87 groups
This image is circulating internet for a few days; it comes from Virgin, and they claim it contains 87 music bands. How many can you spot ?
Linux on the 'Aldi' Medion MD8800
The Aldi Medion MD8800 is a multimedia PC containing
Most of the config setup can be found at Martins site.
The machine is completely geared and configured towards Windows XP, but which new machine isn't nowadays ? I noticed the XP install contains MPlayer and a program called Power Cinema Linux, which has nothing to do with Linux itself, so I'm wondering if there's some copyright or trademark violated here. It was the first time I used Windows XP for a day or two, looks nice, but it seemed continuously like I was driving a Ferrarri in first gear. How sweet the system would be running a complete 64bit OS on it. Time to fetch the Linux install CDROMs...
I chose to install a Debian 64 bit version on it. For AMD64 and Pentium EMT64 (x86-64) processors, you need the Debian amd64 port (ia64 is the port intended for Itanium). I used the Debian Sarge amd64 netinst iso, but that refused to detect the SATA disk. Using the updated netinst iso from Lennart Sorensen, with an updated 2.6.12 kernel, fixed the problem eventually, though the installer detected the disks only after loading the ata-piix module.
There's a price running a 64 bit system, and that is that you can't run 32bit applications, and unfortunately, Openoffice is some of them... for the rest, all the software I use, is available in 64bit version.
Update : I run Ubuntu 32bit now.
Kernel
I tried to build myself a stock 2.6.14 kernel, using the /boot/config file, but that one paniced while trying to mount the root fs, and I didn't have any time to investigate this problem any further. There's a 2.6.14-smp image for p4 based systems in the Debian archive, which I use now. The dualcore is nicely detected as a two-processor system.
Sound
The onboard soundcard doens't reveal itself with a 'lspci -v', so this took me a little time; the soundcard is a Trident 3D Wave, so use the trident driver. The /dev/dsp device gets activated through the snd-pcm-oss module.
Keyboard
Works without problem as a USB mouse and keyboard. While powering up the machine, the mouse refused to work, but that's because you need to charge the batteries first with the USB cable. I installed the hotkeys package in order to use the multimedia keys from the Medion keyboard. Works great with a little fiddling (you need to remap some of the application startup keys).
CD- and DVD Writer
Works without problem. The DVD drives are detected as hda and hdb.
NVIdia
I use the 'nv' xorg driver. I tried to build the Debian nvidia driver from source, but that gives unresolved symbols while loading the module. Seems a global problem in Debian, though...
Using the experimental nvidia-7676 drivers, everything compiled nicely, and the module loaded without any problem. If X.org refuses to start, spewing out a message about not being able to find the module, that's because you need the nvidia-glx package.
TV Card
See Gentoo documentation for the SAA7134 driver.
update : use these options while loading the module
modprobe saa7134 i2c_scan=1 card=55 oss=1
Linux-2.6.19 will provide a better driver for this card...
Remote control
You should use the ati_remote kernel module, or use the lirc ati_usb module. You'll need to define a .Xmodmap file to remap most of the keys, though.
WLAN card
yet untested, though the driver detects the Ralink card. Probably supported with the rt2400 module.
Firewire
untested
Functional display
Works, but not out of the box. You need lcdproc-0.5.1 or higher, since that version contains the MD8800 support.
Cardreader
Only USB ports work, Compact Flash and SD card slots do not work out of the box.
I will try to update this post whenever I get additional info how to tweak some settings...
- A Pentium D 830 64bit dualcore processor
- 1 Gig RAM
- wireless mouse and keyboard
- a wireless LAN card
- a NVidia Geforce 6700 XL card
- a 250 Gig SATA disk
- a Philips SAA7134 TV card
- Windows XP (32 bit) preinstalled...
Most of the config setup can be found at Martins site.
The machine is completely geared and configured towards Windows XP, but which new machine isn't nowadays ? I noticed the XP install contains MPlayer and a program called Power Cinema Linux, which has nothing to do with Linux itself, so I'm wondering if there's some copyright or trademark violated here. It was the first time I used Windows XP for a day or two, looks nice, but it seemed continuously like I was driving a Ferrarri in first gear. How sweet the system would be running a complete 64bit OS on it. Time to fetch the Linux install CDROMs...
I chose to install a Debian 64 bit version on it. For AMD64 and Pentium EMT64 (x86-64) processors, you need the Debian amd64 port (ia64 is the port intended for Itanium). I used the Debian Sarge amd64 netinst iso, but that refused to detect the SATA disk. Using the updated netinst iso from Lennart Sorensen, with an updated 2.6.12 kernel, fixed the problem eventually, though the installer detected the disks only after loading the ata-piix module.
There's a price running a 64 bit system, and that is that you can't run 32bit applications, and unfortunately, Openoffice is some of them... for the rest, all the software I use, is available in 64bit version.
Update : I run Ubuntu 32bit now.
Kernel
I tried to build myself a stock 2.6.14 kernel, using the /boot/config file, but that one paniced while trying to mount the root fs, and I didn't have any time to investigate this problem any further. There's a 2.6.14-smp image for p4 based systems in the Debian archive, which I use now. The dualcore is nicely detected as a two-processor system.
Sound
The onboard soundcard doens't reveal itself with a 'lspci -v', so this took me a little time; the soundcard is a Trident 3D Wave, so use the trident driver. The /dev/dsp device gets activated through the snd-pcm-oss module.
Keyboard
Works without problem as a USB mouse and keyboard. While powering up the machine, the mouse refused to work, but that's because you need to charge the batteries first with the USB cable. I installed the hotkeys package in order to use the multimedia keys from the Medion keyboard. Works great with a little fiddling (you need to remap some of the application startup keys).
CD- and DVD Writer
Works without problem. The DVD drives are detected as hda and hdb.
NVIdia
I use the 'nv' xorg driver. I tried to build the Debian nvidia driver from source, but that gives unresolved symbols while loading the module. Seems a global problem in Debian, though...
Using the experimental nvidia-7676 drivers, everything compiled nicely, and the module loaded without any problem. If X.org refuses to start, spewing out a message about not being able to find the module, that's because you need the nvidia-glx package.
TV Card
See Gentoo documentation for the SAA7134 driver.
update : use these options while loading the module
modprobe saa7134 i2c_scan=1 card=55 oss=1
Linux-2.6.19 will provide a better driver for this card...
Remote control
You should use the ati_remote kernel module, or use the lirc ati_usb module. You'll need to define a .Xmodmap file to remap most of the keys, though.
WLAN card
yet untested, though the driver detects the Ralink card. Probably supported with the rt2400 module.
Firewire
untested
Functional display
Works, but not out of the box. You need lcdproc-0.5.1 or higher, since that version contains the MD8800 support.
Cardreader
Only USB ports work, Compact Flash and SD card slots do not work out of the box.
I will try to update this post whenever I get additional info how to tweak some settings...
Virtual servers
BJ Dierkes wrote a detailed description about the use of Debian as a base for several kernel-based virtual servers. This requires to build a custom kernel with a special vserver patch applied. When the virtual server is created a new distribution has to be bootstrapped inside.
Gundabad
I already told you about my old computer's failing CD writer. So I was looking for a new computer, and lo and behold, right at this time, Aldi came again with a very interesting offer : the Medion MD8800, a PentiumD based dual-core 64bit system, with wireless lan aboard, a tv card, SATA disks and much more. It took a while before I wiped out the Windows XP installation, cause I needed all the info about the included hardware.
I chose for a Debian unstable based install, simply because it's the only distribution I know to have good x86-64 support (except maybe Gentoo). The installation wasn't very easy, cause the Debian installer contained a 2.6.8 kernel, which had great trouble detecting my SATA disks. Using the updated netinstall iso from Lennart Sorensen fixed this problem.
I completed the install without any problem (a fully based 64 bit system !), but now the real work starts : building a customized kernel, restoring my personal files & preferences, and populating the system with the everyday used programs. The machine is called Gundabad, after the Orc capital in the north of the Misty Mountains (yep, I keep using Tolkien as a source to name my home computers).
The box is fast; so fast it makes my ADSL connection to crawl like a snail. Oh yes, when I'm done setting up the machine, I'll put up a page with all the information on it in order to install Linux on it.
I chose for a Debian unstable based install, simply because it's the only distribution I know to have good x86-64 support (except maybe Gentoo). The installation wasn't very easy, cause the Debian installer contained a 2.6.8 kernel, which had great trouble detecting my SATA disks. Using the updated netinstall iso from Lennart Sorensen fixed this problem.
I completed the install without any problem (a fully based 64 bit system !), but now the real work starts : building a customized kernel, restoring my personal files & preferences, and populating the system with the everyday used programs. The machine is called Gundabad, after the Orc capital in the north of the Misty Mountains (yep, I keep using Tolkien as a source to name my home computers).
The box is fast; so fast it makes my ADSL connection to crawl like a snail. Oh yes, when I'm done setting up the machine, I'll put up a page with all the information on it in order to install Linux on it.
MC
Gisteren hadden we de eerste meeting met de ceremoniemeester achter de rug; daarbij is het verloop van de huwelijksdag in groot detail besproken, en heel wat van de onduidelijkheden zijn dan ook weggewerkt. Maar goed ook, want hoe en wat en waar iedereen dient af te spreken is niet zo meteen voor de hand liggend. Volgens de man kunnen we met hem ons verstand op nul houden en van de dag genieten. Een gevaarlijke uitspraak, ons kennende ;)
Simpsons sound archive
More than 100 Simpsons' sound and songs archive - for the true fan only. While you're at it, check out the Simpsons millionaire quiz.
Debian and Nexenta collide
Since Sun made the source code of Solaris available as OpenSolaris, it has come a long way. Some months ago, some OpenSolaris developpers talked to some of the Ubuntu people, and the consensus was that a Debian based system running on top of the OpenSolaris kernel would be one hell of a system, which is something I wholeheartly confirm.
So, in the next monts, Nexenta was born : a system which tried to glue Debian and OpenSolaris together. However, the Nexenta developers got off to a bit of a bad start by announcing its existence while putting its entire web site behind a password gate. Browsing the source code wasn't the easiest thing also, and there remains the fact of the two different licenses : the Debian code is licensed under the well-known GPL, whereas the OpenSolaris code (kernel and userland binaries linked to the Solaris libc libraries) was licensed under the CDDL. How these two licensed are to be united still remains a problem.
The licensing issues are real, and need to be worked out. But many of the people involved in the debate appear to have lost track of the fact that the Nexenta project, while perhaps being occasionally arrogant and ignorant of how Debian does things, is trying to make a contribution to the free software world. It is a free software project. Anthony Towns has been almost the lone voice in calling for a higher degree of cooperation with Nexenta.
So, in the next monts, Nexenta was born : a system which tried to glue Debian and OpenSolaris together. However, the Nexenta developers got off to a bit of a bad start by announcing its existence while putting its entire web site behind a password gate. Browsing the source code wasn't the easiest thing also, and there remains the fact of the two different licenses : the Debian code is licensed under the well-known GPL, whereas the OpenSolaris code (kernel and userland binaries linked to the Solaris libc libraries) was licensed under the CDDL. How these two licensed are to be united still remains a problem.
The licensing issues are real, and need to be worked out. But many of the people involved in the debate appear to have lost track of the fact that the Nexenta project, while perhaps being occasionally arrogant and ignorant of how Debian does things, is trying to make a contribution to the free software world. It is a free software project. Anthony Towns has been almost the lone voice in calling for a higher degree of cooperation with Nexenta.
The big fluenza measurement
This week started in different European countries a specific experiment, where the number of people who're having the flue are measured. This way, the creators of the big fluenza measurement hope to chart the progress of the flue in these European countries.
I'm having questions though with the scientific validity of such a test : picturing the spreading of the flue in this way can only be valid if there's not much mobility between different parts of the regions, and in Belgium with its large number of commuting people, it is clearly not the case.
I'm having questions though with the scientific validity of such a test : picturing the spreading of the flue in this way can only be valid if there's not much mobility between different parts of the regions, and in Belgium with its large number of commuting people, it is clearly not the case.
De grootste Belg
The national TV is broadcasting a series of shows in order to elect de grootste Belg (the most honorable Belgian). The ranking is interesting to follow, though right from the start it was clear that the race was going to be between Pater Damiaan (father Damien) and Eddy Merckx.
The same contest was held some years ago in Holland, and then the winner was Pim Fortuyn, quite surprisingly I must say. Having the questionable reputation of being one of the few murdered Dutch politicians apparently helps quite a bit. Only shame that people like Huygens didn't made it then.
The same contest was held some years ago in Holland, and then the winner was Pim Fortuyn, quite surprisingly I must say. Having the questionable reputation of being one of the few murdered Dutch politicians apparently helps quite a bit. Only shame that people like Huygens didn't made it then.
Vorderingen
Bon, dit weekje vrij genomen om de schouders eens onder de vorderingen rond de trouw te zetten. We waren al serieus achter op schema, maar nu is er veel veranderd.
Binnen 2 weken krijgen we een eerste proefdruk van de drukker. Als dat goed is, hebben we de week erna alle uitnodigingen, en kunnen we die beginnen opsturen.
De fotograaf is ondertussen ook beslist : An Symons is duidelijk iemand met ervaring, en zal voor ons de huwelijkskiekjes nemen.
Ook de ceremoniemeester ligt vast; voor wagens zelf zijn we ook al bij een anders eens een kijkje gaan nemen, maar dat was een sisser : het heeft duidelijk heel wat meer nodig om enkele verroeste wagens 'old-timers' te noemen.
Binnen 2 weken krijgen we een eerste proefdruk van de drukker. Als dat goed is, hebben we de week erna alle uitnodigingen, en kunnen we die beginnen opsturen.
De fotograaf is ondertussen ook beslist : An Symons is duidelijk iemand met ervaring, en zal voor ons de huwelijkskiekjes nemen.
Ook de ceremoniemeester ligt vast; voor wagens zelf zijn we ook al bij een anders eens een kijkje gaan nemen, maar dat was een sisser : het heeft duidelijk heel wat meer nodig om enkele verroeste wagens 'old-timers' te noemen.