Hard Mistress

Linux for me has become a bit of an obsession. I collect old hardware (people throw away "usable" stuff that I learn on) and since Microsoft makes you pay for their OS (even the out dated ones...) I load Linux on the things I acquire. I have a soft spot for Debian Linux (Ubuntu specifically) but lately I have been trying out other flavors as well. I guess I could start with the hardware list:

Geekbox - A dual boot "main" computer (P4 3 ghz, 512 RAM, Nvidia 5600 video card) that I built myself.
Maximus - A recently acquired Compaq Presario 7998 (1 ghz AMD, 256 RAM, ATI 9200 video card)
Mephis-laptop - An HP Omnibook 4150b (650 mhz, 256 RAM, Network Anywhere PCM/CIA wireless based on the ACX100 chipset from TI)

Geekbox most likely will always run Ubuntu unless something very interesting happens. It prolly needs completely reloaded (both Windows and Linux) but that will require some time that I do not care to invest. Both partitions run, both function, but both are kinda sloppy.

Maximus is my most recent acquisition. It replaces a smaller, less robust box and is literally twice the machine the older one was. The older one was a mini-atx and 500 mhz, this is a full (the case is HUGE) atx at 1 ghz. The power supply and exhaust fan are LOUD and need replaced with quieter units...time and money are my enemies. This acts as a file and print server when it runs and is used so I can test remote connectivity from work or when I travel. The function that this box serves has almost always been served up by Ubuntu, except for a short span when it was NT4 and Win2k. It most recently had Ubuntu 6.10 on it. Last night that changed.

Mepis-laptop I have had for about 6 months or so. Getting it to work wirelessly (thanx to that God awful PCM/CIA card with the TI chipset) has been a chore at times. The Mepis 6.0 did not have a problem with it and neither did Ubuntu 6.10 (initially) but when I updated to Mepis 6.5 (complete reload) I could not get it to work. After fighting with it for a couple of days, I decided to put Ubuntu 6.10 back on it. That worked and I after playing for a while I thought I would try the upgrade path to 7.04 that the forums suggested and it seemed to work. I rebooted and had no problems. The next day when I turned it on, no wireless (I later found out that NetworkManger had some issues and that was the cause of my problems). I fought with it but gave up since I could not get the darned acx100 chipset to work. BTW that chipset is the bane of almost every Linux fan who has it. Avoid at all costs.

I let the thing sit idle for a day or two until I decided to put Mepis 6.4 back on it (I am beginning to like the way it is designed...while I am still not a huge KDE fan, it is growing on me) and try to get the wireless to work. I stumbled on the problem quite by accident and once I turned off NetworkManager and did everything manually, I had wireless. One problem was now fixed and a new one had emerged.

Mepis 6.0 had no problem displaying my battery meter accurately in the taskbar but 6.5 was a different story. I tried removing kpowersave and installing klaptop, but the battery meter would not appear (in my opinion, a laptop without wireless and a batter meter is not very helpful). I searched the web and could not find my answer but I was given another clue by the way my laptop was shutting down. When I would gracefully shut it down, it would hang at the very end and I had to yank the battery to complete the process. This led me to an issue with power mgmt. I did some research and BINGO, I found my answer:

BIOS upgrade
Remove kpowersave
Install apmd and klaptopdaemon
Tweak /boot/grub/menu.lst with:
cpi=off
pnpbios=off
apm=on

Now it appears that I have everything running properly under Mepis 6.5 on my Omnibook. I now need to see if a fix for NetworkManager is coming. I prefer using it when possible.

My next post will be based on my adventures with Maximus and putting something other than Ubuntu on it.

Stay Tuned.