open, I noticed a wireless card installed. So...
It did. It went online flawlessly. I browsed the web for just a second. (Didn't fiddle with YouTube, as I hadn't adjusted the sound, but I have no doubt the system would've dealt with it quite well.)
A check of the system showed a PentiumM running at 1.6 Ghz, with a gig of memory. Nicely appointed little system. Granted, it has it's problems, as I noted above. The screen latch is busted, too. And no hard drive.
But, I just might put a little work into it. Maybe see if I can find those missing keys. And maybe a new HD. This little computer deserves a second chance.
It's a fighter. And it's pretty darn cool for it.
On a lark, I dragged out the poor little X41 Tablet and pulled the extra memory stick out and stuck it in the T43 (which only had 512 MB). No go. Same problems. Same outcome.
Disgusted, I put the memory stick back in the X41. And then I got a wild hair... The X41 is missing it's hard drive, and is also missing keys off the keyboard, and one Trackpoint button. But...
But...
I went in and dug out an old thumb drive with Puppy Slacko 5.5 on it, plugged it in, hooked up the power brick, and hit the power button...
Damn.
The fan in the X41 kicked on and screamed... Then settled down. I hit F12 for boot devices. Took it just a second, but... There was the menu, and there was the USB drive. Select that...
It booted. Long story short, it booted. Even in the savage shape that little notebook was in, it booted. The lost 'G' slot still worked fine. And the seemingly stuck right Trackpoint button worked. (I didn't try the missing scroll button.)
When I'd had the back memory door open, I noticed a wireless card installed. So...
It did. It went online flawlessly. I browsed the web for just a second. (Didn't fiddle with YouTube, as I hadn't adjusted the sound, but I have no doubt the system would've dealt with it quite well.)
A check of the system showed a PentiumM running at 1.6 Ghz, with a gig of memory. Nicely appointed little system. Granted, it has it's problems, as I noted above. The screen latch is busted, too. And no hard drive.
But, I just might put a little work into it. Maybe see if I can find those missing keys. And maybe a new HD. This little computer deserves a second chance.
It's a fighter. And it's pretty darn cool for it.
Sunday, March 2, 2014
Still Fluffing
One of those evenings again. Just fiddling about, waiting for the big snowstorm to hit. Fun.
Did a bit of Linux stuff this evening. Burned and tested the latest versions of LXPup and Simplicity Linux. Both seem quite decent. Of the two, LXPup seems a bit less buggy, but saying that's being a bit rough on Simplicity. The only major problem I had with the latter was that it wouldn't recognize the hardware volume control on my T430. I somewhat suspect that might not be a problem on other systems. I didn't try the "suspend" feature on either system, as I think the later Thinkpads are bit wonky in this regard. I've got LXPup set up on a thumb drive, and will try it on my X60s later on. I think it'll work flawlessly there.
I was actually looking for some other systems to try on the junker T43 that I mentioned a couple entries ago. I have yet to give Wary Puppy a try. On one of those oddball larks for which I'm famous, I grabbed an .ISO for Legacy OS 4 Mini. The name "mini" seems a bit of a misnomer, as the image file is nearly half a gig in size. However, it's supposed to be decent for older systems, so...
(I had thought about getting Legacy OS 2, but the only version I could find in my very quick check was the current "Gamer" release, which comes loaded with older games. To be honest, I'm not a gamer, and right now I'm only interested in this as a test option, so...)
Kind of wondering about the T43. Not sure what's causing the freeze-ups after booting. Possible bad memory? Something deeper? I don't know. Not sure if I'll have time to really look into it till I'm next in.
Too much stuff to do. and not enough time...
Did a bit of Linux stuff this evening. Burned and tested the latest versions of LXPup and Simplicity Linux. Both seem quite decent. Of the two, LXPup seems a bit less buggy, but saying that's being a bit rough on Simplicity. The only major problem I had with the latter was that it wouldn't recognize the hardware volume control on my T430. I somewhat suspect that might not be a problem on other systems. I didn't try the "suspend" feature on either system, as I think the later Thinkpads are bit wonky in this regard. I've got LXPup set up on a thumb drive, and will try it on my X60s later on. I think it'll work flawlessly there.
I was actually looking for some other systems to try on the junker T43 that I mentioned a couple entries ago. I have yet to give Wary Puppy a try. On one of those oddball larks for which I'm famous, I grabbed an .ISO for Legacy OS 4 Mini. The name "mini" seems a bit of a misnomer, as the image file is nearly half a gig in size. However, it's supposed to be decent for older systems, so...
(I had thought about getting Legacy OS 2, but the only version I could find in my very quick check was the current "Gamer" release, which comes loaded with older games. To be honest, I'm not a gamer, and right now I'm only interested in this as a test option, so...)
Kind of wondering about the T43. Not sure what's causing the freeze-ups after booting. Possible bad memory? Something deeper? I don't know. Not sure if I'll have time to really look into it till I'm next in.
Too much stuff to do. and not enough time...
Saturday, March 1, 2014
Continuing the Fun
After my last post, I found myself cruising around some of my old YouTube haunts, ending up at PuppyLinuxWorld. The good IcyOS was one of my online mentors when I first started delving into the deep, dark Linux world. His videos are well-done, and he has just the right off-beat sense of humor to appeal to someone as...well, off-beat as me.
While cruising through his older stuff, I got a bit nostalgic. (Me? Noooo....) Ended up plugged & charging my old Thinkpad X60s, which still has the ever-marvelous Saluki Linux installed. of all the Puppy Linux descendents, Saluki is probably my favorite. Of all the variants I've tried, Saluki always struck me as by far the best version to use for full-scale daily productive work.
Alas, of course, Saluki is no longer being developed, and the last time I checked, it's repositories were getting a little long in the tooth. I was able, some time back, to snag a newer version of Firefox to install, keeping the browser up to date, but... Still, I haven't found anything that can replace it yet. I've tried Lighthouse, which is nice, but is 64-bit, and won't run on older systems like the X60s. (I also had some problems with the touchpad support when I installed it on my T410s.) I've also tried Simplicity, which is quite nice, but just didn't quite click with me. And, yes, I've been half-keeping an eye on Saluki's "annointed" successor, Carolina. (In fact, I have the latest version stuck on a thumb drive to test on the X60s, but just haven't gotten 'round to it. I did run it on my T430, and it ran OK, but I still have some issues...) Still, none of these really "do it" for me the way Saluki does.
So, in my nostalgic mood, I dragged out the X60s, and fired it up. Kicked up the copy of FireFox, and was quite happy when it did its upgrade to v.27. That's cool. And Flash still works, as I spent too much time watching the new Godzilla trailer on YouTube... (I know... But my Inner-9-Year-Old was quite insistent.) I'd even forgotten I'd installed a conky showing all my system settings. In short... Well, it was like rekindling a romance with an old fling...
And I still have 51% left on the battery...
I did use Saluki to do a mass reset on my fleet of Puppy USB boot drives. (Basically I just went in and erased all the "save" files. I'll set up new ones when I next boot each of those thumb drives.) However, I did not touch my 32 GB "monster" drive, which has (you guessed it) another copy of Saluki on it. I'd set it up ages ago to do some Virtual Box testing, which I never really got around to doing.
In any event, it's been kind of fun to spend some time with an old friend. I may actually take the X60s with me when I go back out on the road, along with that thumb drive collection, and see if I can get some more quality time in.
We shall see...
While cruising through his older stuff, I got a bit nostalgic. (Me? Noooo....) Ended up plugged & charging my old Thinkpad X60s, which still has the ever-marvelous Saluki Linux installed. of all the Puppy Linux descendents, Saluki is probably my favorite. Of all the variants I've tried, Saluki always struck me as by far the best version to use for full-scale daily productive work.
Alas, of course, Saluki is no longer being developed, and the last time I checked, it's repositories were getting a little long in the tooth. I was able, some time back, to snag a newer version of Firefox to install, keeping the browser up to date, but... Still, I haven't found anything that can replace it yet. I've tried Lighthouse, which is nice, but is 64-bit, and won't run on older systems like the X60s. (I also had some problems with the touchpad support when I installed it on my T410s.) I've also tried Simplicity, which is quite nice, but just didn't quite click with me. And, yes, I've been half-keeping an eye on Saluki's "annointed" successor, Carolina. (In fact, I have the latest version stuck on a thumb drive to test on the X60s, but just haven't gotten 'round to it. I did run it on my T430, and it ran OK, but I still have some issues...) Still, none of these really "do it" for me the way Saluki does.
So, in my nostalgic mood, I dragged out the X60s, and fired it up. Kicked up the copy of FireFox, and was quite happy when it did its upgrade to v.27. That's cool. And Flash still works, as I spent too much time watching the new Godzilla trailer on YouTube... (I know... But my Inner-9-Year-Old was quite insistent.) I'd even forgotten I'd installed a conky showing all my system settings. In short... Well, it was like rekindling a romance with an old fling...
And I still have 51% left on the battery...
I did use Saluki to do a mass reset on my fleet of Puppy USB boot drives. (Basically I just went in and erased all the "save" files. I'll set up new ones when I next boot each of those thumb drives.) However, I did not touch my 32 GB "monster" drive, which has (you guessed it) another copy of Saluki on it. I'd set it up ages ago to do some Virtual Box testing, which I never really got around to doing.
In any event, it's been kind of fun to spend some time with an old friend. I may actually take the X60s with me when I go back out on the road, along with that thumb drive collection, and see if I can get some more quality time in.
We shall see...
Friday, February 28, 2014
Fluffing about
So... I'm officially in the in-between at the moment. A little bit of time off before starting yet another grind. I'm rather happy for the breathing space. It's been a bit of a haul, and I'm hoping that the next round of work is a bit more even.
So, back in town for a bit, I decided to make a run to the Computer-Shop-Across-the-River, to check on a couple of errant computers I've left in their care for far too long. Alas, the great Dell behemoth that I should never have bought is still dead in the water, as the owner of the Shop continues to try and find me a GPU for a decent (rather than Dell-approved) price. We shall continue that saga later.
The crusty little Thinkpad T23 that had originally went in to let them replace the fan unit, and which had suffered a broken piece of keyboard had, however, been fixed. Lovely! I was happy to take it home, even if I have absolutely no use for the poor thing. A Pentium III with no wireless card, and me lacking the desire to upgrade it. (I did install the CMOS battery that I'd bought shortly after getting the system way back when. Works like a charm now.) (And, alas, no I'm not using it to write this via Ethernet... This is the T30, though running an identical copy of Puppy Slacko 5.6 for good measure.)
Amusingly, the shop owner ran back to his little computer stocking shelves, and came back carrying a great heap of black plastic & metal. "Got some stuff here for you!" Seems that someone from the local "recycling center" had dropped off a load of computer junk with him. (I'm going to sound a total fool and say I didn't even know we had a recycling center here. But I don't get out much...) I found myself staring at a stack of 3 Thinkpads in various states of disrepair.
What was there? Well, the best of the lot appeared to be a T43, on which was a note saying that battery wouldn't charge, but it would boot, but there seemed to be some Windows problems. Going down the list was an X41 Tablet computer, missing a hard drive, a single key off the keyboard ("g"), the central Trackpoint click button. Oh, and the screen latch was shot. And last on the list was an ancient Thinkpad 600, the note on it stating that it would start to boot, and never stop. And it was missing the cover to the memory slot. A memory stick was hanging out of it, which I quickly clicked back into place.
Since I was more interested in getting the T23 up and running, I only really played with the T43. I think the battery wasn't properly seated, which was the charging problem. The greater concern was that it seems to have some more serious problems. The copy of WindowsXP on it keeps asking to be registered, which I really don't want to do. A Linux run showed that it would boot into both Puppy Raring and Puppy Slacko, go to the desktop, and then freeze. Puppy Precise wouldn't boot at all. I was going to give Puppy Wary a go, but was getting a bit on the tired side, so... A quick check of the X41 showed that the right Trackpad button was also stuck. I'll look into fixing/replacing later. If I can get it to boot a Puppy from USB, which I'm not sure it's capable of, I might even think about a replacement hard drive. As for the 600, I really haven't a clue. Not even sure if it will turn on, and haven't really given thought to a replacement memory slot door (if you could even find one without just buying another unit, which would be pointless.) And, to be honest, I think my 380XD eats the 600 for breakfast, and it's really just scraping to run Puppy Wary.
Still, I've got the things, and it might be good for a weekend of fiddling around. Who knows?
The things I get myself into...
So, back in town for a bit, I decided to make a run to the Computer-Shop-Across-the-River, to check on a couple of errant computers I've left in their care for far too long. Alas, the great Dell behemoth that I should never have bought is still dead in the water, as the owner of the Shop continues to try and find me a GPU for a decent (rather than Dell-approved) price. We shall continue that saga later.
The crusty little Thinkpad T23 that had originally went in to let them replace the fan unit, and which had suffered a broken piece of keyboard had, however, been fixed. Lovely! I was happy to take it home, even if I have absolutely no use for the poor thing. A Pentium III with no wireless card, and me lacking the desire to upgrade it. (I did install the CMOS battery that I'd bought shortly after getting the system way back when. Works like a charm now.) (And, alas, no I'm not using it to write this via Ethernet... This is the T30, though running an identical copy of Puppy Slacko 5.6 for good measure.)
Amusingly, the shop owner ran back to his little computer stocking shelves, and came back carrying a great heap of black plastic & metal. "Got some stuff here for you!" Seems that someone from the local "recycling center" had dropped off a load of computer junk with him. (I'm going to sound a total fool and say I didn't even know we had a recycling center here. But I don't get out much...) I found myself staring at a stack of 3 Thinkpads in various states of disrepair.
What was there? Well, the best of the lot appeared to be a T43, on which was a note saying that battery wouldn't charge, but it would boot, but there seemed to be some Windows problems. Going down the list was an X41 Tablet computer, missing a hard drive, a single key off the keyboard ("g"), the central Trackpoint click button. Oh, and the screen latch was shot. And last on the list was an ancient Thinkpad 600, the note on it stating that it would start to boot, and never stop. And it was missing the cover to the memory slot. A memory stick was hanging out of it, which I quickly clicked back into place.
Since I was more interested in getting the T23 up and running, I only really played with the T43. I think the battery wasn't properly seated, which was the charging problem. The greater concern was that it seems to have some more serious problems. The copy of WindowsXP on it keeps asking to be registered, which I really don't want to do. A Linux run showed that it would boot into both Puppy Raring and Puppy Slacko, go to the desktop, and then freeze. Puppy Precise wouldn't boot at all. I was going to give Puppy Wary a go, but was getting a bit on the tired side, so... A quick check of the X41 showed that the right Trackpad button was also stuck. I'll look into fixing/replacing later. If I can get it to boot a Puppy from USB, which I'm not sure it's capable of, I might even think about a replacement hard drive. As for the 600, I really haven't a clue. Not even sure if it will turn on, and haven't really given thought to a replacement memory slot door (if you could even find one without just buying another unit, which would be pointless.) And, to be honest, I think my 380XD eats the 600 for breakfast, and it's really just scraping to run Puppy Wary.
Still, I've got the things, and it might be good for a weekend of fiddling around. Who knows?
The things I get myself into...
Friday, February 21, 2014
Yeah, I know...
I said I was going to be a bit more diligent, didn't I?
The trouble is, this real life stuff keeps intruding. And I haven't had a moment to breathe in ages. However, I may be up for a switch here soon. Don't know if that mythical "breathing room" will become available or not, but...
I did manage to make it in off the road this weekend, if only for a day or so. So, after unpacking and assaulting the washing machine, I dug into some tech stuff to relax for a bit. Won't get into it too much, but a quick overview...
Dug out my old Sony Vaio FJ (the mysterious "Russian" system; remind me to explain that sometime), and nuked a copy of MacPup off of it, replacing it with a fresh install of CrunchBang. Works fine, of course, save for the fact that #! just does not cotton to the ALPS touchpad on the system. Everything works fine, mind you, save for there being no tap nor scroll capability. Quickly grabbed/installed a copy of tpconfig, but that's a no-go. Oh well, I can deal with clicking a button. For now...
The second system I wanted to play with was a Lenovo IdeaPad U310 that came to me via a trade of some old junk. The IdeaPads are decent systems, from what I've seen. ThinkPads they are not, but they aren't bad. However, this one had an odd bit to it. Whoever had had it prior had installed a really thin copy of Windows 7 Home Edition on the 32 GB SSD. (!?!) When I looked in Windows Explorer, the 500 GB HD wasn't there. Oooo-kay... A bit deeper digging showed that there was something there, but Windows couldn't see it.
Well, I just don't do things the easy way. Being the jerk I am, I dragged out an old Puppy Raring thumb drive, and booted from that. And it didn't see anything. At first. But...well, you all know what it was: The freaking HD wasn't formatted. Basically, the system had nothing at that point save for basically a 32 GB drive. And that, with a Windows install, was getting mighty thin...
Feeling particularly jerkish, I just fired up gparted and quickly did a format of the drive. Not feeling particular industrious, I didn't reinstall Windows to the larger drive, and set the SSD up as cache. The thing works, and as long as it does, I don't care. No one else will be using it, so... Boots really fast, by the way...
Still trying to figure out what idiot lets a system out into the wild like that. It's making my head hurt...
Beyond that, did a real quick update to Kubuntu on the old ThinkPad T410s. Not really sure this install is going to stick around, but it'll do for now. I just haven't found anything that feels right on the T410s. I know that sounds weird, but...
It's getting late, and after many hours on the road, I think it's time for bed. This just might be enough tech for the night...
The trouble is, this real life stuff keeps intruding. And I haven't had a moment to breathe in ages. However, I may be up for a switch here soon. Don't know if that mythical "breathing room" will become available or not, but...
I did manage to make it in off the road this weekend, if only for a day or so. So, after unpacking and assaulting the washing machine, I dug into some tech stuff to relax for a bit. Won't get into it too much, but a quick overview...
Dug out my old Sony Vaio FJ (the mysterious "Russian" system; remind me to explain that sometime), and nuked a copy of MacPup off of it, replacing it with a fresh install of CrunchBang. Works fine, of course, save for the fact that #! just does not cotton to the ALPS touchpad on the system. Everything works fine, mind you, save for there being no tap nor scroll capability. Quickly grabbed/installed a copy of tpconfig, but that's a no-go. Oh well, I can deal with clicking a button. For now...
The second system I wanted to play with was a Lenovo IdeaPad U310 that came to me via a trade of some old junk. The IdeaPads are decent systems, from what I've seen. ThinkPads they are not, but they aren't bad. However, this one had an odd bit to it. Whoever had had it prior had installed a really thin copy of Windows 7 Home Edition on the 32 GB SSD. (!?!) When I looked in Windows Explorer, the 500 GB HD wasn't there. Oooo-kay... A bit deeper digging showed that there was something there, but Windows couldn't see it.
Well, I just don't do things the easy way. Being the jerk I am, I dragged out an old Puppy Raring thumb drive, and booted from that. And it didn't see anything. At first. But...well, you all know what it was: The freaking HD wasn't formatted. Basically, the system had nothing at that point save for basically a 32 GB drive. And that, with a Windows install, was getting mighty thin...
Feeling particularly jerkish, I just fired up gparted and quickly did a format of the drive. Not feeling particular industrious, I didn't reinstall Windows to the larger drive, and set the SSD up as cache. The thing works, and as long as it does, I don't care. No one else will be using it, so... Boots really fast, by the way...
Still trying to figure out what idiot lets a system out into the wild like that. It's making my head hurt...
Beyond that, did a real quick update to Kubuntu on the old ThinkPad T410s. Not really sure this install is going to stick around, but it'll do for now. I just haven't found anything that feels right on the T410s. I know that sounds weird, but...
It's getting late, and after many hours on the road, I think it's time for bed. This just might be enough tech for the night...
Saturday, January 25, 2014
Did it again
OK, everyone who knows me knows I'm a bit off my rocker when it comes to collecting. You can go back to some of the early posts in this blog, and see the crazy fountain pens I have floating about. I have a horrifyingly magpie-ish sense of "gotta have it" when I get fixated on something...
Not too long ago, I picked up a copy of Steve Hamm's The Race for Perfect: Inside the Quest to Design the Ultimate Personal Computer. It's a decent general history of the evolution of portable computing systems. However, it uses as its main focus the development of the Lenovo Thinkpad X300, an early contemporary/competitor for the MacBook Air. (Designed at almost the same time as the original Air.)
The X300 (originally code named "Kodachi", after the shorter Japanese sword) is a wonderfully cool design, and of course I fell straight in love with it. And, of course, started hitting eBay looking at used models.
But there were some things I didn't like. I wasn't fond of the 64 GB SSD, which seemed a bit slim for my taste. And the "collector's premium" kept seeing in the 'Bay listings didn't appeal to me, either.
However... (Damn, there's always a "however", isn't there?)
There was the X301, the refresh of the X300. Basically the same case, a slightly updated processor, and a 128 GB SSD. There still tended to be the collector's premium, but...
Yeah, I found one. Whether it was a fluke or not, i found an X301 at a decent price. Not sure what the deal was, but I snagged it. The system is in good shape, and the battery (a replacement) is of decent quality. It was loaded with, of all things, Windows 7 Premium (32 bit), which I wasn't thrilled about. However...
It took a goodly bit of work, a bit of cleaning, upgrading, and some fortuitous application installations, but I have it up and running properly now. I think I'm hitting around 4 to 4.5 hours on the battery, which is decent enough for me. I didn't upgrade the OS, as I really just don't feel like doing so. It's functional, especially after I managed to dig out my old copy of Office 2007 and install it. Certainly not "cutting edge" nor "feature-rich", but functional. And that's what I wanted. Functional.
Have to admit, I find it a bit odd to go back to the "old" Thinkpad keyboard. I've solidly adapted to the new, "island-style" on my X1 Carbon, but... Both versions are the best you can get, so... I enjoy typing on either, and I do have to admit to really liking the old "forward/back" key set (the one thing I do miss on the new keyboard).
The X301 has sort of moved into the space that my X60s was inhabiting. (The X60s is still loaded with Saluki Linux, upgraded with a new web browser. But I still need to download and test Carolina on it.) It's a bit of an upgrade, especially as it gives me access to an optical drive in a system of this very compact size. (Yes, I am still old-fashioned enough that I do occasionally watch a DVD...)
So, I guess I'm still running in Windows mode for the time being. But, at least I'm running it on Thinkpads. And, as far as I'm concerned, you just can't go wrong there. Especially if it happens to be one of the cooler Thinkpads around...
Not too long ago, I picked up a copy of Steve Hamm's The Race for Perfect: Inside the Quest to Design the Ultimate Personal Computer. It's a decent general history of the evolution of portable computing systems. However, it uses as its main focus the development of the Lenovo Thinkpad X300, an early contemporary/competitor for the MacBook Air. (Designed at almost the same time as the original Air.)
The X300 (originally code named "Kodachi", after the shorter Japanese sword) is a wonderfully cool design, and of course I fell straight in love with it. And, of course, started hitting eBay looking at used models.
But there were some things I didn't like. I wasn't fond of the 64 GB SSD, which seemed a bit slim for my taste. And the "collector's premium" kept seeing in the 'Bay listings didn't appeal to me, either.
However... (Damn, there's always a "however", isn't there?)
There was the X301, the refresh of the X300. Basically the same case, a slightly updated processor, and a 128 GB SSD. There still tended to be the collector's premium, but...
Yeah, I found one. Whether it was a fluke or not, i found an X301 at a decent price. Not sure what the deal was, but I snagged it. The system is in good shape, and the battery (a replacement) is of decent quality. It was loaded with, of all things, Windows 7 Premium (32 bit), which I wasn't thrilled about. However...
It took a goodly bit of work, a bit of cleaning, upgrading, and some fortuitous application installations, but I have it up and running properly now. I think I'm hitting around 4 to 4.5 hours on the battery, which is decent enough for me. I didn't upgrade the OS, as I really just don't feel like doing so. It's functional, especially after I managed to dig out my old copy of Office 2007 and install it. Certainly not "cutting edge" nor "feature-rich", but functional. And that's what I wanted. Functional.
Have to admit, I find it a bit odd to go back to the "old" Thinkpad keyboard. I've solidly adapted to the new, "island-style" on my X1 Carbon, but... Both versions are the best you can get, so... I enjoy typing on either, and I do have to admit to really liking the old "forward/back" key set (the one thing I do miss on the new keyboard).
The X301 has sort of moved into the space that my X60s was inhabiting. (The X60s is still loaded with Saluki Linux, upgraded with a new web browser. But I still need to download and test Carolina on it.) It's a bit of an upgrade, especially as it gives me access to an optical drive in a system of this very compact size. (Yes, I am still old-fashioned enough that I do occasionally watch a DVD...)
So, I guess I'm still running in Windows mode for the time being. But, at least I'm running it on Thinkpads. And, as far as I'm concerned, you just can't go wrong there. Especially if it happens to be one of the cooler Thinkpads around...
Friday, January 17, 2014
Breaking Silence
Maybe that should be the title of my TV show, "Breaking Silence"... I seem to have to do it enough.
But...well, the usual excuses. Work. Work. More work. For which I should be eternally grateful. It's paying my bills. And letting me indulge in a little system grabbing.
I have switched almost entirely into Windows usage. Not sure when that pendulum will swing back in another direction.
I have an interesting collection to play with at the moment. I've been using a factory-refurbished Thinkpad Edge 531 with a Core i7, running Windows 8.1 as my work computer. (I wanted a 15" screen for that.) As my knockabout personal "notebook" computer, I've been using a refurbished X1 Carbon with an i5, 4 GB of RAM, and a 256 GB SSD, also running 8.1. I managed to get incredible deals on both of those system (particularly the Carbon, which I couldn't have touched otherwise.)
And, right now, I'm typing this on my "birthday present", which is a little Thinkpad X120e. About 2 years old now, with a dual-core AMD E-350 processor, 4 GB of RAM, and a 320 GB HD. Running, believe it or not, Windows 7 Professional. It literally just looks like a miniaturized Thinkpad. I think I got infatuated with this model after seeing the slick Lenovo "tour" video awhile back. (Yeah, I am that pathetic.)
Trapped here "on assignment", as it were, for several weeks at a time, Ive not had much to do but play with my computers. I've truly, truly fell in love with Microsoft OneNote. I truly think this is one of the best programs in the world for someone as discombobulated as I am. And why Microsoft doesn't push it more, I don't know. I'm beginning to think this is the Microsoft equivalent of HyperCard. An utterly awesome program that the parent company can't get its head around, and horrifically neglects. (OK, a bit overly dramatic. MS does vaguely seem to know they have OneNote. And Steve Jobs didn't neglect HyperCard, he killed it because he saw it as a John Scully project...)
So, here I sit, playing on my miniature Thinkpad, fantasizing about traveling the world. Fantasizing about being some grand tech writer type. Fantasizing about the cute little redhead standing at the bar...
Uh...maybe I better quit while I'm ahead...
But...well, the usual excuses. Work. Work. More work. For which I should be eternally grateful. It's paying my bills. And letting me indulge in a little system grabbing.
I have switched almost entirely into Windows usage. Not sure when that pendulum will swing back in another direction.
I have an interesting collection to play with at the moment. I've been using a factory-refurbished Thinkpad Edge 531 with a Core i7, running Windows 8.1 as my work computer. (I wanted a 15" screen for that.) As my knockabout personal "notebook" computer, I've been using a refurbished X1 Carbon with an i5, 4 GB of RAM, and a 256 GB SSD, also running 8.1. I managed to get incredible deals on both of those system (particularly the Carbon, which I couldn't have touched otherwise.)
And, right now, I'm typing this on my "birthday present", which is a little Thinkpad X120e. About 2 years old now, with a dual-core AMD E-350 processor, 4 GB of RAM, and a 320 GB HD. Running, believe it or not, Windows 7 Professional. It literally just looks like a miniaturized Thinkpad. I think I got infatuated with this model after seeing the slick Lenovo "tour" video awhile back. (Yeah, I am that pathetic.)
Trapped here "on assignment", as it were, for several weeks at a time, Ive not had much to do but play with my computers. I've truly, truly fell in love with Microsoft OneNote. I truly think this is one of the best programs in the world for someone as discombobulated as I am. And why Microsoft doesn't push it more, I don't know. I'm beginning to think this is the Microsoft equivalent of HyperCard. An utterly awesome program that the parent company can't get its head around, and horrifically neglects. (OK, a bit overly dramatic. MS does vaguely seem to know they have OneNote. And Steve Jobs didn't neglect HyperCard, he killed it because he saw it as a John Scully project...)
So, here I sit, playing on my miniature Thinkpad, fantasizing about traveling the world. Fantasizing about being some grand tech writer type. Fantasizing about the cute little redhead standing at the bar...
Uh...maybe I better quit while I'm ahead...
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