Over the last few years, I've generally found that my interest in a specific video game rarely lasts longer than the amount of gameplay that is made available through the free demo. The upside of this is that now I don't pay for games that I end up playing only a couple times. I have not yet extended this discipline to books, so I still buy many books that I don't read or only read a chapter or two from.
Although I was tempted to immediately buy UT2004 (I loved the UT2003 demo, but lost interest before deciding I needed the whole game), I decided to once again give the demo a try. I got the UT2003 demo to work on XP, but not on Red Hat 8.
After downloading the Linux version of the UT2004 demo through one of the mirror sites and installing it [uncompress the bz2 file, su to root, and run sh ./ ut2004-lnx-demo-3120.run], I got the following error when it tried to start:
Couldn't set video mode: Couldn't find matching GLX visual
Based on the info I found from googling for that phrase, it was pretty obvious the problem was with the NVIDIA drivers. I had not yet updated the drivers that came with Fedora Core 1. I used yum and the rpm.livna.org repository to install a kernel built with the newest version of the NVIDIA drivers. After a quick reboot, I was hard at work fragging aliens. And as an extra bonus, Tux Racer was finally playable.
Update 4/25/04 - In case you are a Fedora Linux user and need more help getting this to work, here are a little more detailed instructions:
- Add the following section to /etc/yum.conf (I normally leave gpgcheck set to 1, but I have sometimes had to turn off digital signature checking specifically to download Livna's kernel module for the Nvidia drivers)
############### ## Livna.org ## ############### [livna-stable] name=Livna.org - Fedora Compatible Packages (stable) baseurl=http://rpm.livna.org/fedora/$releasever/$basearch/yum/stable gpgcheck=0
FYI, $uname -r returns the release identifier for the kernel you are using. Also, you can use $yum info kernel-module-nvidia* to see all the modules (e.g., kernel-module-nvidia-2.4.22-1.2188.nptl) that are available. If you have a single processor machine, you need one that ends in nptl. If you have a multi-processor box, you want nptlsmp. NPTL = native POSIX thread library and SMP = symmetric multi-processing
In a previous post, I described how I found xinf to be a better music player and library for Linux than Rhythmbox, a.k.a., Music Player. Rhythmbox was included on my Fedora install CDs, so I thought I would give it another chance. The short summary is that it is now my primary music player and library, though I will probably also install xinf.
CPU usage, whether due to a newer version of Rhythmbox or due to upgrading to Fedora, now never exceeds 3%, and is usually much lower. Also, Rhythmbox starts very quickly and I've experienced no audio dropouts.
The biggest problem I had before with Rhythmbox was that I could not play back my 192 kbps MP3s. I'm pretty sure it would play 128 kbps MP3s, but maybe I was mistaken. Unfortunately, the error message was too cryptic for me to easily figure out what was wrong. In the current version of Rhythmbox, the error message told me what I needed to know.
Failed to create mad element; check your installation
I needed the mad plugin for GStreamer. Mad is an MPEG audio decoder. If you are using yum as your package manager, the plugin is easy to find. First, make sure you have added rpm.livna.org as a repository. Then, as root, run:
#yum install gstreamer-plugins-mp3
If you want to see what else is available for GStreamer, try:
#yum info gstreamer*
The only major negative I have run into with Rhythmbox is playlist support. For some reason, I can't drag artists or albums to a playlist. It only works with individual songs. The documentation suggests this should work, but there are a couple other places (e.g., an Organize menu) where the documentation doesn't match up.
One great sign for the future of Rhythmbox is that lots of new development work is ongoing and there are a lot of contributors.
When I first read at work about the free Zultys IP Soft phone for Linux (in Internet Telephony?), I decided I needed to check it out. Then when I saw another mention of it in Voxilla's RSS feed while I was sitting at my Linux box tonight, I decided it was time to give it a try. If I can get a SIP-based soft phone running on Linux, I will be a lot less interested in trying to figure out how to get Skype running on Linux.
After filling out a very brief identification form, I downloaded the rpm file for their softphone. They currently claim to support RedHat 7.1, RedHat 8.0, and RedHat 9.0.
Files were installed to /usr/local/zultys, with a symbolic link in /usr/local/bin/softphone pointing to /usr/local/zultys/softphone. When I tried to start it from the command line with "softphone", though, all I got was a segmentation fault. Runing it as root gave the same results.
$ starting...
/usr/local/bin/softphone: line 44: 17685 Segmentation fault
./KylixPhone 2>/dev/null
Interesting to see that they used Borland's Kylix development tool to build it.
Although I'm pleased that they have a LIPZ4 discussion board there aren't many posts there, and no one else was reporting the same problem. I'll bang my head against it for a while longer before seeking help there, to make sure I haven't missed something obvious.
Ever since I got the Treo 600, I've been neglecting my Sony Clie T615C, a very nice PDA that runs Palm OS 4.1. A few months ago, I spent way too many hours trying to figure out how to sync the Clie to Evolution on Red Hat 9 Linux. I updated to new versions of Evolution and the gnome-pilot software and I followed instructions on other people's website, but no joy was to be had. So, the Clie has been sitting dormant in its cradle for many weeks.
Yesterday I was reading through the January 2004 Red Hat newsletter and saw a section on tips for Open Office. That led me to a tip by Richard Keech on getting a colored shell prompt, which led to his homepage, which finally led to his instructions for getting his Palm device working with Red Hat Linux over USB.
Finally, the promised land. His instructions saved the day. Specifically:
#cd /dev #ln -s ttyUSB1 pilot #chmod 600 ttyUSB1 #chown <username>.uucp ttyUSB1
After doing the above, I was able to use Pilot Settings... in the Tools menu of Evolution to set up my Clie to sync with Evolution 1.45. Stuff like this has got to get easier before Linux can really start making inroads against Windows as a desktop OS.
I set up a NetGear WGR614 wireless router (802.11 b and g) on my home network yesterday. So far, things have gone very smoothly. The biggest problem was reacquiring valid IP addresses on the Mac, Linux, and Windows boxes. I previously used a Linksys BEFSR41 as a router and a DHCP server. It uses a 192.168.1.x subnet, while the NetGear router uses a 192.168.0.x subnet. Therefore, when I switched out the routers, I had to force all my computers to release their previous IP addresses and request new ones.
In hindsight, I now wonder why I wasted so much time and money on Linksys gear before. When all I had was the Linksys BEFSR41, a Power Mac G3 desktop, and an IBM ThinkPad T23, everything was fine. Then I added a Dell Dimension PC running Windows XP. If the Dell and the Mac were connected to the Linksys router (not necessarily even turned on; just connected by Ethernet cables), then in anywhere from a few seconds to about thirty minutes, the Linksys router would lockup. Even after powering it off and back on, it might take 20-30 minutes before the router would respond. I could use the ThinkPad and the Mac together with no problem. I could use the Dell and the ThinkPad together with no problem. But, if the Dell and the Mac were connected at the same time, the Linksys router would try to commit suicide.
I sent email to Linksys customer support describing the problem in great detail. No response. I tried again. no response. I guess that's their strategy for saving money on customer support.
Despite this painful experience, I bought a Linksys WAP11 access point. When used with the ThinkPad, it worked great. Then, we bought a Powerbook G4. After hours and hours of tweaking the network configuration for the PowerBook, I finally got it to connect to the WAP11.
But, the signal strength sucked. Our house isn't very big, but I couldn't even sit in the living room (about 40 feet, albeit through lath and plaster walls) from the WAP11. Sure, the titanium cased Powerbook is known for poor wireless range, but this was ridiculous. Even worse, the WAP11 would randomly lock up after anywhere from a few minutes to a few days after using the Powerbook. Fixing it required unplugging and replugging the power cable for the WAP11.
Then I read about the Linksys Wireless Signal Booster. Despite my nightmarish experiences so far with Linksys networking gear, I foolishly bought the Linksys WSB24. Of the three pieces of Linksys gear, this one was actually the most reliable. That is, it didn't crash several times per week. However, it added only about 15 feet to the distance I could wirelessly roam from the WAP11. That additional distance was definitely not worth the $80 I paid for it.
The NetGear WGR614 is an absolute dream compared to my pile of Linksys junk. Not only is it far more reliable, but the signal strength is as good or better than the combo of the WAP11 and the signal booster. Also, web browsing with the Powerbook is 2-3 times faster. I always wondered why the PowerBook was so slow when connected wirelessly instead of wired. I thought it was a problem with the Airport card. No, as I should have known all along, it was yet another indication of how crappy the Linksys products are. Also, instead of hours of fighting with the Linksys and Mac OS X networking configurations to get the Powerbook to connect to the WAP11, it took me less than a minute to get the Powerbook to connect reliably and securely to the WGR614.
Reminder for later: to get a new DHCP allocated IP address on Red Hat 9 Linux (assuming eth0 is the primary network interface) without having to reboot, do the following as root:
#killall dhcpd #/sbin/dhclient eth0
I had been using Rhythmbox/Music Player to play MP3s and Oggs on Linux, but today I found a much better app for my needs called Zinf.
Rhythmbox looks very promising, but I ended up running into too many problems with it. Visually, it is an iTunes clone. The biggest problem was that it would not play 192 bps constant bit rate MP3s that I had ripped with Music Match Jukebox on Windows. At some point, I will update the version I have installed of the GStreamer media framework that Rhythmbox relies on and give it another try. Either that or try to use Rhythmbox with Xine for the backend.
Another big problem was that it used 5-10% of the CPU while playing music. Zinf uses less than 1% of the CPU. That makes a big difference when you are trying to do a lot of other work while listening to music.
Finally, Rhythmbox was really, really slow to start. My music library is currently about 40 GB. By the time I finish ripping all my CDs, it will probably be about 70 GB. If I rip all my LPs, too, I could easily end up with a library over 100 GB.
Zinf does the simple things very well, but it also has room for improvement. Better Unicode support for MP3 tags would be really nice. Although it doesn't have as many audio drop-outs as Rhythmbox does when I'm doing other CPU intensive stuff, it does happen every now and then.
Although I will probably eventually replace my corrupted Windows XP install with a fresh install to run a small handful of apps, I had been planning to get my printer and scanner working under Red Hat Linux for quite some time. It turned out to be easier than I expected.
Epson Stylus Color 860 Printer
The simple answer is use CUPS, at least if you are running Red Hat 9 and are attaching directly to the printer via USB.
- Use the Printer System Switcher (in the System Settings menu) to switch from LPRng to CUPS
- Connect the printer via USB and make sure it is turned on
- Access the CUPS admin interface in a browser
- Click Manage Printers, then Add Printer
- Enter a name and description, and enter "localhost" for the location
- On the next page, select your printer connection, e.g., - USB Printer #1 (EPSON Stylus COLOR 860)
- On the next page, select - Epson
- On the next page, select the first entry that says - EPSON Stylus Color 860, CUPS+GIMP-print v4.2.4 (en)
You will obviously need to have CUPS and gimp-print installed for this to work. I'm pretty sure they were both part of the standard workstation install for Red Hat 9. If you can't access the CUPS admin interface, try restarting the CUPS daemon.
/etc/init.d/cups restart
Epson Perfection 1200S Scanner
The 1200S has a SCSI connection, since I bought it long ago for my Power Mac G3 desktop. Although Epson doesn't seem to be too keen on providing Linux support for their printers, they do at least point you to a program developed by the Epson Kowa corporation that supports Epson scanners on Linux. I'm not sure exactly how this company is related to Epson, but I already like them a whole lot.
Epson Kowa provides Image Scan! for Linux as a free download. It works with a lot of Linux distros and a lot of Epson scanners. I downloaded the gcc 3.2 experimental version rpm, installed it, restarted Red Hat (only because I didn't have the scanner turned on when I last booted up, which is a SCSI bus issue on Windows, too), followed the install instructions to add a symbolic link to the iscan executable to my GIMP plugins directory, fired up the GIMP, and started scanning photos. So far, Image Scan! has worked perfectly.
