Ubuntu on the Eee PC 904HA

After creating my first bootable USB thumb drive for installing Ubuntu with an easy to use tool called UNetBootin, with the Ubuntu 8.04 Alternate CD, and finding that it wouldn’t work because the installed couldn’t find the network interface, I used UNetBootin to download and create a USB stick of Ubuntu 8.10 Live, and it installed perfectly. The live version did find the Atheros network interface, and I could proceed with the install.

Installation

The Ubuntu install went without issue other than the problems with Network interfaces as described. It took about 10 minutes from the USB stick I was using.

What Worked, What didn’t work-

Most things worked with 8.10, including the Graphics, Ethernet Interface, USB, Webcam, and Multi-Touch touchpad features. The wireless card- Atheros AR5007EG, worked after following a few guides, easily  found on the internet. Sound works from the speakers, but doesn’t work with headphones.

Sound Issues

On the Eee PC 904HA, the speakers work fine in Ubuntu. Headphones produce a loud static noise, while you can’t hear what you are supposed to be listening to. I have searched for the problem on Ubuntu Forums and across the web for this problem with the 82801G (Intel ICH7 Family) sound interface, to no avail. If anyone in the audience can shine some light on this issue, please comment.

Overall

Installing Ubuntu on the Eee PC 904HA was surprisingly easy. It also took a very low amount of time to start and complete the install. I am very happy with the support for the hardware in this laptop, as I know that laptop hardware isn’t always supported. As I said, if anyone can shine light on the issue with sound, please comment.

Gadget Review- ASUS Eee PC 904HA

As ASUS releases more and more Eee PC’s, the model names get more and more confusing. This particular model, the 904HA, has a 8.9” screen, but almost everything else is the same as the 1000HA. It features the Intel Atom processor, 1GB of RAM, 160GB of hard drive space, an 8.9” screen, and a great keyboard. It also features a 1.3 MP webcam and has a multi-touch track pad. I really like this machine. The keyboard is absolutely excellent (Other than the right shift key) for a netbook with small size like this. The device is smaller than a standard letter size paper. It comes with Windows XP preloaded onto the Hard Drive.

Preloaded Software

The 904HA comes with Windows XP, and the software preloaded onto the XP install is a mixture of things. It includes Adobe Reader 8, Intervideo WinDVD, Windows Live Suite, and Microsoft Works. It also comes with ASUS’s “Super Hybrid Engine”, the key behind the device’s excellent battery life (Up to 7 hours when Wireless is off, the Camera is off, the device is in Power Saving Mode, and the screen is turned to the lowest brightness.)

Hardware

The 904HA comes with the Intel Atom N270, clocked at 1.6GHz. It also includes 1GB memory, a Seagate 160GB 2.5” Hard Drive, Atheros Wireless and Wired Network interfaces, 3 USB ports, standard Line In and Line out audio jacks, an SD card Reader, and the Intel GMA 950 from the 945 chipset. It allows for multiple monitors in Extend and Clone Modes, It can also do CRT only (External Monitor Only) and LCD only (the 8.9” screen). The input devices are PS/2 and the Webcam is USB. The machine is surprisingly quick for my use. Unfortunately, the ElanTECH touchpad had an issue with Two Finger Scrolling in Firefox, but that was easily fixed by installing the newest driver from the ElanTECH website. Most of the hardware is great, and this laptop has an excellent build quality.

Looks

The Eee 904HA looks great to me, the smooth Matte surface on the inside is good, as it doesn’t catch any fingerprints as the glossy screen cover does. ASUS includes a sleeve, and a cleaning cloth. The bezel isn’t a deal breaker for me, and I actually like it. The large bezel is from the 8.9” screen on the 10” screen frame. Other than that, this laptop is very simple in design, and doesn’t stand out too badly, other than the fact that it is a “little laptop.”

Why I Chose This Model

I chose this model because I wanted a cheap and small typing machine. I wanted it to be light and simple. I also wanted it to be upgradable. I didn’t see the benefits from the 10” screen that was at the same resolution from the 8.9” screen on the model that was at least $50 cheaper.

Overall

I really like this gadget. I have to give it a 4/5 because of the strange software selection. Soon I will be trying to install Ubuntu 8.10 on it, and I will keep you updated on that.

Fedora 10: LiveCD install

     I've had an all-around good experience with Fedora. It never stumped me out of my mind, and gave me enough options so that I was satisfied. I have used CentOS, Fedora Core 6, and Fedora 8, 9, and 10.

Fedora 10: Live CD Install
     Fedora's primary download media has gone from Installable DVD, to Installable Live CD. There are a couple benefits to this-

• Image takes less time to download. Whoever thought that going from a 4.7GB (Maximum) medium to a 700MB (Maximum) medium would improve that!
• Smaller size on your hard drive when it is waiting to be burned.
• Can be read by computers with a CD-Only drive.
• Doesn't need a DVD+R drive to burn.

There are also a few downsides-

• Less Software, A lot less software.
• Slower to boot (Live CD's have been this way for a while.)

     While going to a LiveCD primarily can be good, I found this release of Fedora with the LiveCD to have much less software.
Graphical Interface

      Fedora 10 comes with GNOME version 2.24.1. It also comes with some beautiful new desktop artwork. Nothing else that is special here, but I find the Graphical User interface quite nice. The experience is overall fast and nice to work with.
Installation/Updates
     I was lucky, I was able to download the image within a week of release. I had about 40 updates that all downloaded within 30 minutes. Installation took about 25 minutes (With 512 MB of memory). The installer (I assume it is still anaconda) was very easy to navigate. Once out of the live CD interface, Fedora 10 was fast and ready to be used.
Software
     I was suprised by some of the software that was installed/not installed. With the LiveCD medium, you can only fit a limited number of things that the DVD would otherwise have. I found that instead of the entire OpenOffice Suite, only Abiword was installed. Under Graphics, only GIMP and gThumb were installed. Things like iok were installed. I found Intresting the changes that were made with software, but most things that you can't find installed directly after installation can be found and installed from the repositories.
Conclusion
     Fedora 10 is easy to install, update, and use. Although the software from the LiveCD is a little less than you can get off of a DVD is less, there is probably enough to satisfy a normal PC user.
     Fedora 10 pros-

• Less of a download size than the previous DVD
• Easy to use
• Easy to install and update
• Does most of what it needs to do on it's own, not much human interaction is required other than pressing a few buttons.
• Works inside Virtualbox (Yes, I have decided to stick with SUSE and virtualize).
• Great User Interface

and Cons-

• Fedora 10 has a little less software than I would prefer.
• LiveCD boot-up is slow (Like always, Not Fedora's fault.)

     Through everything, I believe Fedora 10 deserves a 4.5/5.  It is easy to use, and fast. It may not be the distribution of choice for the newest user, but if they have a decent understanding of Windows/Other PC operating System, I think they would be fine with this.

Happy Birthday Blog! How About a quick look at Ubuntu 8.10?

Today Marks this blog's first birthday. I started blogging a year ago, on November 12th, 2007. Since then my writings have improved, and my viewers have left insight on how to improve things. I thank you for that, and I hope more insight will come, so that I can improve by even greater amounts. I also hope to provide you with more information, and interesting links. On November 5th, 2008, I opened the Everyth1ng blog, be sure to check that out ( http://everyth1ng.blogspot.com ). Now how would a quick look at Ubuntu 8.10 be?

Ubuntu 8.10
I think I have had enough Ubuntu. I find that with each release the startup gets slower and the interface clunkier. The new "Theme" isn't exactly all that either. I do not think that I am expecting too much, but promised features that the Canonical teams seem to be put off until the last minute, which is not something you want to do with something as big as a piece of software, let alone an Operating system.

Installation
I can't say much about installation this time, as I opted to upgrade right from Ubuntu 8.04 LTS. The update process was smooth, and took about 2.5 hrs (Not Ubuntu's Fault). It was smooth on first boot up, but it seems alot slower than 8.04 was. It also seems much slower from the login to desktop (In either XFCE, or GNOME).

Theming/ User Interface

Although  theming isn't important in my mind, Ubuntu teams had promised a big theme change for 8.10. Other than the small change in colors and new desktop art, there isn't much to be found here. Where is it Ubuntu? I can't find it! Other words for the User Interface, it is still GNOME and Ubuntu-y

Conclusions
I liked the previous releases of Ubuntu. 8.10 doesn't really introduce anything special, at least that I can see. In fact, I almost think that the release quality of the releases is degrading. I do not know if it is just me expecting more, but I really do think it is getting lower each release. What do you think? Any Die-Hard Ubuntuers out there that have been with it since the first release? Please give me insight as to this. Maybe I'm going insane. I give this release of Ubuntu a 3/5. Promised features seem to be getting put on the back burner. In fact, the "new" theme we have was promised for 8.04. It may be the newest kernel technology, and some other nice features, but they aren't nessecarily what new users will see.

Overall score: 3/5


 Disclaimer: Open_N0DE is not going to listen to any comments that involve my reviewing strategy, unless you tell me HOW to IMPROVE it. I review from a new user's perspective, and I look at distributions that look easy to use for the new user. I believe that I have a small amount of experience in Linux, and I run a webserver for testing the PHP pages that I am learning how to code. I also know a little of the Command line, and YUM and APT-GET tools. Unfortunately I do not know around in some things, and I apoligize for that.

Wiki's

From Wikipedia-
"A wiki is a page or collection of Web pages designed to enable anyone who accesses it to contribute or modify content, using a simplified markup language"

A wiki is a powerful collaboration tool used by many. In fact, Wikipedia, the well known encyclopedia is a Wiki. Wikipedia is also based off of the open source MediaWiki. I am running Ubuntu Linux with Apache, PHP, MySQL, and Webmin. I decided to take a look at it. Although Installing it is an easy procedure, I thought I would make a small tutorial on the basics. Here it is-



I will be making more tutorials, and If anyone would like to suggest a topic, I am open to suggestions. Have fun wikiing!