Puppy Linux on a P4 @ 2.80GHz

Intro

I usually played with Puppy on slower PCs (i.e. P3 at 800MHz). The other day I got an Insignia PC D400a with a dead hard drive. This machine is a P4 at 2.8GHz with 512MB RAM. I always wondered how would Puppy or DSL worked on a faster PCs. This is a quick story about Speedy Gonzales.

Puppy on steroids

I put my spare HDD that had Puppy 3.01 installed on it. What a pleasant surprise that was. First, the Puppy booted as it was installed on that machine (beauty of Linux and Kernel 2.6). Kids do not try that with Windows, especially if you are alone at home. This is not plug and pray. I got Puppy desktop in like 15-20 seconds. I configured LAN with Puppy network wizard and I was surfing net. I am still picking up my jaw from the floor from looking at OpenOffice at the speed of light. I could not stop smiling.

What's next

I am not sure. I am still not at the stage to recommend Puppy especially not to beginners. I am not feeling comfortable with auto-login as root. I am definitively impressed with speed and I find Puppy as a demo how the things should work. I have seen too many computers being thrown away just because Windows got so bloated that it cannot run. Even P4 2.8GHz machines after fresh Win XP install and all the updates starts running slow without anything on it.

I shut down Puppy. Three seconds! Wow... I am impressed with its compatibility and speed...

Coolest people I know...

Solved: System Restore DSR Fix (Dell Dimension 3000)

Intro

I got this little Dell Dimension 3000. The Windows XP on it was in the stage where it was booting like 10 minutes or more. I put a Linux on it and the Box started behaving very nicely. Actually this system is pretty fast (P4@2.8GHz, 512MB). I noticed two Dell partitions, one at the beginning of the disk and another towards the end (Dell Utility). This is a 2005 vintage system. I learned that at that time Dell started shipping systems with Symantec restore utility. It is called Dell System Restore (DSR). That is what that first partition was. It has a DOS on it and a system restore to the factory condition. Unfortunately, booting from it requires that MBR in the hard drive that supports CTRL-F11 hot key during the boot. With my Linux install I created a "normal" MBR that would not do it. Same thing happens if someone tries to install Windows XP from Windows CD. Also, standard fdisk /mbr command would disable DSR, too.

Symptoms

• Dell System Restore (CTRL+F11) during the boot disabled.
• Typically, Windows CD install, Linux install, or fdisk /mbr would create a "normal" MBR that unfortunately does not know anything about DSR.
  

Solution

I found a nice website discussing Dell System Restore and Dell Utility partitions. There I found a link for a tool that installs DSR supporting MBR. The solution is as follows:

• Download DSRFIX.ZIP file from:
  http://www.goodells.net/dellrestore/files/dsrfix.zip
• You will need to create a DOS boot floppy, which may be troublesome and also useless if your system does not have a floppy drive. Easier approach is to create a bootable CD.
• Unzip DSRFIX.ZIP file. Inside you will locate and ISO file. Burn a CD with that ISO file. You will get a bootable FreeDOS CD with DSRFIX tool on it.
• Put that CD into the PC which MBR you want to analyze and fix. Reboot the PC and make sure it boots from the CD.
• Once system boots, you will get a DOS command prompt. Type DSRFIX then press Enter key. It should analyze your MBR and give you status.
  
• DSKFIX /H command prints you the Help. With DSRFIX /F you initiate fixing of the MBR.
• It worked great for me. After it finished, I removed the CD, rebooted and got a Dell screen just like if the machine was coming from the factory.
  

Remarks

Please note that the DSRFIX tool is not a Dell supported tool. Please read the documentation and disclaimers. It seems it has been tested with several Dell systems.
An interesting detail is that if you have a correct Dell MBR , there will be a blue line with Dell logo at the top of the screen while booting the machine. During the time you can see that blue line you can type in CTRL-F11 and initiate booting into DSR.
Please do not initiate restore if you have important data on you hard drive that you need to backup. Backup all your files before messing up with DSR or you will loose it all.
I generally don't like this approach at Dell to have this "special" type of MBR. It makes things very specific and limits use of the hardware the normal way. Similar thing (if not worse) is Direct Media button (aka "Kill your partition table" button), but that is another story...

Reference

http://www.goodells.net/dellrestore/index.htm
http://www.goodells.net/dellrestore/files/dsrfix.zip

Westell 6100 DSL modem and Linksys BEFSR41 router (Verizon)

Intro

If you use Verzion DSL and have little Westell 6100 DSL modem this could be of interest for you. I used my Linksys router with older (read slower) Verizon DSL modem. Putting the two together was not a trivial step at first. Finally, while reading several posts in forums I found a nice and quick way to set things to run together smoothly.
Occasionally, I noticed my Linksys router and DSL modems get messed up (this happens very rarely, maybe once in a year or two) so I have to redo this setup. This is the main reason I made these notes.

Goal

The goal is to utilize Westell 6100 DSL modem as modem and nothing else. Linksys router will be in charge for Firewall, router, DHCP functions. It also has several ports. The similar (if not the same) steps should be applicable to Linksys wireless routers.

Setup Steps

1. Connect a PC directly to Westell modem and connect Westell modem to your phone line following the directions from Westell manual. Turn on the modem, then PC.
2. On the PC start a web browser. In the address field, enter http://192.168.1.1 to access Westell's configuration application (it has web interface). It will ask for username and password. The default credentials are "admin" and "password" (not an easy guess as it looks). In this step you can also check if your Internet is connected and works.
   
3. Now, reset Westell modem to the factory defaults by pressing its reset button and holding it for a long time (do not just press and release, it will just reset it). I think it needs to be held around 20-30 seconds (please check Westell's manual). This "hard" reset will set the modem to the factory defalts and also reset its username and password settings to default ("admin" and "password").
4. Now, change the VC configuration to "Bridge" mode (not "Routed Bridge")
5. Disable the DHCP function in Westell.
6. Check the status and write down Westell's MAC address. You will need it later on when setting up your Liksys router.
   
7. Now, shut down the PC and turn off the DSL modem. Connect the PC to Linksys router and Linksys's WAN port to Westell modem.
   
8. Turn on the modem, then the router, then the PC. Start a web browser on the PC. Now, by entering http://192.168.1.1 in the address field, you should be getting Linksys configuration web interface. It will ask for username and password.
9. Reset Linksys to default factory settings. Push the reset button on the Linksys router, and hold it for a long time (again I think it takes around 30 seconds for that, check Linksys documentation). The default username and password are nothing (or anything) for username and "admin" for password. You will need that password to access Linksys configuration at http://192.168.1.1
10. In the Linksys setup find option for Cloning MAC (click on Advance, then MAC Addr. Cloning). Here, enter the MAC address from your Westell 6100 (from step 6). There should be 6 hexadecimal numbers here (6 pairs of digits and letters).
11. You should also change Linksys password (click on Setup, then Password).
12. If your Linksys router has wireless access point, setup the security for the wireless (you do not want to keep your router accessible by anyone).

Conclusion

Everything should be working by now. Your Linksys router will perform firewall, DHCP, and other functions. Westell 6100 modem will behave only as a modem. Be advised that the Internet LED on Westell modem will be off, which is OK.

Solved: Bluetooth Mouse by Logitech v470 (Ubuntu 7.10)

Intro

On my office laptop Dell Vostro 1400 I have this built-in Bluetooth interface. I was looking for a decent mouse that works with that. Finally I decided on Logitech v470. This blog entry contains few steps needed to make it work with Dell Vostro 1400 and Ubuntu 7.10.

Symptoms

• Logitech mouse v470 not automatically recognized by default Ubuntu 7.10 setup

Solution

• Install gnome-vfs-obexftp package:
  $ sudo apt-get install gnome-vfs-obexftp
• From Bluetooth applet in the upper screen corner, right click to show the context menu, and choose Preference.
• Select Services tab, and make sure that Input service checkbox is enabled.
• Turn on the v470 mouse and click the "Connect" button at the bottom.
  
• While in Services tab, click on Add button, select "Bluetooth Laser Travel Mouse"

That should do it.

Solved: Dell Vostro 1400 built-in webcam (Ubuntu 7.10)

Intro

Dell Vostro 1400 laptops can be configured with built-in webcam, which seems to be from Creative. I believe that 1500 and 1700 series come with same type of webcam. These instructions are compiled from couple of forums I found on the topic.

Symptoms

• Built-in webcam not recognized by Ubuntu 7.10 default setup

Solution

• Check if you have svn installed, if not add the "subversion" package with Synaptic or apt-get.
• Download svn trunk with command:
  svn checkout svn://svn.berlios.de/linux-uvc/linux-uvc/trunk
• open file uvc_driver.c and insert the following code:
  /* after line 1661 */
  /* OmniVision OEM Dell Notebook */
  { .match_flags = USB_DEVICE_ID_MATCH_DEVICE
  | USB_DEVICE_ID_MATCH_INT_INFO,
  .idVendor = 0x05a9,
  .idProduct = 0x2640,
  .bInterfaceClass = USB_CLASS_VIDEO,
  .bInterfaceSubClass = 1,
  .bInterfaceProtocol = 0,
  .driver_info = UVC_QUIRK_PROBE_MINMAX },
• Compile and install by running the following commands in terminal. Be sure you are in the "trunk" folder while doing that:
  sudo make
  sudo make install
• Load driver with:
  sudo modprobe uvcvideo
  

After that the blue light (LED) next to your built-in cam will flash. You can check if the webcam works within Skype for example.

video group

To make the webcam available for other users, you need to make them members of the video group (I believe that the video group was created in the install step). On the Hardy Haron (8.04 LTS) this step was not needed. All the users had access to my webcam.

After the install process your webcam will be available after each boot automatically. I tested the webcam with Skype and aMSN.

Solved: ALSA settings for HP DC7700 (Ubuntu 7.10)

Intro

I am using this small factor desktop from HP Compaq, model DC7700. After the default Ubuntu 7.10 Linux install, there are some issues with sound ports.

Symptoms

• Mic not working
• Bad quality or no sound

Solution

• With sudo, edit file /etc/modprobe.d/alsa-base
• add the following line to it:
  options snd-hda-intel model=hp position_fix=2 probe_mask=1

This allowed me to use the front mic input and front headphones jack as an output for my speakers. Skype works smoothly now.

Good luck!