Category: Uncategorized

Rant: Switching from Ubuntu to Fedora

digitaleagle Fedora, Gnome, Story, Troubleshooting, Ubuntu, Uncategorized, Unity Leave a comment

Ok, I’ve had it with Ubuntu.  Well, for now at least.  I would like to eventually switch back and forth to get the greatest exposure.  But, for now, goodbye Ubuntu (11.04)!  Hello, Fedora 15.

It all started with Java problems.  I have a little time tracker tool that I use to track my billable time at work.  It is pretty ugly, but for me, it is critical — I use it to bill my time.  Tuesday, I started noticing the program crashing with X errors.  To attempt a fix, I tried to upgrade my video driver (Intel) to the latest version.  I tried several PPA repositories, but none of them seemed to work for me.  Finally, I ended up at the EMGD site.  I am still not sure if that driver was compatible with my laptop, but I was desparate and frustrated!  Somehow I got part of the packages installed, and I didn’t get the main EMGD installed.  I ran the “sudo emgd-xorg-conf” command, and that is where I lost it.  My X wouldn’t start; dhclient wouldn’t even connect my eth0.  That was the last straw.

Another issue probably lead up to this problem.  A week prior, I had attempted to copy a Tape to CD by running an audio cable from my tape player to my microphone jack on my computer.  I used Audacity to record.  Unfortunately, I couldn’t record anything via the microphone jack.  No matter what I tried, it only recorded from the built-in microphone.  I tried again to upgrade Pulse Audio with another PPA, but that didn’t help.

So, here’s what I have learned from Fedora in the first few hours:

  • I know now why I have stuck with Ubuntu for so long!  Ubuntu is just so much easier to get up and running quickly.  Command-line is avaliable, but not required.
  • Broadcom Wireless: In Ubuntu 11.04, I just enabled the STA driver in “Additional Drivers”.  I don’t think I have even had to connect the laptop to the wired connection to download it.  In Fedora, I had to install two repositories (easily done from the browser).  Then, I ran a yum command from the terminal to install the driver.  Finally, I had to reboot.  Fedora’s instructions were very easily to follow, but comparing the two, Ubuntu wins hands down.
  • Libre Office: Where is it,  Fedora?  The first thing I do, is create a document and track all the changes I make to the installation so I can do it again on the next release.  To my surprise, Fedora didn’t have Libre Office (or, any Document tool for that matter) installed by default.  Furthermore, when I went to Add/Remove Software, there were tons of packages.  I didn’t see a Meta package that would install a default set of packages.  There was an Office package collection, but it said it was already installed.  I ended up installing the package collection from the command line, and that did the trick.
  • Is RPM/Yum Slow?  I haven’t done any comparisons or anything like that, but for some reason, the packages seem to install much slower in Fedora than Ubuntu.  It may just be because I am ready to get working on my new install, but even individual package installs seem to take a while.
  • Gnome 3.0 versus Unity: it will take some time to form a good opinion.  I am glad for the chance to compare.

Hopefully, you will hear from me more as I get to installing and configuring more.  Stay tuned…

Updating PulseAudio to Nightly Build

digitaleagle Troubleshooting, Uncategorized Leave a comment

Warning — This did not work, and I ended up going to Fedora instead!  So, don’t try this at home!

I just tried to record a tape by hooking the headphone jack of my stereo to the microphone jack on my laptop. I used Audacity to try to record the tape, and it would have worked if it wasn’t for a bug with Ubuntu/PulseAudio. My laptop would only record from the built-in microphone. It acted as if the external mic jack wasn’t even there. I tried to adjust settings in the audio settings and the alsa mixer. Nothing seemed to fix it.

So, I decided to try to update Pulse. This is risky, but hey, it wouldn’t work anyway. Why not make things worse!

First, I checked my current version.

skp@pecan:~$ pulseaudio --version
pulseaudio 0.9.22-24-g67d18

Then, I tried to install the “PulseAudio daily builds” PPA. Here’s the command:

skp@pecan:~$ sudo add-repository ppa:ubuntu-audio-dev/pulse-testing
[sudo] password for skp:
sudo: add-repository: command not found
skp@pecan:~$ sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ubuntu-audio-dev/pulse-testing
Executing: gpg --ignore-time-conflict --no-options --no-default-keyring --secret-keyring /etc/apt/secring.gpg --trustdb-name /etc/apt/trustdb.gpg --keyring /etc/apt/trusted.gpg --primary-keyring /etc/apt/trusted.gpg --keyserver hkp://keyserver.ubuntu.com:80/ --recv 4E9F485BF943EF0EABA10B5BD225991A72B194E5
gpg: requesting key 72B194E5 from hkp server keyserver.ubuntu.com
gpg: key 72B194E5: public key "Launchpad Ubuntu Audio Dev team PPA" imported
gpg: Total number processed: 1
gpg:               imported: 1  (RSA: 1)

Next, I opened update manager:

skp@pecan:~$ sudo update-manager
[sudo] password for skp:

Now, I realized too late, that I hadn’t done an update yet, but I found I had a few pending updates that I didn’t know about. So, I installed those first before worrying about the pulse updates.

Then, I clicked the “Check” button and I saw all of the pulseaudio updates. So, I installed once again.

Now, the pulseaudio version is very weird!

skp@pecan:~$ pulseaudio --version
pulseaudio 0.98-201107121852

Update: I just tried my mic out in Fedora 15. Audacity records correctly from the external mic when it is plugged in and the built-in mic when the external is not. Many other things in Fedora don’t work, but sound works well!

NetFlix on Chromebooks — Almost here?

digitaleagle Chrome, Uncategorized Leave a comment

Netflix has caught my interest here recently. We were on vacation, and a relative wanted to use my laptop with his Netflix account. I was forced to reboot into Windows to make it work.

Here recently, I have heard some buzz about how that may change. Netflix appears to be pushing to move from Silverlight to HTML5. The big deal is that Silverlight will never work on Linux at least with respect to the DRM required by NetFlix. HTML5 is already built into Chrome already on Linux.

The latest update I have heard is that a plugin exists right now on some of the Chromebooks, but it doesn’t seem active, yet. So, it’s not here yet, but it seems close.

You can read my sources here:

The cool part about Google’s technology is that even if you don’t use it, it sends ripples through the industry. I think that is the case here. I don’t think Chromebooks will meet my needs as a developer any time soon, but the technology they are bringing to my laptop is very nice.

Software to Try: Cloudsn

digitaleagle Email, Uncategorized Leave a comment

I had an issue earlier this week where I become engrossed in my task at hand and did not check my email for about 45 minutes.  Well, someone promised me in a meeting in 15 minutes, and I didn’t see the email until 30 minutes after the meeting.

So, I began searching for a notification tool that would pop up my emails.  For some reason, the HTML 5 pop ups that GMail offers aren’t consistent enough.  Here comes Cloudsn to the rescue.

Here’s my story implementing Cloudsn:

Read More

NetFlix on Linux? Thank you Chrome?

digitaleagle Chrome, Great Links, Uncategorized 1 Comment

Okay, it hasn’t happened yet, but this article sounds promising.  I think the Chrome OS has put its first mark of influence on the world.  From what I read, there is a push to get Netflix working ChromeOS.  As a by product, it should allow it to work on Ubuntu or any Linux running the Chrome browser.

OMG!Ubuntu! Netflix Chrome plugin will bring on-demand video to Linux

The Chrome Source: Netflix Plug-in for Chrome and Chrome OS is on the Way

From Netflix:

HTML5 and Video Streaming

Update: I see people asking, but still nothing to report: Google Groups: Chrome OS Netflix Plugin release date

DriConf, Can you fix me?

digitaleagle Bugs, Ubuntu, Uncategorized, Unity Leave a comment

This post is an attempt to fix at least the second of the issues on my previous post:

Ubuntu Screen Woes

I noticed that one of the comments suggested using DriConf to fix the problem.  Here is the comment:

I have tried installing driconf and turned synchronization with vertical refresh off completely. I havn’t seen this issue since.

Does anyone have similar experiences?

And, here is what I tried:

Read More

Ubuntu Screen Woes

digitaleagle Bugs, Ubuntu, Uncategorized

I have been noticing several problems with my graphics driver or screen in Ubuntu 11.04 Natty Narwhal.  Here’s to hoping someone can add some comments that help.

Dual Screen Problems

At work, I have a second monitor for my laptop.  If I plug the monitor in before I turn on the computer, everything works fine.  I can even unplug the monitor, run to lunch, and plug it back in.  Now, Ubuntu recognizes the monitor plugging and automatically switches between single screen and dual screen.

The problem is when I plug the monitor in after I have booted, it doesn’t work.  The second screen displays like normal.  The bar displays on the top, but the desktop area of the screen is black.  I can drag a window to the other screen, but I can’t see the window.  I can see the mouse though.  It’s not life threatening but very annoying and weird.

Lock Up Issues

I have turned my power settings to not put my computer to sleep when I close the lid.  I just have it blank the screen.  That way I can close it to move to another desk or room without having to wait for it to suspend.

A couple of times, I noticed that the screen quits responding.  I can move the mouse, and the computer seems fine, but nothing responds.  I can’t click on any of the windows, nothings seems to respond to the keyboard, and the indicators by the clock don’t work.

I have finally noticed that it seems to be when I leave the lid closed for a period of time.  Reading the bug post, I think it is after 10 minutes.  So, I can close it to move between rooms but not to drive to work.

Again, just annoying.

Here are two bug reports that seem related:

Bug #728101:  [gm45] Closing laptop lid causes screen to freeze

Bug #762918: Natty Screensaver freezes system after some period of inactivity