Some yummy stuff we just made (stir fry). Been a while. That beef got a real kick from all the veggies, ginger, and garlic.
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Tastes as Good as It Looks
Some yummy stuff we just made (stir fry). Been a while. That beef got a real kick from all the veggies, ginger, and garlic.
Saturday, December 20, 2008
Solved: Sound Issue (Mic Problem) Fedora 10 on Dell Vostro 1400 Laptop
Intro
In my first net install of Fedora 10 to Dell Vostro 1400 pretty much everything worked out of the box. There was a major issue with sound. The ALSA is not recognizing the proper options for snd-hda-intel. Pretty happy with new setup as everything works now.
Solution
I did lots of searching and went through reboot several times. Finally, I settled at the following (still may not mean that it is the right setting 100%, but everything works).
First opent your terminal and run the following command:
su -c 'nano /etc/modprobe.d/modprobe.conf.dist'
You will need to enter your root password here.
Then add a line at the end of the /etc/modprobe.d/modprobe.conf.dist file:
options snd-hda-intel model=d82
Save the file and reboot the system. Once the system is restarted and you login, open the Volume Control:
In Volume Control window click on Preferences button. It will open several options that can be selected. I believe the critical ones here are Digital and Digital Input Source. Make sure you select those two.
Click on close and switch to Recording tab. You should see Digital in that tab.
Then select Switches Options tab. Here make sure that for Digital Input Source you select Digital Mic 1.
Click on Close and you should be ready to use your built-in mic. I tested it with Skype and everything works like it should.
Conclusion
This was the major issue I had with Fedora 10 on my Vostro 1400. I also pushed the MediaDirect button (aka Dell Vostro catastrophy button) and to my pleasant suprise it still worked. I was actually paying attention to that when I was installing Ubuntu before. I made a partition layout that worked out with MediaDirect (had to reinstall Windows and use Dell CDs to do that). This time I completely forgot to pay attention to it (started trusting these new Linux distros a lot). After I finished install I figured that I might have trouble with MediaDirect. I used autopartition with "Remove all Linux partitions" option. So far so good. Hope this works for you.
Update: An useful tip
Use following command:
aplay -L
to get an info on your chip. In this case it is ALC888 (Dell Vostro 200, not the laptop).
Then reference the following page:
http://www.mjmwired.net/kernel/Documentation/sound/alsa/ALSA-Configuration.txt
to get proper model name for your options snd-gda-intel line.
In my first net install of Fedora 10 to Dell Vostro 1400 pretty much everything worked out of the box. There was a major issue with sound. The ALSA is not recognizing the proper options for snd-hda-intel. Pretty happy with new setup as everything works now.
Solution
I did lots of searching and went through reboot several times. Finally, I settled at the following (still may not mean that it is the right setting 100%, but everything works).
First opent your terminal and run the following command:
su -c 'nano /etc/modprobe.d/modprobe.conf.dist'
You will need to enter your root password here.
Then add a line at the end of the /etc/modprobe.d/modprobe.conf.dist file:options snd-hda-intel model=d82
Save the file and reboot the system. Once the system is restarted and you login, open the Volume Control:
In Volume Control window click on Preferences button. It will open several options that can be selected. I believe the critical ones here are Digital and Digital Input Source. Make sure you select those two.
Click on close and switch to Recording tab. You should see Digital in that tab.
Then select Switches Options tab. Here make sure that for Digital Input Source you select Digital Mic 1.
Click on Close and you should be ready to use your built-in mic. I tested it with Skype and everything works like it should.Conclusion
This was the major issue I had with Fedora 10 on my Vostro 1400. I also pushed the MediaDirect button (aka Dell Vostro catastrophy button) and to my pleasant suprise it still worked. I was actually paying attention to that when I was installing Ubuntu before. I made a partition layout that worked out with MediaDirect (had to reinstall Windows and use Dell CDs to do that). This time I completely forgot to pay attention to it (started trusting these new Linux distros a lot). After I finished install I figured that I might have trouble with MediaDirect. I used autopartition with "Remove all Linux partitions" option. So far so good. Hope this works for you.
Update: An useful tip
Use following command:
aplay -L
to get an info on your chip. In this case it is ALC888 (Dell Vostro 200, not the laptop).Then reference the following page:
http://www.mjmwired.net/kernel/Documentation/sound/alsa/ALSA-Configuration.txt
to get proper model name for your options snd-gda-intel line.
Experience with Fedora 10 on Dell Vostro 1400
Intro
Since I was in a mood for experimenting and already messed up my Ubuntu setup. I decided to give Fedora 10 a try. I ran network install CD (5 MB ISO download). It took around an hour or two to perform a desktop install with my DSL connection.
On a first look things look superb. Fedora 10 is cosmetically very nicely done. I was extremely happy with the fact that most of the things worked out of the box:
Sound interface (HDA Intel STAC92xx) appears to be working but not properly recognized as to which volume and properties options to use. With some playing with the controls I got the internal mic to work but with extremely low volume. Mic boost option is never to be found.
I found a variety of comments on the subject: one to edit the modprobe.conf.dist file:
su -c 'nano /etc/modprobe.d/modprobe.conf.dist'
and add the following to the end of the file:
options snd-hda-intel model=dell-stack3
I actually tried all kind of parameters here but I did not get it to work :(
I think the option "model=dell-d82" might be the closest.
On the positive side, analog mic worked. I might keep Fedora on the laptop little longer and use external mic with my Skype.
Bluetooth
Worked out of the box. I have that bult-in interface. The issue I am having with my mouse is that it is nicely connected first time, but Fedora is not connecting to it next time. I had to manually remove it from list of Bluetooth devices and then try to connect it. Not very smooth.
Office and Productivity
I really like the fact that OpenOffice.org3 is pre-installed.
Very fast load and expected better compatibility with MS Office. I installed Adobe Reader, TrueType fonts, Opera, and Skype with no big problems.
Java and Nebeans
I do program i Java and thus prefer to have Sun's JDK. Installed it into /usr/local folder with no issues. Had to adjust alternatives for java command. Downloaded and installed Netbeans 6.5. Works pretty good.
Overall
Spent lots of time trying to configure proper sound device. Sound issue with volume and properties controls turns me off since in Ubuntu 8.04 that worked out of box. I believe in Ubuntu 7.10 a simple change in the model options helped easily, too. Another thing is the stubborn Bluetooth. I did not play with that enough to judge. Might be a minor thing. Due to a fact I can use analog mic I might keep Fedora on for a while. I like the eyecandy and responsivness. It is also a fast boot. Will follow up on the Bluetooth mouse. If you have any input on the sound and internal mic, please reply.
References
http://www.fedoraproject.org
http://www.howtoforge.com/the-perfect-desktop-fedora-10
Since I was in a mood for experimenting and already messed up my Ubuntu setup. I decided to give Fedora 10 a try. I ran network install CD (5 MB ISO download). It took around an hour or two to perform a desktop install with my DSL connection.
On a first look things look superb. Fedora 10 is cosmetically very nicely done. I was extremely happy with the fact that most of the things worked out of the box:- ethernet
- wireles ethernet
- bluetooth, some issues with reconnecting/pairing.
- webcam
- built-in touchpad
- hotkeys
- sound, well almost.
- Dell mediadirect button (still afrad to touch)
Sound interface (HDA Intel STAC92xx) appears to be working but not properly recognized as to which volume and properties options to use. With some playing with the controls I got the internal mic to work but with extremely low volume. Mic boost option is never to be found.
I found a variety of comments on the subject: one to edit the modprobe.conf.dist file:
su -c 'nano /etc/modprobe.d/modprobe.conf.dist'
and add the following to the end of the file:
options snd-hda-intel model=dell-stack3
I actually tried all kind of parameters here but I did not get it to work :(
I think the option "model=dell-d82" might be the closest.
On the positive side, analog mic worked. I might keep Fedora on the laptop little longer and use external mic with my Skype.
Bluetooth
Worked out of the box. I have that bult-in interface. The issue I am having with my mouse is that it is nicely connected first time, but Fedora is not connecting to it next time. I had to manually remove it from list of Bluetooth devices and then try to connect it. Not very smooth.
Office and Productivity
I really like the fact that OpenOffice.org3 is pre-installed.
Very fast load and expected better compatibility with MS Office. I installed Adobe Reader, TrueType fonts, Opera, and Skype with no big problems.Java and Nebeans
I do program i Java and thus prefer to have Sun's JDK. Installed it into /usr/local folder with no issues. Had to adjust alternatives for java command. Downloaded and installed Netbeans 6.5. Works pretty good.
Overall
Spent lots of time trying to configure proper sound device. Sound issue with volume and properties controls turns me off since in Ubuntu 8.04 that worked out of box. I believe in Ubuntu 7.10 a simple change in the model options helped easily, too. Another thing is the stubborn Bluetooth. I did not play with that enough to judge. Might be a minor thing. Due to a fact I can use analog mic I might keep Fedora on for a while. I like the eyecandy and responsivness. It is also a fast boot. Will follow up on the Bluetooth mouse. If you have any input on the sound and internal mic, please reply.
References
http://www.fedoraproject.org
http://www.howtoforge.com/the-perfect-desktop-fedora-10
Friday, December 19, 2008
Failed to Install CentOS 5.2 on Dell Vostro 1400
Intro
I had some good experience with installing CentOS as a desktop on couple of older machines. Will post the notes from that experience. I decided to go ahead and try the setup on my Dell Vostro 1400.
Not much luck
I ran the network setup and the whole process went smoothly up to the first boot. The laptop did boot and went into the final installation steps (adding user, sound, firewall, etc.). The setup failed to detect sound interface (which was not a problem for Ubuntu 7.10 and 8.04). I went ahead and did the first update.
Brief first impression
There are several things that did not work:
Conclusion
I pretty much gave up on the sound issue. At this time would not recommend unless you want to play with it. I really love CentOS and the whole concept of having stable distro. It could happen that the chipset on Vostro 1400 is too new for it. I am havin g a pretty good experience with CentOS 5.2 as desktop on a Dell Dimension 3000 (P4 with 512M). Any input on CentOS use on Vostro laptops would be appreciated.
I had some good experience with installing CentOS as a desktop on couple of older machines. Will post the notes from that experience. I decided to go ahead and try the setup on my Dell Vostro 1400.
Not much luck
I ran the network setup and the whole process went smoothly up to the first boot. The laptop did boot and went into the final installation steps (adding user, sound, firewall, etc.). The setup failed to detect sound interface (which was not a problem for Ubuntu 7.10 and 8.04). I went ahead and did the first update.
Brief first impression
There are several things that did not work:
- sound card
- wireless network not recognized
- bluetooth interface (was not sure how to tell it to look for my bluetooth mouse)
- did not try webcam, which I was hoping to test it with gspca driver, but other issues turned me off.
Conclusion
I pretty much gave up on the sound issue. At this time would not recommend unless you want to play with it. I really love CentOS and the whole concept of having stable distro. It could happen that the chipset on Vostro 1400 is too new for it. I am havin g a pretty good experience with CentOS 5.2 as desktop on a Dell Dimension 3000 (P4 with 512M). Any input on CentOS use on Vostro laptops would be appreciated.
Being a Vampire....
Could not sleep well last night. Caught a cold or something. Got up around 4:00am. Popped in a DVD from Netflix that was sitting on my shelf for more than a month ("She is the one"). A romantic comedy, a pretty decent one. Kid started sleep walk around 5. Two of them ended up pushing me out of sofa..
Pretty calming effect watching them asleep... recuperating energy for tomorrow's ceiling-walk.
Pretty calming effect watching them asleep... recuperating energy for tomorrow's ceiling-walk.In Search for Perfect Bread (part 7)
This is kind of a sequel of the "part 6". Everything the same except the yeast. Finally tried the same approach with the "regular" not bread machine yeast. It grew like crazy in the dough cycle. Before baking, I punched it down and did some hand kneading for few minutes. Then left it in cold oven to rise again for about 50 minutes. After that, you pull it out and let on your counter top while you pre-heat the oven to 380-400F. Baking took around 25-30 minutes. Last minute or so I did the broil (550F top). This batch was perfect. Nothing wrong there and it tasted right.
Ćurovac - Tara's Canyon Highest Point
Took this picture more than ten years ago. This is a look at the river Tara from the highest point of its canyon. Beautiful mountain Durmitor is. Feeling a bit nostalgic there. The photo surfaced back from some of my old CD's. Hope I will go visit that place some time soon.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
