Linux does it again.....again!

I'm helping a coworker to fix his laptop. His WindowsXP got erased somehow while leaving Windows Update on overnight. Somehow, the recovery partition became corrupt as well.

In my attempts to repair his computer, I pulled his hard drive out and hooked it up to my Fedora 16 Linux computer. I then had to use Gnome Disk Utility to discover that the computer even had a recovery partition. I also had to use Disk Utility to unhide the recovery partition and make it bootable. I then put his hard drive back into his computer to begin the recovery process. Unfortunately, the recovery data was corrupt. It installed, but hung after reboot.

I got a refirb Windows XP disc from Ebay, but for some reason it wouldn't install. I tried to use the Windows disc to install on FAT32-stopped responding. Tried to use the Windows disc to format to NTFS-stopped responding.

Finally, I said "fuck it", and pulled the hard drive back out, rehooked it back to my Linux box, and once again used Gnome Disk Utility to format the drive, in NTFS!

After that, the install went through without a hitch.

Why was this Windows install sooooo reliant on Linux? Who knows. Who cares. Linux did it again......again!

Took a plunge...

I've never installed an alpha or beta package of just about anything, but I took a plunge today to install Fedora 16. I mainly did it for the "Online Accounts" feature for better Google integration with the desktop.

Upon restart, however, both Chromium and Firefox were broken, which really isn't much of a surprise. Happily, the one web browser I never use was instrumental is getting me back on my feet.

Epiphany is the stock web browser for the Gnome desktop. It resembles the look of Firefox, without all the setting "bells and whistles". I prefer the clean and unobtrusive look of Chromium (and/or Chrome). I especially like how removing the window banner brings the tabs right up to the top bar.

Speaking of the top bar, I'm still upset that the top bar does not behave like a task bar. Even though the quick links bar behaves like a taskbar, I have to move the mouse to see open apps. It just seems to me that F15/F16 is better suited for touchscreen laptops and/or tablets, but I think the top bar is my only complaint.

Linux, and specifically the Fedora distribution, is fun when things break or don't work. The fun is looking for solutions, or assisting the programmers to find a solution. The fruits of the fix are quite satisfying as well.

One thing, though: The "Verne" artwork is glorious.

F15 crashed again!

I really don't know what it is that I keep doing wrong, but Fedora 15 crashed again. Once I reinstalled, I went looking through the forums for my condition. Oddly enough, I found a close match, but it is old, and I can't figure out why I hadn't seen it sooner.

http://www.fedoraforum.org/forum/showthread.php?t=262617

The same thing happens every time. I'm minding my own business. I restart for whatever reason and I get this:



This is the forth time I have had to reinstall F15 (although this is the first time I have posted this condition). The thread above has instructions on moving around in the rescue environment, which I am terribly unfamiliar with.

I'm so glad I keep most of what I make on Google. I'm not much of a backer-upper.

Status Quadro

As you can see, I'm not a daily poster. I'd rather be one of those blog writers that write things that would help others. Writing stuff about Linux problems, use of Google apps, computer issues, I guess I could write about car issues, but cars can be boring sometimes.

I bought a new computer at a time when I could not afford one. My old one of 6 years took a dump. First the USB ports stopped working, the the CD tray would come out on it's own. Finally, the motherboard stopped working. The hard drive failed too, but it's not a big deal. Most of what I do, I store on the internet, so I lost nearly nothing.

It's a Lenovo ThinkPad T61p. It's a far better computer than the IBM R40 I used to use. More RAM, more processors (2 rather than 1), more HDD space. I used to think that the reason why flash videos worked so great in windoze and not on my Linux box was because of the limitations of Linux. Turns out it was my old Linux box, 'cause my new one plays them perfectly.

It's got issues, like anything else. What I love the most about Linux is the community. If you discover a bug, you can easily report it, and you are constantly kept in the loop as to the status and progression of the solution for your bug, even if you are the only one who reported it. The other thing I love is the constant challenge. Once I figure out all the problems, a new Fedora release comes out. I install that one, and a whole new set of issues appear, ready to be delved into. What fun!

A problem I have now is that I cannot install the latest kernel 'cause it does not operate well with the nVidia Quadro graphics chip, or maybe it's the newer nVidia driver that does not work with the latest kernel, or even the older kernels. I'm not sure what it is yet. I'm watching the bugzilla.redhat.com postings for my issue to see if and when someone discovers a resolution.

Oh well, back to work.

Google Chrome

Some time ago I installed the Google repository in Fedora 11. Among the many programs and gadgets available for Linux, experimental or otherwise, I found an "unstable" version of Google Chrome. I read the word 'unstable', and dismissed the option to download.

Yesterday, I was browsing the web and I came across a geek site that had a headline "Install Google Chrome on Linux (and why you should)" (Sorry, no link. Google it, you lazy fool!).

Not only is Google Chrome NOT unstable, it is more stable than Firefox 3.5. I've only been using it for 2 days, but in that time I have, added iGoogle gadgets to my iGoogle page (including this Blogger gadget), watched the new Modern Warfare 2 "Infamy" trailer (which I could not do in Firefox), browse Kotaku.com without waiting 3 years to gain control of my cursor.

Unstable? HA! Google is definitely headed in the right direction, and with Google Chrome OS on the horizon, we may yet see the downfall of the anti-Christ of our era (Yes Bill, that's you!).