Man, compiling a custom kernel (for bootsplash) takes a long time.
(0)Monthly Archive for March, 2007
Well, my computer parts came in today as planned. I spent the morning assembling everything and installing the base system. I tried to go with Ubuntu, but it became problematic. Here’s why:
- I wanted to have separate partitions for /boot and /tmp. This nice development, once I worked it out, still screwed up the install of GRUB and the computer would not boot from the hard drive unless I put the install CD and manually made it boot from the hard drive.
- The madwifi (atheros chipset-based wireless cards) driver would not cooperate with wpa_supplicant (the binary for wireless cards to use WPA encryption).
- After getting #2 to work, the clock was screwed up (set to October 2006!) and would not let me use sudo (to correct the time).
- Of course, there is no root password, so trying to use su resulted in yet another problem.
So, I ditched Ubuntu and popped in dvd disc 1 of Debian Etch (the newly released isos with the RC for the debian-installer). It has a new graphical installation, but that’s over-the-top as the text installer is more intuitive and easier to use (I ran both for the hell of it!). My only difficulty was getting madwifi to work because it is not included on the dvds…I had to download it on another computer, save it to a disc, then install it manually. After installing it, it had some problem at first resolving the IP address from my router (small user error in configuring wpa_supplicant). But, it’s running nicely now (after manually building the alsa and madwifi modules). So, Ubuntu may be nice for those who don’t have a clue as to what they’re doing, but it also restricts what one is able to do if one knows what one is doing and likes root. Sorry (k|x|ed)Ubuntu, it’s just not my cup of tea.
Last Wednesday, my computer shot a spark out of its back (I’m assuming the power supply was the culprit). I’ve ordered some new pieces, but wanted to know if there was a way of testing the parts at home (I’ve got a really nifty multi-function meter) to see what’s salvageable. For instance, If I hook up a new power supply to a stripped down system (motherboard, cpu, and ram), do I run the risk of frying the power supply? The problem seemed to start a few weeks ago when the system would seem to build up static electricity (yes, I installed the mobo correctly). The system became sensitive around the front case fan (I had a total of three: one on the side, one in front, and one in the rear) and any sometimes touching the case would (1) cause a static discharge and (2) a system reset. Since I didn’t have much time to fool with it beyond trying to figure out where that was coming from, my solution was to not touch it. Well, Wednesday, it finally froze completely and would not shut down (even after attempting a hard reset), and my touch to the switch caused the fireball (it was cool, except for the dead system part).
So, here are some questions for other geeks:
- Could the case (or the case fan) be contributing to the imbalance in static electricity?
- Can using a new (and assumed good) power supply on a possibly fried motherboard (or cpu) screw up the power supply?
- I know that I can run memtest86 for the ram, but what about any tests for the motherboard and cpu?
- I’ve got an external adapter for the hard drive (so I can transfer my data if it works without screwing up a system), but are there any good tests for it?
Final stats on my Hinduism paper: 15 pages of text, 1 page of bibliography. 24 hours of work. 11 books for reference. 3 journal articles. A total of 3994 words. And it’s not (technically) due until Thursday. But I’m leaving tomorrow for the mountains and snow.
For my Hinduism paper (due Thursday, 15 March): 8 pages plus an entire page for bibliographic references; I’ve filled up an entire page for my bibliography and I’m not finished yet!. Oh, and I have 17 footnotes already.
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