Daily Dalliance

Came across this bug in the APIC implementation while installing Ubuntu 8.04 on the office machine,

Here is the fix,

a. While installing Ubuntu, if you come across this bug, after selecting the Language > Select F6. This should present you with a command line with a few options specified to the kernel such as ‘quiet’ ’splash’. Keeping a space after the parameter ’splash’ and put ‘noapic’ ( without the quotes ).

/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.24-16-generic root=UUID=6974a440-4cdd-4486-b50a-9e2624757a79 ro quiet splash noapic

This will boot Ubuntu from the Live CD. After installation, you could face the same problem.

In order to permanently fix it you will have to add the ‘noapic’ parameter to /boot/grub/menu.lst

swapneel@eth1:~$ sudo vi /boot/grub/menu.lst


title Ubuntu 8.04, kernel 2.6.24-16-generic
root (hd0,0)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.24-16-generic root=UUID=6974a440-4cdd-4486-b50a-9e2624757a79 ro quiet splash noapic
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.24-16-generic
quiet

The ‘noapic’ parameter is passed to the kernel. Save the file, reboot the machine and she should be ready to rock and roll !

Kate is my latest dazzling damsel. She is hot,small, beautiful, sexy and she runs Suse Linux 10 ooo laa la !!! w00t

I had been searching for a small notebook for daily usage at home and office. The thought of manhandling Keira which had been quite excessive recently with frequent man handling, bruises etc that she went through when I kept her on the table in a hurry or moved from one place to the other, crushing her between my arms. The thought has been unbearable.

The goal was simple, get a small and sexy notebook which I can carry anywhere and handle her the way I like.

People, hold your breath for the Sexy Kate:

Specifications below:

• Display: 10″ WSVGA LCD
• Operating System: Linux Novell
• Color: White, Pink, Black
• CPU: Intel® Atom™ N270 1.6GHz
• Graphics: Intel® GMA 950
• System Memory: 512 DDR2
• Hard Drive: 80GB SATA I
• Communications:
Built-in 10/100 Ethernet
Built-in 802.11b/g WLAN Card
• Dimensions: 10.23″(L) X7.08″(D) X 0.748″~1.24″(H)
• Weight: 2.3 lbs

More information from the manufacturer available at MSI Wind NB-Linux

Bought this sleek notebook primarily for the following reasons,

Advantages:
Slick ! Can carry it anywhere. It's a little larger than the size of a table tennis racket when placed inside the bag.
Runs Suse Linux 10. Seldom does one find a notebook with a major GNU/Linux Operating System. The one Acer ships with is an OS not heard much of, IIRC it boots in run level 3 ( Can anyone confirm that ? ) Bluetooth, WiFi works out of the box
A perfect solution for my daily Linux/Unix system administration needs.

Disadvantages:
The keypad requires getting used to.
Battery lasts for 3 hours with Wi-Fi enabled and brightness set in a room with lights.
Carry Case isn't that attractive.

Cost : The laptop cost me Rs.25,250/- inclusive of VAT. Pricing and other details can be found by contacting Sandeep @ +91 98454 6660

Apart from the above quirks, the notebook is a worthy contender for the much hyped ASUS eeepc .

This post is dedicated to Mr. Sandeep Tekriwal of Startnet Computers who preserved Kate in a sealed chamber with uber security provided by Mr. Nilesh, also from Starnet Computers

We have a box running Ubuntu Hardy 8.04 in office. The box began acting weird with random reboots and display problems but that’s another story.

While moving around logged in from the virtual console, I could see a lot of un-necessary services were started in runlevel 2 ( default runlevel in Ubuntu which boots to X Window System ).

Now, Redhat/CentOS has chkconfig –list and chkconfig servicename off to check and disable services.

Ubuntu has a package sysv-rc-conf which can be installed via APT,

sudo apt-get install sysv-rc-conf

sysv-rc-conf is a ncurses based program which allows to enable/disable services in all runlevels.

Enabling and disabling services becomes a walk in the park which would otherwise involve removing symbolic links from the respective /etc/rc.d/ runlevel directory.

Update: Alternative way to disable services is to use the default update-rc.d script.

update-rc.d cups remove

This will remove the symbolic links corresponding to the service name from /etc/rc.d/ directories from all run levels.

The App Store has a kick ass application to remotely control iTunes over a Wi-Fi connection. What better way to manage the music being played while you’re slacking around in one corner of the office while your Macbook sits some place else.

A slackers tool to control music, presenting Remote

Managing music in office over a Wi-Fi connection is now seen as coolness !

Cross platform: This Alpha release lays the groundwork for a release on all major platforms. Future releases will feature Linux, Windows and MacOS versions.

Page Source

This has to be one of the best things to happen for users using Mac OSX. Amarok has been my music player on the GNU/Linux platform for years. iTunes lacked a punch when I shifted to a 13″ Macbook last year in September.

I already see instructions for getting Amarok 2 source installed on a Mac OSX OS. This is just what I wanted. w00t !