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Fedora freezes

by Walt

I have been experiencing freezes with Fedora 10. For no apparent reason, the machine just stops. No mouse, no keyboard (no ctrl alt F1 or ctrl alt del). I can only reboot with the on-off switch. Any ideas as to what I can check? Thanks! Walt

Feb. 20, 2009

Re: [Wlug] no sound from ubuntu

by E Johnson

I'm running ubuntu 8.04 on Dell 1525n (laptop) and had sound problems out of the box when it arrived April 2008 with ubuntu 7.10 installed. I had it fixed within 24 hours. Then various kernel updates have had sound working or not, seemingly randomly. Now I'm running 8.04, with working sound in kernel 2.6.24-22 generic, which as I recall, did not need extra effort to get it working... they have it right in that one. I think we tested the later kernel and sound was broken again. Getting it going: I would first do Kieran's step 4 before starting to remove obsolete config files & that stuff. If you get any indication your sound is trying to work, go see about the switches in Alsamixer then. We have a new Gregbuilt* desktop in here, which runs ubuntu 8.04 very very nicely. But even in this, we had to set some sound switches oddly --labels on some of these speakers (front, back, etc) did not seem to correspond correctly. So it took some tweaking. If you are running on a Dell laptop (I saw something in your lspci output that mentioned Dell), and if all else fails, I would roll back to ubuntu 8.04 --the kernel I have working here --until the forums quit reporting broken sound.in intrepid. I like ubuntu hardy very well. I can share my amixer output (how switches are set in ALSA) if needed, or other config files or whatever. Your mileage may differ, but there may be some use in checking out what works here. Good luck, Liz J * a WLUG member. 2009/2/20 Kieran O'Callaghan <kieran(a)tiac.net>: > I had the same problem after upgrading to 8.10, below are my notes from > fixing it. These steps worked for me. However, I have the nagging worry > that maybe I didn't have to go through all of it (the steps 1 to 5) and > that maybe I just had to futz around with the volume levels and other > settings to get everything to work. So maybe try the stuff after step 5 > first. > > What seems to have fixed sound after it didn't work after upgrade to > 8.10: > > >From https://wiki.ubuntu.com/PulseAudio did: > Go to System -> Administration -> and click on Users and Groups. > > Click on Manage Groups, and scroll all the way to the bottom of the list > where you will find: > > * pulse-access > * pulse-rt > > Make sure to highlight each, one at a time, and click Properties. Just > put a check next to each user that you want to be able to have access to > sound. For example, there's "ted" and "root" and "kamilion" listed, and > you only want "kamilion" to have access to sound, that's the one to > check, leave the other two blank. > > Note: The "pulse" group is for pulseaudio internal use, and normal users > should not be added to this group. > > Then did: > 2. Configure libao applications to use PulseAudio: > Code: > > $ echo "default_driver=pulse" >~/.libao > > 3. Perform the following steps to remove obsolete configuration files, > ensure "libflashsupport" is not installed & you have the all the > necessary packages up-to-date: > Code: > > $ rm -r ~/.pulse ~/.asoundrc* > $ sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get dist-upgrade > $ sudo apt-get remove libflashsupport > $ sudo apt-get install libasound2-plugins padevchooser libao-pulse > libsdl1.2debian-pulseaudio > > NOTE: Choose Yes to allow unsigned packages to be installed. > > 4. Go to System/Preferences/Sound. Set all "Sound playback" options to > "Autodetect", and set "Sound capture" to "ALSA". > > 5. Reboot for changes to take effect! > > Then had to use: alsamixer -D hw:0 and turn up pcm volume to get sound. > > Recording still didn't work from the built-in mic. Also, the volume icon > vanished somewhere along the line. Brought it back by going to the > panel, right clicking and hitting add and adding it from there. Once it > was there, right clicked on it and went to "open volume control". Go to > preferences for each item in the dropdown and check everything. What > seems to work is, under HDA ATI SB (Alsa Mixer), the volumes in the > recording tab can all be all the way down and the device not set to be a > recording device, under the switches tab though, it seems to be pretty > important that analog loopback is unchecked. In the options tab, digital > input source should be set to digital mic. > Under HDA ATI HDMI (Alsa Mixer), IEC958 should be unchecked > Under Sigmatel STAC9205 (OSS Mixer), it seems that the in-gain level is > not important, as long as it isn't muted. > Capture: Monitor Source of ALSA PCM on front:0 with toggle input source > from master toggled on, unmuted and turned up > Capture: ALSA PCM on front:0 (STAC92xx Analog) .. volume turned up, > unmuted and master toggle on. Doesn't seem to matter what the volume > level is, but it does matter if it's muted. > > _______________________________________________ > Wlug mailing list > Wlug(a)mail.wlug.org > http://mail.wlug.org/mailman/listinfo/wlug >

Feb. 20, 2009

Re: [Wlug] no sound from ubuntu

by Kieran O'Callaghan

I had the same problem after upgrading to 8.10, below are my notes from fixing it. These steps worked for me. However, I have the nagging worry that maybe I didn't have to go through all of it (the steps 1 to 5) and that maybe I just had to futz around with the volume levels and other settings to get everything to work. So maybe try the stuff after step 5 first. What seems to have fixed sound after it didn't work after upgrade to 8.10: >From https://wiki.ubuntu.com/PulseAudio did: Go to System -> Administration -> and click on Users and Groups. Click on Manage Groups, and scroll all the way to the bottom of the list where you will find: * pulse-access * pulse-rt Make sure to highlight each, one at a time, and click Properties. Just put a check next to each user that you want to be able to have access to sound. For example, there's "ted" and "root" and "kamilion" listed, and you only want "kamilion" to have access to sound, that's the one to check, leave the other two blank. Note: The "pulse" group is for pulseaudio internal use, and normal users should not be added to this group. Then did: 2. Configure libao applications to use PulseAudio: Code: $ echo "default_driver=pulse" >~/.libao 3. Perform the following steps to remove obsolete configuration files, ensure "libflashsupport" is not installed & you have the all the necessary packages up-to-date: Code: $ rm -r ~/.pulse ~/.asoundrc* $ sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get dist-upgrade $ sudo apt-get remove libflashsupport $ sudo apt-get install libasound2-plugins padevchooser libao-pulse libsdl1.2debian-pulseaudio NOTE: Choose Yes to allow unsigned packages to be installed. 4. Go to System/Preferences/Sound. Set all "Sound playback" options to "Autodetect", and set "Sound capture" to "ALSA". 5. Reboot for changes to take effect! Then had to use: alsamixer -D hw:0 and turn up pcm volume to get sound. Recording still didn't work from the built-in mic. Also, the volume icon vanished somewhere along the line. Brought it back by going to the panel, right clicking and hitting add and adding it from there. Once it was there, right clicked on it and went to "open volume control". Go to preferences for each item in the dropdown and check everything. What seems to work is, under HDA ATI SB (Alsa Mixer), the volumes in the recording tab can all be all the way down and the device not set to be a recording device, under the switches tab though, it seems to be pretty important that analog loopback is unchecked. In the options tab, digital input source should be set to digital mic. Under HDA ATI HDMI (Alsa Mixer), IEC958 should be unchecked Under Sigmatel STAC9205 (OSS Mixer), it seems that the in-gain level is not important, as long as it isn't muted. Capture: Monitor Source of ALSA PCM on front:0 with toggle input source from master toggled on, unmuted and turned up Capture: ALSA PCM on front:0 (STAC92xx Analog) .. volume turned up, unmuted and master toggle on. Doesn't seem to matter what the volume level is, but it does matter if it's muted.

Feb. 20, 2009

Re: [Wlug] cheap, small computer

by David P. Connell

I am running mythbuntu on a P4 Compaq returned business lease computer that I originally just picked up to get the Windows XP COA (ironic that I am not even running Windows on it at all). I added a couple of Hauppauge tuners (PVR350 and PVR150, now swapped to a single PVR500), an Nvidia 5200 AGP card with TV-out, a 120GB HDD, 1GB RAM and a DVD-RW optical drive. The PVR-350 came with a remote control and sensor. When I found that I only had to replace a couple of capacitors on the motherboard, I couldn't resist running it for a while. It fits on the AV rack since its a desktop form factor. There are tons of these things out there for under $100 plus shipping. You will likely need to make a couple of upgrades, but there are quite inexpensive, the correct form factor and not very loud at all. There is a small processor fan and the power-supply takes care of exhausting the heat. Just an option, and the COA, although not intended to be transferred, has at least some value, somewhere. check out GearXS.com and maybe ecost.com for a general list of available units. They had some Dells too. DaveC

Feb. 19, 2009

cheap, small computer

by Nick Nassar

Does anyone know of a cheap, small computer with a TV out powerful enough to run Ubuntu? Preferably something without a fan? Nick

Feb. 19, 2009

Re: [Wlug] no sound from ubuntu

by Gregory Avedissian

Which model of Dell is it? I can tell you that they're a pain with sound. Search for your model and "sound" at the ubuntu forum, and see what others have done. Try different settings in gnome-sound-preferences - you might need to set all devices to ALSA, or you might need to set them all to Pulse Audio, as the person in this thread did - http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=997506 Search for Dell in that thread - post#70 just changed to a newer kernel than the one on the install CD and got sound to work. If all else fails, drop back to 8.04, and one of our WLUG members who has a Dell laptop with sound working will lend you her config files. Greg Strazdas, Rich wrote: > | Hmmm.... do you have pulseaudio setup on your system? > | > | John > > Yes, version 0.9.10. I'm not sure what it does. > $ pulseaudio --version > W: ltdl-bind-now.c: Failed to find original dlopen loader. > pulseaudio 0.9.10 > $ pulseaudio --check > W: ltdl-bind-now.c: Failed to find original dlopen loader. > $ > > | I had a similiar problem with my Gentoo system with KDE. > | > | I spent a large ammount of time checking out ALSA, kernel > configuration etc... | | and I only got sound only after turning on my > front mike input (in the output | | | section). > | > | It might be a good idea to try checking out KMix (if you use KDE 3.5) > or whatever | sound mixer applies. > | > | kstratton(a)fastmail.us > > I'm running GNOME. Gnome ALSA Mixer says I have SigmaTel STAC9200, which > matches the "aplay -l" output: > **** List of PLAYBACK Hardware Devices **** > card 0: Intel [HDA Intel], device 0: STAC92xx Analog [STAC92xx Analog] > Subdevices: 1/1 > Subdevice #0: subdevice #0 > It allows me to set volumes on Master, PCM, LFE, Capture and Capture > (again). I don't understand them, but they're all set on max. > > -Rich > This e-mail message is generated from?Coghlin Companies Inc. or one of its subsidiaries including, but not limited to, Columbia Electrical Contractors, Inc. d/b/a Columbia Tech; DCI Automation, Inc.d/b/a DCI Engineering Services; Cogmedix, Inc.; and Coghlin Precision, Inc. This message may contain information that is?CONFIDENTIAL, and may also possibly contain information that is being held as a Trade Secret.? The information is intended to be disclosed solely to the addressee(s).? If you are the intended recipient, any information herein is to be held as CONFIDENTIAL pursuant to any Non-Disclosure Agreement applicable between the parties, or as a Trade Secret as applicable.? If you are not the intended recipient, any disclosure, copying, distribution or use of the contents of this e-mail information is prohibited.? If you have received this e-mail in error, please notify the sender by return e-mail and delete it from your computer system. > > _______________________________________________ > Wlug mailing list > Wlug(a)mail.wlug.org > http://mail.wlug.org/mailman/listinfo/wlug >

Feb. 19, 2009

Re: [Wlug] no sound from ubuntu

by Strazdas, Rich

| Hmmm.... do you have pulseaudio setup on your system? | | John Yes, version 0.9.10. I'm not sure what it does. $ pulseaudio --version W: ltdl-bind-now.c: Failed to find original dlopen loader. pulseaudio 0.9.10 $ pulseaudio --check W: ltdl-bind-now.c: Failed to find original dlopen loader. $ | I had a similiar problem with my Gentoo system with KDE. | | I spent a large ammount of time checking out ALSA, kernel configuration etc... | | and I only got sound only after turning on my front mike input (in the output | | | section). | | It might be a good idea to try checking out KMix (if you use KDE 3.5) or whatever | sound mixer applies. | | kstratton(a)fastmail.us I'm running GNOME. Gnome ALSA Mixer says I have SigmaTel STAC9200, which matches the "aplay -l" output: **** List of PLAYBACK Hardware Devices **** card 0: Intel [HDA Intel], device 0: STAC92xx Analog [STAC92xx Analog] Subdevices: 1/1 Subdevice #0: subdevice #0 It allows me to set volumes on Master, PCM, LFE, Capture and Capture (again). I don't understand them, but they're all set on max. -Rich This e-mail message is generated from?Coghlin Companies Inc. or one of its subsidiaries including, but not limited to, Columbia Electrical Contractors, Inc. d/b/a Columbia Tech; DCI Automation, Inc.d/b/a DCI Engineering Services; Cogmedix, Inc.; and Coghlin Precision, Inc. This message may contain information that is?CONFIDENTIAL, and may also possibly contain information that is being held as a Trade Secret.? The information is intended to be disclosed solely to the addressee(s).? If you are the intended recipient, any information herein is to be held as CONFIDENTIAL pursuant to any Non-Disclosure Agreement applicable between the parties, or as a Trade Secret as applicable.? If you are not the intended recipient, any disclosure, copying, distribution or use of the contents of this e-mail information is prohibited.? If you have received this e-mail in error, please notify the sender by return e-mail and delete it from your computer system.

Feb. 18, 2009

Re: [Wlug] no sound from ubuntu

by kstratton＠fastmail.us

I had a similiar problem with my Gentoo system with KDE. I spent a large ammount of time checking out ALSA, kernel configuration etc... and I only got sound only after turning on my front mike input (in the output section). It might be a good idea to try checking out KMix (if you use KDE 3.5) or whatever sound mixer applies. -- kstratton(a)fastmail.us

Feb. 18, 2009

Re: [Wlug] no sound from ubuntu

by John Stoffel

Hmmm.... do you have pulseaudio setup on your system? John

Feb. 18, 2009

no sound from ubuntu

by Strazdas, Rich

Hi, first post here! I'm a part-time Linux user, with experience on Mandrake and Fedora. After installing ubuntu 8.10, I find that my computer is very quiet, even when I don't want it to be! The only sound I can get is the beep when the arrow keys reach a limit, such as scrolling to the end of a list, or the end of a command line. The master volume is high, I have permission to Use Audio Devices, nothing is muted, am I missing something basic??? I've been to https://wiki.ubuntu.com/DebuggingSoundProblems <https://wiki.ubuntu.com/DebuggingSoundProblems> and lots of links from there. Learned a lot, accomplished little. :) I can turn off the beep (alert) in Sound Preferences, but I can't turn on other sounds, (Rhythmbox, youtube, etc.) Some info I picked up is shown below. I wasn't clear from checking http://www.alsa-project.org/main/index.php/Matrix:Main <http://www.alsa-project.org/main/index.php/Matrix:Main> whether my sound card is supported by ALSA. The Intel soundcard list includes ESB2, but nothing else remotely like 631xESB/632xESB. If that's the case, am I screwed? aplay -l **** List of PLAYBACK Hardware Devices **** card 0: Intel [HDA Intel], device 0: STAC92xx Analog [STAC92xx Analog] Subdevices: 1/1 Subdevice #0: subdevice #0 lspci -v 00:1b.0 Audio device: Intel Corporation 631xESB/632xESB High Definition Audio Controller (rev 09) Subsystem: Dell Device 01c0 Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0, IRQ 16 Memory at dfffc000 (64-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=16K] Capabilities: <access denied> Kernel driver in use: HDA Intel Kernel modules: snd-hda-intel /proc/asound/cards 0 [Intel ]: HDA-Intel - HDA Intel HDA Intel at 0xdfffc000 irq 16 -Rich This e-mail message is generated from?Coghlin Companies Inc. or one of its subsidiaries including, but not limited to, Columbia Electrical Contractors, Inc. d/b/a Columbia Tech; DCI Automation, Inc.d/b/a DCI Engineering Services; Cogmedix, Inc.; and Coghlin Precision, Inc. This message may contain information that is?CONFIDENTIAL, and may also possibly contain information that is being held as a Trade Secret.? The information is intended to be disclosed solely to the addressee(s).? If you are the intended recipient, any information herein is to be held as CONFIDENTIAL pursuant to any Non-Disclosure Agreement applicable between the parties, or as a Trade Secret as applicable.? If you are not the intended recipient, any disclosure, copying, distribution or use of the contents of this e-mail information is prohibited.? If you have received this e-mail in error, please notify the sender by return e-mail and delete it from your computer system.

Feb. 18, 2009

Is MS becoming less evil?

by Clint Moyer

I'd say no, but there is this: http://arstechnica.com/open-source/news/2009/02/red-hat-virtualization-deal… http://blogs.technet.com/virtualization/archive/2009/02/15/Microsoft-and-Re…

Feb. 17, 2009

REMINDER: Upcoming meeting THURS 7PM

by Andy Stewart

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 HI everybody, Our monthly WLUG meeting will be held this coming Thursday, Feb 19th, at 7:00 PM in the Access Grid room on the WPI campus in Worcester, MA USA. We don't have a specific topic for this meeting unless we get a volunteer from the audience between now and the meeting time. As always, light refreshments will be available at the meeting, and we'll go out for pizza afterwards. See ya there! Andy - -- Andy Stewart, Founder Worcester Linux Users' Group (http://www.wlug.org) Chelmsford Linux Meetup Group (http://linux.meetup.com/393) Amateur Radio: KB1OIQ -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v1.4.2 (GNU/Linux) Comment: Using GnuPG with SUSE - http://enigmail.mozdev.org iD8DBQFJminTHl0iXDssISsRAtsWAJ0SUghV2rZBFgAZ+vQ0r102C/YfswCfeUi3 P3IOTZmoXAfc33wsQe84umY= =bCTv -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

Feb. 17, 2009

GIMP tutorials

by E Johnson

A couple of WLUG members had been interested in GIMP a few months back. A presentation I gave to the group last Fall may have been effective that it could have been, since we couldn't get the big monitors working in the meeting room. But now while looking for one piece of info, I came across this in article Linux Haxor: "50 Tutorials To Get You Started With Gimp." http://www.linuxhaxor.net/2009/02/09/50-tutorials-to-get-you-started-with-g… Some of these tutorials seem to be concerned with specific special effects, but others, such as "Using and Manipulating Layers with Gimp" and "Retouching hair and eye (video)" might be of interest to non-artist persons, and to those who want to work with photos they have uploaded from digital camera. Enjoy, Liz J

Feb. 14, 2009

Re: [Wlug] Miro gets a makeover

by nassar＠alum.wpi.edu

PCF is amazingly efficient at turning the little money they have into usable software. If you can, give them a donation. https://www.miroguide.com/donate >>>>> "Rich" == Richard Klein <richspk(a)gmail.com> writes: Rich> I haven't read the article yet, but it looks like Miro 2.0 has Rich> launched. Miro was the topic of last month's meeting. Rich> http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/02/10/miro-gets-a-makeover/ Rich> -- Rich _______________________________________________ Wlug Rich> mailing list Wlug(a)mail.wlug.org Rich> http://mail.wlug.org/mailman/listinfo/wlug

Feb. 14, 2009

Re: [Wlug] tux's new prison

by Keith Wright

> From: Doug Mildram <dmildram(a)gmail.com> > > Tux looks a bit worried in his "new" computer room..... > OK so he's homeless and I merely bought him a bottle and > a limited air supply with the other derelicts in my man-cave... > > ( ! warning, no disturbing images, 3 boring pix at.... ) > > http://dmildram.jalbum.net/Server+DesktopClutter/index.html It's good this came with a warning, or else I would have been very disappointed to find no disturbing pictures of Penguins in Bondage. -- Keith PS: so Google it or ask a Zappa fan.

Feb. 14, 2009

Re: [Wlug] tux's new prison

by Richard Klein

On Fri, Feb 13, 2009 at 6:26 PM, Doug Mildram <dmildram(a)gmail.com> wrote: > Suffering from "temporary" (winter) shrinkage, > Tux looks a bit worried in his "new" computer room..... > OK so he's homeless and I merely bought him a bottle and > a limited air supply with the other derelicts in my man-cave... > > ( ! warning, no disturbing images, 3 boring pix at.... ) > > http://dmildram.jalbum.net/Server+DesktopClutter/index.html Looks like Twisted Pair was playing at Sir Morgan's Cove. :-) -- Rich Sent from: Belmont Massachusetts United States.

Feb. 14, 2009

tux's new prison

by Doug Mildram

Suffering from "temporary" (winter) shrinkage, Tux looks a bit worried in his "new" computer room..... OK so he's homeless and I merely bought him a bottle and a limited air supply with the other derelicts in my man-cave... ( ! warning, no disturbing images, 3 boring pix at.... ) http://dmildram.jalbum.net/Server+DesktopClutter/index.html

Feb. 13, 2009

Re: [Wlug] Lenovo S10 Netbook

by John Stoffel

>>>>> "Mike" == Mike Leo <mleo963(a)yahoo.com> writes: Mike> not odd, no....but i have nothing else to do with this netbook Mike> so I thought I'd try and tweak the heck out of it! Go for it! I'm tempted to get a netbook at some point... but since work gives me a laptop, it's not a huge rush. Though it's possibly something my wife could use for her work... while keeping her main machine downstairs for photo editing, etc. John

Feb. 13, 2009

Re: [Wlug] Lenovo S10 Netbook

by Mike Leo

not odd, no....but i have nothing else to do with this netbook so I thought I'd try and tweak the heck out of it! ________________________________ From: John Stoffel <john(a)stoffel.org> To: Worcester Linux Users Group <wlug(a)mail.wlug.org> Sent: Friday, February 13, 2009 9:00:51 AM Subject: Re: [Wlug] Lenovo S10 Netbook Eric> Maybe I'm odd, but boot time is almost completely unimportant to Eric> me.I never reboot my desktop and my laptop goes on suspend 49 Eric> times out of 50. It's impressive that they have boot time that Eric> low now though. I don't think you're odd at all. Like you say, I don't reboot my desktop that oftern, and I reboot my main home file server even less often. My work laptop is WinXP (soon to be Vista... sigh) and while it suspends ok, the hardest part is the wait for the wireless network to come back up. :] But, on the other hand, I can understand wanting to have a quicker bootup time, since turning the system *off* saves more power than suspending, and suspending is still a black art. Every week or so my WinXP box loses it's mind and I have to reboot no matter what. It's not simple. Cheers, John _______________________________________________ Wlug mailing list Wlug(a)mail.wlug.org http://mail.wlug.org/mailman/listinfo/wlug

Feb. 13, 2009

Re: [Wlug] Lenovo S10 Netbook

by John Stoffel

Eric> Maybe I'm odd, but boot time is almost completely unimportant to Eric> me.I never reboot my desktop and my laptop goes on suspend 49 Eric> times out of 50. It's impressive that they have boot time that Eric> low now though. I don't think you're odd at all. Like you say, I don't reboot my desktop that oftern, and I reboot my main home file server even less often. My work laptop is WinXP (soon to be Vista... sigh) and while it suspends ok, the hardest part is the wait for the wireless network to come back up. :] But, on the other hand, I can understand wanting to have a quicker bootup time, since turning the system *off* saves more power than suspending, and suspending is still a black art. Every week or so my WinXP box loses it's mind and I have to reboot no matter what. It's not simple. Cheers, John

Feb. 13, 2009

Re: [Wlug] Lenovo S10 Netbook

by Eric Stein

Maybe I'm odd, but boot time is almost completely unimportant to me.I never reboot my desktop and my laptop goes on suspend 49 times out of 50. It's impressive that they have boot time that low now though. Eric John Stoffel wrote: > Mike> all good info. > > Thanks. > > Mike> bootchart doesn't seem to work at all for me. I apt-get install > Mike> it which is fine but it configures itself to use > Mike> /sbin/bootchartd which doesn't get installed. Kind'a weird. > Mike> Maybe i'm missing something. > > Possibly. I haven't tried it out myself yet. My new box works just > fine and boots quickly, the memory test in BIOS is the longest part. > > Mike> Moblin is not debian based so I know I'd miss my apt, but I'll > Mike> give it a shot at some point I'm sure. > > Yeah, I hate yum myself, it's so slow esp after using apt for a > while. :] But it's tempting. I think they've got a system booting > in under 10 second. > > But as you say, if it's not apt, then I'll probably just stay away... > > John

Feb. 12, 2009

Re: [Wlug] Lenovo S10 Netbook

by John Stoffel

Mike> all good info. Thanks. Mike> bootchart doesn't seem to work at all for me. I apt-get install Mike> it which is fine but it configures itself to use Mike> /sbin/bootchartd which doesn't get installed. Kind'a weird. Mike> Maybe i'm missing something. Possibly. I haven't tried it out myself yet. My new box works just fine and boots quickly, the memory test in BIOS is the longest part. Mike> Moblin is not debian based so I know I'd miss my apt, but I'll Mike> give it a shot at some point I'm sure. Yeah, I hate yum myself, it's so slow esp after using apt for a while. :] But it's tempting. I think they've got a system booting in under 10 second. But as you say, if it's not apt, then I'll probably just stay away... John Mike> ________________________________ Mike> From: John Stoffel <john(a)stoffel.org> Mike> To: Worcester Linux Users Group <wlug(a)mail.wlug.org> Mike> Sent: Thursday, February 12, 2009 10:14:21 AM Mike> Subject: Re: [Wlug] Lenovo S10 Netbook >>>>> "Mike" == Mike Leo <mleo963(a)yahoo.com> writes: Mike> Short of compiling my own kernel (which I never can seem to do Mike> right), any other advise on how to speed up a netbook's boot Mike> time? Mike> I suspect that your boot time is spent in udev and module loading Mike> stuff. There's a bunch of work in the linux kernel with a tool called Mike> 'bootchart' which tracks how stuff boots up. Mike> With 8.10, it's trivial to drop in a new kernel. Also, if you compile Mike> in all the modules your need on bootup, and minimize the modules you Mike> have otherwise (say for USB devices, etc) then you should see a speed Mike> up. Mike> Do an 'lsmod' and see which modules you have loaded. Then go and grab Mike> the latest linux kernel (2.6.29-rc4 say...) and compile it using the Mike> *exact* same config from your 8.10 kernel. Mike> Test it out, using the 'mkinitrd' script to rebuild your initrd for Mike> loading. Update grub with the new info and reboot. See if it's Mike> faster. And if it boots properly Mike> If it does, then go back into the config under the new kernel and Mike> start moving more stuff into the kernel image, and putting less stuff Mike> into modules. Rebuild and boot. See how it goes. Mike> Also, I'd go through and see which software packages are installed and Mike> starting up daemons and I'd nuke as many of them as you can. Maybe Mike> ntpd doesn't need to run, or avahi or some other funky stuff. Like Mike> bluez, etc. Mike> It's hard to say what will and won't work, but getting the kernel and Mike> device initialization to be as parallel as possible will help boot Mike> times. Also, check out the 'moblin' project from Intel, they've been Mike> working on making netbooks boot faster too. Mike> John Mike> _______________________________________________ Mike> Wlug mailing list Mike> Wlug(a)mail.wlug.org Mike> http://mail.wlug.org/mailman/listinfo/wlug Mike> _______________________________________________ Mike> Wlug mailing list Mike> Wlug(a)mail.wlug.org Mike> http://mail.wlug.org/mailman/listinfo/wlug

Feb. 12, 2009

Re: [Wlug] Lenovo S10 Netbook

by Mike Leo

holy penguins!! my average boot time with various forms of ubuntu on disk or USB thumb drive is about 1 minute. Moblin is 30 seconds!! I'm impressed now.

Feb. 12, 2009

Re: [Wlug] Lenovo S10 Netbook

by Mike Leo

all good info. bootchart doesn't seem to work at all for me. I apt-get install it which is fine but it configures itself to use /sbin/bootchartd which doesn't get installed. Kind'a weird. Maybe i'm missing something. Moblin is not debian based so I know I'd miss my apt, but I'll give it a shot at some point I'm sure. ________________________________ From: John Stoffel <john(a)stoffel.org> To: Worcester Linux Users Group <wlug(a)mail.wlug.org> Sent: Thursday, February 12, 2009 10:14:21 AM Subject: Re: [Wlug] Lenovo S10 Netbook >>>>> "Mike" == Mike Leo <mleo963(a)yahoo.com> writes: Mike> Short of compiling my own kernel (which I never can seem to do Mike> right), any other advise on how to speed up a netbook's boot Mike> time? I suspect that your boot time is spent in udev and module loading stuff. There's a bunch of work in the linux kernel with a tool called 'bootchart' which tracks how stuff boots up. With 8.10, it's trivial to drop in a new kernel. Also, if you compile in all the modules your need on bootup, and minimize the modules you have otherwise (say for USB devices, etc) then you should see a speed up. Do an 'lsmod' and see which modules you have loaded. Then go and grab the latest linux kernel (2.6.29-rc4 say...) and compile it using the *exact* same config from your 8.10 kernel. Test it out, using the 'mkinitrd' script to rebuild your initrd for loading. Update grub with the new info and reboot. See if it's faster. And if it boots properly If it does, then go back into the config under the new kernel and start moving more stuff into the kernel image, and putting less stuff into modules. Rebuild and boot. See how it goes. Also, I'd go through and see which software packages are installed and starting up daemons and I'd nuke as many of them as you can. Maybe ntpd doesn't need to run, or avahi or some other funky stuff. Like bluez, etc. It's hard to say what will and won't work, but getting the kernel and device initialization to be as parallel as possible will help boot times. Also, check out the 'moblin' project from Intel, they've been working on making netbooks boot faster too. John _______________________________________________ Wlug mailing list Wlug(a)mail.wlug.org http://mail.wlug.org/mailman/listinfo/wlug

Feb. 12, 2009

Re: [Wlug] Lenovo S10 Netbook

by John Stoffel

>>>>> "Mike" == Mike Leo <mleo963(a)yahoo.com> writes: Mike> Short of compiling my own kernel (which I never can seem to do Mike> right), any other advise on how to speed up a netbook's boot Mike> time? I suspect that your boot time is spent in udev and module loading stuff. There's a bunch of work in the linux kernel with a tool called 'bootchart' which tracks how stuff boots up. With 8.10, it's trivial to drop in a new kernel. Also, if you compile in all the modules your need on bootup, and minimize the modules you have otherwise (say for USB devices, etc) then you should see a speed up. Do an 'lsmod' and see which modules you have loaded. Then go and grab the latest linux kernel (2.6.29-rc4 say...) and compile it using the *exact* same config from your 8.10 kernel. Test it out, using the 'mkinitrd' script to rebuild your initrd for loading. Update grub with the new info and reboot. See if it's faster. And if it boots properly If it does, then go back into the config under the new kernel and start moving more stuff into the kernel image, and putting less stuff into modules. Rebuild and boot. See how it goes. Also, I'd go through and see which software packages are installed and starting up daemons and I'd nuke as many of them as you can. Maybe ntpd doesn't need to run, or avahi or some other funky stuff. Like bluez, etc. It's hard to say what will and won't work, but getting the kernel and device initialization to be as parallel as possible will help boot times. Also, check out the 'moblin' project from Intel, they've been working on making netbooks boot faster too. John

Feb. 12, 2009