I have just installed Ubuntu 8.04 Hardy Heron Alpha 6 on my Dell Inspiron 2600 (Intel 830M graphics, 256mb ram)

I used the alternate install disc due to lack of RAM and concerns that my graphics chipset would not be recognised. It turned out that the graphics were still not recognised, and after some playing with the exciting new recovery mode and a lot of googling I found out that I needed to downgrade the bios to version A08 I2600A08 due to the way the chipset was initialised.

I downloaded this on another Windows machine and found it required a floppy drive to unpack to. I investigated Dell biosdisk scripts but these only created a disk image by copying the unpacked files into a freedos floppy image and the downloaded exe wouldn't unpack except directly to a floppy (or removable device 1.44mb in size). So I used Virtual Floppy Drive and burnt the contents to a bootable CD-R with Nero. To my amazement this worked and now I had downgraded my bios.

I started up Ubuntu again and found the screen still lit up with crazy lines and garbled nonsense at the graphical login. I learned that Hardy now relies on xorgs improved hardware autodetection instead of it's own scripts to write to xorg.conf. However it didn't seem to be working, perhaps because something had already decided what my hardware was before I upgraded the bios. I didn't fancy trying a time-consuming reinstall from scratch, so after another round of forum searching and dead ends I found all I had to do was specify the i810 driver in the Device section of my x11 configuration file /etc/X11/xorg.conf from the root prompt:

from:

Section "Device"
Identifier "Configured Video Device"
Option "UseFBDev" "true"
EndSection


to:

Section "Device"
Identifier "Configured Video Device"
Option "UseFBDev" "true"
Driver "i810"
EndSection


Now everything is working perfectly and I'm surprised how snappy Gnome is with only 256mb of RAM. I even have compiz effects!

I finally got a component cable for the original Xbox from MVS through Amazon. The problem, as described earlier was that I was rather naively searching for the word 'component' which doesn't appear in the name of this item.

I'm glad to report the difference in picture quality is astounding. I can actually see jaggies! And the colour depth is like going from the built-in speakers on a portable telly to an amplified 2.1 system. A tenner including delivery.

Have recently been given an xbox, I've noticed how difficult it is to buy new xbox games now. The original xbox and all games have been replaced in large retailers like HMV and Virgin Megastores by Xbox 360 hardware and titles, while searching online retailers inevitably mainly throws up results for the 360. Sony did the exact opposite when the PS2 came out, re-releasing the PlayStation as the cheaper PSone thus saving all sorts of naming confusion.

Mainly I want to get hold of an xbox composite video cable, but such a thing is out of stock wherever I look. Have manufacturers stopped bothering with the ugly dinosaur console? Or do Microsoft operate some noxious scheme to incite third party accessories manufacturers to move away from the less profitable older platform with expiring licensing agreements or some such?

Update!

I have ordered a Netgear XE104 85 Mbps Wall-Plugged Ethernet 4-port Switch from amazon.co.uk. Everyone seems to have forgotten about HomePlug in all the excitement about wireless, even me. I had ordered a Linksys WRT54GL-UK while it was surprisingly cheap until I remembered about ethernet-over-powerline (not to be confused with power-over-ethernet). It seemed like a good idea as I would otherwise have to get a wireless bridge for a bunch of wired devices in my room, and it neatly sidestepped the whole signal-strength/compatibility/security/firmware nightmare with which anyone who has set up a wireless network will sympathise.

However, I am still waiting, and I ordered on January 5th. If you go there now, it says "Availability: In stock", but when I ordered it said "Usually dispatched in 1-2 weeks". Hmmmm. Perhaps Amazon are waiting for some more buyers before they can afford to ship a crate-load over from France or something?

UPDATE: I complained two days after the delivery estimate expired and got a free upgrade to First Class post. However, I still had to wait a further seven days until it was finally delivered on February 2nd. Now they seem to be in stock at amazon. Way to be an early adopter!

mldonkey_mipsel-2.7.1.tar.bz2 (nocoral)

This is a mldonkey core 2.7.1 package for the mipsel Linkstation-II with installed Openlink 0.52b as OS.

Check out Sancho GUI (Linux, Windows, OSX, BSD etc) or just use a browser to operate it.

1. make a dir /mnt/hda/temp
2. copy mldonkey.tar.gz to /mnt/hda/temp
3. go in that dir and unzip and untar mldonkey.tar.gz with tar -xzf mldonkey.tar.gz
4. Now do ./install.sh
5. Reboot

Now your donkey is installed in /usr/local/mldonkey
Your mldonkey temp dir is on /mnt/hda/mldonkey_temp
Your completed files are on /mnt/hda/mldonkey_download
You can check if your donkey is working with
/etc/init.d/mldonkey.sh status
If donkey is working this should came back
Checking mldonkey: OK
If not, than check /tmp/mldonkey.log for starting errors!

If you already have a working mldonkey, all you need to do is stop it, backup the old core and replace this one in usr/local/mldonkey and restart. Mldonkey will update your config files for you.

Package originally by turkish. Please see the thread http://forum.linkstationwiki.net/index.php?action=vthread&forum=3&topic=261&page=0 Good luck!

UPDATE: changed linkstationwiki link. See also Mindbender's Linkstation Page

Belkin 802.11g Wireless USB 2.0 Network Adapter

I have used and set up three of these incredibly cheap 54g adaptors on Windows XP, Windows 98 and Ubuntu Linux. They seem to get a better signal than the PCI cards they replaced.

Windows

The main thing I recommend on XP is to avoid using Belkin's Wireless utility and let the Windows Add Hardware Wizard install the drivers directly from the CD, usually D:\drivers. If you already installed it according to the manual and it's misbehaving (dropped connections or "Windows could not connect") try uninstalling the Belkin utility from the control panel and letting Windows manage the device itself.

Since this unit has no USB serial number, if you plug it into a different USB port Windows will think it has a new device and install it again. Recent versions of Zonealarm firewall have caused problems as well, so try shutting firewalls down if you are still having problems.

UPDATE: Search Belkin support for F5D7050 to get a newer driver. This solves all sorts of problems. However, you have to magically know what version of the interface you're using, which is somewhat revealed by the FCC number. I have one which is F5D7050, which is version 1, and another F5D7050A which works with F5D7050_v2 drivers (If I remember correctly)

Linux

You need to install ndiswrapper. I installed mine with apt-get. Use it with the files rt2500usb.inf and rt2500usb.sys from the drivers directory on the CD. I have to boot with it unplugged and plug it in later so that hotplug will find it. Sometimes the command modprobe ndiswrapper is required before it will show up in ifconfig. Refer to the ndiswrapper installation wiki for details.

UPDATE: No need for any of that with a fresh install of Ubuntu Dapper Drake (6.06) - the included wifi drivers just work! Again, the first time I had to keep it unplugged during boot, and then plug it in, wait, and enable it in the Networking applet. I was at first impatient and tried to enable it before it was fully up and got a complete freeze which only a hard reset would solve. But now it seems to be working fully and normally, even though there's a warning in dmesg about old drivers.

Further to the case of the Canon Ebay Outlet negative feedback posted earlier, I have just been offered a refund by Digital River for the postage and packing cost if I would withdraw my negative feedback.

What bald bribery! Of course I find it easy to resist seeing as I have already received a full refund!

Informing them of this via the ponderous process of Squaretrade mediation, I am then offered a 20% discount on my next purchase from the Canon Ebay Outlet. I replied that I had no plans to purchase from them again.

Thinking long ago that this was all over after I got my refund, I have bought the exact same digital camera from Amazon, a Canon IXUS 40, which I am very pleased with. Annoyingly, Amazon.co.uk have reduced it by a further twenty quid since I bought it. This means that the camera is now only £8.75 more brand new, delivered and without having to deal with Digital River than I payed for my refurbished one!