Top 3 Jaunty Jackalope New Features
It’s that time of the year again, when we are treated to the latest Ubuntu release. As per usual you have all the latest Gnome packages and little tweaks here and there, but here are the 3 features I am most looking forward to.
1. New Notifications
Ubuntu now has a new notification system. you know, that thing that tells you when you are low on battery, change volume etc.
It looks lovely, really slick and smooth, but don’t take my word for it, check it out yourself, go ahead, I’ll wait…
See that??? Look lovely, can’t wait 
2. Boot time improvement
One of the focuses of this Ubuntu release is to improve boot time, something Microsoft Vista could learn from..
This is a clever thing to focus on at the current time as more and more people are using netbooks and small MID devices, which don’t have the power of full PC’s, and therefore boot times can be painfully elongated. Ubuntu is clearly targeting these small form devices with the new release.
So is it effective? Well it appears so! I haven’t installed the beta onto my laptop, because of the bad experience I had last year so I can’t vouch for it, but it looks promising.
3.EXT4 support
This one has a friend of mine all a flutter, the main advantages of ext4 are that it can support volumes up to 1 Exabyte in size, and single files of size 15 terebytes. You may laugh and say that this is nonsense, but give it time till we have super de duper HD x4 and we’ll see file sizes get larger!
A directory can also contain more than 32000 entries, which was the limit in ext3
The main improvement is speed though, and if you really want the fastest possible Ubuntu experience, use ext4, you won’t regret it.
So thats it, roll on the 23rd!
How much music is enough music for an mp3 player?
A friend of mine recently bought a 120GB iPod Classic, and it got me thinking, thats a hell of a lot of storage space for music, how much space is ‘enough’ space?
Right, apparently, a 120GB player will hold 30,000 songs, assuming these are all 4 minutes long, thats 2000 hours, or 83.3 days worth of constant music.
Ok, taking into account you sleep about 7 hours every night, and spend 2 hours eating, and taking care of essential tasks, that leaves 14 hours in the day. Take those 14 hours and subtract the amount of time you spend talking and socialising per day (ie not listening to music), lets say 2 hours, you are left with an absolute maximum of 12 hours per day for music. This bumps up the time for your iPod Classic to run out of new songs to 166.6 days.
An average person will usually listen to a few songs a few times over again, and will also skip some other songs, assuming you like about a half your music collection to listen to twice and a further on fifth to listen to 4 times, the time it would take for you to become bored of your music is,
(166.6*24*60) + (83.3*24*60) + (33.32*24*60*3) = 503798 minutes. Which equals a whopping 350 days. Of. Solid. Music. 12 hours per day. Every day.
I listen to music for probably on average 4 hours per day. Which would ramp up that total to about 3 YEARS until my 120GB collection would need replacing. And this is assuming you buy and replace zero songs over that length of time.
So.. all you HDD fanboys and solid state haters out there, still think you NEED your massive capacity disks?
How to fix GRUB - menu.lst file
Hi Everyone,
I just had the privilege nay, the honour, of having to recover my computer from total destruction.
I was fiddling around with my GRUB (a bootloader), and somehow erased everything in the main configuration file, /boot/grub/menu.lst
Naturally, when I tried to boot the next time, GRUB panicked and ran to the nearest corner sobbing, leaving my with a limited prompt with a handful of commands at my disposal.
“Ah balls” I thought, how the hell do I fix this?
The one fact to know in this situation is, GRUB creates a backup of your menu.lst file when you install your system, and saves it in the same folder under the name menu.lst.backup. So all you have to do is replace the menu.lst file with the backup.
How can you do that when you can’t boot into an operating system though??
What you need is a Live CD or USB. If you’ve installed Linux, you’ll know what they are. I first tried using the Fedora CD that I recently burnt. It booted to a lovely desktop, after which I opened a terminal and tried to get to work. No luck. Not possible. Fedora won’t let you log in as root, or run any commands as root on the live CD, this was an absolute pain.
I scratched my head, where to go from here, I didn’t have a spare computer handy to burn a new CD. Then I remembered an old Arch Linux Live CD I had lying around somewhere. After some searching, I found it! If you don’t have it, download it and burn the ISO to a CD.
I booted into the Live CD, no need to open a terminal here, cos that’s all you get by default!
I logged in as root, which it thankfully allowed you to do, and got to work. Here’s the commands you’ll need to run -
mkdir /media/disk
This creates a mount point so you can access your hard drive
mount -t ext3 /dev/sdaX /media/disk
This attempts to mount the hard drive onto the mount point you created. The X will take some trial and error to get right, start at 1, and work your way up. If that doesn’t work, try replacing the s with h.
Now that the hard drive is mounted, its a simple job to copy the backup file.
cp /media/disk/boot/grub/menu.lst.backup /media/disk/boot/grub/menu.lst
Now reboot by typing reboot, and you should be on your way again!
Any questions, ask below.
I do realise many Live CD’s will work, but this was the tool at my disposal, and it worked!
Ubuntu 8.10 Intrepid Ibex Review
If you have read my previous post in relation to the new Ubuntu release, you would be forgiven for thinking that I’m scathing and negative about it, but it’s not the case!
After my bad experience last week after upgrading directly from Hardy to Intrepid I burnt an ISO of the release candidate and did a fresh install. The results were much better!
Installation was fine, although I wouldn’t use the migration assistant, it made my install hang the 1st time around.
Here are my thoughts on the latest release of this suberb Linux distro.
- My Wifi status LED now works! Since I have been using Ubuntu on Dell machines, the Wifi LED has never worked, now it does, a small detail, but its nice to see.
- Hibernating works! Anyone who knows a little about Linux will know that one of the biggest problems with it is trying to get the hibernate functionality of laptops working reliably. It is very difficult to know in which order to disable and re-enable all devices, so it is great that they have it working, at least on my machine.
These are a couple of little personal things that I have noticed and am very happy about, but on a more general note, how does the new OS work? Is it a worthwhile upgrade?
The first thing most people will notice is the new look, similar to the old one, but the menu bars are a little more refined, more subtle and look much nicer.
Image from Softpedia
The default look is definitely nicer than in Hardy, it looks quite slick and futuristic.
The network manager has been improved, and in general will detect the type of encryption required by the network, managing settings have also been given an overhaul and work quite well. It picked up the settings for both my university wifi network and home network, prompting me for my key and then disappearing again, connecting automatically. I still prefer to use Wicd though!
You can now manage 3G modems, which is great and increases compatibility with alot of devices.
Another big improvement is Nautilus, the default file manager.
As you can see from my screen shot, you can now have tabbed browsing within your file manager! Just like in Firefox, its a great idea.
Also, beside each mounted drive there is an eject arrow, which can be used to eject the medium. Which is a nice touch.
You can now also switch session and have multiple users logged in at one time. Another good progression
Something that people are raving about with the new release is the inclusion of a BBC iPlayer compatible plugin, which fixes an annoying problem. Not for me though, as I don’t live in the UK!
Recently there has been a lot of talk about security for files on your laptop, especially since the TSA in the US started searching peoples laptops for no reason. The latest Ubuntu release provides for paranoid types by implementing an encrypted directory in your home folder. If you ask me, this is overkill, but it’ll keep some tinfoil hat wearers happy!
As usual for Ubuntu, ntfs file system support is excellent, I have had no problems accessing my Windows hard drive partition, it is happy to appear on a network, and play nice with everybody.
Overall I have found the new Ubuntu release, despite a few early development version hiccups, to be very impressive. When I began using Ubuntu a couple of years ago with 6.06 Dapper Drake, it felt a little shaky, and it seemed as if, if you scratched past the surface, it wouldn’t stand up to scrutiny. This release is stable, modern, and has the feel of a reliable, fast OS.
The new graphical touches give it a polished look, and the restricted drivers module, as well as the easy codec installer, make Ubuntu the perfect distro for beginners, installation is almost insultingly easy too.
To brand this as a beginners distro would be foolish however, it has all the customisability and flexibility that long time Linux users will love, built around a very solid base with second to none hardware compatibility and universal support from most of the Linux community.
A great distro. Go get it now!
Ubuntu 8.10 Intrepid Ibex Beta - First Impressions
I decided not to wait to install the latest version of Ubuntu, the Intrepid Ibex, so I took the plunge with the beta, and got wet! 
Installation was a breeze, running the command update-manager -d runs the update manager, which does the whole thing for you, after all was installed, I had to reboot, which I did.
Everything looked the same as my setup did in Hardy, it looked like everything was fine and dandy. First of all, the restricted drivers toolbox popped up, prompting me to install the latest nVidia graphics driver, 177. No problem….or so I thought….
After rebooting with the new driver enabled, everything looked fine, but sounded awful! My laptops’ fan was going ballistic! Checking the temperature showed it to be at 20 degrees C and falling! It was loud and worrying. Needless to say, I rolled back to the previous driver and all was fine again.
The second thing I noticed, was my fingerprint reader had stopped working, and had to be reconfigured. Hmm I thought, a couple of problems….
Next to fail was a beloved script, rapidshare-dl. Which for some reason would not download from rapidshare. It still won’t, I’m baffled as to why. I’ve switched to Aria for the time being, which is a great little program.
By now I was getting a little peeved and packed up, left college and made my way home. I took out my laptop to find that Network Manager didn’t like my home network!!! For some reason it seemed convinced that I am using WPA2 Enterprise security and doesn’t listen to me when I tell it otherwise! I’ve installed Wicd as a wifi manager now, and it will hopefully solve the problem.
Ok, so there have been a few bugs, nothing world shattering, but annoying none the less. Obviously it is to be expected, as it is a beta, but the annoying thing is, the updates haven’t done me any good, today’s batch for example, broke the nVidia driver again, which necessitated 2 restarts, and for some reason, Settings -> Appearance is not working at the moment, making my lovingly crafted, futurelooks based desktop look fugly!
I know this has been a rant, but it has been a well warrented one. For the time beng, stick with Hardy Heron, at least until the full version of Intrepid is released. I think I will probably back up my /home and try a fresh install, and see do the issues repeat themselves. I am not writing off Intrepid yet, but I wouldn’t recommend doing an upgrade to the beta. Not in the slightest!
10 Reasons to Stick With Vista and forget Linux - A response
Recently I read a post about 10 reasons as to why Linux is worse than Windows, which was itself a reply to another post. Read the original here.
I’m now going to systematically tear his argument to shreds!
1. Updating programs manually isn’t that bad
I disagree, ok, it’s fine to update iTunes every time a new release arrives, because the whole technology world lights up when it happens. But for the hundreds of little programs you run every now and then it is much more of a hassle, and many of them don’t prompt you to update automatically, so you leave yourself vulnerable to security flaws and possible threats. Ubuntu and most other distros automatically update all your software as soon as patches are available, keeping your ship in tip top shape, all with one click.
2. “Windows users can easily craft their own free security suites”
This is supposed to be a benefit of Windows?! Good grief! The logic here is that it’s ok that Windows is really insecure, because you can put together a free suite of programs to fix the holes. I laughed reading this to be honest. The time you have to take to keep a Windows machine secure is absolutely unreal. You have to keep your virus scanner and firewall up to date, as well as your Spyware Scanner, not to mention time taken doing scans and defragmenting your hard drive.
None of this is necessary on Linux, you don’t need a virus scanner, or a firewall, or a spyware scanner. Also due to the filesystem that Linux uses, Ext3, it doesn’t need to be defragmented. Case closed I believe.
3. “Windows Vista pre-loaded onto a commercially purchased computer is only a small part of the overall cost.”
My Dell computer also came preloaded with a load of bloatware full of advertising for products and services that I don’t need, should the fact that I didn’t have to pay extra for them be a reason to use them?! I think not.
As Dell have shown, Vista does make up a large part of the price of a computer, they sell computers with Ubuntu preloaded, and after a little research, on a $600 computer, you can save about $100 by going with Linux instead of Vista, I don’t know about the author of the post, but $100 or so is a decent chunk of cash by my standards to pay for something unnecessary!
5. Taking your settings everywhere
The author says that there are plenty of online services that you can use to this on Vista, and he would use Vista so that he can access these (cross - platform) services through ” the nicest operating system experience”. Which, being a personal preference, I won’t challenge, but suffice to say, I’d prefer Ubuntu.
6. Superior hardware and device driver support
This is definitely a controversial issue, with plenty of reports of serious problems with hardware support being reported left and right on Vista.
My opinion on this is that the reason Vista may have better driver support, is because, OEM’s build their computers with Vista in mind and test every piece of hardware to ensure compatibility, when Dell took this same approach with their Ubuntu PC’s they had no problems with drivers. I’m sure if you attempted to install Windows on one of these Dell Ubuntu PC’s you would have serious trouble finding drivers for some pieces of hardware.
7. The widest choice of software.
Let me see the figures! I will admit that most commercial software is written for Vista, but almost instantly a free equivalent is released for Linux by a dedicated developer, or, there is one little important word here…Wine. Wine allows you to run Windows software on Linux, Google recently ploughed money into it to help give it better compatibility with Photoshop. It has full compatibility with Microsoft Office 2003 and a large number of other popular programs, and so if you cannot find an equivalent, Wine is the way to go.
8. Support
For some reason the author puts this forward as a good point for Windows, I’m mystified as to why. I would put this forward as an advantage of Linux. One needs only find UbuntuForums.com to get great support from thousands of experts all over the world.
He cites that computer savvy friends can help you with Windows easily, when most computer savvy people these days use Linux and would be more prepared to help you with a Linux install than frustrating themselves by using a bodged Windows install.
9. Look and feel of Vista
Once again the author uses a subjective view to try and prove his point. Again, I disagree. Again, I’ll let this one go.
10. Because of Microsoft
I love putting my faith in a huge multi-national corporation that cares more about profits that people, as opposed to people who are creating an operating system for people, not for profit.
Their judgments aren’t clouded by bottom lines and managers. They give us features that we request, instead of what a committee in Redmond thinks we want.
Bring on the rebuttals and reaction!
Dell Nvidia GPU Issues
Recently, as a birthday present, my parents split the price of a new laptop with me. I wanted something sleek with a good screen, and, very importantly, a smaller than 15.4″ screen size.
I settled on the Dell XPS M1330. It was the obvious choice, as it ticked all the boxes, and had a decent 128MB graphics chip for when I play the odd game.
The laptop had a discount of about €200 at the time, and I also availed of a company discount from the company I worked for during the summer, I specced out a top of the range model,
Intel Core 2 Duo T9300 2.5GHz, 4GB RAM, WLED Screen, 320GB HDD, the works basically.
It came to €1166, a good saving on the €1400 it would have cost without my discounts.
I got the laptop and was delighted, it looks fantastic and doesn’t sacrifice style over substance. Then I spotted something on Engadget that worried me.
http://www.engadget.com/2008/07/10/all-nvidia-8400m-8600m-chips-faulty/
That includes the chip in my laptop.. The upshot is that my laptop could fail at any second due to this problem, and Dell and Nvidia know about it.
But thats ok, because I’m still under warrenty, phew..if it breaks I can just send it back and they’ll fix it…
By replacing the faulty graphics chip with another, ALSO FAULTY chip!!
Am I the only one who sees this as contravening my consumer rights? As I remember from my secondary school Business Studies class (and well I should, I got an A!) under the Sale of Goods and Supply of Services Act of 1980 goods must be, as described, fit for their purpose and of merchantable quality.
How can a chip that Dell have admitted is faulty (see here and here) be considered fit for purpose and of merchantable quality?? A shop keeper cannot legally sell you a cup, if it is, in fact, broken.
Dells answer to this first of all was to issue a BIOS update, which I personally haven’t availed of, because all it does is run the fan more often, slightly prolonging the time to failure, not fixing the underlying problem. Now they are offering a 1 year warranty upgrade, which is some comfort, but really all it means is that they’ll keep replacing faulty chips with more faulty chips for an extra year.
Can anyone say flustercuck?!
What is the solution? Simple, a full recall is not needed, and the warranty upgrade is a step in the right direction, I have no problem using my laptop with the faulty chip as long as it doesn’t fail, but I don’t want to send it back if it does and get a new faulty chip in return. I would be satisfied if Dell said they would replace all returned laptops with either a non faulty Nvidia chip, or alternatively, an ATi chip.
Surely the expense of replacing the chips with another different model would be less than having to replace the faulty chip over and over again? Some people commenting on the Direct 2 Dell blog have had to send their Laptop back 3 times!
Come on Dell! Get the finger out! Give us a real solution to the problem, less stalling and stop gap measures!
