On this page I will log my experiences with the Linux operating system(s).
I've been a Linux user since around october 1995 (according to my registration at counter.li.org), but like anyone I still get
problems and usually fix them by searching through bug reports and googling for web pages... on this page I will post some of the problems and hopefully fixes that I encounter.
Feel free to send comments (and solutions :) to marco_at_vandenhout.org
My current system: ASUS A7V880 mainboard with Via KT880 chipset (previously: ECS Elitegroup K7S6A mainboard, SiS 745 chipset), AMD Sempron 2400+ CPU (with stock cooler), Sapphire ATI Radeon 9000 VIVO AGP graphics card, built-in audio: via82xx (previously a Creative Audigy Platinum audio card with 5,25" audigy drive), built-in network: Marvell gigabit 'Yukon rev.13' (previously a Realtek RTL8139 based network card), Seagate Barracuda IV 80Gb HDD, NEC ND-3500A DVD burner, Sony SDM-HS53 15" LCD monitor, Logitech Marble Mouse USB (connected through the PS/2 bus), Logitech Access Keyboard.
I decided to go Linux-only (at least on my main pc, I since have bought a 2nd pc with a legal copy of W2K) and to do a fresh install. I downloaded and burned the most current netinst image from debian.org which worked just fine. I was feeling lazy so I chose desktop machine as partition scheme and for package selection. The X server was set to ATI, mouse and display to automatic.
Works just fine, but for performance added to following to the video device settings in /etc/X11/XF86Config-4:
Option "AGPMode" "4" Option "EnablePageFlip" "on"
The X system started up in 800x600, while the monitor's native resolution is 1024x768. Turns out that the /etc/XF86Config-4 file was set up for 800x600 and 640x480 only, so I simply inserted 1024x768 for each depth.
It works fine, but dmesg does show this error: PnPBIOS: Warning! Your PnP BIOS caused a fatal error. Attempting to continue
The 2.4.27 kernel didn't work with it directly, so I updated:
apt-get install kernel-image-2.6.8-1-k7
This kernel recognized the Audigy, but somehow I didn't get any sound. So I installed alsa-utils
apt-get install alsa-utils
And ran alsamixer. The main volume was set to 0! So that was quickly fixed, and I got sound!
Works great, using the cdrecord-prodvd program for writing DVDs.
Works just fine, protocol was automagically set to IMPS/2 and scrolling works. Had to tune down acceleration in Gnome after I updated the kernel from 2.4 to 2.6 though.
The printer works fine, it's connected through USB. I had to add the printer to CUPS using the web interface, because
for some reason the Gnome add printer dialog wouldn't start. I use the GIMP-print driver for the C84. Then I couldn't print in Mozilla-Thunderbird, due to a
known bug, which was easy to fix.
Monitoring the ink levels is possible using mtink.
Got MSN messenger and ICQ connectivity with gaim. Pretty straightforward.
Installed mozilla-firefox which is my favorite browser at the moment.
Installed flashplugin-nonfree (after adding contrib to my /etc/apt/sources.list!)
Installed gsfonts-x11 because I sometimes got no text in flash (Debian bug 269478)
Installed mozilla-thunderbird to read mail from my IMAP server.
I have now bought Crossover Office for running MS-Windows programs on my Linux pc. So far I have had success with Adobe Photoshop Elements 2.0, Canon FileViewerUtility (for EOS 300D Digital Rebel), Internet Explorer 6, Adobe Acrobat Reader 5.0 and Magellan Mapsend Streets Europe.