Category: Linux

Playing with old Computers!

These past two weeks since I last posted I’ve been showing some old computers the “free” way!
I sent Windows 98SE to the recycle bin, and installed Linux! Or more specifically I first installed Puppy Linux, and then Zenwalk Linux

I got Puppy running on one, but the x windows system wouldn’t start up, so I switched to a second computer, and got it installed and running! The wireless network worked straight out of the box, except that it I had to unhide the network SSID for it to connect!
I ditched Puppy because I just couldn’t get the wireless started on boot-up!

So I went with Zenwalk Linux. It installed without a hitch, the desktop runs a little slow but I’m going to see if I can get another one installed instead.
But wireless didn’t work, so I had no connection to the internet, and the kernel module for the wireless card wasn’t installed by default. I managed to get the files needed onto the computer, but it stopped compiling with an error.
Luckily the NDIS wrapper program was installed so I could use the Windows driver provided with the network card on Linux.
I downloaded the install program from the Belkin website
~ $ cd Download/f5d7000v3_2.2.7.0
f5d7000v3_2.2.7.0 $ ls -l
total 23796
-rw-rw-r-- 1 anthony anthony 24333824 2008-06-01 20:26 f5d7000v3_2.2.7.0.exe
f5d7000v3_2.2.7.0 $ unzip -a f5d7000v3_2.2.7.0.exe
Archive: f5d7000v3_2.2.7.0.exe
inflating: start.exe [binary]
inflating: files/._setup.exe [binary]
inflating: files/rt2500.cat [binary]
inflating: files/Rt2500.inf [text]
inflating: files/Rt2500.sys [binary]
inflating: files/Rt25009x.sys [binary]
inflating: files/setup.exe [binary]
inflating: manual/._manual.pdf [binary]
inflating: manual/manual.pdf [binary]
inflating: other/.DS_Store [binary]
inflating: other/._.DS_Store [binary]
inflating: other/._ar500enu.exe [binary]
inflating: other/._flashmain.swf [binary]
inflating: other/._icon.ico [binary]
inflating: other/ar500enu.exe [binary]
inflating: other/flashmain.swf [binary]
inflating: other/icon.ico [binary]
inflating: AUTORUN.INF [text]
f5d7000v3_2.2.7.0 $ ls -l
total 27104
-rw-rw-r-- 1 anthony anthony 45 2004-10-25 18:45 AUTORUN.INF
-rw-rw-r-- 1 anthony anthony 24333824 2008-06-01 20:26 f5d7000v3_2.2.7.0.exe
drwxrwxr-x 2 anthony anthony 4096 2008-06-03 12:43 files
drwxrwxr-x 2 anthony anthony 4096 2008-06-03 12:43 manual
drwxrwxr-x 2 anthony anthony 4096 2008-06-03 12:43 other
-rw-rw-r-- 1 anthony anthony 3343706 2004-08-24 10:41 start.exe
f5d7000v3_2.2.7.0 $
And it worked! I got it connected and onto the internet in no time at all, and the best bit, it connects to the network while its booting up!

I haven’t decided yet, but I might either go back to Puppy, or install a different distro, maybe DSL or Vector Linux

A Day of Updating

Ok, this post is going back to Saturday, but I didn’t have anytime left to post anything!

All day I made two updates to Linux-Links.co.uk, the first update is the Linux-Links.co.uk feed!

It took me most of the day to set up and get working properly, I then set up a FeedBurner account for people to subscribe to the feed from.

The second update is a proper external links format. Instead of linking directly to the website, there is a (hopefully) unique code that corresponds to the site, and when clicked leads straight to the website requested!

If you’re unsure about what I’m trying to explain, head over to Linux-Links.co.uk, and have a browse around!

The code creation is interesting, it is three separate functions.

The first function accepts a string, creates an hd5 hash of that string and then passes that string to the second function which splits that string into four pieces and passes it back to the first function.

The first function then does some wizardry, and passes four numbers to the third function which then does some more wizardry and returns four alphanumeric characters back to the first function.

The first function then returns those four alphanumeric characters back as a single string

Maybe I should setup a URL shortening site!? Lol!

If you are interested in seeing the code that is used, then you can either leave a comment or email me, the email address is at the bottom of the page.

That all for this post
Till next time,
Happy browsing!

Finally Updated!

I must start this post with an apology to anyone who is subscribed to my feed!

Earlier today I finally upgraded my blog to WordPress 2.5. At the same time I took the opportunity to clean out my database, quite literally I reformatted my blog!

This involved me exporting all my posts, and blogroll, deleting all WordPress files, apart from my theme and wp-config.php, and then deleting all the WordPress tables from the database!
Then I installed the new version of WordPress and ran through the install. I then deleted the test post, and updated some of the options. I then imported all of my old posts into the fresh install.

That was only this morning, now what have I been doing for the past two weeks since my last post?
The answer, nothing much!

The only notable exception is that I have finally got my new computer up and running!

I installed both Fedora 7 and Windows XP onto the first hard drive, Linux on 100Gb, and Windows on 60Gb.
I am using the 500Gb hard drive for all of my files, on Linux this is mounted as /home

The new computer is working brilliantly, and its so much quieter than my previous computers!
I’ve just got to get a set of speakers, and possibly a new heat sink/fan for the processor, and that will be it sorted!

It’s getting quite late now, so thats it for this post
Till next week!

Linux Links 2.0.1 Released!

It’s April the first (just!) and no, this is not an April Fools joke, Linux-Links.co.uk has been updated, on time!

This version is a complete rewrite of the server side of the website.
I have rewritten it all from scratch and have collected all the functions into one place, this means that all the settings for displaying and collecting the data is set in one place, and means that everything is displayed uniformly across the whole site.

I have updated the search function, and hopefully it will return more relevant results, its still not perfect, but it is working better now!

I have added a “help” section, but the only area it gives help on is the HTTP Status Codes that are displayed on the URL pages.
The basic structure is there and can easily be added to when more areas need to be added!

There are a couple more things I would have liked to have included, but I ran out of time!
I will add these updates when they are ready!

Ok, its now past midnight and it’s no longer April Fools Day!
Hope you believe me now! Lol 🙂

It’s Easter!

Well, it’s Easter today! I’ve got two Easter eggs, one bar of chocolate, and a bag of mini eggs, and I’ve still got one egg left to receive!
Really, I’m nearly 23, and I’m still getting excited over receiving Easter eggs, but I think its chocolate that does it, when else are we given this much chocolate, it just takes you back to childhood!

In other news, I have finally restarted work on Linux Links, now I just have the search page to complete before I finally release this long awaited version of Linux Links.
I am aiming to release the updated Linux Links on Tuesday 1st April, no joke! Honest!

I have done a few tweaks to my website and blog, a couple of them you might not notice!

The first is that I’ve separated trackbacks and pings from comments in single post view.

Secondly I have added a print CSS style sheet to both the blog and website, so if you need to print anything out you only get the main content, and not the navigation bars.
I think there is still a few more bits to change with the print style to make it more complete, but its working!

The third is that I’ve signed up for a FeedBurner account, I have already burnt my feed, and you can find it here. I have set up the redirects, so you can continue using the old address, and you will still receive the feed as normal!

There’s a few more that I have fixed or changed as I have been going around, but they don’t really effect anything!

My dad’s off to Brands Hatch this afternoon to watch the Truck racing on Monday, he’s camping over tonight and Monday night and coming back on Tuesday morning.
The Truck racing was awesome last time, and it’s something I would like to go and watch again, the thing that put me off the most is the weather, it going to be cold and wet!

That’s all for this post now, I’ll post more details when I know more!
Till then
See you

The past week

Friday was Children in Need, and the big waxing took place in ASDA.
Unfortunately I missed Scott getting his legs waxed, but I have been told he chickened out and only had one leg waxed!

A couple of weeks ago I mentioned that I had an email from Schmap saying that one of my photos had been nominated to be included in the forth edition of their Bristol guide.
I got an email from them Saturday saying that my photo was included.
You can view it here.

Now for more news about Linux Links, I was working all day Saturday to try and get search working, but it just wasn’t going right!

I was copying code from phpBB, and from a couple of tutorials from the Internet, I was even using the MySQL search functions, but none of them produced the results I was after.

I now feel sorry for the pigeons working at google!

Search is still not working, but I have a new plan to try, it involves splitting the search string, searching for each word separately!
I’ll keep you posted on how it goes!

Till next time
See you!

linux-links.co.uk

I may of mentioned one of my other websites one or two times before, but today I have got Linux Links up and running!

Its over at linux-links.co.uk
It is dedicated to links to all things Linux related, and is in its infancy!

It is a website full of links to Linx related articles and websites, which are all browseable by tags for ease of use

What you see is basically the fully working website, it still needs a few tweaks to get it running smoothly, but its all there and functioning. Well, apart from the admin section! Lol!

I need to add a couple more sections, like a news section, and add some extra functionality to it, such as search, rating, and popularity!
I am also thinking of adding a user section, so that visitors can add their own Linux links to the database.
And I’ve still got about another 70 links to add from the old site.

So why not head on over and tell me what you think of it!

The night after the night before!

This is the first night/day after the last day of working nights

We finished working at 6am, and went to bed as soon as I got home. Woke up about 2pm, and I was feeling tired all day.
I was also feeling tired all evening, but for the past hour or two I’ve felt wide awake!

I’ve done a little bit of work on my website and blog, and have added a few touches to my Linux site, I’m now going to try and get some sleep tonight!

I’ll post again sometime this weekend!
Till then

Good night!

I didn’t decide to stay on holiday!

I should start this with a link to my holiday photos on flickr.
I know that its been over a month since i got back off holiday, and i haven’t posted anything on my blog!
But I’m going to now!

I was going to start this post with details of our holiday, but I’ll now leave that for another post!

What has caused the long delay on posting? I don’t know really, but I think its time!
Ive been busy at work, and when I’m not at work I’m with my girlfriend, and I just don’t seem to have the time left to do anything else!
But I have managed to build myself a second computer! I am going to be using as a file-cum-web-cum-print-server.

A couple of years ago I brought a Via EPIA Mini-ITX motherboard from www.mini-itx.com which I was intending to put inside my old radio alarm clock.
I did put it inside the radio alarm clock, but I never got around to actually installing an operating system onto it, and ever using it, so its been sat on my desk gathering dust.

I’ve been wanting to change my main computer for something a little faster, and I thought now would be a good time to do something with the little computer!
So I brought a case, installed Fedora 7 onto it, and now I’m just trying to get file sharing going between it and an aging Intel Celeron (333MHz) via wireless, and two other relatively old computers (both AMD’s, a K6 500MHz and an Athlon 850MHz)

I’ve just brought 1Gb of memory for it, as when I initially got i, I only brought 256Mb for it!

I’ve already got the web server running, and webmin, now I just need to install the printer, and its practically done!

I’m typing this post up using the new computer!

I’ll post more details soon!
Until next time!
Bye!

Edit: I’ve fixed the type of my Mini-ITX motherboard to a VIA EPIA series motherboard, and I have updated the link to point to the correct url (http://www.via.com.tw/en/products/mainboards/motherboards.jsp?motherboard_id=21)

Room 101!

Well, Ok, not room 101, more like post 101! Lol!
I cant believe that its been more than a month since my last post, doesn’t time fly!?!

Since my last post there has been a few things happen, some I had thought about posting about, but I just haven’t been able to get the time!

The nights are now drawing in, and the past few days has been sunny, unlike May and June!

I am now on a three week rolling rota at work, I am now working one in every three weekends.
Staying with work, one of the warehouse colleagues is cutting back his hours, and I’m taking over his Tuesdays, and will be bringing in deliveries!

Me and my girlfriend are still together, and on Sunday we go off on holiday to Jersey for a week. We will be camping. Its my first holiday on my own, and my girlfriends first out of the country!

One of my other less known websites http://linux.roganty.co.uk/ is being worked on. And I have nearly completed it. I just need to tidy it up, and make it more presentable

The spam count has reached 7,800. That’s 2,800 in just over a month! Thank you Akismet!

I think that’s it, for this post!
And hopefully not for another month!