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Over the past year or so, I've gradually updated my main desktop machine (bronto). Notable changes include :
Glad to report that the new graphics card works beautifully with my new Mandriva 2007 OS. I can do all the cool 3D effects using Compiz.
Finally replaced the old CRTs with 17" Samsung LCD screens for the two desktops (mine and wife's). Worked fine on Mandrake/Mandriva.
All good things come to an end. After more than a year of very satisfying service, it was time to retire Mandrake Linux 10.0 from my main desktop (bronto). So I ordered Mandriva LE 2005 (6-CD pack) from Linux System Labs Australia.
It was my BEST Linux purchase ever. There was no problem whatsoever detecting my hardware. Everything worked :- Logitech webcam, SanDisk card reader, video card (auto-installed NVIDIA driver for hardware acceleration), sound (with ALSA), microphone, etc. When I installed the Baghira KDE theme from PLF, it was perfect. Just beautiful!
Got rid of my wife's old Windows 98 laptop and replaced it with a brand new desktop PC running Mandrake Linux 10.0 (Official). The specifications:
This combination ran fine. There was only one tricky issue to configure properly - the network interface. It defaulted to 100Mbps full-duplex which didn't work well with my home LAN. So, I had to use mii-tool to force it into 10Mbps half-duplex and it was OK.
My wife is an accountant and has to run some Australian-specific accounting software packages. Unfortunately, these were not supported on Linux yet. Luckily, this problem was solved by running them in Windows 98 (bought it from eBay) using NeTraverse Win4Lin. Win4Lin was an excellent piece of software that was worth every cent. It ran Win98 and all the accounting/tax software perfectly, without crashing. My wife used this just for her tax/accounts, and Linux for everything else. And she got hooked on LBreakout 2.
Warning:I had a bad experience with my initial choice of motherboard for my wife's PC which was the ASUS A7N8X-VM/400. I tried using Kingston DDR333 and Geil DDR400 RAM (on separate times, not together) that worked fine on other boards. But on this board, the machine simply froze a few seconds after loading KDE. It even froze a few times during installation. Looks like it only works with the recommended RAM brands listed on the Asus website. Flashing with the latest BIOS did not help. BIOS options were very limited, compared to the Gigabyte mobos I'm used to. This mobo was not worth the headache. In the end, I returned it to the shop and got the Gigabyte mobo instead which worked fine.
Finally got around to upgrading my Toshiba Satellite 2410 to Mandrake Linux 10.0 (Official).
Encountered some initial problems with the screen not displaying the correct resolution when I installed the NVIDIA graphics driver,
but got it fixed by adding Option "IgnoreEDID" "1" to /etc/X11/XF86Config-4
However, standby mode still doesn't work properly, so I have to disable it. Other than that, this new OS is great and 'feels' more responsive, especially KDE 3.2.
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| Click on the thumbnail above to view latest screenshot of the laptop running Kaffeine media player, Gimp 2, OpenOffice 1.1 (with KDE integration) and Shell terminal (with transparency). The desktop theme is Acqua-Graphite. |
I had lots of fun with Mandrake Linux 9.1, but it was finally time to move on. So I drove to my local vendor Linux System Labs Australia and purchased the just released Mandrake Linux 10.0 (Official) . Spent the whole day installing and customizing it on my main desktop (bronto). It was worth every minute.
There was one installation bug that I noticed :
Mouse scrolling worked horizontally rather than vertically, needed to edit
/etc/X11/XF86Config-4 to fix this. Simply changed the
ZAxisMapping option from "6 7" to "4 5", like so:
Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "Mouse1"
...
Option "ZAxisMapping" "4 5"
EndSection
Other than that, this is a truly fantastic distribution. Everything is much better than 9.1, and KDE 3.2 is somewhat faster too. Also finally get to try out kernel 2.6.
As a happy customer, I promptly renewed my MandrakeClub membership (~AUD$80) after that to reward and further support MandrakeSoft. Looking forward to more great products from them.
Next, upgrade my laptop to 10.0...
I've purchased a Toshiba Satellite 2410 preinstalled with Mandrake Linux 9.1 (the only OS, not dual-boot). Specs for this laptop may be found in Toshiba's Linux report for 2410. I got this machine from a small shop named VG Computing located in Melbourne, Australia. I reckon they did a pretty good job setting up the kernel and drivers for the hardware. This laptop is being used for my new J2EE Web application development project.
Things that work : NVidia graphics driver + 3D ( glxgears reported ~2000fps ), ACPI, APM, Ethernet, internal modem, USB ports, printing to HP deskjet printer, DVD & sound (ALSA for Intel 810).
Things that don't work yet, but I have no use for anyway : infrared & SD-slot.
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| Front shot of the laptop. |
Overall, I recommend this laptop for any Linux user especially if you can get it preinstalled in the shop. Together with an upgrade to 512 MB RAM, I paid A$2547 including setting up all hardware drivers and free delivery. Pretty good value for money.
The machine at the far end is my main development and work machine named bronto, with the following setup:
Another machine hidden between the tables is my Internet, print and file server. Used to be my Dad's desktop machine before he donated it to me. Setup:
Freeware developed by me. Here is my small contribution to the world after years of using freeware stuff.
More to come...
