欧州自転車レース追っかけ日記

I am a resident but not so evil

I am a resident in Luxembourg. I am a Japanese man in Luxembourg (not an Englishmen in New York). This time I was renewing the resident card. Because of the COVID-19 mess, the process has been greatly hampered for almost all the people involved in this business.

As the immigration office (the counters that handle the people) has been working almost exclusively behind the curtain (only those who have an appointment can come in), the process has been slow.

My resident card has been expired a bit while but my application has been now approved and I got a letter from the office. It said that my application had been approved and the next step would be taking a biometrics photo so I would have to make an appointment through their site. I did.

I will go to the office at the bespoken time and will be allowed to enter the office. I don't know how long I would have to wait until I get the actual card but this is only a technical matter.



48 Hours

I am not talking about the movie that starred Nick Nolte and Eddie Murphy. This 48-hour time frame is the time frame given to residents in Luxembourg to stay within Belgium before returning to his or her resident country (Luxembourg) without being forced to a 14-day quarantine.

There was a same measure taken during the lockdown (or its aftermath) in May or June? Because of the recent rise in numbers of people who happened to have some corona virus on the surface of their throat. This does not mean they are "infected" but the media reports don't really tell the truth.

I am driving to Belgium frequently and come back less than 10 or 20 minutes as I work in an area bordering with Belgium and France. People cross the borders without thinking for a moment in Luxembourg.

I am going to drive to a small city in Belgium and drive back within half a day soon. I was asked a friend of mine to do so. This person wants to go there to adopt a dog. I am just a designated driver.

In Japanese: 続きをどうぞ [The Resident Card Renewal]の続きを読む

テーマ:猫のいる生活 - ジャンル:ペット

1. 2020/09/26(土) 15:53:11|
2. Info Luxembourg
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HP Compaq Presario CQ56-200EB

It turned out to be a good deal (a steal, figuratively of course) because I got it for free. Even though it did not come with the power adapter, I happened to have a compatible one with me.

The configuration was also good. It had 4 GB of RAM, 320 GB of HDD and V160 (2.4 GHz).

Everything worked out of the box with Ubuntu 20.04 family distribution (Wifi and others).

I was so happy that I decided to invest in it modestly.

1. Memory modules: Up to 8GB, temporarily? as they were meant for ones bought a Mac mini 2007 or 2009 upgrade

2. CPU: AMD Athlon II N370 (Dual Core 2.5 GHz) - Done! A used one arriving from China soon, hopefully.

3. Keyboard: US Layout - Done! arriving from China soon, hopefully.

4. Main Battery: a non-genuine 12 cell extended?

5. Backup Battery: CR2023?

Basically or in other words, I am making it match one of my laptops (notebooks), MacBook Late 2009 (13-inch) which features Intel Core 2 Duo (2.1 GHz? or 2 GHz?).

In Japanese: 続きをどうぞ [HP Compaq Presario CQ56-200EB 8 GB]の続きを読む

テーマ:猫のいる生活 - ジャンル:ペット

1. 2020/09/24(木) 14:24:35|
2. Diary
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Now back in business?

I had not booted into Haiku OS for at least a couple of days until Today. Today (European Central time, morning of September 22nd, 2020) I booted into Haiku OS and tried to update it.

Oh! My! There were a lot to update (13 packages) and there were 4 new packages to install. Noticeable one were those related to "GStream" something. There were some QT related updates, too.

I had a good feeling about these updates and new packages. It had been a long while since the Haiku Otter-Browser ceased to play back YouTube videos. It worked fine until some point of time and then stopped to play back anymore.

When I saw the updates and new files to install that were related to "streaming", naturally I thought that I might have the proper functions again.

After downloading, installing and rebooting, I hurriedly started the Otter-Browswer and visited YouTube site. For some reasons Webpositive won't recognize any of HTML5 videos, a.k.a. YouTube videos.

Viola! Look and behold! Now I could watch the videos "AGAIN".

My patience payed off. Thank you those who diligently worked on the codes and updated the packages!

Now I am happy with Haiku OS. I would use it more.

Now I am waiting to see Haiku OS run on the HP Compaq Presario CQ56 soon.

This (being able to watch YouTube videos on Haiku OS) makes me use less time on Xubuntu.

I am writing this part (ending part) on Haiku OS using the Otter-Browser.

In Japanese: 続きをどうぞ [A lot of updates and Haiku OS plays YouTube videos!]の続きを読む

テーマ:コンピュータ - ジャンル:コンピュータ

1. 2020/09/22(火) 14:24:56|
2. HAIKU OS
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October, 2020

This October I will have my Mazda MX-5 finally repaired.

November, 2020

I will be riding my bike more often than now.

I will be disassembling my CQ56 and giving it a fresh start.

December, 2020

I don't know what I will be doing in December but I will be busy working.


HP Compaq Presario CQ56-200EB

I finally got the long model name of my beast. I don't know what those two alphabets (E and B) signify nor do I know what 200 means. They must mean how this machine was configured and left the factory. They must carry some or all the specifications (AMD V160, Atheros WLAN chip, 320 GB HDD, 4 GB RAM or something). I don't think those letters and numbers have anything to do with its originally installed OS (WIN 7) as shown in the BIOS screen or its language version (Dutch).

Later I searched for "CQ56 200EB" on the net and I started doubting if EB meant anything. 200 could refer to AMD V series CPUs but EB could be just some code meaning French (Belgian French?) keyboard. Anyway, it does not matter.

I am waiting for the delivery (from China) of its US-layout keyboard and AMD Athlon II N370 CPU. They will arrive in a month or so. While I am waiting for them, I will have to buy some other stuff from Amazon Germany or elsewhere.

I have some items on my shopping list. Thermal paste or metal liquid thermal paste for example. I may need a thermal conductive pad or some thermal conductive glue that I need for the gap between the north bridge chip and the heat sink.

I don't know if I am buying a battery package for it. I will definitely need a CR2320 (correct?). I don't want to disassemble the CQ56 too many times. There are many tiny screws to undo and tighten, small connectors to detach and reattach and tiny tight plastic latches to unhinge and re-hinge.

In Japanese: 続きをどうぞ [September, and there will be Octover!]の続きを読む

テーマ:猫のいる生活 - ジャンル:ペット

1. 2020/09/20(日) 17:24:32|
2. Diary
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Hannah

She threw up (or vomited) a bit this afternoon. It was nothing serious, I guess. In her vomit I recognized a chewed leaf. She was OK as soon as she finished vomiting.


HP Compaq CQ56

On its seemingly French keyboard (that I have on mine) there are some keys on the left side of the keyboard outside left shift key or tab key.. They have icons on them like a globe, a calculator, an envelope, a printer or so.

I did not know if they would work from Linux (in my case a Ubuntu family). I knew that they would definitely work under Windows 7 (and most likely later).
They did. When I press the globe key, the default web browser (FireFox) starts up. When I press the calculator key, a calculator program goes up. Nice.

Other keys like those function keys with icons (pictographs) also work. Screen brightness, monitor preferences, volume up/down/mute and others. Nice.

Except for the raging heat blowing off the CPU heat pipe radiator (and the French keyboard), this machine is just fine.


First ebay purchase in a great while

I ordered an AMD Athlon II N370 (used) and a (new? used?) US layout keyboard for the HP Compaq Presario CQ56. They were cheap. I would like to have this dual core CPU. It is supposed to be still hotter than the current V160 (single core).

In Japanese: 続きをどうぞ [Hannah threw up a bit]の続きを読む

テーマ:ノートPC - ジャンル:コンピュータ

1. 2020/09/14(月) 16:23:17|
2. Cats
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So is it possible?

HP's own PDF manual seems to own readers an apology or not?

The manual states that all CQ56 (Intel or AMD processor) models are capable of handling up to 8 GB of RAM. There's a caveat. The Intel models are not capable of recognizing 8 GB of RAM because of the c hipset's (Intel's chipset) design.

What a heartbreaker!

OK, mine (free giveaway in late 2020 after 9 years since its production from a colleague of mine whose daughters had shared it when they were smaller) is an AMD processor model. So will it use 8 GB of RAM? I was just curious. It came with 4 GB of RAM (2 times 2 GB modules), which seemed enough for most of the task it should handle.

I found out that I had compatible memory modules (two sets of 4 GB) that I had purchased for my Mac mini Late 2009 and neglected.

So I swapped them and booted the beast. The BIOS recognized it and the system (Xubuntu 20.04) also conferred. It has no issues with 8 GB of memory at all.

I may enjoy the luxury of having 8 GB of memory while it lasts, that is until when I decide to put the modules in my Mac mini Late 2009.

Having 8 GB of memory does not seem to impact the performance of this beast. It already had 4 GB, which seemed enough already.

If I want to see perceivable performance difference, I will have to put an SSD in it. I may see a bump of performance improvement when I swap the CPU to AMD Athlon II (N370, dual core and 2.5 GHz).

The current V160 (single core and 2.4 GHz) seems to be capable of handling the tasks that I want to perform on this beast. Writing this kind of nonsense while watching movies or watching YouTube videos.

In Japanese: 続きをどうぞ [HP Compaq Presario CQ56 (AMD V160) 8 GB of RAM?]の続きを読む

テーマ:ノートPC - ジャンル:コンピュータ

1. 2020/09/13(日) 20:53:08|
2. PCs
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CPU-X utility

It is a neat utility software available for Linux. This is the screenshot clip from my desktop PC. The room temperature is around 20 degrees Celsius.



I took the shot while playing a YouTube file on FireFox so the CPU temperature was around 45 degrees Celsius (it went up and down a bit). There are 4 cores in this CPU and the clock multiplier was down from its maximum number. In other words, The CPU was relaxing.

On my HP Compaq CQ56, this CPU-X was showing 65 degrees Celsius when the laptop was idling (doing nothing). This is a bit alarming. The dried old thermal paste must be functioning as a insulator of heat transfer instead of its intended heat transfer agent. It is imperative that I replace it with a fresh paste.

How would it go? Would the temperature go down?

How about using liquid metal paste (like Thermal Grizzly Conductonaut Thermal Paste)?

I was going to delid Q9500 and apply this thermal paste under the IHS (integrated heat spreader) (between IHS and the core die).

The V160 or N370 does not have an IHS. The core die is just exposed. The heat sink (leading to the heat pipe) absorbs the heat directly from the die.

A liquid metal thermal paste claims better heat transfer.

In Japanese: 続きをどうぞ [What is a Lightweight Linux distribution?]の続きを読む

テーマ:Linux - ジャンル:コンピュータ

1. 2020/09/10(木) 16:02:14|
2. Linux
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MX Linux?

How is it? Is it any good?

It is a Debian-based distribution featuring Xfce desktop in brief. OK.

I like Debian and I like Xfce, too. It is based on stable Debian release. This means that it is very stable and secure (maybe).

It is gaining popularity if popularity among Linux distributions really matter. The striking majority of desktop (not server) share is taken by Windows and macOS anyway.

https://mxlinux.org

I will keep my eyes on it.


It is time to disassemble and renew the thermal paste on my HP Compaq CQ56

I got it free from the original user (the one who purchased it) and I know that he has never changed the thermal paste on the CPU. I don't think he knows anything about thermal paste or others concerning PCs.

I really want to make a fresh batch of thermal paste to make the heat transfer better.


VIOFO WR1 firmware update

First of all, use of a driving recorder in Luxembourg is basically illegal! You have to be very careful in some of the countries. You may run into a trouble with the local police.

Anyway, I successfully updated the firmware to the latest version (1.8) Today. I tried it on my Linux (Ubuntu Studio 20.04 over Kubuntu) unsuccessfully for so many times.

I was wondering why but I just did it on an old Windows 7 PC (at work) and it worked at the first try. Now it is updated. I wonder why this happened but all I did was exactly what I had done so many times on the Linux box. Why? It is not fair.

In Japanese: 続きをどうぞ [MX Linux, how is it?]の続きを読む

テーマ:Linux - ジャンル:コンピュータ

1. 2020/09/09(水) 16:04:27|
2. Linux
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How about FreeBSD? Why not Adélie? Kali Linux?

Kali is not totally bad. In fact I installed it on my MacBook Late 2009 for a while and used it for a while. That was around 2014 or so. . . . so I thought.

Although I don't intend to snoop around or break into other people's network, having the tools for something cool like hacking.

I installed Kali and then realized that I didn't have any means to install additional software programs that are soft (not related to network penetration testing). I was wrong to think that I could handle Kali Linux.

So I installed Xubuntu 20.04. After tinkering with Xubuntu for a while it dawned on me much much belatedly that I had been here already when I was trying to get mozc with iBus to work so that I could write in Japanese. IBus exited when I closed its settings panel.

Wait a second! Xubuntu 20.04 is the default base for Ubuntu Studio 20.04 and when I first installed it on my HP Pro 3120, I ran into the same problem. I decided to give Kubuntu a shot and after seeing mozc work, I installed Ubuntu Studio over it.

I installed Lubuntu again and set up mozc with iBus. It worked but the sticky pull-down menu persisted.

im-config must be the key to the plight I am experiencing! On Lubuntu or Kubuntu, im-config, input method configuration utility, reside just next to iBus configuration utility in the application menu, whereas on Xubuntu I don't see it.

So all I have to do is to call im-config on Xubuntu and I will be able to get.ozc to work.

I liked Xubuntu look. The sticky iBus pull-down menu annoyance repels me.

I tried Haiku on it but the booting process was interrupted and some weird debug screen appeared.

So I am installing Xubuntu 20.04 again to see if I could successfully get mozc (Japanese Input Method) to work on it.

I keep my fingers crossed.

After installing Xubuntu (for the second time), I installed Synaptic (as the default "Software" program does not give me the option to install "mozc") and then installed mozc.

I did not find im-config in one of the pull-down menus so I called it on the "search window" and run it. I have to edit ".bashrc" on my home directory to make it work (running the ibus daemon).

Now the iBus (or ibus) daemon runs automatically and I can comfortably write in Japanese. Success!

In Japanese: 続きをどうぞ [Lubuntu 20.04 or something else? on HP Compaq CQ56 (AMD V160)]の続きを読む

テーマ:Linux - ジャンル:コンピュータ

1. 2020/09/08(火) 16:02:43|
2. Linux
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Lithium ion 18650 cells or ...

I was looking for HP Compaq laptop battery replacement. MU06 seems to be the part number of the genuine part. This battery is used across a wide line of HP and Compaq laptops so they are abundant.

Amazon Germany (a lot of sellers are based in China) has a lot of them. The last time I found 9-cell packages there. Today I found 12-cell packages.

Some 18650 cells are superior to others. Panasonic is known to produce high quality Lithium ion cells. So there are battery packages with only 4 cells inside but having bigger capacity than others. These are more expensive, of course.

So which one should I buy? Or should I buy 18650 cells to self-repack the dead original battery?

The prices of them made me convince that I should buy a new battery with either 9 or 12 cells inside.

I am very sorry that I can not buy them now as I am not in a financial crisis.


Lubuntu 20.10 or Adélie Linux

Coming in October! I forgot to make a swap partition on the HDD when I installed Lubuntu 20.04 on my HP Compaq CQ56. Does this mean I can not put it to sleep (hibernate)? I need to make a swap partition of size around 8 GB according to the suggested documents I found on the Net. It has real physical memory of 4 GB.

I was tempted to install Adélie Linux on it but it takes a bit of work to install it. There is no easy-to-use graphical user interface installer with Adélie Linux. I don't know if Adélie Linux has LibreOffice available. I don't intend to use other applications but it would be nice to have LibreOffice.


In Japanese: 続きをどうぞ [Buy 18650 cells to repack or buy a new one]の続きを読む

テーマ:ノートPC - ジャンル:コンピュータ

1. 2020/09/04(金) 16:11:09|
2. PCs
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Tour de France 2020

It is underway. This year I could not take a long vacation to follow and watch all the stages on site but I want to go see about three stages held near or in Alsace area. I will try to get it realize.

HP Compaq CQ56

Note to myself: The WLAN chip is Atheros AR9285 802.1 b/g/.

There's a augmented version of battery package for my newly acquired used old laptop. They are not genuine parts but third party parts. A genuine battery package has 6 lithium ion cells but this augmented one has 9 of them. It is bulky and raises the chassis but it means that it helps the airflow under the chassis, a critical thing for my hairdryer laptop. Not too expensive.




Mazda Connect Navigation Map subscription

The initial subscription has been expired. I was prompted to pay to extend the subscription but have decided not to pay this time.

First of all, I don't have money to do so. Secondly, my main navigation device is Garmin Camper 660 and I don't really need the navigation system on my MX-5, anyway.

Mazda MX-5 body repair

My MX-5 will be repaired in October. Until then my poor Mazda is in a shabby shape.

In Japanese: 続きをどうぞ [HP Compaq CQ56, Mazda Connect Navi Map and others]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

1. 2020/09/03(木) 16:19:20|
2. Bike Races
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HP Compaq Presario CQ56

So it is now running on Lubuntu 20.04. Apart from the default apps, I installed mozc related software to make it possible to write in Japanese. It was an easy process and I can now use Japanese. The mozc resides in the task bar on top of iBus icon. It behaves a tad strangely, though. I cannot say if it (the strange behavior) is caused by the hardware (my HP COMPAQ CQ56) or by the software conflict or something. The annoyance is that the mozc / iBus pull-down (or pull-up) menu gets stuck there and it is hard to get rid of it by clicking the buttons (of the mouse or touchpad). It's a minor annoyance but still it's annoying.

Otherwise it works like a charm so far. The fact that the battery is completely dead and holds zero charge means that it can only be used as a desktop computer as opposed to as a mobile computer. It would be nice to have a working battery.

I don't know the cause for the after-rebooting issue. This issue is a bit frustrating. When I reboot it, the machine won't boot correctly; it gets hung after the splash screen (a COMPAQ logo on a orange background).

A message appears on the left down corner of the screen after a short while during the restarting. A message something like "Press ESC key for the boot menu". When I press ESC key or other valid function keys (F10 for BIOS, F11 for boot menu, F1 for system info and so on), the message changes but no further development. It gets hung there. It won't boot either. To remedy this, I have to unplug the power adapter.

This has something to do with the dead battery as when I remove the battery and do the same thing above, everything works as it should.

A used AMD N370 processor will cost me around 10 Euro. Typically a Chinese seller is offering them. Their stock seems to be running out so if I want it, I should order it soon rather than later.

An N370 processor is rated like this; 2.5 GHz, two cores, bigger cache than V160 but also bigger TDP by 40 % (35/25). The heatsink / fan on it should work OK with the N370 as the N370 is officially offered by HP Compaq.


In Japanese: 続きをどうぞ [HP Compaq Presario CQ56 AMD V160 (2.4 GHz) Notebook PC]の続きを読む

テーマ:ノートPC - ジャンル:コンピュータ

1. 2020/09/02(水) 15:28:12|
2. Linux
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Battery change

Three years. It was May that I saw the weakening (deterioration) of the battery so it did not last three years after the purchase of the car. The battery had been made prior to the date of my purchase and before my MX-5 was shipped for European distribution so the battery must have been older than 3 years. That soon?

I bought a inexpensive one at a local automobile parts shop. It seems to offer some guarantee period. The person who gave me the battery hammered in some numbers (signifying the purchase date?) on the head of one of the terminals.

After swapping, I will come back there with the old battery for some return money.

Bob Jungels to AG2R Citroën 2021 (and 2022)

It had been some time in the air that he would leave the current team. Now it is officially announced that he would ride for AG2R-Citro&etrema;n in 2021 and 2022.

In Japanese: 続きをどうぞ [Battery swap, Bob Jungels, Resident (Permit) and others]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

1. 2020/09/01(火) 16:21:24|
2. Mazda MX-5
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HP Compaq Presario CQ56

A laptop (not a notebook as it is bulky) from ancient times (around 2010?).

A few days ago, one of the colleagues gave me this old laptop free of charge. His daughters shared it for years until they abandoned it. It was missing the power adapter but I happened to have a compatible one.

I collected some information knowing that HP or Compaq has an excellent support pages. The model number CQ56 only suggests a certain chassis type. You don't know what is inside. An AMD processor or Intel one could be there.

I got my compatible power adapter and tried it on. It booted with the charger plugged in to the Windows 7 desktop to my surprise. Its keyboard was something similar to a French one (so-called AZERTY layout). The OS turned out to be a Dutch version. It could have been sold in Belgium, maybe where French and Dutch are spoken.

(A German keyboard is called QWERTZ layout and US keyboard would be QWERTY in this respect)

I could not find out the CPU type or any other useful information out of it with the Dutch Windows interface.

Alright, I was going to replace it with Linux anyway.

I downloaded the PDF manuals for it to see the key combinations for entering the BIOS settings or something.

The battery was completely dead, absolutely no sign of charging.

I also looked for possible upgrade paths on the internet and found some hotter CPU replacement for a reasonably low prices but does it worth the cost?

I had a Kubuntu 20.04 DVD+RW disc nearby so I used it to see if it boots although I knew I was going to install Lubuntu 20.04 later after downloading it.

Using the key combinations for tinkering this old laptop turned out to be tricky as the batteries, the main and tiny coin shape one (if there's one) were completely drained and dead.

I have to unplug the power adapter to make it behave as it should (show the BIOS screen or boot option menu), otherwise the laptop got stuck (or seemingly hung).

I had the Kubuntu DVD boot on it successfully and wiped out the entire HDD content, the data and partions alike. I installed Kubuntu on it first.

By then I was in doubt that the CPU upgrade was worth it. The BIOS screen told me that it had AMD Athlon II V160, a single core lower-end version with the rated TDP 25 Watts. The air vent for the CPU heatsink was blowing hot air and the fan showed no sign of spinning down. Putting a dual core N370 (TDP 35) seemed an impossible feat.

It has 4 GB of RAM (nice!) and 320 GB of HDD.

I will surgically open up the chassis and see if applying fresh thermal paste would do any good but I honestly doubt it. The service manual showed a frimsy heatsink on the CPU and made me disappointed.

Later I installed Lubuntu 20.04 on it. When it sits idle, the CPU and memory usage seems quite low.

The wireless network worked. I don't think it has WiFi Bluetooth combination network card inside.

The main battery? Should I get a new one? Or should I repack it myself?

Lubuntu should work well on it as it is one of the lightweight Linux distribution s known.


In Japanese: 続きをどうぞ [HP Compaq Presario CQ56]の続きを読む

テーマ:ノートPC - ジャンル:コンピュータ

1. 2020/09/01(火) 14:24:13|
2. Linux
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