Linux, linux every where...

Tech No Responses »
Jul 282004

My friends consider me a geek because hardware is a hobby; so is software, but that’s another story. Tweaking machines for better performance is fun. Figuring out why a particular setting or chipset works better then another is challenging — and much more enticing then watching Fox News.

Two weeks ago the power supply blew on my Win XP box. I’ve done some hardware configuring, but never replaced the power supply. This box runs hot: AMD 2600+, 512 MB RAM, 1 80 Gb drive, 1 120 Gb drive, and Gigabyte KT motherboard. All of that with one CPU fan and one fan on the power supply. It heats the office in winter. Insufficient airflow and heat retention had caused the powersupply fan to die, even though the box was just over a year old. I had a new hard drive upgrade to an 80 gig Western Digital special edition with an 8 mb cache, so why not, I thought foolishly, do all upgrades on this box and update the Linux box as well?

After seven or so years of doing upgrades on Macs and PCs, I should have known better.

Installing the desktop upgrades were simple. The new power supply has dual fans instead of one. All of the internal ribbon cables were replaced with round ones to improve air flow. Floppy drive pins were bent; replaced the drive. New 512 RAM chip went in without a hitch.

The hard drive was another matter. The disk copy utility failed to copy the files. Well it failed to thoroughly copy files. Windows XP copied sufficiently to boot the new drive, but none of the user settings remained, including the Admin logon. I reformatted, copied data files, and reinstalled the operating system and applications. I’m still reinstalling software, but at least the machine is up and online.

The faster hard drive has made a huge differnce in response time. I’m lovin’ it! (After 20+ hours of getting things situated…)

Now the fun part. I’m a Linux/Unix newbie: basic file commands are easy; installing drivers and the operating system was foreign territory. I’ve done more on my Qtopia linux powered Zaurus PDA then on a desktop linux box.

The four CD images for Fedora, the open source version of Red Hat Linux, downloaded easily. Tested the new media and burned CDs. Set the new box up, and began the four hour process of installing Linux on the P-II 233.

My luck held. Linux came right up after the initial installation, except that the nice X-Windows GUI would not load because of a video driver problem. Keyword searches on Google returned nothing useful. Red Hat’s older Linux documentation, while thorough, listed a solution for this problem, but the files the instructions said to edit did not exist in this installation.

The best option turned out to be reading the error log file on my Fedora box and using that to guess which settings to tweak. After several false starts, it worked!

Of course, then the mouse didn’t work properly. Navigating a GUI-based environment with the keyboard is not fun. Again, Google revealed the instructions for how to correct this problem. The Mouse control panel under Settings should have an optoin to change the driver — except that control panel wasn’t available. Neither was an easy option to install an RPM. So I’m stuck for now, but at least the box is up.

The mouse periodically works. I have both machines on a KVM switch.

At least I didn’t have to install Linux on a badger…

Posted by Ceffyl at 15:17

Isis update

Horses No Responses »
Jul 252004

At least there is some good news: Isis is no longer lame! Her swollen tendon looks normal. The vet will be coming out on Tuesday to do a sonogram on her tendon to verify that it’s fully healed. If it is, then Isis will begin a light work routine until her hooves have fully recovered from the laminitis after-effects. Isis has a condition called ‘seedy toe.’

Last week, the farrier noted that her feet didn’t look so good. She’s on a three week trim schedule now. The same happened last year, and the shorter trim cycles quickly corrected the problem.

Hopefully she’ll be able to be ridden soon!

Posted by Ceffyl at 17:27

Riding lessons

Horses No Responses »
Jul 192004

To be sore enough so you can’t walk, take riding lessons! Join the few, the proud, the walks-like-a-cowboy crew! And grin like a fool while you’re doing it!

I’ve had my third lesson in as many months and it’s a blast! My friends look at me funny like, “I thought you knew how to ride?” And yes, I do, but it never hurts to hone your skills, especially if you are planning on showing horses.

Riding is like riding a bike; you don’t forget. However, you do lose muscle tone quickly when you don’t use it. The day after a riding lesson really reminds those muscles just how out of shape they are. When I come into work walking very carefully, my coworkers grin and ask if I went riding.

My next lesson is Wednesday. I’m going to ride a Warmblood who is taller than me!

Posted by Ceffyl at 16:39

One Last Purr

Cats, Poetry 1 Response »
Jul 102004
Basette as a young cat

Basette was my Little Black Wonder Cat. She recently crossed the Rainbow Bridge on June 11, 2004. It has been so hard to try and write anything here since that time. This blog journaled her story, the intense roller coaster ride from February through June, and beyond.

Funny how treating and nursing a pet through an illness brings you closer together. She was so intensely good about everything. Basette has always been my favorite kitty (doesn’t mean I don’t love the remaining three cats). She jumped into my life and purred ever since. Except that last day.

I miss her. I’ve spent so many nights in tears since she passed on. Some guilt over having to make the decision to put her to sleep. First time I’ve ever cried this hard over a pet. Of course, she was the first cat I’d had for 14 years, and was by far the most unique. She used to wake me up from nightmares, ride in my lap in the car, and gain attention by scraping her claws down the wall.

The following poem was written as a eulogy for the Little Black Wonder Cat.

“One Last Purr”

On a frost-filled February morning,
Gas-station royalty found a suitable subject and
Answered an open car-door invitation.
Purring louder then the engine
Fine, foxy face with glittering gold eyes:
Jumping onto my lap, into my life

That first vet trip she purred:
Vibrant, loud, pleased;
Chewing on my finger, licking my hands
Content to sit on my lap and be worshiped

She was Little Bastet
Whose regal bearing bespoke Ancient Egypt
Where gold adorned, bejeweled cats ruled
And rumbled their pleasure like lions

Today, her purr was hesitant
An out-of-tune engine’s rumble:
Idling, surging, whispering, roaring
She squirmed, squeaked her displeasure
Unsure of who I was;
awareness escaping like mice never had

Petite black furred form swaying
Back claws gripping en pointe
slipping
to land softly, sideways on the floor

Those once-agile paws, quick darting eyes
Now thumped into exam room walls.
Lucidity lit by a guttered out flame,
Delving deeper into dementia
A shadow of the once-sharp mouser
Whose near-invisible form
Stalked hemlines on the staircase

Diabetes had stolen her vitality, her lucidity
Renal failure took all that was left

Setting her on a soft wool bed
Little black bedwarmer who cowered Keeshonds
Did not know who cried over her.
Brilliant gold eyes dimmed to bronze,
Purred one last time
(Kim Nylander, June 252004)

Posted by Ceffyl at 04:57
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