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Hate it but I had to set Ubuntu aside for now…

Sheri — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 22:12:19 +0000

While Ubuntu is Powerful and free, the Internet will just not work well enough for the heavy duty high bandwidth things we need to do. I finally set it all aside and installed Microsoft Windows XP on the machine. I’ll try Ubuntu again in a few months.

Broadband…

Sheri — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 14:53:25 +0000

My broadband is better than I thought it was. My downloads are at anywhere from 18.KBps to 33KBps and I thought that was pretty horrible until I realized that it was KBps Not kbps. There is a huge difference. While it is not nearly as good as I expect cable Broadband Internet to be, it isn’t as bad as I supposed. Perhaps this is because of the heavy load we put on our router here.

Here is what I mean:

1KB (KiloByte) = 1024 Bytes (approximately 1000 Bytes)
1 kbps (kilo bits per second) = 1000 bits per second

I found all this wonderful information here: Techallica.com

Download KBPS speed = (Kbps value*1000) /8)) / 1024.

I.e. For a connectivity of 512 kbps

kbps value * 1000 = 512 * 1000 = 512000

512000 / 8 = 64000

64000 / 1024 = 62.5 KBps

Therefore theoretically an internet connection of 512kbps bandwidth can download at a speed of 62.5 KBps

Broadband still slow…

Sheri — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 15:11:37 +0000

So far I haven’t been able to find out exactly why downloads and streaming videos are slow in Ubuntu on this machine while Windows on other computers is so fast. I tried shutting down my two Windows laptops and then trying a video and it didn’t help. I’ll keep searching though.

I LOVE UBUNTU!

Sheri — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 01:53:22 +0000

I am blown away by this beautiful FREE Operating System! I can’t wait to see what the next release has to offer! I improved my Internet on 7.10 by disabling ipv6 (followed tutorials from the ubuntu Forums) and things improved. I am thinking that perhaps my problems are more that we have so many computers all running on one router. Lets see… there’s John’s, Joe’s, Freddie’s, my laptop, the kids’ laptop, and my linux box all on one router! DOH!

Got the DVD to work! yeah!

Sheri — Sat, 12 Apr 2008 01:52:25 +0000

Today I was able to gather all the components together that I needed to get things to work the way I wanted. Wow Ubuntu Linux is SWEET!!! I got the spinning desktop to work. Tomorrow or Sunday I will work on tweaking my WIFI internet drivers because there is some sort of bug making downloads very slow on the broadband connection. I will try it on another partition and test it before I mess with the one I have spent all day on tweaking. I love Ubuntu! I am amazed by it. What a difference from the Linux distro I tried back in 2000. Back then I used Mandrake and I got it online ok, had my ICQ set up on it, and loved all the freeware that came with it, but it was nothing like this! It’s amazing! Jeremy and Josiah saw it and were buggin’

Got Ubuntu to work, but not Xandros

Sheri — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 00:25:48 +0000

Screenshot from the Ubuntu machine
I downloaded the photo of New York City from the Internet
and saved it as my desktop background. Cool!

I had to purchase a new WIFI PCI card but i got the Linux box online today! woo hoo! I wish I could have got Xandros to work though. It keeps freezing at “Detecting Hardware” and will not finish installing. The onboard ethernet chipset is not supported by Xandros, and my Epson printer is not supported either. I tried several different options to install including using generic VESA video drivers, but it froze at the same spot no matter what I tried.

Ubuntu did not have any installation problems and my Epson Stylus 4800 all in one printer / scanner is supported too! I have been able to install my FireFox updates and Flash Player just fine. I love Ubuntu so far. Best of all it is 100% absolutely FREE! WOW!

Rebuilt my desktop PC - trying new Operating Systems

Sheri — Sun, 06 Apr 2008 01:18:36 +0000

I just built a very basic yet up to date system. I will be able to add to it if I want or need to.

Here are my system specs:

Motherboard: Biostar 945GC mATX
Intel® Pentium® Dual-Core Processor E2180 - 2.0GHz 1MB L2 cache 800 MB bus
1024MB DDR2-667 RAM
Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator 950 Video Chipset
Shared Video Memory (up to 224MB) (until I get a new PCI express x16 video card)
High Definition Audio Chipset 5.1 Channel Surround Sound
Hard Drive - Samsung 200 GB 7200rpm SATA
LiteOn DVD Writer with LightScribe
Linksys pci 2.4GHz Wireless G card WMP54G

I tried to install Xandros Linux first but for some reason so far it freezes at hardware detection. My hardware is very new so perhaps they don’t have the drivers yet that I need. I will play with it some more. I have a few more troubleshooting options to try.

Next I installed Ubuntu Linux which installed right away. I love Ubuntu because of their phillosophy of giving freely to the world. I have not been able to get it online yet. I had to stop today because my HDTV is my monitor and the kids were ready to revolt. I had to share my TV with the little darlings. (I don’t mind. They’re worth it)

Tomorrow I try to get Ubuntu online, then I’ll try again with Xandros. (Right after I get home from my Budo training)