I installed the Nvidia video driver via Automatix, I'm not going to describe that process here.
To force Kubuntu to use the Nvidia driver follow these steps.
1) Add Nvidia and nvidia_agp to /etc/modules
2) Blacklist agpgart and via_agp (I am using a via motherboard, so it will try to load via_agp)
3) Add
Option "NvAGP" "1" # Tries internal nVidia AGP drivers first
to /etc/X11/xorg.conf under the video driver section
4) Reboot
Execute:
cat /proc/driver/nvidia/agp/status
You should now see:
Status: Enabled
Driver: NVIDIA
AGP Rate: 8x
Fast Writes: Disabled
SBA: Enabled
Posted by benjamenjohnson as computer, linux at 2:47 PM UTC
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I found the answer on this page. I am paraphrasing the instructions in case the page disappears.
Dapper no longer uses hotplug, so to prevent kernel module from running, it no longer works to put that module name in /etc/hotplug/blacklist. To blacklist a module in Dapper, create a file under /etc/modprobe.d/ called my_blacklist and add the line:
blacklist module
where module is the name of the module you want to blacklist. Do not be temped to use the blacklist files that are already present. These files can be overwritten during and upgrade.
Posted by benjamenjohnson as computer, linux at 2:30 PM UTC
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After experimenting with my Motorola C139, I have determined that it costs 0.3 units to send a text message and 0.3 units to open a new text message. You can also delete unopened text message for free.
My wife's Nokia 5100 charges 0.5 units to send a text message. I have not been able to receive a text message so far so I don't know how much it costs.
Google has a few neat SMS services. The first one is Google SMS. This works with my phone but I never received an answer on my wife's phone. The next one is Google Send to Phone. One problem I encountered is that you can't bookmark the site, when you try to use the bookmark google throws up. You need to use the above link. For my C139 I need to use the Cingular network to receive text messages.
I tried sending my C139 a message using Teleflip.com. You just send an email to you-rph-one#@teleflip.com. I tried several times, but I never received the text message that I sent. The email bounced back to my inbox either.
Another service that did work was Jason Holm's site. The message appears from jsholm@amsterdam.micfo.com. I'm not really comfortable with using somebody else's personal email address to send myself text messages. Looking at the source on his page, I can't figure out how he does it. The web page just sends a standard POST form to him. The magic must appear somewhere else.
Knowing that Google sends text messages to my phone via the cingular network I tried using 10digitphonenumber@messaging.nextel.com. The text message was bounced back to my email box. It said the reason was: User not local and forwarding not allowed.
Here is a link for some nifty things you can do with SMS.
Posted by benjamenjohnson as cellphone, computer, electronics at 9:56 AM UTC
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My Archos Jukebox had been crashing more and more. I thought that maybe the hard drive was starting to show its age. I wanted to replace the hard drive with a compact flash drive to cut power consumption and reduce the number of moving parts to fail.
I purchased a the smallest compact flash to 44 pin IDE adapter I could find from ebay.
When it arrived I started disassembling my Archos following these instructions. After I removed the metal case, I lifted the hard drive to clear the circuit board at the end, and there was no circuit board. It was still in the bottom of the case. Apparently, I was actually suffering from the problems described on this page: Rockbox battery terminal repair.
After a closer look at the disassembled player, I discovered that almost every solder joint holding the metal battery compartment was sheared.
I re-soldered all the sheared joints and re-attached the bottom circuit board. I then re-assembled the jukebox. It worked like brand new. The Archos no longer reboots when I squeeze the bumpers. It also no longer crashes the hard drive when I move the player while listening to an mp3.
The original problem is solved, but I still wanted to try replacing the hard drive with a compact flash card. I will finish that project next post.
Too be continued….
Posted by benjamenjohnson as computer, disassemble, electronics at 7:37 PM UTC
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As long as I have had my 2001 Chevy Silverado, I have had great difficulty greasing the fitting opposite the steering arm actuator. Once, I was able to grease it with a articulating head grease gun and someone to turn the steering wheel to the perfect position. The arm with the fitting travels about two inches underneath the alternator, so my grease gun rubber hose can not bend to reach the fitting from below.
My father-in-law reasoned if you thread the grease gun hose through the right fender-well and down past the alternator, he could reach the fitting. But his grease gun hose was not long enough. After a trip to the local hardware store, we extended his grease gun hose with a pipe coupler and another length of rubber grease gun hose. Voila, my front end has now been properly lubed.
As an after thought, I think I will try jacking the front end until the tires are off the ground. This might let the suspension travel just enough for me to reach the problematic grease fitting.
Flickr page
Posted by benjamenjohnson as truck at 2:14 PM UTC
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