欧州自転車レース追っかけ日記 2014年10月

SSDs are getting cheaper and cheaper nowadays.

The oldest PC that I have now (excluding the those old 68k Macintoshes in Japan) here in Europe is this MSI MegaBook M670 (AMD Sempron) on which I am writing this blog entry.

Purchased around 2004, 2005 or 2006 in Germany. It is old but it is still useful and actively used. I recently upgraded the memory to its maximum capacity (2 GB = 2 x 1 GB modules). It came with an IDE 44 pin interface HDD of capacity 80 GB. I don't know how long this notebook will work but I would like to use it as long as the mainboard is sound. If it should fail (according to the industrial expected life cycle time standard), its cause will be either fan that cools the CPU unit or the HDD, both of which have certain expected life expectancy. If this old IDE interface HDD should fail, what should i do?

This question has been on my mind for a while. Naturally i looked for replacement IDE 2.5 inch HDDs on the ebay. They are not so expensive. Some of them are used (in good conditions) or new. The capacity ranges from 40 GB to 120 GB or so.

I recently found that there is another option left. Get a IDE 44 pin (2.5 inch size) to mSATA (mini PCI-e) adapter and also get a smallish SSD.

Installing an SSD in this aging notebook? Why? Why not? 32 GB SSDs are getting cheaper. Those adapters are also cheap.

I bought (a while ago) an adapter SATA 2.5 inch to mSATA (and a MacBook Pro's optical bay adapter for 2.5 inch HDD) to install a 32 GB mSATA SSD in my MacBook Pro. This second SSD now has Lubuntu on it. 32 GB is pretty much enough to host a Lubuntu system if you don't plan to have your data (photos, movies or so) on it. Those data should be kept on separately on USB connected HDDs.

i will be shopping to prepare for this.

So far this MegaBook is being very sound after the 2 GB memory upgrade. It (this MegaBook) repeatedly froze after having 2 GB of memory last time a few years ago while being on Windows XP.

Linux 64 bit kernel seems to have no issues with 2 GB of memory at all.

In Japanese: 続きをどうぞ [SSDs are getting cheaper and cheaper nowadays.]の続きを読む

テーマ:Linux - ジャンル:コンピュータ

Are you using Dropbox (or Google Drive)? (Apple iCould?)

Or Microsoft OneDrive (or was it called something else?)?

I am using Dropbox and Google Drive although very sparingly. I don't upload my private photos or anything important (not that I have some very sensitive or valuable files).

Now I use 4 desktops (Lubuntu on three notebooks and OS X on one of them) and one iPhone. Sometimes, I want to share some files over these devices. That is when one of these services come in handy.

(One day later I suddenly realized that I had one more desktop; Windows 7 on HP ENVY 4. I don't use it anymore but I keep it alive because I might need it when I want to test some hardware which only Windows has a driver software for.)

I have an iPod touch 4th gen. but it is almost a dedicated GPS device (TomTom app on it and with a GPS chip equipped cradle from TomTom). I have not installed anything else but two apps (TomTom Western Europe and TomTom cradle utility) on it besides Apple's stock (meaning standard) apps.

Dropbox is available for OS X, iOS and Linux (Lubuntu). I like it.

(image01 from an ebay seller)

(image02 from an ebay seller)

The first item is used when you have a normal USB charge/sync cable for 30 pin devices (iPhone 4/4s etc.) and a typical Android device (say, an HTC smart phone) with a micro USB female interface to charge its battery. I don't know how often you need this adapter but they are widely available.

These items shown in the second image are very convenient if you want to connect anything to anything else via various USB port flavors. I will be needing one of them to perform some experiment.

One of the 10 adapters is what I want. It is the "USB 2.0 A Male to Micro USB Female" adapter.

If you combine two of the above described thingies, you can connect the eyeTV Mobile (30 pin) to a PC (or Mac). My experiment is to see if I can use this eyeTV Mobile from PC (or Mac) or not.

This was inspired by the eyeTV DTT micro (a device by elgato that hooks up to micro USB port of an Android device as a DVB-T tuner) that doubles as an Android accessary and (with an adapter cable) as a PC accessary.

I am very curious, just curious.

I just purchased (via ebay auction) another elgato device (eyeTV hybrid). It is a USB stick device that enables (Mac/PC) to tune in DVB-C, DVB-T and analog TV channels. Analog TV broadcasting is getting out of service in favor of its digital siblings in Europe. Maybe they are still alive in some East European countries.

This item (I bid and won) was a used one. Its suggested retail price in Europe is around 110 euros. The seller is located in the United States of America. It will be arriving sometime in November. As a second hand device, I did not want to pay too much (including the shipping). I think the price I paid for it was OK.

Anyway, I am not sure if this device is usable from Linux. I will try and see.

If it (eyeTV hybrid) is not for a Linux system (specifically it can not be used from VLC), I am ready to buy one of those cheap USB DVB-T tuners (around 10 euros including shipping) known to work with Linux.

My ultimate goal for this series of purchases and experiments is to broadcast (from my MacBook Pro) live TV image to multiple iOS/Android devices on Avenue Champs Elysèes next year when the Tour de France has its final stage there. Will it work? I will see.

If I am ready for the broadcasting next year, I will probably prepare several sheets of paper saying;

I am broadcasting the live TV coverage of the race (France 1/2) over the Wi-Fi network. If you want to watch it on your smart phones (iOS/Android) or tablets, please download VLC on your devices and join the Wireless network provided by me.

If you enjoy the service, please show your appreciation with donation. Thank you very much.

Something like that. I have to do a lot of experimentation. I just started reading the broadcasting guide of VLC. I wish I can use an abundant source of electric power for this. A small gasoline engine generator?

In Japanese: 続きをどうぞ
[Are you using Dropbox (or Google Drive)? (Apple iCould?)]の続きを読む

テーマ:Linux - ジャンル:コンピュータ

Lubuntu 14.10 on MSI MegaBook M670 freezes again (and I don't know...)

This old machine has been my trusty friend for a long time. I have some laughable memories about it.

I bought this AMD Sempron powered notebook around 2005 or 2006? in Germany (where I was living at that time). It was one of the cheapest notebook PCs I could find. It did not come with one of those Windows systems on it (back then Windows XP was circulating) but SUSE Linux on it. I did not have to pay for the added license fees for Windows and that was why It was one of the cheapest. It also did not have a webcam on it.

Anyway, I installed (I had to because I needed Windows system for my Garmin devices) Windows XP on it soon after the purchase.

I moved to Luxembourg in 2009 (January 1st to be exact). I thought of upgrading the memory installed in it. In the original configuration, I think, it had 1 GB of 200 pin DDRII SO-DIMMs (two 500 MB modules). I consulted with the 'Users' Manual' and found out that the maximum memory capacity was two of 1 GB modules (in tow banks).

I purchased them and installed them. I booted Windows XP to test them out. It was OK for a short while before it crashed. The system froze up for apparently no reasons after 10 or 15 minutes. I force rebooted the machine only to see the same freeze-up after a short while.

I open up the PC and checked the modules to see if they were loose or anything. I swapped the modules. I booted the notebook repeatedly to see the same thing.

I put the old modules back and it was OK. I finally settled to put one 1 GB module and one 500 MB module in each bank in the end. Thus, it came to have 1.5 GB on it.

Soon after this mishap, I gave the remaining modules (1.5 GB) to a friend of mine for free. I don't have them now.

I did not know the reasons for the crash. I learned later that XP could not handle more than 2 GB of memory as it was a 32-bit OS. I wondered back then if "more than 2 GB" meant "not including 2 GB" or "including 2 GB".

Anyway I forgot about this until recently. I realized that I was using a 64 bit (memory access capable) OS (Lubuntu Linux) on this MegaBook even though it had only 1.5 GB of memory. The 32 bit version of Lubuntu would do. The moment this realization came to me, I decided to purchase memory modules again. I hurriedly searched for "DDR2 SO-DIMM" on the ebay. Within 20 minutes I paid about 10 euros to a ebay seller for the goods.

Today I was watching a movie (playing a mp4 file) and surfing the web when it froze. I had to force reboot the machine. I don't know why. I am watching the same movie and writing this and it seems OK now. The machine froze twice today while playing a mp4 file.

In Japanese: 続きをどうぞ [Lubuntu 14.10 on MSI MegaBook M670 freezes again (and I don't know...)]の続きを読む

テーマ:Linux - ジャンル:コンピュータ

Lubuntu 14.10 is ready to go!

Ubuntu and its variants (including Lubuntu) have announced their latest version 14.10. I am already running the latest version of 14.10 on two of my three notebooks, namely MSI MegaBook M670 and Apple MacBook Pro (Mid 2010). I have been on Lubuntu 14.10 since beta 1 or beta 2.

I upgraded Lubuntu distribution on the HP ENVY 4 to 14.10. It went smoothly without any problems.

Lubuntu 14.10 on MacBook Pro has been working very well. It may not be perfect. For example, guvcview does not work and crashes. This guvcview is a small utility that is supposed to work with the iSight camera to capture images.

I decided to install a small utility application called kazam. It takes screenshots. I needed it.

I installed "Camorama Webcam Viewer", which offers almost the same thing as guvcview was supposed to. I ran Camorama on both HP ENVY 4 and Apple MacBook Pro. My MSI MegaBook M670 does not have a webcam installed on it.

It worked on both models. It means that guvcview is broken. [Lubuntu 14.10 is ready to go!]の続きを読む

テーマ:Linux - ジャンル:コンピュータ

Ralink 3070 on MacBook Pro (OS X Yosemite)

BearExtender (bearextender.com) kindly informed me this morning that the Beta Y1 (workaround version) driver is ready for download for Yosemite users.

It is a workaround version since MediaTek Taiwan (it is a company merged with Ralink) has not updated the drivers for Yosemite yet. The driver comes with warnings.

I downloaded and installed it on my MacBook Pro, which is running Yosemite. The driver file size was small (2.3 MB). After the installtion it sits in the System Preferences now.

(a screenshot clip from my own desktop)

The verdict is that it works. I hope MediaTek updates its drivers soon and BetaExtender will work on it to make it more friendly to the users.

The application (or System Preferences) does not have the function to make the Wi-Fi adapter to connect to previously connected networks automatically. I have to explicitly make it connect.

The previous driver (bigger 42 MB but the actual installation footprint for Mavericks system was around 12 MB) that I installed on the Mavericks system was considerably bigger in size so I thought for a moment that I should install the previous driver first and then additionally install the Y1 beta.

The previous driver file is a package for several versions of OS X Snow Leopard to Mavericks (Snow Leopard, Lion, Mountain Lion, Mavericks?) and that is why the file is so big compared to the latest beta version.

Anyway, the previous installation on the Mavericks system had a different UI. The application sat in the Applications (Folder) so I can call it from the Launchpad.

In Japanese: 続きをどうぞ [Ralink 3070 on MacBook Pro (OS X Yosemite)]の続きを読む

テーマ:Mac - ジャンル:コンピュータ

MacBook Pro 13 Mid 2010 - Lubuntu 14.10 / Nvidia GPU divers

Now I would like to clear up the confusing situation surrounding the video chip drivers on Lubuntu 14.10 / MacBook Pro 13 Mid 2010.

I wish I could post a screenshot clip here but I have not installed any programs to take a screenshot in Lubuntu 14.10 on the MacBook.

Currently Lubuntu 14.10 offers 5 (five) possible choices to choose from for the video chip. You can choose older drivers if you use 'Synaptic Package Mananger' from the System Tools but this option is highly unlikely so I ignore them.

NVIDIA Corporation: MCP89 [GeForce M320]
4 of them are from NVIDIA Corporation and they are proprietary.
1 of them is from X.Org X server - Nouveau display driver from xserver-xorg-video-nouveau (open source)

I don't know why they use the French word 'Nouveau' (new) but this is the driver I am using. This driver works and it also is the only choice if you want to control the brightness of the LCD screen.

When I install one of those proprietary drivers, I can not change the LCD backlight brightness at all. It stays at 100 % of its capacity and it is too harsh on my eyes (not to mention that it consumes a huge amount of juice from the battery).

When I use the X.Org's driver, I can also put some simple lines in '/etc/rc.local' to set the LCD brightness and keyboard backlight brightness as I want on login.

The lines I put in the shell script file 'rc.local' is like these:

echo 10 > /sys/class/backlight/nv_backlight/brightness
echo 0 > /sys/class/leds/smc::kbd_backlight/brightness

When using X.Org's driver, there is a directory (in Windows terms, a folder in Mac's terms) named 'nv_backlight' under
/sys/class/backlight/.

This folder is just an alias (link to) of
/sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:17.0/0000:04:00.0/drm/card0/card0-LVDS-1/nv_backlight

If you peek in this folder, you will find some files (mostly text files) and you will learn that maximum brightness is valued at 100. I put the value 10 (ten) to the brightness, which is easy on my eyes indoors.

Equally, there is a directory named smc::kbd_backlight under
/sys/class/leds/.

This folder is an alias (link to) of
/sys/devices/platform/applesmc.768/leds/smc::kbd_backlight/.

I pass the value 0 (zero) to turn the keyboard backlight off. The maximum value allowed is 255.

It does not mean, by the way, for the benefit of those who are by now very curious, that you have to press the F1 (to dim) or F2 (to brighten) up to 100 times to make the turned off LCD backlight to its maximum brightness. I think 10 to 12 gentle taps will suffice.

And also it does not mean that you have to hit the key(s) 255 times to ...... (you've already got the idea).

When you install one of those proprietary drivers, it seems that '/sys/class/backlight/nv_backlight' disappears.

This is what I know so far. If anybody trying to install Ubuntu or its derivatives on Mac products should know what to do, I hope.

In Japanese: 続きをどうぞ
[MacBook Pro 13 Mid 2010 - Lubuntu 14.10 / Nvidia GPU divers]の続きを読む

テーマ:Linux - ジャンル:コンピュータ

ExtFS for Mac purchased!

I purchased this product "ExtFS for Mac®OS X 9". This last number 9 is a bit misleading since OS X's latest version is '10.10'. The last number 9 refers to this software's version but not OS X's version.

This software enables Mac OS X (up to Yosemite now) to access (read and write) Linux native filesystem Ext2/Ext3/Ext4. I have already purchased NTFS for Mac from this company and the software has been recently upgraded to version 12.0.

Now I can read and write the filesystem on the 'second SSD' (installed in place of the optical drive). I wanted to format all of USB external HDDs with the ExtFS, namely Ext4. They were under NTFS filesystem. I can read and write them under Linux. I could not use them with OS X and that why I decided to buy NTFS for Mac from Paragon.

Now I bought ExtFS for Mac® I can also read and write ExtFS from Mac® OS X. Very convenient.

It was not expensive anyway.

Garmin's map (Europe) has been updated to 2015.30 recently. TomTom's map and app for iPhone (iPod/iPad) has been updated. They came up with the updates almost at the same time.

(a screenshot clip form iTunes)

(a screenshot clip from Garmin Express on OS X Yosemite)

My Garmin BaseCamp (OS X) has the map 2015.20 and Garmin Nüvi 2340 has also 2015.20. I don't think I have time (as indicated in the second image) to update the map on my Nüvi 2340. Maybe I want to wait until 2015.40 or 2016.10.

In Japanese: 続きをどうぞ [ExtFS for Mac purchased!]の続きを読む

テーマ:Mac - ジャンル:コンピュータ

apple_backlight, intel_backlight and nv_backlight

MacBook Pro Mid 2010 (Lubuntu 14.10) has "/sys/class/backlight/apple_backlight/" and "/sys/class/backlight/nv_backlight/".

HP ENVY 4 (Lubuntu 14.04) has "/sys/class/backlight/intel_backlight/".

MSI MegaBook M670 (Lubuntu 14.10) has nothing under "/sys/class/backlight/".

MacBook Pro uses F1 and F2 keys to dim and brighten the LCD backlight.

HP ENVY 4 uses F2 and F3 keys to dim and brighten the LCD backlight.

MSI MegaBook M670 uses a combination of 'fn' key/F4 to dim and 'fn' key/F5 to brighten the LCD backlight.

(A screenshot clip from HP ENVY 4)

MegaBook M670 used an Nvidia chip (GO 6100) so naturally I expected to see nv_backlight under /sys/class/backlight/ but I did not find it. The backlight control requires a key combination. I can kill the touchpad built into this MegaBook by 'fn' key/F3 combination. Other combinations are for speaker volume control ('fn' + F7 to down, + F8 to up and + F9 to mute). MegaBook M670 has a built-in hardware switch for LCD backlight control and this is why it does not have 'nv_backlight'?

I wanted to take a screenshot in Lubuntu on MacBook Pro and realized it does not have a 'print' key on the keyboard. Under OS X, I use a small program to take a screenshot. This small program has been with me since I started using OS X Mavericks and it is still with me in OS X Yosemite. It works but not 100 % Yosemite compatible. I hope it will be updated soon. I have to install some program to take a screenshot in Lubuntu on MacBook Pro but I decided not to. That is why I only posted the screenshot from HP ENVY 4.

In Japanese: 続きをどうぞ [apple_backlight, intel_backlight and nv_backlight]の続きを読む

テーマ:Linux - ジャンル:コンピュータ

Lubuntu 14.10 on MacBook Pro Mid 2010 - Backlight problem solved

Updated on 22nd of October: The driver choice "using NVIDIA binary driver - version 331.89 from nvidia-331-updates (proprietary)" got some problem (system errors) so I have to switch to "using NVIDIA binary driver - version 331.89 from nvidia-331 (proprietary, tested)". Now my MacBook Pro is working fine.

I thought it was working fine but it was not. Finally I had to switch to X Org free driver. It is complicated and I am trying to sort things out.

The only annoyances that I have is that the screen brightness comes up maximized and keyboard backlight also maximized when the system boots up. I have to reset it every time I boot the sysem. I should set up some files like rc.local shell script so that the brightness sets itself correctly as I like it.

/sys/class/leds/smc(forgot the exact names) directory has the setting files for the keyboard backlight. I have already checked them out. Now I know the files read by the controllers (for the LCD/Keyboard backlights), I should learn how to set up the shell script to do what I want.

end of update

Well, now I can dim the LCD screen (backlight) on my MacBook Pro Mid 2010 using Lubuntu 14.10.

What did I do and how did I do it?

I searched in the Ubuntu forum and learned about "/sys/class/backlight/...etc." and saw that the brightness control buttons (F1 and F2) for screen backlight actually changed the values in the files (/sys/class/backlight/apple_backlight/brightness and etc.). So the buttons are actually doing the work.

I also tried "pommed" but it did not help. So I removed it.

And then I thought the proprietary driver from Nvidia "using NVIDIA binary driver - version 331.89 from nvidia-331-updates (proprietary)" could be the problem. So I tried to change it to other drivers available.

For some reasons unknown, it failed. Switching to another driver failed and gave me error messages. Shortly after this the screen began to run erratic. I had to reboot the MacBook Pro. After this, the F1 and F2 buttons actually began to dim and brighten the screen. Wow!

After this I realized something. There is a new directory (actually just a link) in "/sys/class/backlight/". There is a link "nv_backlight" there. So re-installing the driver made this happen?

I guess the Nvidia video driver read the files under /sys/class/backlight/nv_backlight/ and reflects their values.

Anyway, now my MacBook Pro is gentle on my eyes.

In Japanese: 続きをどうぞ [Lubuntu 14.10 on MacBook Pro Mid 2010 - Backlight problem solved]の続きを読む

テーマ:Linux - ジャンル:コンピュータ

Blueway N9800 (Ralink 3070) is up on OS X Mavericks (10.9.5)

I am writing this from OS X (Mavericks 10.9.5) on the MacBook Pro. I am connected to the Net via Blueway N9800 (Ralink 3070 chip) which is on the USB port.
It is working! The driver from BearExtender (the credit says that the NIC is provided by Ralink, now merged with MediaTek or something).

Anyway, It works.

Here are some images that would sum up the situation.

(The application's credit = "about" info)

(Preferences - Network shows that the internal Wi-Fi is turned off and Ralink 3070 USB adapter is working)

Conclusion: When BearExtender updates it software for Yosemite, I will download it and use it.

This is the raw information of the device (Blueway N9*00 series Wi-Fi adapter).

The chip's name Ralink 3070 rhymes with its Product ID 0x3070 (in Hexadecimal format) but it is only incidental. The 'Kext' installed by the BearExtender's software includes its Product ID and Vendor ID so this Wi-Fi adapter can be used with this software.

In Japanese: 続きをどうぞ [Blueway N9800 (Ralink 3070) is up on OS X Mavericks (10.9.5)]の続きを読む

テーマ:Mac - ジャンル:コンピュータ

USB Wi-Fi adapter (Ralink 3070) for MacBook Pro

By the way, all of the desktops of Lubuntu (on MSI MegaBook, HP ENVY 4 and MacBook Pro) look like this. And the MacBook Pro's Yosemite desktop also looks like this.

This USB interface Wi-Fi adapter (Ralink 3070) was purchsed in 2011 or 2012, I think. I intended to use it with Windows XP and Linux (Ubuntu at that time). It accepts various antennas or antennae through a port. Even with a short (10 cm / 3 inches) antenna, its perception is better than any of those built in a notebook PC. If you connect a parabola style antenna or even Yagi Wi-Fi antenna, the perception get better.

You can make your own signal augmentation devices with a bucket or tin cans. i tried with a plastic bucket and a sheet of aluminium foil. It works. I haven't used it for about a year or so until recently I suddenly found it very handy.

Its chip (Ralink 3070) is supported by free source software and almost any Linux distribution carry its driver by default. My MacBook Pro has a Broadcom chip and it is only supported by the driver provided by the manufacturer. My HP ENVY 4 also has a Broadcom chip and the proprietary driver must be separately downloaded after the initial installation.

I used this Wi-Fi adapter (Blueway N9800) to download the proprietary driver for those two notebooks. Now those notebooks can be connected to the Wi-Fi network via their own built-in chips. When the signal is weaker, I can use this Blueway N9800 to get better perception.

(Blueway N9000 series USB Wi-Fi adapter)

I wondered if I could use it with my MacBook Pro when I am running OS X Yosemite. Yosemite (or Mavericks) can not utilize N9000 because it does not have a driver (software).

I looked for USB Wi-Fi adapters for Mac. I found "BearExtender" series adapters. They (original model and newer 1200 model) look just like N9000 series.

(image taken from BearExtender's site)

I also searched for "drivers for Blueway N9000 series adapters for Mac" and found out that the driver(s) provided by BearExtender (www.bearextender.com) can be used for them because obviously BearExtender 1200 also has a Ralink 3070 chip inside.

Currently (as of October 17 2014) this company only offers drivers for OS X Snow Leopard to Mavericks but not for Yosemite. It also tells us that they are working on the Yosemite driver.

OK, I have a Mavericks 10.9.5 environment on a USB HDD case. I can boot from this outer HDD case and try if the driver software from BearExtender works with my N9000 connected to my MacBook Pro. This will be my weekend project.

Lubuntu 14.10 works excellently on MacBook Pro Mid 2010. The only things that bother me a bit are:
1) The LCS screen dimmer does not work. The LCD screen is set to its maximum brightness. It is not easy on my eyes in the dark.
2) The touchpad gets hyper-sensitive (than when used under OS X) and two finger scroll on it works but rather awkwardly. For this I will install "pointing devices" and kill the touchpad and use a mouse.

In Japanese: 続きをどうぞ [USB Wi-Fi adapter (Ralink 3070) for MacBook Pro]の続きを読む

テーマ:Mac - ジャンル:コンピュータ

Lubuntu 14.10 beta 2 (and updates) on MacBook Pro Mid 2010

I did it. I successfully installed Lubuntu 14.10 beta 2 from the iso image file that I downloaded. I burned a DVD from the image on a USB exteternal optical drive (LG made) and then booted from it.

I am writing this in Lubuntu 14.10 beta 2 (plus updates) on MacBook Pro Mid 2010. I have to use a USB Wi-Fi adapter first to get connected to the net to download extra updates and addtional drivers.

Addtional drivers like the one from Broadcom (Broadcom's Wi-Fi chip requires their proprietary driver) and one from Nvidia. Now the internal airport Wi-Fi adapter works.

I have not yet set up the Japanese input environment so the Japanese entry below will be made in OS X Yosemite.

Wow, I am so happy to see Lubuntu on my MacBook Pro.

In Japanese: 続きをどうぞ

[Lubuntu 14.10 beta 2 (and updates) on MacBook Pro Mid 2010]の続きを読む

テーマ:Linux - ジャンル:コンピュータ

Failure to boot Mac from a USB stick into Ubuntu 14.10 beta 2

I tried but failed.

I followed the instructions at the Ubuntu site. How to make a bootable USB stick on OS X .. etc.

> diskutil convert -format UDRW (etc)
> dd if= ... of= ... bs=1m

I can successfully convert the iso image to img (or dmg) image. So far so good.

It seems to write the image on the USB stick but Mac gives up a message that the USB disk is unreadable and ask if I want to initialize, ignore or eject it.

OK. Then I tried to boot the MacBook Pro from the stick by pressing alt/option key while the it is booting. The screen does not show me the option to boot from the USB disk but it shows only the normal startup disk or recovery disk (partition).

I don't know the cause of the failure. I try to do the same thing on Lubuntu on HP ENVY 4. Maybe it helps. If it does not help, I will use an external optical drive after burning a DVD.

My MacBook Pro had an optical drive on it. Now it does not. The optical drive was replaced by an SSD (mSATA format 32 GB). I have to use another USB external optical drive which I bought for my HP ENVY 4 a long time ago. It should work. The optical drive (which was inside the MacBook Pro) is now naked and can not be used. I should buy a USB external case for it. It costs around 12 euro or so including the shipping all the way from China.

Those cheap USB external cases are made of plastic material and not like Apple's aluminium luxury external drives. It does not matter at all because I don't intend to use it too often.

In Japanese: 続きをどうぞ [Failure to boot Mac from a USB stick into Ubuntu 14.10 beta 2]の続きを読む

テーマ:Linux - ジャンル:コンピュータ

Nvidia GO6100 proprietary driver is better than X.org's free software driver?

Playing movies or playing DVDs in Lubuntu 14.10 (presumably beta 2) on MSI Megabook M670 was reliably unstable. It crashes after several minutes. I was annoyed.

The old (from 2004 or 2005?) AMD Semprom powered notebook has a 15.4 inch glossy LCD (1280 x 800 resolution) is now mainly a media playing machine with Linux on it. I am not too happy if it crashes when playing movies.

I used to use Nvidia's proprietary driver for Nvidia GO 6100 GPU. When I updated Lubuntu to 14.10, the default driver installed was X. org's free software driver. It worked and it worked almost perfectly.

I have to say 'almost' because when moving windows around on the screen, some debris were left on the screen. The edges of a window left a series of white dots on the screen on its path. I thought about swapping the driver to Nvidia's proprietary driver at that point but also thought staying with free software would be paying respect to the X org. So I did not switch.

Now after seeing those crashes, I came to think that this video driver could be the reason for the crash. Now I had to test the proprietary driver from Nvidia.

It (Nvidia's driver) works fine. There is no visible flaw at all. Movies play well. I don't have time to play a long movie for now so I can not come to any conclusions.

On http://lubuntu.net/, you can fnd a link to "Lubuntu 14.10 beta 1" download. I thought that it was time that they put beta 2 by then. I wondered why not. Later I found some descriptions of beta 2 (final beta) somewhere.

I searched for beta 2 and today (October 15) I found that they had uploaded beta 2 by September 23. The link was not too easy to find. They (people behind Lubuntu development) are too busy to update the web site, I guess.

I downloaded beta 2 version of Lubuntu for Mac. I will make a bootable USB stick from the ISO image (first you have to convert it to dmg image) and boot my MacBook Pro from the USB stick to see if everything goes fine.

In Japanese: 続きをどうぞ [Nvidia GO6100 proprietary driver is better than X.org's free software driver?]の続きを読む

テーマ:Linux - ジャンル:コンピュータ

Mac OS X 10.10 Yosemite (public) beta 6 is out

The update download volume (from beta 5 to beta 6) was nly 50 and some megabytes in size, it was just a minor update and I don't see anything significant in changes. Of course not!

Currently I am writing this in Lubuntu 14.04 on HP ENVY 4.

Two more days before (actually almost three days in my time zone) OS X Yosemite is officially released to the public. It seems that beta 6 will be the last beta version given to the selected public. My MacBook Pro mid 2010 will not support some features (key features) like Continuity or others. It does not matter too much as I don't have any iOS 8 capable devices for the moment anyway.

On a side note, I updated the installed OS of the oldest PC notebook (purchased 2004 or 2005? and internal HDD is IDE interface with 80 GB capacity) that I own from Lubuntu 14.04 to 14.10 beta 1. After installing the beta 1 from the downloaded ISO image, I further updated it with the downloadable updates from the Ubuntu/Lubuntu depository. By now it could be beta 2.

I thought 14.10 could be different in looks and feels from 14.04 but I was wrong. There is not much difference in look and feels between them.

I am not sure if the rather frequent hangups that I am experiencing with 14.10 (playing movie files or a DVD) resulted from OS or the machine. It hangs up. It plays the audio though while the screen gets unresponsive.

Later i doubted the possibility of overheat as the cause of these hangups. I was putting on this old but trusty MSI Megabook on a soft sleeve case, which prevented the hot air to come out of the bottom vents on the machine.

I removed the machine from there and let the hot air out while playing a DVD (Minority Report, by the way). It continued playing without problems (at least for a while).Then it choked on playing a movie file. It froze. I don't know what is causing it.

I think that this was the cause. It had nothing to do with Lubuntu 14.10 beta 1. This old notebook has an AMD Sempron inside. These CPUs tend to get hot. Back in those days when I bought this Megabook, mobile CPUs were still gas guzzlers.

In Japanese: 続きをどうぞ [Mac OS X 10.10 Yosemite (public) beta 6 is out]の続きを読む

テーマ:Mac - ジャンル:コンピュータ

HP ENVY 4 and its ailing? battery

Two images made on Lubuntu 14.04 on HP ENVY 4.

This first one is the ONE and ONLY option I neeed.

As you can see, this second one is with no options chosen.

There is a utility program called "pointing devices," which deals with the touchpad on the keyboard (or the notebook)). What I want to accomplish with this kind of utility software is to kill the touchpad while typing (or kill it while I have a mouse attached to the notebook).

This thing works but it has a little glitch. Its setting does not survive a reboot. When I reboot the machine, I have to open this program and first uncheck the option and then re-check it to make it work. Not a big annoyance.

By the way, the "Disable while any other devices are attached" option does not work unfortunately. I wish it does as it will be the perfect option I need really.

Currently I am writing this on the ENVY 4 (not ENVY 14 as I described earlier, it was a mistake) with Lubuntu 14.04.

There are two woes for this ENVY 4 for the moment.

1) The battery seems to be not at its top health?
2) It has a German keyboard on it.

The German keyboard will be replaced with a US keyboard (which I had already bought from China). I have to take almost everything from inside the notebook to accomplish this feat. It is going to be a major? operation but not too complicated.

What is wrong with German (or for that matter all non-US keyboards) keyboard?

I type by blind-touch. I don't look at the keyfaces when I am typing. All non-US keyboards are not made for this purpose. They (non-US keyboards) have some extra keys and to make room for additional keys they make essential keys like "return" or "shift" keys smaller. This annoys me so much. I curse at them.

The battery seems to be erratic at best. It loses its charge too soon. I am planning to buy a replacement battery (unit) for it. But first I will do some tests. Or a test. I will charge the battery to its full content and then remove it from the ENVY (completely disconnect from it and take it outside). Then place it in a dark cool storage for a while. After a week or so I will place it back and see how much juice is still left. If the charge is still full, the mysterious leakage of the battery lies with the ENVY 4.

If this is the case, there is no point of purchasing a new replacement at all.

If the battery is not full and significantly empty, I will purchase a new replacement battery unit.

In Japanese: 続きをどうぞ [HP ENVY 4 and its ailing? battery]の続きを読む

テーマ:Linux - ジャンル:コンピュータ

Lubuntu 14.04 on HP ENVY-14 woes Part II

I tried in vain to solve the problem by reading the Ubuntu forum threads.

I took a deep breath and then had an idea what to do.

First, I had a USB Wi-Fi dongle that used to work well with Lubuntu (Linux). So I hooked it up on Envy-14. That way I have a very stable Internet connection.

Then I checked this. Additional drivers. Some hardware components need proprietary drivers supplied by the manufacturers especially when the manufacturers don't reveal all the hardware specifications to the pubic.

OK, I did not know that this proprietary driver was in use already but it could be the reason that my Wi-Fi interface on the Envy-14 does not work at all.

I turned it off and then rebooted the computer.

Now the WLAN (broadcom) is working. Actually not working but it sees the WLAN AP and gets itself connected.

It is actually not working as it is toooooooooo slow as if it s not responding at all.

UPDATE
After enabling the broadcom's proprietary driver back again, I rebooted the ENVY-14. Now the broadcom chip Wi-Fi interface seems to work very well.

What was it?

In Japanese: 続きをどうぞ [Lubuntu 14.04 on HP ENVY-14 woes Part II]の続きを読む

テーマ:Linux - ジャンル:コンピュータ

Andy Schleck has decided to call it quits.

I am very sorry to hear that. It is a sad day.

In Japanese: 続きをどうぞ [Andy Schleck has decided to call it quits.]の続きを読む

テーマ:自転車ロードレース - ジャンル:スポーツ

Lubuntu 14.04 on HP ENVY-14 woes

The HP ENVY-14 is a fine piece of machine. I originally bought it from a German on-line PC shop. It came with a Germany keyboard. I intend to change it to US keyboard soon. I bought the US keyboard a while ago. It has been neglected.

Anyway, it had Ubuntu 13.10 and it was just fine. Today I updated it to 14.04 and now I am experiencing a problem. The Wi-Fi interface does not work. It is not recognised by the kernel (I guess).

I don't know why but it is a pain in the royal keister. Otherwise, it works fine.

I quickly looked for the solution or anything that would help me get out of this plight. I went to the Lubuntu's user forums (Ubuntu forums) and found a host of users seem to be having the same problems when their Wi-Fi interface use one of RTL (Realtek) chips.

My HP ENVY-14 is also using a chip from Realtek. This is the root of the headache. How should I proceed?

Ooops! "lspci" command showed me that I was wrong.
The chip is Broadcom corp. BCM4313.

I found a thread discussing this exact chip causing a Wi-Fi blackout. I think now I can repair it myself.

In Japanese: 続きをどうぞ [Lubuntu 14.04 on HP ENVY-14 woes]の続きを読む

テーマ:Linux - ジャンル:コンピュータ

Andy Schleck to retire?

Is it true? Say it ain't so!

It is early hours of Thursday, October 9th. In 8 hours or so, Andy Schleck gives a media press conference in Mondorf-les-Bains, Luxembourg.

Speculations are growing and it seems that almost all of them point to the possibility of his retirement.

I will see. I am not happy about his retirement (if he chose to do so) but on the other hand I will support his decision.

In Japanese: 続きをどうぞ [Andy Schleck to retire?]の続きを読む

テーマ:自転車ロードレース - ジャンル:スポーツ

Mac OS X 10.10 Yosemite beta 5 (for me) is out

Yosemite's Golden Master 2 (for the developers) and beta 5 (for the selected general public) are out. The Golden Master (the first one) was not the final before the public release but just a candidate. This second one is just a minor bug fix version, so tells me a site (9to5mac.com).

I will install the update soon. I am not expecting too much from Yosemite because I don't use iOS 8 devices. If you don't use iOS 8 devices, there won't be much difference between using the Mavericks and Yosemite.

A side note. I found how to expel that "network name ghost' which frequently appears under the pulldown menu from the Wi-Fi icon on the menu bar.

Just go to the System Preferences and then to Network. If the "Network Name" is a line instead of the correct network name, just pull down the menu and select the correct network name. Tada! The ghost disappears!

It turned out that the download volume of beta 5 update for my MacBook Pro was just 104 MB. I updated it just now. I am now on Yosemite beta 5.

By the way, my current desktop image is this. I love cats so this is my favorite image. I am very "aroused" by cats' images, to be honest with you. And my MacBook Pro (13-inch Mid 2010) was originally shipped with Mac OS X 10.6.3 Snow Leopard. Snow Leopard generation of Mac OS X has been out of support (by Apple) for a while (about a year by now?).

I will keep using this desktop image for a while.

In Japanese: 続きをどうぞ [Mac OS X 10.10 Yosemite beta 5 (for me) is out]の続きを読む

テーマ:Mac - ジャンル:コンピュータ

Second SSD in place (inside MacBook Pro mid-2010)

One of the tasks that I should have done a week ago but I could not was to move the optical drive unit out of the MacBook Pro and install the 32 GB mSATA SSD (taken out of HP ENVY-14) inside it (using an mSATA to SATA conversion kit and a 2.5 inch SATA HDD to optical drive bay adapter).

iFixIt site was helpful. I completed the task.

Now I have two SSDs inside my MacBook Pro. For the moment the second drive serves as an extended storage place. I formatted it as a normal Mac drive (journaled ...). Later in October I will install Lubuntu 14.10 on it. 32 GB is not a huge amount of storage and a typical Mac OS X won't fit.

It (cramming OS X Yosemite on a 32 GB drive) can be done but then there won't be enough place left for other things like iTunes (and its music, audiobook, photo or app library) or anything else.

Lubuntu will fit on it. I am not sure about the partitioning scheme but / (root directory) partition will be about 12 GB, /home (home directory) will be around 16 GB and the rest will be the "swap" partition. I hope this scheme works.

Now my MacBook is almost noise-free and vibration-free. Those SSDs won't spin at all.

And the Garmin (as I predicted?) updated the BaseCamp to version 4.4.3 after a week releasing the version 4.4.2. A lot of complaining about the route calculation failure incidents reported by the users in the users' forum prompted Garmin to do this.

Should I update to 4.4.3? I will wait a bit and then consider.

In Japanese: 続きをどうぞ [Second SSD in place (inside MacBook Pro mid-2010)]の続きを読む

テーマ:Mac - ジャンル:コンピュータ

Tour de France 2015 rumors and 2016 rumors

I frequently visit velowire.com and look for information on the Tour.

2015 version's outline is already almost out for us. This site gives convincing descriptions of it. Huy and Seraing (I know them and visited many times) will be visited by the Tour. Additionally the Mur de Huy will be the finish, it is so expected.

The Grand Départ has been traditionally selected in a way that a French city and a foreign city alternate for the recent past (I don't know how long but ...) years. Next year will be an exception. After having it held in Yorkshire, GB, it was supposed to be held in France in 2015.

The lack of interest from French cities and the burdens of spending the dough made French cities not happy about bidding for the nomination.

The site says that the GP will be likely held in la Manche department in France. This department includes such cities known to TdF fans like Mont Saint-Michel or Avranches.

I have know the name Cherbourg for a long time. I would like to visit the town some day and it could be next year.

In Japanese: 続きをどうぞ

[Tour de France 2015 rumors and 2016 rumors]の続きを読む

テーマ:自転車ロードレース - ジャンル:スポーツ

I remembered that there was a user forum site for Garmin

Yes I have know about this forum site long time but I seldom visited the site.

I visited the site and looked for Mac Software > BaseCamp and found that users are not too happy about the current release. And additionally I notice that some beta software (like 4.4.0.*) announcements there (obviously made a while ago).

So Garmin is asking some bold users to sacrifice themselves. Wait a minute! I now, only now, remember that I once tested a beta version of BaseCamp for Win PC once. I soon abandoned it as I was using the MapSource on that PC and I was very happy about it. I am old and so forgetful.

Anyways, some users are downgrading to the last known "stable" version 4.3.4 after seeing some critical bug in 4.4.2.

OK, I got the message. I will not update my 4.3.4. I wait until Garmin updates it to 4.4.3 or 4.4.4 in a month or two. I will totally ignore the version 4.4.2.

I am waiting the arrival of lubuntu 14.10 for Mac. I intend to install it on a small SSD (32 GB, taken out of HP ENVY-14). I already bought a optical drive conversion kit (mSATA to SATA) along with the adapter. Currently they are offering beta-1 version of 14.10.

iTunes (application) was updated a couple days ago. It still has the same version name (iTunes 12) but the difference is that previous version was 12.0.0.117 and the latest (at the time of this writing) is 12.0.0.140. They are still beta versions. By the time they release it to the general public (October 16? along with OS X Yosemite?), it will be iTunes 12.0.0.

This is the difference between Garmin and Apple. Apple tests beta software versions by giving them to the selected users and try (not always works but ...) to release the final version to the general public. And the beta versions have 0 (zero) in the third digit (like 12.0.0).

Whereas, Garmin, openly (or semi-openly) give beta versions to the general public for testing. And their (beta versions') last digit (third one) already have numbers other than 0 (zero).

The latest true public version (on Apple App Store) is 4.4.2. The third digit is already 2.

In Japanese: 続きをどうぞ
[I remembered that there was a user forum site for Garmin]の続きを読む

テーマ:Mac - ジャンル:コンピュータ

Yosemite (public) beta 4 and its improvement?

Now I am writing this on my MacBook Pro with Mac OS X 10.10 Yosemite (selected public beta testers) beta 4.

One one of the improved features of this beta 4 version is that Bash vulnerability bug, so people say. One of the possible bug fixes, to my experience, could be eliminating the ghosting of the Wi-Fi network names.

I am not too sure about this but since upgrading to beta 3 I have been experiencing a strange thing with the Wi-Fi network. On the menu bar, by default, a Wi-Fi network icon appears. When you click on it, you will see the Wi-Fi network names that you can select from. When I'm on one of them, that network name appears twice on the pulldown menu. It was strange.

~~As of now, after installing the beta 4, the ghost has been dispelled. Whatever it was, now gone.~~

It is still there. I don't know why.

I have been experiencing 'stickiness' when writing in Japanese. It started appearing a while ago. It continues to appear in the latest Mavericks and Yosemite beta 4. I don't know if people who are using the Japanese input method (almost all of them are Japanese) are experiencing that too.

I have not updated the Garmin BaseCamp to 4.4.2 yet as I don't trust their (Garmin's) testing procedures. I had a really bad experience with the version preceding the current 4.3.4. It (I don't remember its version number but it preceded 4.3.4) made me spend an hour or so to repair the attributes of my waypoints. So I will wait until it gets tested by poor (lab mice) general public for a while. I don't want to be a victim of some faulty software again.

Some may call my relationship with Garmin a love and hate one since I heavily depend on it but I don't really like their BaseCamp too much. Frequently I miss its predecessor, MapSource.

I assume (by saying assuming, I admit that I could be really a dumb ass to be writing this) that the direction that the Garmin software development team is heading in is to make its MapSource a visually stunning program for the users' eyes. It seems that they are concentrating on the efforts to add more features in 3D birds' eye things.

I do understand that they could be right. Other map programs like Apple Map, Google Maps and so on are going that direction, too. 3D flyover views and whatever they call them.

I am one of the old-fashioned users who use the BaseCamp as a routing aid. My concerns is going from a point A to B. Whatever. Nobody listens to me at Garmin.

In Japanese: 続きをどうぞ [Yosemite (public) beta 4 and its improvement?]の続きを読む

テーマ:Mac - ジャンル:コンピュータ

Yosemite (public) beta 4 is coming and Garmin BaseCamp 4.4.2?

OK. I'll update my MacBook Pro's OS to the beta 4 as swiftly as possible. It contains that Bash vulnerability bug fix (which actually does not affect me) and other improvements.

On the other hand, I have serious reservations about this Garmin BaseCamp 4.4.2 update. I had a bad feeling about Garmin BaseCamp updates. It is a nightmare. The update 4.3.4 (the current version I have) was a bug fix version of the previous one. I don't know the reasons for the discrepancy between 4.3.4 and 4.4.2. What happened to 4.4.0 or 4.4.1?

They changed the middle digit from 3 to 4. It means that some major-ish feature upgrades have been done. Maybe they (Garmin) have released the 4.4.0 and subsequent 4.4.1 (both of them too buggy?) to the developers or chosen testers and found that they did not deserve a public release at all. Now 4.4.2 is coming to us.

Anyway, the one before 4.3.4 was seriously lousy and gave me a serious headache. Upon starting up this seriously f*cked up version, some attributes given to the waypoints were wiped out. This bug is clearly stated in the bug fix description of the 4.3.4. So I can say I am not hallucinating.

Some people must have tested 4.4.0 and 4.4.1, I hope.

Will I install the update and upgrade to 4.4.2? NO! I wait. I wait at least a week or two. I have too many waypoints to risk.

I have to write here that I love Garmin products. I have been a user for almost 10 years I guess. Don't let me down, Garmin!

In Japanese: 続きをどうぞ [Yosemite (public) beta 4 is coming and Garmin BaseCamp 4.4.2?]の続きを読む

テーマ:Mac - ジャンル:コンピュータ

欧州自転車レース追っかけ日記

欧州在住者が自転車レースを追い掛けてる日記とか

SSDs are getting cheaper and cheaper nowadays.

Are you using Dropbox (or Google Drive)? (Apple iCould?)

Lubuntu 14.10 on MSI MegaBook M670 freezes again (and I don't know...)

Lubuntu 14.10 is ready to go!

Ralink 3070 on MacBook Pro (OS X Yosemite)

MacBook Pro 13 Mid 2010 - Lubuntu 14.10 / Nvidia GPU divers

ExtFS for Mac purchased!

apple_backlight, intel_backlight and nv_backlight

Lubuntu 14.10 on MacBook Pro Mid 2010 - Backlight problem solved

Blueway N9800 (Ralink 3070) is up on OS X Mavericks (10.9.5)

USB Wi-Fi adapter (Ralink 3070) for MacBook Pro

Lubuntu 14.10 beta 2 (and updates) on MacBook Pro Mid 2010

Failure to boot Mac from a USB stick into Ubuntu 14.10 beta 2

Nvidia GO6100 proprietary driver is better than X.org's free software driver?

Mac OS X 10.10 Yosemite (public) beta 6 is out

HP ENVY 4 and its ailing? battery

Lubuntu 14.04 on HP ENVY-14 woes Part II

Andy Schleck has decided to call it quits.

Lubuntu 14.04 on HP ENVY-14 woes

Andy Schleck to retire?

Mac OS X 10.10 Yosemite beta 5 (for me) is out

Second SSD in place (inside MacBook Pro mid-2010)

Tour de France 2015 rumors and 2016 rumors

I remembered that there was a user forum site for Garmin

Yosemite (public) beta 4 and its improvement?

Yosemite (public) beta 4 is coming and Garmin BaseCamp 4.4.2?

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