Software Free

finally I have got it working under 'standard' (non-xen) kernel
using the guides from wolfy and wikipedia (http://wolfy.fedorapeople.org/) :

http://wiki.centos.org/HardwareList/RealTekRTL8111b
http://wolfy.fedorapeople.org/dkms-r8168/quick_install.html

However I still have no network under xen-kernel,
that is boring :(

Basically all this systems are GNU/Linux systems.

The main difference from the point of desktop user is set of applications that already present on fresh install, default configuration of desktop (graphics and theme mainly) and kernel version used.

All these distributions support kernel upgrade (through update manager, and manually, through recompilation of kernel downloaded from kernel.org (but in different recommended way for this distro's; however, seems make oldconfig;
make all works on all distro's).

Main way of installing applications on the distributions is installing from packages.

Debian (with Knoppix) and Ubuntu are .deb-based distributions, where .deb is extension of package on these systems.

RedHat (CentOS, Fedora) and Suse are .rpm based distributions. Package extension is .rpm.

Also these systems support user-friendly layer for installing applications.

For .deb-based distro's main tool is apt (also different graphical front-ends used), and for .rpm based such tool is yum.

My lspci output:

rtg]# lspci
00:00.0 Host bridge: ATI Technologies Inc RS690 Host Bridge
00:01.0 PCI bridge: ATI Technologies Inc RS690 PCI to PCI Bridge (Internal gfx)
00:07.0 PCI bridge: ATI Technologies Inc RS690 PCI to PCI Bridge (PCI Express Port 3)
00:12.0 SATA controller: ATI Technologies Inc SB600 Non-Raid-5 SATA
00:13.0 USB Controller: ATI Technologies Inc SB600 USB (OHCI0)
00:13.1 USB Controller: ATI Technologies Inc SB600 USB (OHCI1)
00:13.2 USB Controller: ATI Technologies Inc SB600 USB (OHCI2)
00:13.3 USB Controller: ATI Technologies Inc SB600 USB (OHCI3)
00:13.4 USB Controller: ATI Technologies Inc SB600 USB (OHCI4)
00:13.5 USB Controller: ATI Technologies Inc SB600 USB Controller (EHCI)
00:14.0 SMBus: ATI Technologies Inc SBx00 SMBus Controller (rev 14)
00:14.1 IDE interface: ATI Technologies Inc SB600 IDE
00:14.2 Audio device: ATI Technologies Inc SBx00 Azalia
00:14.3 ISA bridge: ATI Technologies Inc SB600 PCI to LPC Bridge
00:14.4 PCI bridge: ATI Technologies Inc SBx00 PCI to PCI Bridge

Found page:

http://wiki.centos.org/HardwareList/RealTekRTL8111b

Thats way I hve to download some staff to install it on machine without internet.

I have used my laptop with Xubuntu 8.04 to download staff, and USB drive to move to machine with CentOS.

Copyied bz2 driver from link there (r8168-8.005.00.tar.bz2) to flash
and then on CentOS 5 machine.

no tar and bz2 in folder where it is copied, so

bzip2 -d *.bz2
tar -xf *.tar

-or-

tar vjxf r816*

made me folder with driver src.
less readme

tells that you should
1) make clean modules,
However, it is not working (errors reported, that pathes not exist)
because linux headers are not installed by default on system.

To resolve:
2) go there: http://mirror.centos.org/centos/5/os/x86_64/CentOS/
get

search kernel-xen-dev on page (ctrl-f in browser like firefox)

Bought Athlon 64 desk (<400 usd) and 19" wide monitor (~210 USD).
all on Asus hardware

Now CentOS 5.0 x64 is installing on it.

Installation is smooth, however very different from Debian based distributions.

By default selected all types from list (Desktop KDE, Desktop GUI, Server, Server GUI, Cluster ... )

Left some space on device for further playing with different file systems.

First problems:
a) It requires login and password of user on first boot , and I cannot switch from local encoding .
skip user addition (to install further).
b) No network after install on fresh machine.
(to compare,
Xubuntu 7.10 livecd detected network and internet without any effort)

In Gnome Network Preferences, no any adapter installed.

However it a lot of fun staff from the box (like sftp , and one virtual machine running).

Overall expression : Amazing thing, but need some work to make it working with such basic things as Internet.

USB socket in my laptop becomes bad.

Now I need to find position for mouse to make it working.
Don't want to go service , cause I need laptop now.

Stupid problem, but makes life worst :(

Going next time to buy hardware from another producer,
just because of the problem.

Ultra-Mobile Personal Computers (UMPC) are so hot right now that major PC manufacturers are competing to create the lightest, fastest and sexiest-looking portable machines imaginable. Most of these emerging sub-notebooks are pre-installed with Linux, and I wasn't surprised.

Although consumers are still living in Windows world, computer makers now value Linux more than ever. It's really a huge gamble, but I think it's paying off. Mainstream consumers just don't care any longer even if most of these UMPCs come with Windows as an option. As long as they can surf the web, create documents, and write emails they are at peace with Linux.

Web site Linux.com offers a few tips for taking advantage of the second Ethernet port on the back of your computer. For example, in Linux you can bond your two ports for load balancing and fault...

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Atlast I got wireless working in my Acer Aspire 5050’s Atheros 5006 under the newly released Ubuntu 8.04 Hardy Heron with the madwifi drivers. (BTW the upgrade to 8.04 from 7.10 screwed up my X server and I reinstalled from scratch). Previously I was using the ndiswrapper drivers and they would only work the first 5 minutes. Anyway here is a tutorial on how to get WiFi working if you have one of the Atheros cards.

Atlast I got wireless working in my Acer Aspire 5050’s Atheros 5006 under the newly released Ubuntu 8.04 Hardy Heron with the madwifi drivers. (BTW the upgrade to 8.04 from 7.10 screwed up my X server and I reinstalled from scratch). Previously I was using the ndiswrapper drivers and they would only work the first 5 minutes. Anyway here is a tutorial on how to get WiFi working if you have one of the Atheros cards.

Gizmodo editor Brian Lam takes his MacBook with him everywhere, but he's not a big fan of the bulky power cord that accompanies his laptop. Instead, he opts for a slimmer, ungrounded PlayStation...

interesting article:
http://www.hpl.hp.com/news/2008/apr-jun/memristor.html

Invented memristor, missed element for electronic schema's.

DRAM element is simple enough, also, but contains two elements instead of one memristor
( http://lwn.net/Articles/250967/ provide a picture with schema, it is transistor + capacitor ) .

Also DRAM requires time for reading and even more for rewriting.
Also capacitors in DRAM leak, when read. Also DRAM requires complex schema for maintaining/reading the state, and there addressing problems.

Also, from the article looks like memristor can store more than one bit of information, that could be read by passing different signal value on IN pin.

Waiting for details and examples of electronic schema from HP.

Since I promised to keep everyone updated on my little Xubuntu on Macbook Pro adventure, I'm happy to tell you all that my WiFi card is now properly working. How did I do it? Just follow these very simple steps.

Note: The fix has only been tested on 4th gen. Macbook Pro with Penryn Processor and only in Xubuntu/Ubuntu "Hardy Heron" 32 bit.

1. Using Synaptic Package Manager (I assume you have Internet access via Ethernet cable/wire), install the following packages:

unrar ndiswrapper-common ndiswrapper-utils

2. Insert OS X Leopard installer DVD (disk 1) and find "broadcomxpinstaller.exe" in bootcamp/drivers folder, then copy and paste "broadcomxpinstaller.exe" to your home directory.

3. Open a terminal, then type this command:

Few families made it through the 1980s with collecting one or more Nintendo Entertainment Systems, but many of them sit unusable today, no matter how hard you blow into them. Wired's Chris Kohler and...