Phytotron's stupid computer blog

[Phytotron]

Well, this is proving to be such a positive experience.

So, last night I created and booted into the Ubuntu LiveCD. It was a lot slower to load than I expected. I know the CD-ROM will be slower, but it sat at the 'four dots' screen for a rather long time before finally giving me the "try or install" screen. Then that took a good while. Then I get just the background image and two icons--an 'Examples' alias and an 'Install' (disk image or some such, I'm guessing). Weird, I thought it was supposed to be the full desktop environment; that's what I've read and seen in videos. So I sit there for awhile, notice the CD isn't making sounds anymore, then decide to click Examples, thinking maybe that starts it up or something. That first made a big white square, then just opened the file browser. So, I started to click around on that, then decided to right-click on a folder. Screen went black, came back with an error message that Compiz (which I thought was an add-on, not a part of Ubuntu/Unity) had closed unexpectedly. So I clicked 'relaunch.' Then Ubuntu "experienced an internal error." I clicked 'report,' though I don't think it did anything. Then it said there was a problem in the Compiz core. Got all those errors out of the way and then finally the full DE loaded up. I'm assuming that maybe I was just jumping the gun trying to do things before they were actually loaded. So, that's not so much a complaint as just a story, cool bros.

So then I'm clicking around, eventually checking out the sound. No sound. Damnit. So I look at the sound settings and it says "dummy output." What the hell? So I launch Firefox (turns out I didn't need to reset my modem, incidentally), and get to searching. I didn't really find much, at least not that I understood. A lot of stuff over my head, including Launchpad bug reports. I did find something in the Ubuntu docs, which of course I can't now locate, about some Terminal command to detect and display all your hardware. So, I did that and it displayed this "Intel Corporation 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family High Definition Audio Controller." Well, guess where that is mentioned: As one of the "components contained in the Dell Inspiron 620 desktop, which has been awarded the status of Certified for Ubuntu." That means it should work out of the box, but nooo. I also learned that apparently Intel doesn't make drivers for their integrated HDA dealio, so Windows and Linux have to make their own (I don't believe any Macs use the integrated audio/video). I guess the Linux one is called Alsa or something? So, I figure maybe I'll try to install updates. I'm still not clear on whether you can actually install updates while using the LiveCD, but tried anyway. So, it had this long list of updates, no idea what they were, left them all checked, it acted like it was downloading then installing, but then started getting a bunch more errors all basically saying "can't do it." At this point I just said screw it and shut down.

So, what to do? I'm assuming that if it doesn't work in Ubuntu it won't work with other distros. But supposedly "Ubuntu Certified hardware has passed our extensive testing and review process to make sure Ubuntu runs well out of the box and it is ready for your business." I was thinking maybe I go ahead and do a simple 'trial' install alongside Windows and see what happens there? I also collected these pages, but...ugh...what?

SoundTroubleshootingProcedure
DebuggingSoundProblems
This forum post
Audio/UpgradingAlsa/DKMS
HdaIntelSoundHowto

Any thoughts?

[sinewav]

Just pull the trigger, man. If you connect your computer to the Internet and Install Ubuntu, it should add everything you need. The LiveCDs are there to give you a taste and have limited functionality. They are comparatively slow because a hard drive is many times faster than a CD drive, so good guess there. I would install the OS, then post on the Ubuntu forums if you have a problem, explaining how you are terminal-adverse, haha.

My computer has an integrated Intel audio chip and works fine, so I suspect what you need is available and probably easy to get going -- especially if it's "certified."

[Lucifer]

It'll probably work fine once installed. LiveCDs have limited space, so have limited features available, and often the fancy configuration stuff "works", but lacks the modules you need, but those modules WILL be installed when you install it on your hard drive.

But who am I to talk? I can have wireless, or 3d acceleration, but never both, and it's been that way for years now.

[Jonathan]

Well, as I mentioned earlier it came as part of a bundle, and according to all the reviews I read (professional), it was the best of the three on offer. I don't understand how professional reviewers could give this the kind of ratings they did if it is in fact just this bad by nature. I mean, it's nowhere close to subtle how bad it is.

It's crazy. I suppose it's like how each new incredibly realistic generation of games makes the previous generation look dated, even though the previous generation was just as amazing at the time. They just don't know any better, or they don't think you will know any better (especially considering they're presumably relatively cheap displays).

As a not-incidental aside, that does contribute to this observation: All the gasbaggery about Macs being more expensive than equivalent PC's is a myth.

Not entirely true. Replicating an Apple deal may be hard, if you want it all. But try replicating anything else with Apple.

[Phytotron]

Just pull the trigger, man.

Measure twice, cut once. Or, in the case of something like this, I like to measure multiple times. You're not just cutting a single board; it's more like erecting an entire house in one cut, plus demolishing the one in its place.

The LiveCDs are there to give you a taste and have limited functionality. They are comparatively slow because a hard drive is many times faster than a CD drive, so good guess there.

Right. Once the DE actually loaded up it runs at a near-normal speed, actually (after all, applications are loaded into and mostly run out of RAM anyway, from what I understand). The initial load time is a lot longer than I've seen in videos, though. I'm running off it at the moment (and noticing that the insert cursor is stupidly and annoyingly fat), and it took a good half hour or so just to get to the DE. That included about 10 minutes of sitting at the aforementioned empty backround pic+two icons screen for awhile. Random clicking, the menu bar and launcher finally loaded. No errors this time, but oddly, this time the dash is completely empty. And sound is still calling me a dummy. Maybe the LiveCD just doesn't like this computer. I think I am going to do a 'trial' install alongside Windows.

It's crazy. I suppose it's like how each new incredibly realistic generation of games makes the previous generation look dated, even though the previous generation was just as amazing at the time.

But it's not like they're reviewing only low-end monitors. They're reviewing high-end TN and the IPS monitors as well. But they give a model like this 4 stars, for example, while giving a high-end IPS 5. Dummies.

[Lucifer]

But it's not like they're reviewing only low-end monitors. They're reviewing high-end TN and the IPS monitors as well. But they give a model like this 4 stars, for example, while giving a high-end IPS 5. Dummies.

Well, a 4 star cheap monitor isn't equivalent to a 4-star quality monitor. They are comparing the quality to the price point, right?

[Jonathan]

Yeah, that. Even if they give stars in different categories such as quality and price, they don't mean anything in particular.

★★★★★ is probably a good deal. So is a free goat. Do you really want one?

[Phytotron]

Well, a 4 star cheap monitor isn't equivalent to a 4-star quality monitor. They are comparing the quality to the price point, right?

I wouldn't be grumbling if it was clear that they were comparing within a price point. My point is that most of them I looked at don't break down the ratings into classes. Maybe in their heads they do, but there's no real indication of that given on the page or the section of the site. No Reviews/Ratings > Accessories > Monitors > Budget at the top of the page, for example. The impression given is that the ratings are universal. ::shrug:: Again, we're talking about professional sources, not user reviews, which I rarely look at, and if I do, usually sort by and start with the worst. Well, it is what it is. But ostensibly the whole point of an independent review is to provide a service to the public. You'd think they would want to make something like that clear.

And what do you have against goats, Jonathan?

[Jonathan]

Several reasons:
- You really want that car.
- In other cases, most people still wouldn't want a goat. Even if it's free.

[Phytotron]

You can hold on to your red snappa, or you can go for what's in the box! What's it gonna be?!


So, received the replacement monitor today. Zero backlight bleed on this one, but it does have some other kind of defect in the screen, a spot about a quarter-inch in diameter where it's lighter. But more to the point, yep, still the awful viewing angle. As in none, as far as I'm concerned; 170˚ my arse. It's not like I've never used TN monitors before; I guess I just never quite noticed how bad that aspect of them is (or most were/are just higher-end). So, mea blunder. I talked to Dell again and they said they'll take them both back and give me full credit; no S&H or restocking fees, so at least there's that. So, IPS it is. Now I just have to figure out which that will be, still needing to keep it affordable (so probably e-IPS). The limited reading I've done so far is pointing toward the Viewsonic VP2365-LED, the Dell UltraSharp series, or the Asus PA238Q...who knows. I'll be hitting up the shops, too, fo sho.


On the Ubuntu front, yesterday's session ended with my logging out first, just to see what it'd do. Well, what it wouldn't do is restart or shut down from that screen. Hard shutdown. Then I successfully shrunk my Windows partition. But when I booted from the CD this afternoon to attempt an install, this time it got hung up on the dots screen. That's two hard shutdowns in as many days. Grr. So now I have to work that out, beginning with the CD Integrity Check, I guess.


All this is why people get Macs.

[PokeMaster]

Well come on back to the dark side then!

[Phytotron]

Too late, money spent! And that ain't no pocket change, neither.

I don't think it's so "dark side," by the way. Sure, there are various objectionable corporate practices, I'll be the first to say so, but none of the other companies are free of sin, either, and much of it of a worse order. Microsoft is plain evil. Even Linux users are still using their given hardware—albeit, some of those who use it for the more philosophical reasons may view it as being subversive (use the system to defeat the system), but one could also feel that it's fruit from a rotten tree until we get some conscientious hardware manufacturers. It's all dirty in some way.

But when it comes to the operating system itself, to its being optimized for the hardware, good hardware, to not having to deal with all the crap I have with this approach, etc. That's rather on the light side, I say. There is extra value in Macs that goes beyond the raw cost of the hardware, and it has nothing to do with fashion.

I'll be hitting up the shops, too, fo sho.

None of them have a damn thing where IPS are concerned. Not the evil big-boxes (from whom I wouldn't buy, just browse), and not the local independents, as far as I've gathered. Bah.

[Word]

Microsoft products last longer. no excessive use of planned obsolescense (i love that word) as far as I'm concerned. and never heard that Bill Gates depended on sweatshops like Steve Jobs did. Perhaps that's why Microsoft makes less money now. Sad.

(my first laptop is 11 years old and still works fine)

[Lucifer]

I don't think it's so "dark side," by the way. Sure, there are various objectionable corporate practices, I'll be the first to say so, but none of the other companies are free of sin, either, and much of it of a worse order. Microsoft is plain evil.

You have to pick your battles. If everyone in America suddenly decided to get idealistic about every product they bought, we'd have to become Mennonites. It's just not possible to be in a progressive society without tolerating some evil. So, you pick your battles.

As a collective, if we were all to pick our various battles, we can all chip away at every issue a little bit at a time. Our grandkids will enjoy the fruits of that labor, but we never will. And that's ignoring new issues.

Strategically, you DO want to concentrate forces on the most serious issues of the day. That's why we all stand together for the civil rights of LGBT (mostly LGB, really, but T too), and continue to fight prejudice wherever we see it, etc. Don't forget the part about trying to preserve at least the software that manages information and keeping it Free.

Anyway, you pick your battles. I try to live an environmentally friendly lifestyle while using computers and working as an automotive technician.

[PokeMaster]

Heh, I was only toying. I'm a Mac fan and don't see anything wrong with it. Anyway, best to steer clear of the PC/Mac debate, for everybody's sake.