Linux-Hardware Digest #658, Volume #14 Fri, 20 Apr 01 20:13:05 EDT
Contents:
Re: Adding Hardrives (Gregory Davis)
Re: Adding Hardrives (Kwan Lowe)
Guillemot Maxi Sound ISA 16 no PNP (root)
Re: Help wanted. Linux problems using AMD K6-2 (Kwan Lowe)
AMD cpus, linux and die temp reading --> idle state (lino)
Where can I buy bridgeboards? (B'ichela)
XFree-4.0.3 savage4 RH7.1:slow (ASF)
Re: zip 100 setup in KDE, RH6.2 (Jinsong Liang)
Re: Compile errors for ltmodem RH7.0 ("Bob M.")
Re: Help wanted. Linux problems using AMD K6-2 (Nils Holland)
Re: Microsoft gets hard ("Jon Johansan")
Problems Installing Network Card ("Rodney Leger")
Re: GA-7ZX Onboard Sound Problem (gman1)
Re: Sound Blaster 16 PCI\Ensoniq 5880 ("Chris")
Re: Sound Blaster 16 PCI\Ensoniq 5880 ("Chris")
Re: Could Linux be used in this factory environment ? ("Monte Milanuk")
Re: Could Linux be used in this factory environment ? (Charles Lyttle)
Re: Switchboxes for keyboard, mice, video? (Jonadab the Unsightly One)
Re: Switchboxes for keyboard, mice, video? (Jonadab the Unsightly One)
Re: Switchboxes for keyboard, mice, video? (Jonadab the Unsightly One)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Gregory Davis <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Re: Adding Hardrives
Date: Fri, 20 Apr 2001 16:23:42 -0400
Ian Kingsford-Smith wrote:
> I have RH linux running on one of my machines, I have added another
> harddrive. Can I just move the partitions across or do I need to do a
> total reinstall.
> Any help in this matter will be appreciated.
> Cheer
> Ian
>
>
Do you mean you want to put partitions from the original hd on the new hd?
If so, you can try linux fdisk. It sounds like you would have to make a
new partition, copy data to there, then change your lilo settings to mount
the root filesystem from the new hd partition and not the old one. Then
you could delete the original data after booting from the new partition.
whew.
Greg
------------------------------
From: Kwan Lowe <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Re: Adding Hardrives
Date: Fri, 20 Apr 2001 20:49:33 GMT
Ian Kingsford-Smith <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> I have RH linux running on one of my machines, I have added another
> harddrive. Can I just move the partitions across or do I need to do a
> total reinstall.
> Any help in this matter will be appreciated.
> Cheer
> Ian
It's straightforward:
Add the new drive to the PC. I'll assume it's an IDE that shows up as dev/hdd.
start fdisk /dev/hdd
delete any partitions you don't want. Use 'p' to list the partitions.
Add new partitions with the 'n' command. Choose ext2 as the new partition type.
Use the 'w' command to write the changes.
exit from fdisk
run mke2fs /dev/hdd
create a mount point with mkdir /newdrive (or whatever you want to call it).
edit /etc/fstab and add the entry for /dev/hdd1 (assuming you made only one
partition on the drive)
mount /newdrive
voila, that's it!
------------------------------
From: root <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Guillemot Maxi Sound ISA 16 no PNP
Date: Fri, 20 Apr 2001 20:50:55 GMT
I search a driver for my sound card
thanks
Nicolas
------------------------------
From: Kwan Lowe <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Re: Help wanted. Linux problems using AMD K6-2
Crossposted-To: comp.os.linux.help
Date: Fri, 20 Apr 2001 21:00:55 GMT
P Ashton <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> I am have having numerous problems using linux (Redhat 7.0) on my k6-2
> based machine. Are there any known problems with K6-2s and what are the
> fixes?
> All the problems appeared when I took out a pentium 233 MMX and put in
> the k6-2.
I'm running several K6-2's without any problem (500, 450 and 350 MhZ). The
first place I'd check would be the memory and cooling.
------------------------------
From: lino <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: AMD cpus, linux and die temp reading --> idle state
Date: Fri, 20 Apr 2001 21:03:32 GMT
Hi!
System: Abit KT7A-RAID, Athlon TB 900, 256 MB ram, Linux 2.2.17 and
2.4.2, Mandrake 7.2.
Problem: I'm testing the lm-sensors package under Mandrake 7.2, with
both the kernels (recompiled from scratch) and I've noticed that the
temperatures agree with both the Bios and the Win98 Utility.
The problem is the following: when the computer isn't working, under
Win98 the CPU temp. goes slowly to 32C, while when I play a nice game it
grows to 45C.
Under Linux, whatever I do (with both the kernels and with a load of
zero% (no running program)), the CPU temp goes to 45C and stops there!
I've tried to insert the apm support with the idle calls abilied in the
kernel, but the CPU temp is always that of a system working at 100%.
With kernel 2.4.2 the process "kapm-idled" (pid=3) uses 60% CPU.
Is this a know bug? Is this a bug at all? Any solution to put the CPU
in a real idle state?
Thanks!
Lino
P.S.: sample output of sensors:
via686a-isa-6000
Adapter: ISA adapter
Algorithm: ISA algorithm
CPU core: +1.76 V (min = +1.48 V, max = +1.99 V)
I/O: +3.38 V (min = +3.03 V, max = +3.36 V) ALARM
+5V: +4.84 V (min = +4.60 V, max = +5.07 V)
+12V: +11.86 V (min = +11.03 V, max = +12.16 V)
CPU Fan: 5113 RPM (min = 3000 RPM, div = 2)
P/S Fan: 2678 RPM (min = 3000 RPM, div = 2) ALARM
SYS Temp: +28.9�C (limit = +40�C, hysteresis = +45�C)
CPU Temp: +44.9�C (limit = +55�C, hysteresis = +60�C)
SBr Temp: +24.6�C (limit = +60�C, hysteresis = +65�C)
------------------------------
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (B'ichela)
Crossposted-To: comp.periphs.scsi,comp.os.cpm,comp.sys.tandy
Subject: Where can I buy bridgeboards?
Date: Fri, 20 Apr 2001 21:11:20 GMT
Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
I KNOW this is OBS hardware. Yet I also know that usenet has
many computer enthusiasts who have resources of these estoteric
devices or web dealers. (I don't want EBAY). What I need is a Adaptec
ACB-4000a scsi-1 to MFM bridgeboard. It appears that my ACB-4070 is
having hardware problems with MFM drives (I tried two and I don't have
any RLL drives sitting around). the problem also may be with the board
itself as I am having problems rezeroing the drives.
While most people would think this project is rediculous in
this time and age, I want to play with some of these legacy boards. I
got the Linux driver working. Now what I need is to find a working
board that is designed to drive a MFM hard drive (the ACB-4070 is RLL
and I don't have any RLL drives). If anyone has one of these beasts
that they want to get rid of. email me at [EMAIL PROTECTED] and
let me know what you have. For those in the Tandy Color computer camp
anyone have a Disto Super Controler II with the SCSI host adaptor? and
drivers for Os9 Level II??
I also asked earlier if anyone know of an inexpensive SCSI to
IDE converter board (SCSI to IDE bridgeboard). I have only 4 MFM
drives and about the same number of IDE units. Being the computers are
all SCSI here and the drives are too tiny to be useful to most (40mb
anyone?) I figured if I can find a IDE board that does two that plugs
into a SCSI bus interface that I could mount two of the little 40 mb
brats in one external box and plug them into my scsi equipment.
Because I am disabled and on a fixed income, cost is a
concern.
--
B'ichela
------------------------------
From: ASF <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: XFree-4.0.3 savage4 RH7.1:slow
Date: Sat, 21 Apr 2001 00:18:19 +0200
Hello,
My problem is that it takes my PC 40 sec to get into X....
I try to disable the "accel" but same thing happens: too slow...
I know my PC is pretty old (PPro200) but with 3.3.6 it was faster
faster....
Furthermore, my video card is a bad one but....
Can anyone help me?
ASF
------------------------------
Subject: Re: zip 100 setup in KDE, RH6.2
From: Jinsong Liang <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Date: Fri, 20 Apr 2001 16:21:59 -0600
>
It works now. Thank you so much, Andi.
However, I have another question. In fstab, the line for floppy is
/dev/fd0 /mnt/floppy auto noauto,owner 0 0
As common user, I can not mount floppy in console. But I can do it on kde
desktop using right click. Why?
Regards,
Leo
------------------------------
Reply-To: "Bob M." <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
From: "Bob M." <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Crossposted-To: comp.os.linux.misc,comp.os.linux.portable
Subject: Re: Compile errors for ltmodem RH7.0
Date: Fri, 20 Apr 2001 18:34:27 -0400
I had a similar problem (...should not use kernel headers...) with another
ltmodem package. Eventually I gave in and loaded (via RPM) the KERNEL
HEADERS package. Even though it seemed to have already been there, a fresh
load of it cleared up my two compile problems. After that, the "make
install" ran in a couple of seconds and the modem worked first time.
By the way, this was on a Dell Inspiron 8000 laptop with the ActionTec (aka
Lucent chip set) winmodem.
Also, I got the package from a Lucent site. There was one for kernel 2.2.16
and 2.2.16-22. I got them both, but the one that worked was 2.2.16, even
though the kernel was 2.2.16-22. You might have better luck with the .16
version. I think the file was called "linux595.zip".
Hope this helps. Bob M.
Anti-Spam feature: DO NOT HIT REPLY !
Address all replies to: k c single at snet dot net
by removing the spaces and inserting the
correct punctuation for a standard address.
============================================
J Sako <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message
news:[EMAIL PROTECTED]...
> I'm trying add in support for ltmodem.o for my T20, but am running into
> compile errors during the build_module step. Below is the output from
> the command. I noticed that while I'm running a 2.2.16-22 kernel, the
> kernel-headers as shipped with RH7.0 are at 2.4...huh? Could that be
> the problem? Any thoughts or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
> Thanks.
>
> JS
>
>
>
> /downloads/tmp/ltmodem-5.78e #./build_module
> gcc -D__KERNEL__ -I/usr/src/linux/include -Wall -Wstrict-prototypes -O2
> -fomit-f
> rame-pointer -fno-strict-aliasing -pipe -fno-strength-reduce -m486
> -malign-loops
> =2 -malign-jumps=2 -malign-functions=2 -DCPU=586 -DMODULE
> -DLT_VERSION=5.78e -c
> -o serial.a serial.c
> In file included from serial.c:131:
> /usr/include/linux/modversions.h:1:2: #error Modules should never use
> kernel-hea
> ders system headers,
> /usr/include/linux/modversions.h:2:2: #error but headers from an
> appropriate ker
> nel-source
> In file included from /usr/src/linux/include/linux/vmalloc.h:8,
> from /usr/src/linux/include/asm/io.h:103,
> from serial.c:172:
> /usr/src/linux/include/asm/pgtable.h: In function `get_pgd_slow':
> /usr/src/linux/include/asm/pgtable.h:409: `PAGE_OFFSET_RAW' undeclared
> (first us
> e in this function)
> /usr/src/linux/include/asm/pgtable.h:409: (Each undeclared identifier is
> reporte
> d only once
> /usr/src/linux/include/asm/pgtable.h:409: for each function it appears
> in.)
> /usr/src/linux/include/asm/pgtable.h: In function `pte_alloc_kernel':
> /usr/src/linux/include/asm/pgtable.h:498: `PAGE_OFFSET_RAW' undeclared
> (first us
> e in this function)
> /usr/src/linux/include/asm/pgtable.h:506: warning: control reaches end
> of non-vo
> id function
> /usr/src/linux/include/asm/pgtable.h: In function `pte_alloc':
> /usr/src/linux/include/asm/pgtable.h:516: `PAGE_OFFSET_RAW' undeclared
> (first us
> e in this function)
> In file included from serial.c:172:
> /usr/src/linux/include/asm/io.h: In function `virt_to_phys':
> /usr/src/linux/include/asm/io.h:116: `PAGE_OFFSET_RAW' undeclared (first
> use in
> this function)
> /usr/src/linux/include/asm/io.h:118: warning: control reaches end of
> non-void fu
> nction
> /usr/src/linux/include/asm/io.h: In function `phys_to_virt':
> /usr/src/linux/include/asm/io.h:125: `PAGE_OFFSET_RAW' undeclared (first
> use in
> this function)
> /usr/src/linux/include/asm/io.h:127: warning: control reaches end of
> non-void fu
> nction
> /usr/src/linux/include/asm/io.h: In function `check_signature':
> /usr/src/linux/include/asm/io.h:184: `PAGE_OFFSET_RAW' undeclared (first
> use in
> this function)
> {standard input}: Assembler messages:
> {standard input}:9: Warning: Ignoring changed section attributes for
> .modinfo
> make: *** [serial.a] Error 1
> ln: ./ltmodem.o: File exists
> ln: ./ltinst: File exists
> ln: ./ltuninst: File exists
> run ltinst to install the ltmodem driver
>
------------------------------
From: Nils Holland <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Crossposted-To: comp.os.linux.help
Subject: Re: Help wanted. Linux problems using AMD K6-2
Date: Sat, 21 Apr 2001 00:16:59 +0200
P Ashton wrote:
> I am have having numerous problems using linux (Redhat 7.0) on my k6-2
> based machine. Are there any known problems with K6-2s and what are the
> fixes?
>
> All the problems appeared when I took out a pentium 233 MMX and put in
> the k6-2.
>
> thanks
>
I would build a K6-2 optimized kernel for the machine that has the
problems. If the compilation cannot be done with the K6-2 in there, then
compile the K6-2 optimized kernel with the 233 MMX processor in the
machine. After having installed the kernel, change CPUs and see what
happens.
I'm running Linux on both a 300 and a 500 Mhz K6-2 CPU and it runs great
without any problems. Make sure that all your jumper settings, cooling and
similar stuff is set up correctly.
There's definately no general problem with K6-2 CPUs under Linux, and what
you are experiencing can surely be fixed by you having another look at your
setup. If not, you should probably do some advanced troubleshooting by
trying your CPU on a different motherboard and / or by trying a different
K6-2 CPU on your motherboard.
Greetings,
Nils
------------------------------
From: "Jon Johansan" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Crossposted-To:
comp.arch,comp.os.linux.advocacy,comp.os.ms-windows.advocacy,comp.os.ms-windows.nt.advocacy
Subject: Re: Microsoft gets hard
Date: 20 Apr 2001 18:02:15 -0500
"Matthew Gardiner" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message
news:[EMAIL PROTECTED]...
> Jan Johanson wrote:
> >
> > "Matthew Gardiner" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message
> > news:[EMAIL PROTECTED]...
> > > <snype>
> > > > I do things which truly astound and bill for it.
> > >
> > > Admin NT servers, the most astound things? my guess, getting them to
> > > stay up for longer than one week whilst maintaining the same
throughput.
> > >
> > > Answer the question sonny. Until you start admining s/900z, s/390, and
> > > clusters of UNIX servers, I suggest that you should keep your trap
shut.
> > >
> >
> > Now that is funny - I love it when the best come back a unix-nut has is:
> > until you've suffered as I've suffered and continue to suffer you are
> > nothing. The fact you can do what I can do in 1/4 the time with 1/8th
the
> > effort means you _obviously_ must be an idiot and I am a genius for
slaving
> > away working on much bigger and more compliated proprietary hardware.
> >
> > as if run time had anything to do with throughput - silly...
> Nope, I can just setup a server and mainframe and it just keeps on
> work'in, where as the poor o'l NT admin is praying that the server wont
> suddenly in the middle of the night crash because of a minor issue. I
> can get things done 3 times faster in that I don't need to keep hanging
> around making sure the darn thing doesn't crash. With UNIX, you setup,
> test, they fuck off home in the knowledge that it will just keep on
> work'in.
>
My experiences competely disagree with yours. I run Ghost and install from
an image onto a new hardrive. W2K boots up, detects all the hardware and
uses DHCP to get on the net. I change the machine name and on it goes. Then
it runs and runs and runs... 99.99% uptime is effortless and considered our
norm. Much more commonly the ONLY reboots occur for hardware related issues
or hotfixes that require a (planned) reboot. We've never had a W2K crash.
------------------------------
From: "Rodney Leger" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Problems Installing Network Card
Date: Fri, 20 Apr 2001 23:18:49 GMT
I installed an Intel EtherExpress Pro/10+ ISA Adapter card on my Pentium
90(Dell Dimension XPS 90)machine. Unfortunately, Redhat 6.2 does not seem
to recognize the network card. I have tried looking for it during the boot
up process and in the message log(dmesg) however I haven't been able to find
any entries for eth0(or 1, etc). I even have tried to invoke kudzu but it
failed to recognize the network card. Does anyone know what steps I should
take to determine 1) whether the network card is recognized by my machine
and 2) what I need to do to get Linux to recognize it.
Thanks-
Rodney
Thanks-
Rodney
------------------------------
From: gman1 <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Crossposted-To: comp.os.linux.setup
Subject: Re: GA-7ZX Onboard Sound Problem
Date: Fri, 20 Apr 2001 23:30:13 GMT
I have a GA-7ZX1 with the VIA sound chip, and it works just fine under red hat
6.1, and 7.0(I skipped 6.2).... I used the sound config program under
'setup'....
ET1Mac wrote:
> I'm using RH6.2 and have installed it on a GA-7ZX with a Duron 800.
>
> When configuring sound with sndconfig it autodetects Ensoniq:CT5880. But
> when it goes to play the sample sound the system locks up.
>
> /etc/conf.modules has the following inserted: alias sound-slot-0 es1371
>
> Reading other post with similar issues I changed it to the following: alias
> char-major-14 es1371 with no success.
>
> I even tried modprobe with different arguments; es1371, char-major-14
> es1371, es1370 just to see what will happen, but still no success.
>
> Is this a 6.2 issue, would upgrading fix it?
>
> Any help would be greatly appreciated.
>
> v/r
> ET1
>
> System:
> RH 6.2
> AMD Duron 800
> 128 Mem
> 30G H.D.
> Adaptec AIC 7850 Scsi
> CanoScan 300
> HP Printer
------------------------------
Reply-To: "Chris" <e e z e e 7 @ h o m e . c o m>
From: "Chris" <e e z e e 7 @ h o m e . c o m>
Subject: Re: Sound Blaster 16 PCI\Ensoniq 5880
Date: Fri, 20 Apr 2001 23:34:45 GMT
I tried loading that codec, but it still gives the same error. Is there
anything I should add to my modules.conf file to try and make it work?
I hope it isn't an IRQ conflict or anything, but if it is, how would I fix
that? My only other devices I know of are my ethernet card (PCI) which works
fine...and my parallel port which is hooked up to a floppy tape drive (but
that module isn't loaded when I try loading the sound module).
Just one note...when I detect it in sndconfig, it calls it an "Ensoniq|5880
AudioPCI"...Is it supposed to be an "Ensoniq 5880 AudioPCI"?
"Dances With Crows" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message
news:3adf92fc$0$12822$[EMAIL PROTECTED]...
> Hmmm. OK, checking groups.google.com finds that the 5880 *should* work
> with es1371 in kernel 2.2.16... so why isn't this working? Hmm, do you
> have the ac97_codec module loaded? The es1371 module depends on this;
> if it isn't getting loaded, something's wrong and you need to do a
> depmod -a at the very least. Also check for IRQ conflicts; the thing is
> a PCI card and should be able to share an IRQ, but you never know.
> (Yes, I'm grasping at straws here.)
------------------------------
Reply-To: "Chris" <e e z e e 7 @ h o m e . c o m>
From: "Chris" <e e z e e 7 @ h o m e . c o m>
Subject: Re: Sound Blaster 16 PCI\Ensoniq 5880
Date: Fri, 20 Apr 2001 23:38:43 GMT
I figured out the problem...It was nothing wrong with my sound card or my
system or anything...it was the driver that was faulty! I upgraded to kernel
2.4.3 with es1371 as a module and now it works!
------------------------------
From: "Monte Milanuk" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Crossposted-To: comp.os.linux.advocacy,comp.os.linux.misc
Subject: Re: Could Linux be used in this factory environment ?
Date: Fri, 20 Apr 2001 23:55:54 GMT
Charles Lyttle <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message
news:[EMAIL PROTECTED]...
> > Man..that ladder logic is the wierdest way to program I've ever seen.
> If you have never used it, it would seem strange. But just think, there
> was automatic code generation before PCs. You can draw a diagram on your
> display, and it starts running. The VM reads a line of the drawing and
> executes it. Sort of like having a VM read a UML diagram and run the
> code.
As an ex-motor control electrician in a large steel mill, I have to agree.
Ladder logic makes a lot of sense if you are trained in how to troubleshoot
using electrical prints. Plus, the dirty little secret of PLC's and ladder
logic programming as far as I'm concered is that it is dirt easy to bypass
and circumvent failed field devices. No physical rewiring required. W/ a
PLC and ladder logic, it's pretty easy to figure out where you need to
modify things, and how. But to do the same w/ a regular programming
language... maybe for a professional programmer it might be simple, but not
for most technicians, I think. Not that tech's are stupid, just it's not a
normal way of thinking for them. That, and most people that proficient at
programming seem rather adverse to getting dirty on a regular basis ;p
Monte
------------------------------
From: Charles Lyttle <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Crossposted-To: comp.os.linux.advocacy,comp.os.linux.misc
Subject: Re: Could Linux be used in this factory environment ?
Date: Sat, 21 Apr 2001 00:07:41 GMT
The Ghost In The Machine wrote:
>
> In comp.os.linux.advocacy, Charles Lyttle
> <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> wrote
> on Wed, 18 Apr 2001 01:28:40 GMT
> <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>:
> >I see the same thing. But NT is not often used where it could, due
> >either a crash or lack of timeliness, do any damage to the work process.
> >I have seem it tried several times. One crash shut down a process line
> >permitting liquid nylon to harden in pipes and valves. 15 minutes off
> >line cost several hundreds of thousands of dollars. Another caused
> >disruption of a refinery operation. It took several days to get the
> >plant cleaned up and back on line.
>
> Dumb question, but .... whatever happened to the concept of redundancy?
> I'll admit it adds to expense (specifically, equipment and software
> licensing costs), but as far as I can tell, many web server farms using
> NT have just that: web server farms, with multiple machines; this makes
> the reliability quite adequate -- maybe even 99.999 % (5 minutes/year)... :-)
>
These aren't servers, these are controllers. For this application there
are no fail over mechanisms. Also the system as designed came pretty
close to the 99.999%. It is just that the 5 minutes is very costly.
> Granted, this is a far cry from industrial control processes.
> (How long does it take for nylon to harden in a tube line, just out
> of curiosity? Are we talking hours, minutes, or seconds?)
>
about 12-15 minutes in this case. Due to flow characteristics there are
points in the line where the temperature drops fast which leads to local
solidification which cascades rapidly.
Even if the computer had come up in only a minute or two, bringing
everything else up took time.
> (ObLinuxPlug: Linux would work very well here :-) )
>
Actually, it would. But I haven't seen the mechanisms for handling the
situation ported to Linux yet. This is a good opportunity for some
companies that developed PDP-11 and VAX hardware/software to jump in.
Most of that stuff could be easily ported. Perhaps no to the PC
platform, but to some Linux platform.
> >
> >I build SCADA system also. Several US cities are running systems I
> >designed. But if the operator displays fail, the A-B PLCs and
> >specialized computers will still run everything OK. The operator, just
> >has to run around to check local controls like he did before the
> >computers were installed.
>
> Can't comment unless SCADA systems are things like those used in
> metropolitan traffic projects with gigantic status screens showing
> where every traffic light, streetcar, or train is.
>
Right. Supervisory, Control, and Data Acquisition. Usually you have lots
of little computers spread around the town doing some job and reporting
back to a central control station. The control station can monitor data
coming in or send out commands to override local pre-programmed control.
If contact is lost with the central station, local computers have a
default program. Workers can go around and manually operate the local
controllers.
> [rest snipped]
>
> --
> [EMAIL PROTECTED] -- insert random misquote here
> EAC code #191 1d:22h:34m actually running Linux.
> We are all naked underneath our clothes.
--
Russ Lyttle
"World Domination through Penguin Power"
The Universal Automotive Testset Project at
<http://home.earthlink.net/~lyttlec>
------------------------------
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Jonadab the Unsightly One)
Crossposted-To: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.chips
Subject: Re: Switchboxes for keyboard, mice, video?
Date: Sat, 21 Apr 2001 00:07:42 GMT
chrisv <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> 256 color is fine for many things, yes, but you said "even 16
> coulors", which is extremely lame. And 60Hz is NOT acceptable at all.
256 colours is only marginally better than 16. Neither is
of any use for working with images, but either is okay for
working with text and word processing, IMO.
24-bit is the break-even point for me; 32-bit colour
doesn't look significantly better AFAICT.
> >Most librarians don't know what a graphics card *is*,
>
> Yeah I hear you. If this is the case, they should hire
> someone to take care of the computers.
That would be me. But by "take care of the computers"
they mean unstick the printers when they jam and restart
the web browsers when Javascript runs away with them,
fix any problems that arise if the patrons get past the
security software and delete things or whatever, call
tech support when there's a hardware issue, help patrons
when they don't understand what a hyperlink is, and so
on and so forth. There is no perceived need for better
graphics settings, so I'd have a hard time convincing
anyone of the need to buy better graphics cards.
FWIW, the ones set to 16 colours are doing nothing but
word processing and are used almost exclusively by patrons
who don't have a computer at home.
- jonadab
------------------------------
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Jonadab the Unsightly One)
Subject: Re: Switchboxes for keyboard, mice, video?
Date: Sat, 21 Apr 2001 00:07:45 GMT
Joeri Sebrechts <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> If you're going to be spending that much money on a new keyboard, check
> out this site:
> http://www.kinesis-ergo.com/
> Their contour elite keyboard (almost) gives me wet dreams :-)
> I wish I could afford it.
[Looks]
Do I misunderstand, or do those have the squishy keys?
Also, they say they're programmable, but they don't say
how, so I'd be afraid they'd use some idioic mechanism;
for example, they might use a Visual Basic app to do
the reprogramming, like the app that comes with with
Cramer's Interfaces keyboards (which besides costing
several fortunes fall apart after a couple of years)
and is supposed to let you remap them but actually does
nothing but crash. Avant keyboards are hardwarily
remappable and get rave reviews, so I feel like I
know what I'm getting.
- jonadab
------------------------------
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Jonadab the Unsightly One)
Crossposted-To: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.chips
Subject: Re: Switchboxes for keyboard, mice, video?
Date: Sat, 21 Apr 2001 00:07:46 GMT
[EMAIL PROTECTED] (Keith R. Williams) wrote:
> Good grief, they're being thrown away!
I'll see if I can pick one up on ebay. Can't hurt to have
a spare.
> > because I hate having the keys like Ctrl and Alt and Shift (which
> > get pressed at least twice as often as any letter) where I have
> > to hit them with my pinky.
>
> Well, other than rolling the palm over the key,
I can't get that to work; my palm in a normal typing position
is about two inches short of the mark.
> there are two of each.
Both in locations where they can only realistically be hit
with the pinky, which must be extended well beyond its normal
range of motion. Ick.
The qwerty and dvorak layouts are impossibly obsolete; they
were both designed for typewriters with about fourty keys
and then expanded at the edges for backward compatibility.
But after expanding them at the edges so much as to more
than double the number of keys, too many of what are now
the important keys are out of reach. Do you really hit
f and j more often than backspace and tab? I don't.
Then they stick that #$@! windows key right where you
get it every time you reach for alt. Enough. I want
to make my own keyboard layout.
Actually, what I'd really like to try is to increase
the number of buckies and reduce the number of regular
keys by doubling up he letters and numbers. The OS
wouldn't need to know about it; you just have an
extra bucky (call it "blue") that switches you to
the other half of the alphabet, causing the keyboard
to generate different output to the computer. (You
could really only double up alphanumeric keys, since
other keys have to be hit simultaneously with eachother
and with the alphanumerics in random combinations that
depend on your software. But apart from game cheat
codes, letters and numbers seldom have to be combined,
so they could be doubled up.) I don't know whether
this would allow for a fast typematic rate in terms
of words per minute, but it would be an interesting
experiment; I bet it would put more of the other
(non-alphanumeric) keys in easier reach. If all the
buckies were on one hand and everything else on the
other hand, I imagine programmer productivity might
be improved.
But I don't know of any keyboards that will let
me do that, and I'm not ready to build my own. So I
guess I'll stick with just putting the important
keys (especially the buckies) where I can reach them.
What will be a challenge is making sure common shortcut
combinations are convenient to hit. For example, x,
c, and v need to be near one another and easy to hit
in combination with ctrl. Actually, everything needs
to be convenient to hit with ctrl and/or shift and/or
alt. I'm thinking of putting shift on what is
traditionally the spacebar and moving the space to
where j currently is... then I just have to find
good places for ctrl and alt.
The only thing I'll probably leave untouched are
the cursor movement keys on the keypad. I like
them just like they are.
- jonadab
------------------------------
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