Snowulf - Netbooks

Lose your wireless adapter? Check the BIOS

nospam@example.com (John) — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 10:00:00 -0800

As you may or may not know, Windows 7 RC is coming to an end. This isn't unexpected (presuming you remembered to read this at some point), but it is a problem. So with that in mind, I decided it was time to install the actual version of Windows 7.

Since Jon was up and harassing me, I handed it to him while I was working on other things. He delivered it back a little while later and I started Windows Update (one of the Optional Items I selected was Atheros 5007EG Wireless Network Adapter). Things were going fine until the screen went black.
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Ubuntu Netbook Remix 9.10 Review

nospam@example.com (Jon) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 10:00:00 -0800

I've got an ASUS Eee PC 1000, and it is a fine little device. Originally it came with Xandros, which quickly became Ubuntu. I was especially happy futzing about with UNR 9.04. Unfortunately for Linux, Windows 7 was coming out, so I wanted to try that out on the netbook. I like Windows 7, but it wasn't designed specially for Netbooks; I find that it runs a lot of background processes that slows the machine down. So with the release of Ubuntu 9.10 Karmic Koala, it was time to re-install again! Of course, I wasn't going to install the regular Ubuntu when there was the Netbook remix available. I have written my review in the form of pros/cons. Much of my comparison is based on UNR 9.04 (what I remember of it) and Windows.

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Eee: Game On

nospam@example.com (John) — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 10:00:00 -0700

Everyone knows the real reason anyone uses a computer is to play games (or at least a close second... but not everyone watches porn). With that in mind, here's a few games that I have enjoyed investigating.

Still haven't got StarCraft to connect to Battle.net, so no fix to pass on there.

PlanetSide - I right-clicked the link on my desktop and then used the "Troubleshoot Compatibility" option and it chose XP SP 2 and then launched up something I hadn't seen before that I couldn't actually use to get into the game. Then Jon reminded me of the incompatibility on Vista, and the fix. I navigated over to planetside.exe and followed the instructions on the aforementioned link and it got up and running all pretty like. Well... at least it got to the login page popup that then scans your computer.
Then it errored out saying "Please start PlanetSide using the LaunchPad"
So then I went and set LaunchPad.exe to run as Win95 (like the link told me too and I ignored thinking Windows 7 knew better...) and the launcher and login page came up, and then I hit play and... I hear sound... and start to see some of the initial screens, but when I go to use Fn F7 to mute it, it goes back to the desktop and shows a black screen, so uh... don't do that. Task Manager, End Process Tree again, and try to start it again (this time with headphones plugged in, so it doesn't serenade everyone).
And again with the back to desktop with the black screen. Music still playing though, until it wasn't.
I'm going to rule this one a no-go on Win7

Guild Wars -for a quick and easy install, here's a tip: if you already have GW installed somewhere else, you can speed up the install by downloading the tiny client install, run it and it will start to download, feel free to kill it as soon as it shows up on your Start Menu. Then grab Gw.dat from another machine and copy it over, then no more download necessary (presuming it was already up to date). Also, if you want to skip ever having to download in the middle of a mission/party, you can run this before you start playing:
"C:\Program Files\Guild Wars\gw.exe" -image
and it will download EVERYTHING, including those expansions you have not yet purchased.

I played Guild Wars for a bit and have to say it runs pretty darn smoothly. Loading the non-instanced areas take a little bit of time, but I generally don't need to find anyone who isn't an NPC, so this isn't a problem (as they load first).

Recently, DDO announced it was going free to play, so I might have to give that a shot once more. Jon and I played it a while back; he as a Cleric and I as a Rogue (a class that apparently does it from behind). When it comes available August 6, Jon and I will have to try it out.

Win7 comes with a number of games, more than just Spider, Solitaire, and Minesweeper of old. Mahjong, Spades, Hearts, Backgammon, Checkers, Freecell, Chess, and Purble Place. The last one is the only one I had no clue about. Seems to be a kids game.

Jon had a good suggestion, which is to explore Portable Games as a source of other games. The premise here being that if it works on a thumbstick it will work on an Eee.

One last place of note, Kongregate. This is a nice flash site and one of my favorite online game sites. With the smaller screen factor, you will need to utilize F11 (aka the full screen key) to be able to get the most out of your gaming experience.

Optimizing Firefox for Netbooks

nospam@example.com (Jon) — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 10:00:00 -0700

Most commercial applications in this day and age have fairly decent user interfaces. A lot of money is put forth into making them as user friendly as possible. The problem is that sometimes these "friendly" ways aren't necessarily the best users of screen real estate. Nowhere is this better exemplified than Office 2007's "ribbons". Now if you're on a screen that is 20"+ and running at 1680x1050 - who cares? I certainly don't mind. On the other hand if you are on a netbook that is running 1024x600 on a screen that is 10" or less, you want every pixel you can easily get. I went over some of this (albeit, indirectly) in Optimizing Windows 7 for Netbooks, but since it is a netbook after all, you're probably going to be making good use of our favorite web browser - Firefox.

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Netbook Friendly Software

nospam@example.com (Jon) — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 10:00:00 -0700

For those that haven't been following along at home, we've been doing an entire series of netbook related posts. Today's posting is about what software we enjoy using on our Netbooks, specifically Windows compatible software (after all we did just talk about installing Windows 7). Most of the software here is probably going to come across as "run of the mill" to tech-heads, but I'm also taking a small bit to explain WHY I think it is good to have on a Netbook.

Firefox - I'm a big fan of open source software, but more to the point I really loathe Internet Explorer and love my Firefoxy. On top of my love for it as a browser, Firefox has a lot of extensions and communicability. This is really important because you can make Firefox better fit the Netbook screen size. In other words, you can make the UI tiny and have as much space as possible for browsing (critical when you screen is only 5" tall). The next blog post in the series will be about Optimizing Firefox for Netbooks.
The Combined Community Codec Pack - CCCP is the best all around media playing package I know of. I'm a big fan of Media Player Classic, which they package as one of the two players in the CCCP. MPC has one feature that I find critical for Netbooks, the ability to boost the volume (In MPC - View > Options > Audio Switcher > Check "Normalize" and "Regain volume" then drag the "Boost" slider up as needed > Ok). I find that with some environments (say a car) and some video files - even with the volume all the way up (in Windows too) it just isn't enough - this is where the Boost comes in. At the current version, if you use MPC on Windows 7 to watch anything with Subtitles, it wont work unless you follow this fix.
Skype - Since we use Skype at the office, it is a requirement for me to have it. That being said, Skype is useful for even the part time users, because of its excellent VoIP to POTS services. Translation: You can make damn cheap calls to and from anywhere in the world. If you make a lot of calls, Skype has many subscription plans. Even if you don't, it is only $0.021 per minute to call the US, which is cheaper than most people pay for long distance inside the US. Now keep in mind if you are in San Francisco or Sydney, it makes no difference to Skype - as long as you can get on the internet. Also for those really long trips Skype has Video Chat, which works well since most Netbooks have webcams.

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Optimizing Windows 7 for Netbooks

nospam@example.com (Jon) — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 10:00:00 -0700

A while back I got an Eee PC 1000, which I've talked about a number of times. At first I installed Ubuntu 9.04 on it, but after a while I got bored and decided to give Windows 7 a try. While I prefer Linux servers, my desktop machines tend to run Windows, mainly because it can run the software I need for desktop machines - like Photoshop & games. Granted a Netbook isn't going to be a machine for Photoshopping, but you get the point. After a while of playing with my netbook, John got jealous and decided he had to have one for himself. He got his Eee PC 900A and installed Windows 7, which he just covered in the previous blog entry (something I probably should have done, but never got around to doing). If you're playing along at home, you've got Windows 7 installed on your netbook, but it isn't necessarily running as well as it could be. There are a few easy things you can do to "optimize" Windows 7 for the netbook experience.

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Eee: Installing Windows 7

nospam@example.com (John) — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 10:00:00 -0700

Since Microsoft has been generous enough to share the Windows 7 RC with everyone, and because Jon has enjoyed it so much, I decided my Eee should be running Win7. Getting Windows 7 is fairly easy, download site and key available from Microsoft and Microsoft TechNet. Both have the same information, the former looks prettier, while the latter offers a more utilitarian experience. Either one will get you what you need. Oh yeah, the ISO is about 2.5 GB, so make sure you have a bit more than that available on the machine that is downloading it.

Next up is getting the image somewhere useful. You have two choices:
1. Burn a DVD and then hook up an external DVD drive to your Eee...
2. Bootable Thumb Drive

Not wanting to deal with #1, I chose option #2, as I believed it would be much faster (no DVD to burn) and less hassle (no external DVD drive to acquire). Now, how do you make a Thumb Drive bootable? An excellent question, for which I turned to google.

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Eee: Hardware Upgrades

nospam@example.com (John) — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 10:00:00 -0700

This is the first of a series that Jon and I will be doing on netbooks, specifically the Asus line of Eee Netbooks. Jon got a 1000 a while back, and I recently acquired a 900A. Both of us are running Windows 7 RC on the machines (the installation of which will be covered later).

Today, I want to discuss the two hardware upgrades I made to my machine.

First, let's discuss what it came with:
4 GB SSD - Swappable
1 GB RAM - Swappable
1.6 GHz Atom Proc - Soldered, so not much upgrade potential here.

Had to remove both the SSD and the RAM and replace it with my upgrades, a 32 GB SSD and 2 GB RAM stick.

The upgrade process was quick and easy. Just flip the Eee over

Aforementioned Eee, flipped

and there are two little screws to unscrew, once they are unscrewed you will see the existing SSD and RAM.

You will need to unscrew two screws to detach the existing SSD, at which point it will pop up, just like the RAM does.

SSD unscrewed and RAM popped up

Once both pieces are reaching for the sky, you can easily remove and swap them out with your upgrades.

Something to keep in mind, though, is that you are removing the hard drive of the unit, so you better have a bootable something or other (specifically a thumb drive, since there isn't a CD/DVD drive) if you want to get the machine usable again. I promptly installed Win7 on mine, but that is a topic for another day (like Wednesday) and another post (which by coincidence, will show up on Wednesday).

Benchmarking: Ubuntu 9.04 i386 vs LPIA on Eee PC 1000

nospam@example.com (Jon) — Wed, 06 May 2009 10:00:00 -0700

==Background==
The other week Ubuntu 9.04 Jaunty was officially released, to my great enjoyment! Of course, I'd already been running it for a while on my ASUS Eee PC 1000. The one issue I had with it was that the Ubuntu Netbook Remix Alpha that I downloaded was for i386, and the Eee runs an Intel Atom processor (it was compatible, but not the same). I had assumed that once 9.04 was officially released, they'd put out a LPIA (Low Power Intel Atom) optimized version of the aforementioned remix.

I downloaded the Netbook Remix on release day, but didn't notice until a few days later that the download was for i386. The image file name was "ubuntu-9.04-netbook-remix-i386.img". I thought this was extremely odd since the UNR download page says 'What do I need to install Ubuntu Netbook Remix?' and then 'An Intel Atom processor'. Very strange indeed. So I went and asked about it on the Ubuntu Forums. As it turns out I was not the only one that noticed this little "issue". Later I also found a bug report for this problem and the reply from one of the mucky mucks of Ubuntu stated:

i386 was a safer bet for the first release of UNR, also having an i386 and a lpia version double the QA time; however we will consider this idea for 9.10, there are some issues with lpia still.

So.... No LPIA version for the first official release of UNR. Granted there was a UNR for 8.10, but it was sort of hacked together after the fact. I can accept that. After all Ubuntu doesn't release for a ton of platforms like Debian does. But the question came up in the forum thread, is LPIA optimized code really necessary? Some claimed that LPIA gave them an hour more of battery time, other claimed it was crap. This, of course, hearkens back to the early days of x86 versus x64 operating systems. In fact I found an article about 32bit versus 64bit on 9.04 which I ended up using as a base for my own series of tests.

==The Tests==
I installed Ubuntu 9.04 Alternate i386 and Ubuntu 9.04 Alternate LPIA on my Eee PC 1000, both with the most minimal installs. I then proceeded to run the following tests:

Convert an Album of MP3's into Ogg Vorbis
Bunzip2 the Linux 2.6.29.2 kernel tarball
Untar the kernel
Compile the Kernel
Bzip2 a 400+mb ISO of Wikipeida

==Results==
===i386===
uname -a : Linux happyfeet 2.6.28-11-generic #42-Ubuntu SMP Fri Apr 17 01:57:59 UTC 2009 i686 GNU/Linux
dir2ogg : 9mn 45s
bunzip2 : 0mn 54s
tar -xf : 1mn 51s
make : 196m 18s
bzip2 : 7m 6s

===LPIA===
uname -a : Linux happyfeet 2.6.28-11-lpia #42-Ubuntu SMP Fri Apr 17 01:56:10 UTC 2009 i686 GNU/Linux
dir2ogg : 9mn 58s
bunzip2 : 1mn 1s
tar -xf : 1mn 28s
make : 163mn 12s
bzip2 : 7mn 16s

===Differences===
dir2ogg: LPIA was 3% Slower
bunzip2: LPIA was 12% Slower
tar -xf: LPIA was 21% Faster
make: LPIA was 17% Faster
bzip2: LPIA was 3% Slower

==Summary==
The test was fairly inconclusive. With the exception of compiling the kernel (which took 30minutes less on LPIA), the difference in times between i386 and LPIA were statistically insignificant (for dir2ogg and bzip2). Frankly the tar -xf and bunzip2 tests took so little time that any minor flux on the machine (say a cron job) could easily skew the test in either direction. The kernel compile was, in my book, significantly faster. I think LPIA is worthy of a trial run on my Eee. Of course I noticed, as the bug stated, that there are a few issues. For example the wireless did not work out of the box like it did with the i386 Alpha I previously installed. This may be a quick & easy fix, but so far I haven't had the time nor energy to actually fiddle with the machine.

For those that are interested, after the jump I've got more details on exactly what commands I executed for the tests

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Tethering my AT&T Tilt to the Eee PC

nospam@example.com (Jon) — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 23:30:00 -0700

Car Geekery

As John was behind the wheel this past Saturday, I had many hours to burn; thus, I decided to try my hand at getting tethering working. I was attempting to tether my AT&T Tilt (HTC Kaiser II) with my Eee PC 1000 running Ubuntu Jaunty 9.04. When I was buddy breathing (IE Charging) the Tilt off the Eee PC the night before, I had noticed that it showed up as a wired network connection to the Ubuntu - tinkering ensued. I spent about 2.5 hours google'ing around under PIE (Portable Internet Explorer... sigh) on the Tilt while trying to find an answer. This is especially difficult on a tiny screen; visiting sites not designed for a mobile device; and then of course there's the cell service dropping periodically.

Anyway, I plugged in the phone and found out that it did indeed act like an Ethernet adapter to the computer, and even provided it an IP address via DHCP (169.something). I could ping the phone, but that was about it. I had remembered previously a "modem" application of some sort on the device so I found it, WModem Modem (Under Start > Settings > Connections) and launched that. Whenever that was enabled, the phone stopped providing network service and Ubuntu picked it up as an iPaq on ttyUSB0. I spent a good long while tinkering around here with the assumption that I could simply dial the phone like any normal modem. I found out that under Jaunty if I right clicked Network Manager and clicked Edit Connections there was a tab titled Mobile Broadband. I added some connections; thankfully, they had pre-made ones for AT&T and AT&T w/ Tethering. That was cool... so easy... but... I couldn't dial them. I'm not a newb, but I don't know what the new dialer is called apparently (and many applications are hidden in Netbook Remix, as far as I can tell). I spent a longggg time trying this approach but eventually gave up, being unable to dial the connections.

As I had exhausted all possible google's that I could think of centering on Ubuntu, I switched to the phone. Then came the magical google 'internet connection sharing at&t tilt'. As it turns out the HTC Kaiser II comes with an application called "Internet Connection Sharing" (which I had seen mentioned elsewhere), but it is removed by AT&T and replaced with that god awful "WModem Modem". Luckily for me (and you) the handy hackers at XDA Developers have ripped it out and provided the cab for download!

You can get the application on the XDA Forum (Login Required) or by my local mirror.

It is damn simple to use, and worked like a charm for me. Download the .cab to your device (via computer then ActiveSync, or just PIE it up directly from your device). Install the CAB. Launch Internet Sharing (Start > Programs). Make sure your USB cable is already plugged in. Click "Connect" and enjoy. For me, it kicks out the Phone<->Computer connection momentarily and comes back with the computer assigned to a 192.168 address. At this point the computer is online using the phone as a gateway. Shiny!!! While I didn't conduct many "benchmarks" other than actually using the connection (offline Gmail is extremely handy for its flaky connection mode), I can say that when I did an apt-get install (while in full 3G coverage in Sacramento) I got a max of 100KB/s download; I was floored. Granted the average was much slower, but 20-50KB/s for a mobile connection is still awesome. It was enough bandwidth to pull up and watch the Caltrans Live Traffic Cameras, which were helpful for our trip, but that is a story for another post.

ASUS Eee PC 1000, Ubuntu Jaunty and You!

nospam@example.com (Jon) — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 00:17:30 -0800

If you follow my twitter feed, then you know over this past weekend I got an ASUS Eee PC 1000. In fact, I spend a good deal of time tweeting about it on Monday when it arrived. I thought I'd spend a little time sharing my impressions of the device and some of the tinkering that I've done with it over the last few days (it lasted about an hour before it got reformatted). Please note: Most of this post is in the extended body, so to read it all you need to click the more button. In the past I haven't used this feature much, but this post is really long.

First the system specifications:
10.2" LCD @ 1024x600
1.6 Ghz Intel Atom
1 GB RAM
40 GB SSD (More correctly: 1x 8 GB and 1x 32 GB)
Comes pre-installed with Xandros Linux (of the Debian family)
1.3 Megapixel Webcam
Stereo Microphones (shows as 1 device, used for noise canceling)
~5 Hour battery
SD Card reader
802.11b/g/n Wireless
10/100/1000 Ethernet
Bluetooth
Multitouch trackpad
Ports: 3 USB, 1 VGA, 1 power, 1 microphone, 1 headphone, Network

Hardware Review
My first impressions is that this is a nice little package. My unit came in black and I think it looks good; granted it is a glossy surface so it picks up fingerprints. The accent pieces, like the buttons above the keyboard and the mouse buttons, have a brushed steel look (though they are probably plastic), which I think looks really classy. The screen is nice and bright at its brightest setting, though it doesn't get that dark. The buttons on the mice are a little tough for my preference, but it isn't really a deal breaker, especially since you can just tap the pad instead (which I have the tendency to tap really hard). Additionally, the important thing is, it is LIGHT, 3 pounds and change with the standard battery.

They keyboard is advertised as 92% full size which I think is a fair description, though some compromises have been made in the name of fitting into the form factor. My only real problem with the keyboard is that directly below the Enter key is the Up arrow - right where I expect the Shift key to be. The Shift key has been moved to the right of the aforementioned Up arrow. Since I have a preference to use that right shift almost exclusively, I hit that Up arrow by mistake A LOT when I first started on the device. But like any keyboard that is slightly different, it takes a little getting use to, then it is all good. In fact, I am typing this entry up on the Eee PC itself and I'm not hitting the Up arrow by mistake nearly as often (and I find myself using the left shift some, which is actually a good thing for me to do).

Overall, I'm pleased with how it is designed.

Semi-update: I got to take a look at Brion's Dell Mini 9, the shift key/arrow key setup is the same on his machine as it is on my Eee PC. So I'm under the impression that this is actually a fairly common design for netbooks. It makes sense, since most "regular" keyboards have the arrow keys off on their own little island and that wouldn't fit in such a small form factor.

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Dell Mini 10 punches like a 2 year old

nospam@example.com (Jon) — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 15:00:00 -0800

Dell posted a blog entry titled "Dell's Mini 10 Packs a Punch", but this punch is the punch of a 2 year old. Don't get me wrong, some 2 year old's can punch very decently for their age, but that's nothing compared to a grown man, not to mention a professional boxer. Dell is a respectable company in the computer industry, well know for its customization (in fact that was why Michael Dell founded the company). Which is why it baffles me that they are releasing the Mini 10 like this.

If you read over their blog entry, you will see that it is the official announcement of the Mini 10. Awesome, right? Not so fast... They are releasing the Mini 10, but you have a total of ZERO (0) upgrade options. Even the RAM is fixed "which means it will not be upgradeable". Please, this is no $250 sweet netbook - this is a cheap piece of shit that costs $400.
Do you want Linux on it? Not available initially.
Do you want an SSD? Not available initially.
Do you want GPS, Bluetooth, TV Tuner, or Mobile broadband? Not available initially.
Do you want upgraded RAM? Not available initially.
Catching the theme here? So the next logical question is "When will it be?". Which is exactly what I asked. Here's the response I got from Lionel Menchaca, Dell's Chief Blogger:

ShakataGaNai: Thanks for your comment and for your patience. I tried to provide a good overview of the kind of options that will ultimately be available on the Mini 10. I will provide updates to this post as new information is available.

Does that answer your question? Cause I know it doesn't answer mine. I don't give a flying fruitcake if it is available for free with 24kt gold coating, eventually. I want to know WHEN. Might as well rename it from the "Dell Inspiron Mini 10" to the "Dell Inspiron Not Available 10".

My answer to Dell's jerking around of it's customers? I went and bought an ASUS Eee PC 1000. It's got: 1.6 Ghz Atom, 10.2" 1024x600 Screen, 40GB SSD, 1GB RAM (Upgradeable), Bluetooth, 802.11b/g/n, Webcam & 5+ Hr battery life. That's everything I want, except 2GB of RAM, and more, for less than the "Not Available 10". It cost me only $387 from Amazon, and it will be here Monday. So next week, stay tuned for a review.