PC Linux OS 2007 - the best of the lot

I recently installed PC Linux OS 2007 test3 on my Acer Ferrari 4005. Other than the usual X config issue, the installation went pretty smooth. PCLOS is of course 32-bit but works well on the AMD64 based laptop. Much better than Windows XP sp2 on the same laptop. The distro is very responsive and I am very pleased with it so far.

Great job, PC LOS team !!

xorg.conf that works: (this is more recent than my previous sample. use this instead).

---

# File generated by XFdrake (rev 57713)

# **********************************************************************
# Refer to the xorg.conf man page for details about the format of
# this file.
# **********************************************************************

Section "Files"
# font server independent of the X server to render fonts.
FontPath "unix/:-1"

# minimal fonts to allow X to run without xfs
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/misc:unscaled"
EndSection

Section "Extensions"
Option "Composite"
EndSection

Section "ServerFlags"
#DontZap # disable (server abort)
#DontZoom # disable / (resolution switching)
AllowMouseOpenFail # allows the server to start up even if the mouse does not work
EndSection

Section "Module"
Load "dbe" # Double-Buffering Extension
Load "v4l" # Video for Linux
Load "extmod"
Load "type1"
Load "freetype"
Load "glx" # 3D layer
Load "dri" # direct rendering
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "Keyboard1"
Driver "kbd"
Option "XkbModel" "pc105"
Option "XkbLayout" "us"
Option "XkbOptions" "compose:rwin"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "Mouse1"
Driver "mouse"
Option "Protocol" "ExplorerPS/2"
Option "Device" "/dev/mouse"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "SynapticsMouse1"
Driver "synaptics"
Option "SHMConfig" "on"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
Identifier "monitor1"
HorizSync 58-67
VertRefresh 46-64

# Monitor preferred modeline (60.6 Hz vsync, 64.5 kHz hsync, ratio 16/10)
# ModeLine "1680x1050" 121 1680 1704 1792 1876 1050 1051 1054 1065 -hsync -vsync
ModeLine "1680x1050" 121 1680 1704 1792 1876 1050 1051 1054 1065 -hsync +vsync


# TV fullscreen mode or DVD fullscreen output.
# 768x576 @ 79 Hz, 50 kHz hsync
ModeLine "768x576" 50.00 768 832 846 1000 576 590 595 630

# 768x576 @ 100 Hz, 61.6 kHz hsync
ModeLine "768x576" 63.07 768 800 960 1024 576 578 590 616

# modeline generated by gtf(1) [handled by XFdrake]
ModeLine "1680x1050_120" 313.20 1680 1816 2000 2320 1050 1051 1054 1125 -HSync +Vsync

# modeline generated by gtf(1) [handled by XFdrake]
ModeLine "1680x1050_100" 256.20 1680 1808 1992 2304 1050 1051 1054 1112 -HSync +Vsync

# modeline generated by gtf(1) [handled by XFdrake]
ModeLine "1680x1050_85" 214.51 1680 1800 1984 2288 1050 1051 1054 1103 -HSync +Vsync

# modeline generated by gtf(1) [handled by XFdrake]
ModeLine "1680x1050_75" 188.07 1680 1800 1984 2288 1050 1051 1054 1096 -HSync +Vsync

# modeline generated by gtf(1) [handled by XFdrake]
ModeLine "1680x1050_60" 147.14 1680 1784 1968 2256 1050 1051 1054 1087 -HSync +Vsync

# modeline generated by gtf(1) [handled by XFdrake]
ModeLine "1680x1050_50" 120.21 1680 1776 1952 2224 1050 1051 1054 1081 -HSync +Vsync

# modeline generated by gtf(1) [handled by XFdrake]
ModeLine "1600x1000_120" 284.04 1600 1728 1904 2208 1000 1001 1004 1072 -HSync +Vsync

# modeline generated by gtf(1) [handled by XFdrake]
ModeLine "1600x1000_100" 232.13 1600 1720 1896 2192 1000 1001 1004 1059 -HSync +Vsync

# modeline generated by gtf(1) [handled by XFdrake]
ModeLine "1600x1000_85" 194.21 1600 1712 1888 2176 1000 1001 1004 1050 -HSync +Vsync

# modeline generated by gtf(1) [handled by XFdrake]
ModeLine "1600x1000_75" 169.13 1600 1704 1880 2160 1000 1001 1004 1044 -HSync +Vsync

# modeline generated by gtf(1) [handled by XFdrake]
ModeLine "1600x1000_60" 133.14 1600 1704 1872 2144 1000 1001 1004 1035 -HSync +Vsync

# modeline generated by gtf(1) [handled by XFdrake]
ModeLine "1600x1000_50" 108.66 1600 1688 1856 2112 1000 1001 1004 1029 -HSync +Vsync

# modeline generated by gtf(1) [handled by XFdrake]
ModeLine "1440x900_120" 229.75 1440 1552 1712 1984 900 901 904 965 -HSync +Vsync

# modeline generated by gtf(1) [handled by XFdrake]
ModeLine "1440x900_100" 187.55 1440 1544 1704 1968 900 901 904 953 -HSync +Vsync

# modeline generated by gtf(1) [handled by XFdrake]
ModeLine "1440x900_85" 156.79 1440 1536 1696 1952 900 901 904 945 -HSync +Vsync

# modeline generated by gtf(1) [handled by XFdrake]
ModeLine "1440x900_75" 136.49 1440 1536 1688 1936 900 901 904 940 -HSync +Vsync

# modeline generated by gtf(1) [handled by XFdrake]
ModeLine "1440x900_60" 106.47 1440 1520 1672 1904 900 901 904 932 -HSync +Vsync

# modeline generated by gtf(1) [handled by XFdrake]
ModeLine "1440x900_50" 87.41 1440 1512 1664 1888 900 901 904 926 -HSync +Vsync

# modeline generated by gtf(1) [handled by XFdrake]
ModeLine "1280x800_120" 181.21 1280 1376 1520 1760 800 801 804 858 -HSync +Vsync

# modeline generated by gtf(1) [handled by XFdrake]
ModeLine "1280x800_100" 147.89 1280 1376 1512 1744 800 801 804 848 -HSync +Vsync

# modeline generated by gtf(1) [handled by XFdrake]
ModeLine "1280x800_85" 123.38 1280 1368 1504 1728 800 801 804 840 -HSync +Vsync

# modeline generated by gtf(1) [handled by XFdrake]
ModeLine "1280x800_75" 107.21 1280 1360 1496 1712 800 801 804 835 -HSync +Vsync

# modeline generated by gtf(1) [handled by XFdrake]
ModeLine "1280x800_60" 83.46 1280 1344 1480 1680 800 801 804 828 -HSync +Vsync

# modeline generated by gtf(1) [handled by XFdrake]
ModeLine "1280x800_50" 68.56 1280 1336 1472 1664 800 801 804 824 -HSync +Vsync
EndSection

Section "Device"
Identifier "device1"
VendorName "ATI Technologies Inc."
BoardName "ATI Radeon"
Driver "ati"
Option "DPMS"
Option "XaaNoOffscreenPixmaps" "1"
Option "MergedFB" "true"
Option "CRT2HSync" "30-100"
Option "CRT2VRefresh" "40-75"
Option "CRT2Position" "Clone"
Option "MonitorLayout" "LVDS,CRT"
Option "MetaModes" "1680x1050-1280x1024 1400x1050-1280x1024 1280x1024-1024x768 1024x768-1024x768"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
Identifier "screen1"
Device "device1"
Monitor "monitor1"
DefaultColorDepth 24
DefaultDepth 24

Subsection "Display"
Depth 8
Modes "1680x1050" "1600x1000" "1440x900" "1280x800"
EndSubsection

Subsection "Display"
Depth 15
Modes "1680x1050" "1600x1000" "1440x900" "1280x800"
EndSubsection

Subsection "Display"
Depth 16
Modes "1680x1050" "1600x1000" "1440x900" "1280x800"
EndSubsection

Subsection "Display"
Depth 24
Modes "1680x1050" "1600x1000" "1440x900" "1280x800"
EndSubsection
EndSection

Section "ServerLayout"
Identifier "layout1"
InputDevice "Keyboard1" "CoreKeyboard"
InputDevice "Mouse1" "CorePointer"
InputDevice "SynapticsMouse1" "AlwaysCore"
Screen "screen1"
EndSection
---


Bluetooth Mouse configuration

• Installed bluez-pin and bluez-utils packages using synaptic
• Installed kdebluetooth package
• Simply turned on the blue button and ran the following as root:
• 
  
  hidd --search
  
• Bluetooth mouse started working immediately.

Broadcom Wireless configuration

• Downloaded 32-bit windows driver from:

ftp://ftp.support.acer-euro.com/notebook/ferrari_4000/driver/80211.zip

• Run 'ndiswrapper -i bcmwl5.inf'
• Run 'modprobe -v ndiswrapper'
• Add 'ndiswrapper' to /etc/modprobe.preload for automatic load upon boot.
• It works immediately :)
  

Other software of interest

Installed the following stack I needed using synaptic:

• RealPlayer
• cvs
• subversion

Really a great distro...

Maya Bazaar - Old is really gold

Happened to see the very old but venerable and enjoyable Tamil movie - Maya Bazaar. I was again stunned by the quality of the movie and the entertainment value of this movie made eons ago. Special effects etc. were awesome.



I watched it on my openSUSE 10.2 laptop with Kaffeine. Totally rocks.

My alltime favorite is the sequence around the song 'Vatratha Selvame Vazhga Nee Vazhga' sung by Krishna in the form of a old man talking to Gatoth Gaja. What a sequence....

This movie will continue to be one of most favorites ever.

openSUSE 10.2 on Acer Ferrari 4005

The final release of openSUSE 10.2 is a worthwhile Linux distro. I always used to like SuSE Engineering and openSUSE didn't let me down.

A polished distro with a huge list of choices for the user -- KDE, GNOME and all kinds of packages including msttcorefonts.

Using it as my primary desktop on my Acer Ferrari 4005. For once, I didn't have to tweak the xorg.conf since openSUSE did a wonderful job of taking care of x.org bug on Ferrari's. That one factor reaffirmed my faith in openSUSE efforts. Hope Novell keeps the innovative spirit about openSUSE.

openSolaris Build 57

openSolaris has come a long way. Really.

Recently tried build 57 (had to cut a DVD from a huge image of about 2.7GB) on my Sun Ultra 40.

UI is exquisite.

I tried the developer edition and it bundles a host of applications for developers such as Netbeans 5.5, Sun Studio 11, App Server 9.0U1 etc. etc. Overall, very satisfactory.

I only wish KDE was available for Solaris easily. KDE really rocks.

PCLOS - End of my search for the one!!!

Here is the xorg.conf that works in PCLOS : Needed some tweaking.

---
# File generated by XFdrake (rev 57713)

# **********************************************************************
# Refer to the xorg.conf man page for details about the format of
# this file.
# **********************************************************************

Section "Files"
# font server independent of the X server to render fonts.
FontPath "unix/:-1"

# minimal fonts to allow X to run without xfs
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/misc:unscaled"
EndSection

Section "Extensions"
Option "Composite"
EndSection

Section "ServerFlags"
#DontZap # disable (server abort)
#DontZoom # disable / (resolution switching)
AllowMouseOpenFail # allows the server to start up even if the mouse does not work
EndSection

Section "Module"
Load "dbe" # Double-Buffering Extension
Load "v4l" # Video for Linux
Load "extmod"
Load "type1"
Load "freetype"
Load "glx" # 3D layer
Load "dri" # direct rendering
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "Keyboard1"
Driver "kbd"
Option "XkbModel" "pc105"
Option "XkbLayout" "us"
Option "XkbOptions" "compose:rwin"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "Mouse1"
Driver "mouse"
Option "Protocol" "ExplorerPS/2"
Option "Device" "/dev/mouse"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "SynapticsMouse1"
Driver "synaptics"
Option "SHMConfig" "on"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
Identifier "monitor1"
HorizSync 58-67
VertRefresh 46-64

# Monitor preferred modeline (60.6 Hz vsync, 64.5 kHz hsync, ratio 16/10)
# ModeLine "1680x1050" 121 1680 1704 1792 1876 1050 1051 1054 1065 -hsync -vsync
ModeLine "1680x1050" 121 1680 1704 1792 1876 1050 1051 1054 1065 -hsync +vsync

# TV fullscreen mode or DVD fullscreen output.
# 768x576 @ 79 Hz, 50 kHz hsync
ModeLine "768x576" 50.00 768 832 846 1000 576 590 595 630

# 768x576 @ 100 Hz, 61.6 kHz hsync
ModeLine "768x576" 63.07 768 800 960 1024 576 578 590 616

# modeline generated by gtf(1) [handled by XFdrake]
ModeLine "1680x1050_120" 313.20 1680 1816 2000 2320 1050 1051 1054 1125 -HSync +Vsync

# modeline generated by gtf(1) [handled by XFdrake]
ModeLine "1680x1050_100" 256.20 1680 1808 1992 2304 1050 1051 1054 1112 -HSync +Vsync

# modeline generated by gtf(1) [handled by XFdrake]
ModeLine "1680x1050_85" 214.51 1680 1800 1984 2288 1050 1051 1054 1103 -HSync +Vsync

# modeline generated by gtf(1) [handled by XFdrake]
ModeLine "1680x1050_75" 188.07 1680 1800 1984 2288 1050 1051 1054 1096 -HSync +Vsync

# modeline generated by gtf(1) [handled by XFdrake]
ModeLine "1680x1050_60" 147.14 1680 1784 1968 2256 1050 1051 1054 1087 -HSync +Vsync

# modeline generated by gtf(1) [handled by XFdrake]
ModeLine "1680x1050_50" 120.21 1680 1776 1952 2224 1050 1051 1054 1081 -HSync +Vsync

# modeline generated by gtf(1) [handled by XFdrake]
ModeLine "1600x1000_120" 284.04 1600 1728 1904 2208 1000 1001 1004 1072 -HSync +Vsync

# modeline generated by gtf(1) [handled by XFdrake]
ModeLine "1600x1000_100" 232.13 1600 1720 1896 2192 1000 1001 1004 1059 -HSync +Vsync

# modeline generated by gtf(1) [handled by XFdrake]
ModeLine "1600x1000_85" 194.21 1600 1712 1888 2176 1000 1001 1004 1050 -HSync +Vsync

# modeline generated by gtf(1) [handled by XFdrake]
ModeLine "1600x1000_75" 169.13 1600 1704 1880 2160 1000 1001 1004 1044 -HSync +Vsync

# modeline generated by gtf(1) [handled by XFdrake]
ModeLine "1600x1000_60" 133.14 1600 1704 1872 2144 1000 1001 1004 1035 -HSync +Vsync

# modeline generated by gtf(1) [handled by XFdrake]
ModeLine "1600x1000_50" 108.66 1600 1688 1856 2112 1000 1001 1004 1029 -HSync +Vsync

# modeline generated by gtf(1) [handled by XFdrake]
ModeLine "1440x900_120" 229.75 1440 1552 1712 1984 900 901 904 965 -HSync +Vsync

# modeline generated by gtf(1) [handled by XFdrake]
ModeLine "1440x900_100" 187.55 1440 1544 1704 1968 900 901 904 953 -HSync +Vsync

# modeline generated by gtf(1) [handled by XFdrake]
ModeLine "1440x900_85" 156.79 1440 1536 1696 1952 900 901 904 945 -HSync +Vsync

# modeline generated by gtf(1) [handled by XFdrake]
ModeLine "1440x900_75" 136.49 1440 1536 1688 1936 900 901 904 940 -HSync +Vsync

# modeline generated by gtf(1) [handled by XFdrake]
ModeLine "1440x900_60" 106.47 1440 1520 1672 1904 900 901 904 932 -HSync +Vsync

# modeline generated by gtf(1) [handled by XFdrake]
ModeLine "1440x900_50" 87.41 1440 1512 1664 1888 900 901 904 926 -HSync +Vsync

# modeline generated by gtf(1) [handled by XFdrake]
ModeLine "1280x800_120" 181.21 1280 1376 1520 1760 800 801 804 858 -HSync +Vsync

# modeline generated by gtf(1) [handled by XFdrake]
ModeLine "1280x800_100" 147.89 1280 1376 1512 1744 800 801 804 848 -HSync +Vsync

# modeline generated by gtf(1) [handled by XFdrake]
ModeLine "1280x800_85" 123.38 1280 1368 1504 1728 800 801 804 840 -HSync +Vsync

# modeline generated by gtf(1) [handled by XFdrake]
ModeLine "1280x800_75" 107.21 1280 1360 1496 1712 800 801 804 835 -HSync +Vsync

# modeline generated by gtf(1) [handled by XFdrake]
ModeLine "1280x800_60" 83.46 1280 1344 1480 1680 800 801 804 828 -HSync +Vsync

# modeline generated by gtf(1) [handled by XFdrake]
ModeLine "1280x800_50" 68.56 1280 1336 1472 1664 800 801 804 824 -HSync +Vsync
EndSection

Section "Device"
Identifier "device1"
VendorName "ATI Technologies Inc."
BoardName "ATI Radeon"
Driver "ati"
Option "DPMS"
Option "XaaNoOffscreenPixmaps" "1"
Option "MergedFB" "true"
Option "CRT2HSync" "30-100"
Option "CRT2VRefresh" "40-75"
Option "CRT2Position" "Clone"
Option "MonitorLayout" "LVDS,CRT"
Option "MetaModes" "1680x1050-1280x1024 1400x1050-1280x1024 1280x1024-1024x768 1024x768-1024x768"

EndSection

Section "Screen"
Identifier "screen1"
Device "device1"
Monitor "monitor1"
DefaultColorDepth 24
DefaultDepth 24

Subsection "Display"
Depth 8
Modes "1680x1050" "1600x1000" "1440x900" "1280x800"
EndSubsection

Subsection "Display"
Depth 15
Modes "1680x1050" "1600x1000" "1440x900" "1280x800"
EndSubsection

Subsection "Display"
Depth 16
Modes "1680x1050" "1600x1000" "1440x900" "1280x800"
EndSubsection

Subsection "Display"
Depth 24
# Modes "1680x1050" "1600x1000" "1440x900" "1280x800"
Modes "1680x1050"
EndSubsection
EndSection

Section "ServerLayout"
Identifier "layout1"
InputDevice "Keyboard1" "CoreKeyboard"
InputDevice "Mouse1" "CorePointer"
InputDevice "SynapticsMouse1" "AlwaysCore"
Screen "screen1"
EndSection
---

Back to Gentoo ... Slowly

After a long hiatus (about several months), I returned to installing Gentoo on my Acer Ferrari 4005.  Things have certainly changed much with Gentoo.  Instead of "emerge" being the single trigger for building a whole system,  I frequently had to run "revdep-rebuild" and myriad other tools. All good but whatever happened to the solid "emerge" that I previously loved? Perhaps AMD64 platform is the one to blame. Not many distributions support it nicely. Gentoo is one of the better ones.

I will chronicle my adventure as I proceed to building a fully functional Gentoo desktop on my Acer Ferrari 4005. So far, some interesting catches:

• ati-drivers took a lot of retries to install correctly. I had to run revdep-rebuild once to correct the issues with libexpat.so.0
  
• Had to reemerge xorg-server and xorg-x11 a few times with minor glitches. One of which was pci.ids error. Very weird. Googling produced a clue from a non-English site. I ended up running update-pciids to generate a new pci.ids.gz. But then again, hal was repeatedly failing since it couldn't locate pci.ids. So, I ended up manually gunzip'ing /usr/share/misc/pci.ids.gz. Emerging gnome is somewhat back on track.
• opera works great. Fast as ever.

Sun TV programs for Pongal celebrations

 Cinema filled Sun TV's special programs for the Pongal celebration:

• Interviews with cine stars (lots of them :)
  
• Cine stars reminiscing about their childhood, schooling, friends and movies
• Paid commercials about upcoming/recently released movies
• Movies ("Thiraikku Vanthu Sila madhangale ona"-type)
• Songs from new movies

One nice exception was the Patti Manram (Debate in Tamil) which was really of high quality. The debate was about whether "Academic Education" or "Experience" is the most needed attribute for success. 

The judge "Salomon Pappaiya" is an experienced hand that correctly judged that 
"Academic education" is less worthy than "real experience" finally after a very
humorous and thought-provoking debate by debaters. Perennial favorite "Raja" and "Bharati Bhaskar" were available. India really 
needs thinkers like this gang to advance to a super power. Kudos to this team !!!

Happy PONGAL !!!

I heard a wonderful talk by Suki. Sivam on Sun TV about Pongal. I am constantly amazed at Suki.Sivam's clarity and lucidity in the way he presents his ideas and talks. Kudos!!

He explained that Pongal stands for thanking Sun God (Surya) and it is scheduled on the day the earth traverses from Southfacing direction to Northfacing direction in its rotation.

Pongal is celebrated very heavily in Tamilnadu with two days of holidays and fun. Nice way to start a new year!!!

Also of interest is the Tamil proverb "Thai Pirandal Vali Pirakkum" (When the month of Thai is born, a new way will be found -- generally good).  So, goodness all around.

Chennai Engira Madras

This blog is dedicated to Chennai, Tamilnadu, India formerly known as Madras.

• General information
• Titbits
• Interesting viewpoints from yours truly
• etc
• etc

Only constant thread

 There is really one constant thread in all our lives that never changes. That is a reference point by which we can measure our own changes and the changes that happen around us. That reference point is God.

He is always the same. Our lives, in a sense, resemble, rollercoaster rides. We never know what is going to happen next and how the ride is going to be -- up, down, turn right or left, bump up or down.

Best strategy is to just hold on to your handles and just enjoy or observe the ride as it happens.

Happy new year to everyone!!!!