Tech Tips: October 2012

28 October 2012

Upgrade from Xubuntu 10.04 LTS to 12.04 LTS

Here are the couple things that I found that I had to fix when upgrading from Xubuntu 10.04 LTS to 12.04 LTS:

I was not getting DNS resolution

```
sudo vi /etc/resolv.conf
```
add:
```
nameserver 192.168.1.1 
```

UPDATE: the above does not last you should instead:

```
sudo vi /etc/network/interfaces
```
add:
```
dns-nameserver 192.168.1.1
```

My VNC session was not loading a window manage (giving a failure to load gnome message -- I also got a trash not supported error and application crashes when starting xfce4-session)

vi ~/.vnc/xstartup
make sure it has:
```
startxfce4 &
```

When running synaptic from the application menu, it would ask for a password then fail to load

```
xhost +localhost
```

noip2 was removed and not in the package list

```
cd /usr/local/src
```

sudo wget http://www.no-ip.com/client/linux/noip-duc-linux.tar.gz

```
sudo tar xf noip-duc-linux.tar.gz
```
```
cd noip2-2.1.9-1/
```
```
sudo make install
```
```
sudo /usr/local/bin/noip2 -C
```
```
sudo vi /etc/init.d/noip2
```

change:

DAEMON=/usr/local/bin/$NAME

CONFFILE=/usr/local/etc/noip2.conf

```
sudo /etc/init.d/noip2 start
```

27 October 2012

Creating/Mounting/Burning ISOs in Linux

Creating an ISO:

First make sure everything using the cd/dvd drive is closed
Unmount the cd/dvd drive:

```
sudo umount /dev/dvd1
```

Create the copy:

```
readom dev=/dev/dvd1 f=disk1.iso
```

Verify the copy:

```
md5sum /dev/dvd1
```
```
md5sum disk1.iso
```

If you are getting read errors, you can use safecopy:

```
safecopy /dev/dvd1 disk1.iso
```

Mounting an ISO:

sudo mount -o loop -t iso9660 disk1.iso /mnt/iso

Burning an ISO:

```
wodim dev=/dev/cdrw -v -data disk1.iso
```

01 October 2012

Toshiba L875D-S7232 Review

Here are my thoughts on my newly purchased laptop, a Toshiba L875D-S7232. Overall I am very happy with my purchase, but will definitely be looking to upgrade to a SSD at some point.

Pros:

17.3" 1600x900 screen
A8-4500M Processor
6GB of 1600MHz RAM
HD 7640G Graphics (defaults to 512MB use)
The Silver and Black color makes the laptop look professional
Good Windows Experience Index Scores (scale 1.0 to 7.9):

Processor: 6.7
Memory: 7.0 (out of the box; 7.2 after updates)
Graphics: 6.7
Gaming Graphics: 6.7
Hard Disk: 5.9

3DMark 06: 4693
Price: $479.99 + tax at Staples
Boot Time is 2-3 minutes including login and browser launch

Cons:

No Hard Drive Activity LED (I replaced with a software one: http://sourceforge.net/projects/activityindicat/ )
The shiny black plastic surrounding and under the keyboard shows dirt and fingerprints easily
Norton 30 day trial - I uninstalled and replaced with Avast Free Home - http://www.avast.com/en-us/index
Power Plug does not have a separate ground
No Spot for a second hard drive
It appears that video driver updates must come thru Toshiba instead of AMD, but this seems to be common with notebook APUs

Other Thoughts:

Toshiba Software Update Page
Island Keyboard may take some getting used to
Function keys (F1-F12) default to their function use (change screen brightness/volume etc.)

Was able to change this behavior thru the pre-installed Toshiba HWSETUP Utility

Comes with Office Starter (ad supported Word and Excel)
On Med/High settings at 1600x900 I get between 40 and 60 FPS (capped by vsync) in DDO
On High settings at 1600x900 in Battlefield Play 4 Free I get ~30FPS
Side exhaust does get quite warm
Battery Life seems to be around 2.5-3 hours

Update 2016-07-06:

Toshiba disabled virtualization in the bios. I am disappointed that they did this on a mid-range laptop to try to force more high end laptop sales.