Kimi Raikkonen F1 World Champion 2007

With a wonderful race Kimi finally made it! Cheers to Ferrari, Kimi and Felipe which gave to McLaren what it deserved: NOTHING! After a lot of years ending up with nothing Kimi finally made it out and now he is the new World Champion! Simply Fantastic!

Without any touch of style and fairness Ron Dennis ended the season with an official protest to FIA for not punishing BMW & Williams... maybe he doesn't remember what happened during the whole year?

Ubuntu 7.10 gusty gibbon on Asus Z53Jr F3Jr

I've upgraded my notebook from Feisty to Gusty. So this isn't a "fresh install experience". I've published the Asus Z53Jr specs before but here they are (again)

Notebook Specs

• Model: Asus Z53Jr / F3Jr
  
• core2duo T7200 2GHz 4Mb cache
• 2Gb RAM DDR2
• 160Gb HD
• ATI X2300 Video Card with 128Mb RAM up to 898Mb shared mem
• SD Card Reader
• 1.3 MPx Camera
• Ethernet + Intel i3945 802.11 a/b/g Wireless
• Ports 4 USB 2.0, 1 FireWire, VGA out DVI out

Upgrade Procedure
When I logged in Feisty and opened the update manager feisty suggested the distribution upgrade, and so I did.
The all process was smooth and clean and took less than 2 hours (most of which were spent downloading the software from the internet).
The upgrade procedure told me that support for some software ended... not a real problem for me (I've never used gcj, I usually download the official jdk directly from sun).
Here are some screenshots:


Fisrt Look
The first impression is that Ubuntu improved it's general usability.
I usually work connected to my network via WPA wireless. Using the restcricted modules as in feisty I managed to use the intel wireless card and ati x2300 gpu without any problems (except for the suspend issue, see below).
The drivers where already installed before in feisty, gusty simply upgraded them to a newer version.
Two major usability improvements on the network configuration are that without any manual configuration now you can automatically activate the wireless connection without unlocking the keyring when you login. This could have been done in feisty with some configuration now there is a checkbox directly on the unlock keyring dialog.
Another improvement is the support of wpa connectivity when you manual configure your network: now if you want to manage your network manually you can do it really easily!

Almost everything it's working without problems
As in Feisty this things are working without any issues

• display driver at correct resolution (1280x800)
• touchpad
• usb ports
• integrated sd card reader
• Fn buttons
• Fn+F1 (suspend) is recognized but I thing that the ati driver has major issues while suspending the notebook
• Fn+F2 (enable/disable wireless)
• Fn+F4 opens the browser
• Fn+F5,F6,F7 panel light controls
• Fn+F10,F11,F2 sound controls
• Fn+Arrows the sound controls (tested in Banshee)

Not Tested
I've not tested the external display and the Fn+F8 button as I don't have an external display available right now.

The Bad Part: Things that don't work
Suspend and Hibernate
Suspend and Hibernate still doesn't work :(!!
I suspect an issue with the ati fglrx driver. I've tested the 8.42.3 driver downloaded directly from ati without any success too.
The only thing I've managed to do on my system was to stop the system from suspending and hibernating installing this packages on the system:

• apmd
• hibernate
• uswsusp

Composite
Composite is disable and doesn't work with the fglrx driver. With the new 8.42.3 driver it is theoretically supported via AIXGL but the only thing I've got was a white screen (an internet search told me that I'm not the only one).

1.3mpx camera
The integrated 1.3mpx webcam isn't recognized as in feisty. In the next days just for curiosity I'll try to recompile the syntek driver http://syntekdriver.sourceforge.net/ (se previous posts).

If you find any workaround for this problems (suspend and hibernate in particular) or if they are working for you on the same notebook (or very similar one) via a fresh install please feel free to contact me.

Ubuntu Gusty Gibbon

Last night I've installed Ubuntu 7.10 aka Gusty Gibbonon my Asus notebook (please see previous posts for the details on the notebook). Actually it wasn't a fresh install but an upgrade from Feisty (7.04).
The upgrade process proceeded without any problem (maybe the servers where a bit slow but this is normal on day 0) and Gusty seems to work without any problems. This week end I'll try it a bit more in depth if Michele (again see previous posts) will leave me enough time to experiment the new distro.

Cheers to the ubuntu team,
Terenzio

Ubuntu -1

tomorrow Gusty Gibbon will be available for download.
I hope that in the next few days I manage to backup all my data and try the update from my Feisty.
This time it won't be a fresh install but an upgrade... I'll try to report out the "Gibbon experience" in the next days.

Regards, Terenzio

1974 Turing Award to Donald Knuth

In 1974 the Alan Touring Award was given to Donald Knuth for "a number of major
contributions to the analysis of algorithms and the design of programming languages".
I recently found on the net the original ACM Article.
Obviously Knuth is a real genius and his article is still off interest even after 33 years.

Michele

Just a few photos so everybody can see my beautiful baby.



Cheers Terenzio

Michele has arrived!

On wednesday July the 11th 2007 at 11:48 Michele was born in Ravenna, Italy!
My beatiful son was 51.5cm and weighed 3.3kg at birth... and he's a wonderful baby.
Not hard to say that when I saw him for the first time it was the best moment of my life.

Maybe in the next day I'll add some photos. of Michele.

Bye for now, Terenzio, Barbara & Michele

Asus Z53Jr, F3Jr Webcam

The notebook comes with a 1.3mpx webcam
I've tried the syntek driver http://syntekdriver.sourceforge.net/ as suggested.
The driver works but with some problems.
first of all after

make

you end up with the following error:

make: ctags: Command not found
make: *** [driver] Error 127

Actually the

stk11xx.ko

has been build but you need to move it manually in your

/lib/modules/`uname -r`/kernel/drivers

then type in

sudo depmod -a
modprobe stk11xx

(the cam will light up the green light for a few seconds).
to test it download canorama

sudo apt-get install canorama

The colours are all on yellow. If you know how to correct this issue please feel free to contact me. You can find the results of the test here.

asus z53jr f3jr ubuntu 7.04

Ubuntu 7.04 on Asus Z53Jr F3Jr

This is how I installed Ubuntu 7.04 on my new notebook Asus Z53Jr (or F3Jr).

Disclaimer: Actually this page is a work in progress... I know it needs some formatting and I want to add more contents in the future so be patient please :)

The notebook specs are:

• core2duo T7200 2GHz 4Mb cache
• 2Gb RAM DDR2
• 160Gb HD
• ATI X2300 Video Card with 128Mb RAM up to 898Mb shared mem
• SD Card Reader
• 1.3 MPx Camera
• Ethernet + Intel i3945 802.11 a/b/g Wireless
• Ports 4 USB 2.0, 1 FireWire, VGA out DVI out

this is the lspci output:

00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Mobile 945GM/PM/GMS/940GML and 945GT Express Memory Controller Hub (rev 03)
00:01.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation Mobile 945GM/PM/GMS/940GML and 945GT Express PCI Express Root Port (rev 03)
00:1b.0 Audio device: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) High Definition Audio Controller (rev 02)
00:1c.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) PCI Express Port 1 (rev 02)
00:1c.1 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) PCI Express Port 2 (rev 02)
00:1c.2 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) PCI Express Port 3 (rev 02)
00:1d.0 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB UHCI #1 (rev 02)
00:1d.1 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB UHCI #2 (rev 02)
00:1d.2 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB UHCI #3 (rev 02)
00:1d.3 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB UHCI #4 (rev 02)
00:1d.7 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB2 EHCI Controller (rev 02)
00:1e.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801 Mobile PCI Bridge (rev e2)
00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation 82801GBM (ICH7-M) LPC Interface Bridge (rev 02)
00:1f.2 IDE interface: Intel Corporation 82801GBM/GHM (ICH7 Family) Serial ATA Storage Controller IDE (rev 02)
00:1f.3 SMBus: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) SMBus Controller (rev 02)
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: ATI Technologies Inc Unknown device 718a
02:00.0 Ethernet controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8111/8168B PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet controller (rev 01)
03:00.0 Network controller: Intel Corporation PRO/Wireless 3945ABG Network Connection (rev 02)
06:01.0 FireWire (IEEE 1394): Ricoh Co Ltd Unknown device 0832
06:01.1 Generic system peripheral [0805]: Ricoh Co Ltd R5C822 SD/SDIO/MMC/MS/MSPro Host Adapter (rev 19)
06:01.2 System peripheral: Ricoh Co Ltd Unknown device 0843 (rev 01)
06:01.3 System peripheral: Ricoh Co Ltd R5C592 Memory Stick Bus Host Adapter (rev 0a)

Due to the ATI Card issue with Xorg you should intall feisty in textual mode via atlernate CD or DVD.
The system will install without problems. When prompted for the video resolution remember to select 1280x800!
On the first reboot you won't be able to login graphic mode. Login in text mode with your notebook connected to internet via ethernet card and type (look here for a more detailed explanation):

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install linux-restricted-modules-$(uname -r)
sudo apt-get install xorg-driver-fglrx
sudo depmod -a

and yes, before you ask it: I'm using the restricted modules.
next configure the video card:

sudo aticonfig --initial
sudo aticonfig --overlay-type=Xv

and reboot

sudo shutdown -r now

at the reboot the system will login via gdm. Now lets take a look to what is working and what not.

Working

• video card at correct resolution
• sound (even Fn + F10, F11, F12 keys )
  
• sd adapter
• usb & firewire ports
• display lamp (even Fn + F5, F6, F7 on/off)
• other shortcuts Fn + F1, F2 are recognized)
• the shotcut keys on the top left of the notebook works
• the microphone (* see note)
• hibernation
  

*I've tested the microphone mainly using skype 1.3.0.53 and sometimes worked sometimes not. When it did not work I simply restarted skype and this resolved any issue.

NOT Working

• the on off pad switch Fn + F9
• the sleep mode Fn + F1 (the system doesn't wake up correctly, if you can help feel free to contact me)
• the 1.3MPx camera
  

Another thing that doesn't work out of the box is the cpu frequency scaling but this issue it's easy to fix:
Edit the /etc/modules file (sudo gedit /etc/modules) and add this line:

acpi-cpufreq

Next: I like to manage the cpu speed via the cpu frequency monitor applet and if you want to do the same you should set the sticky bit to the /usr/bin/cpufreq-selector executable.

sudo chmod +s /usr/bin/cpufreq-selector

You will need two applets (one per core) as the F3Jr is a Core2Duo processor.
That's all for now. If you have any questions please feel free to contact me.
bye

Updated: 1.3mpx webcam

"Finally" Out!

In Italy we say "tutto il mondo è paese" but the news that only after three days of jail Paris Hilton is actually free (she as to stay in on of her luxury houses of course).
Usually things like this (take in example the Callisto Tanzi trial for the Parmalat failure) happen in Italy but not in U.S.A.

-30

Today for my wife is the first day of maternity.
From now there is only one month to the date of birth of our first child.
Maybe no one cares but we do!

Microsoft Vista security advisor

Oh my god!
After 5 years Vista is out!
Recently I bought a new notebook which came with Vista Home Premium preinstalled. I'm a Ubuntu fan but I was really courious finding out how Vista was.
The new security advisor is a total nonsense! A real pain in the ass. I can't believe that this is the best solution Microsoft found in 5 years for all the security issues of its OS.
Look at this Apple ad, I think it really points out the thing:

Maserati MC12

This afternoon on A14 returning to Ravenna from Bologna I was so lucky to see the wonderful Maserati MC12. O my! There are only 25 cars like this on road and this one was from the Principality of Monaco.

Terenzio

2 years ago...

...on April, 2nd 2005 Pope Giovanni Paolo II died. Today the only thing I can remember is that our state televion RAI didn't show the Formula 1 Bahrain Grand Prix. In Italy we don't have a state religion... should we beleive it?

il 2 aprile 2005 morì Papa Giovanni Paolo II. Oggi l'unica cosa che mi ricordo è che la RAI, la nostra televisione di stato, non mandò in onda il gran premio di Formula 1 del Bahrain. In Italia non abbiamo una religione di stato... dovremmo veramente crederci?

Welcome

Just saying welcome to everybody... I hope to add more content in next days.
cheers Terenzio

Un saluto a tutti... la speranza è che possa aggiungere qualche contenuto nei prossimi giorni.
ciao Terenzio