hackjobjak’s blog

Wonderful, helpful, ...?  Bullshit. 

This was on a thread about configuring Pulse Audio for Intrepid Ibex (8.10).

psyke,

Out in the Google "jungle" I found a post on another forum suggesting to disable onboard sound in the BIOS.  I also created a new ~/.asoundrc (again) according to Part A (core fixes) step five in your PulseAudio Fixes & System-Wide Equalizer Support (http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?p=4928900) guide.

I went and disabled the onboard sound (specifically, the chip) in my BIOS, and if I understand the ~/.asoundrc script correctly, it sent output to the SB card.  Either way, Flash is giving me sound again.

Not sure if this fixes everything-- I'll have to see which headphone jack is working (if it's the SB jack or the ones on the front of the case-- part of the onboard?) and then go from there.  Thanks for your help, though.
---End Quote---
Don't mix the instruction for Hardy with an Intrepid system. There is no need for any .asoundrc file in Intrepid, as ALSA autodetects the presence of PulseAudio. 

Disabling onboard sound will merely ensure that PulseAudio only has one option to choose - so it's a workaround, not a fix. Setting the default sink (i.e. sound card) is trivial, as I explain a few posts back.

---Quote (Originally by jaklumen)---
I'm sorry, but that's not very helpful.

I already implied, although perhaps not directly stated, that I figured it was a workaround and not a permanent fix.

If you wish additional information, I will gladly supply it, but for now I will consider the matter resolved until circumstances or other things dictate that I should seek a more permanent fix.  I am certain it is not properly fixed, but I have already torn out a lot of hair over this, and I do not wish to pursue it further if it currently works acceptably to my satisfaction.
---End Quote---
Sure, the method you used is fine, though there is still the potential for breakage. For example, if you later plug in a USB headset, you'll experience the same problem (PulseAudio will erroneously select the USB headset as the default card). I was just informing you how to resolve the problem without resorting to BIOS settings.

As the saying goes, if it ain't broken, don't fix it  ;) . I only recommend that you delete the ~/.asoundrc file, as it's no longer necessary. The advantage of deleting this file is that ALSA applications will automatically fall back to the regular "dmix" ALSA device if there is a problem connecting to the PulseAudio server.

This thread is located at:
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=953269&goto=newpost

Here is the message that has just been posted:
***************
Line 2 looks more like the code for your "error on line 4" syntax:


Code:
---------
sudo chown xx/home/xx/.dmrc
---------
I may be wrong but chown usually goes like this
Code:
---------
# chown xxx:yyy /home/xxx
---------
 where xxx is user name and yyy is group name thus you can make user is owned by user - eg.[#chown dave:dave /home/dave
#chown dave:dave /home/dave/.dmrc
#chmod 644 /home/dave/.dmrc[/code]

Is root owned by root: 
Code:
---------
# ls -la /bin/su
---------
 This should return "# -rws-xr-x  1 root (the '1' before root indicates the number of links to this file). To set default root permissions: 
Code:
---------
#chown root:root /bin/su
#chmod 4755 /bin/su
---------
  
A checklist: 
Code:
---------
#ls -l /bin/su 
#ls -l /etc/group
#ls -l /etc/passwd
---------
If you ever need to add read and execute permissions to root (if that has changed for any reason): 
Code:
---------
#chmod a+rx /
or
#chmod 755 /
---------
All this info used to be posted in the Gentoo archives, so visit the Gentoo site and give a thank you to some forum Mod there if you find it usefull.

I got some error messages, so I made a reply, but no answer, whatsoever after that.

Now what's really maddening is I'm not sure if these guys realize just how obtuse they seem.  I can appreciate a good tech support joke or horror story, but I can also see the other side of the coin and think how frustrated people can get with tech support (even when it's NOT based in Eastern Europe or India) and are having a difficult time getting beyond the jargon and some jarheaded assumptions.

I often find sites like Ubuntu Unleashed more helpful ultimately because then I can simply sort through tutorials and such on my own and skip trying to get someone explain it to me.  In fact, that's what I do 3/4ths of the time I go to the Ubuntu Forums-- just wade through stickied tutorials and the like and just twiddle with that for a while.

Bought a Soundblaster Live! sound card used on Amazon and it worked precisely as the Ubuntu and other various Linux forums said.  The emu101k driver is apparently the only thing that will give hardware mixing (sound through multiple applications, through the card) in Linux (by way of ALSA).

However, Ubuntu does not seem to like the digital jumper cable to the DVD-ROM drive.

How do you rate Chrome, the new Google web browser?

It's not available for Linux yet (or Mac, for that matter).  This would have been more timely if this question had waited, instead of moving on the assumption that everyone runs Windows (or to be more fair, that one would ask the majority, but not the minority).

Having said that, it is similar to Safari, for both use the WebKit layout engine.  So... those of you who are using Safari, might be fairly comfortable with this browser.

From what word is coming back to me, Chrome has some major bugs yet that need to be fixed.  And from what I can otherwise gather, Internet Explorer cleaned up nicely for Windows with version 8.  I'm going to guess that most mainstream Windows users will be sticking with 8, not to mention those who use Automatic Updates.

I still prefer browsers with the Gecko layout engine, namely Firefox and Prism.  Chrome supposedly can run websites as desktop applications, but I am reading that it's not as light a memory footprint as Prism.  Moreover, as a Linux user, it behooves me to use a browser engine that is optimized to my operating system.  When I want to use a website as a desktop application (Runescape, Joe's Goals, Ta-da Lists, etc.), I use Prism.  When I want to use a more robust browser, I use Firefox.  I use the extensions I have installed on a fairly regular basis (which reminds me to get rid of the ones I don't use, to lighten the load).  It suits me well for general surfing.

After getting our economic stimulus check, I was carefully considering what to use it for, beyond the basic necessities.  Then I saw X-Arcade was offering refurbished Trackballs for half price- about $50.

This is an X-Arcade Trackball controller:

X-arcade_trackball

But it wasn't me that did the consulting work on the purchase.  My baby sister was in town two weekends ago for my grandparents' 60th anniversary and she went with my sister in town to get the goods.

So...I found out what they got.  The laptop-- Dell Inspiron 1529.  Good, good.  A known company; Cimmorene has a Dell Inspiron 1501.  That means Mom has more power than she'll ever possibly need.  She just wanted it to do genealogy, basically.  The OS-- Windows XP Home.  Fabulous.  I am really not a fan of Vista, and because the desktop (which will likely be referred to as Dad's computer from here on out) is XP Media Center, they'll have a much easier time getting the two machines to talk to each other if needed, or just make things simpler, like using the same printer.

That brings me to the wireless network.  The desktop already had a firewall router, but I was certain they would need a new router.  A Belkin.  Okay, that's fine, I suppose.  Not really familiar with Belkin routers.  I know Cisco's LinkSys routers are more expensive, but... we bought ours on a really good Newegg sale.  They should be fine.

So anyway, my folks went to Seaside this week, and not surprisingly, Mom wrote that she took the laptop.  She asked us kids what to do about glare-- she was using it in the car.  This is what she said:

I also worked on Family Search some in the car, when I wasn't driving or crocheting.  It worked fine except it was hard to see the screen--too much sunlight makes the screen look black.  Maybe you know a fix for that, some of my techie children?

which I found incredibly amusing since the most likely solution is decidedly low-tech-- a pull-down shade attached to the passenger side window.  Anything else is designed for desktop monitors and is hard to find.

Anyways... as soon as I can get better, I will pay them a visit and see about setting up file sharing for them.  They might never use it, but I offered, in case Mom ever wants to access files from the desktop.

Now although I don't do tech support professionally, I'm already starting to observe things that would be worthy of tech support horror stories.

First, there's explaining something as best you can, only to be told, "I have no idea what you just said."

Then there's the insult "you are just like those tech support people" (this coming from a clanmate-- gee, Skippy, don't you already know that for all practical purposes for the clan, I am one?) "when I ask a simple question, I get a lecture on nuclear science"... you goddamn idiot, my suggestion was light-years simpler than anything like that...

Does this mean I've finally arrived?  Nah, not until I get a paycheck...

My mother called up the other day to ask about wireless networking.  She's thinking about getting one so she can sit somewhere more comfortable.

It was very odd, because at the moment, I was doing some tech support, trying to help a Runescape clanmate figure out how to find drivers for his network card-- some unknown card that he got from a friend.  So of course I mentioned this and said that her question/concern was probably infinitely easier than the one I had been working on.  (I told him to try SiSoftware Sandra and do a hardware scan... and to ask our Site Admin to interpret the data, as he is a network administrator by profession.)

The good news I gave her is that they might already be setup for wireless transmission, although their firewall router does not have antennas.  That's okay if their existing one doesn't work-- I generally recommend Cisco's LinkSys routers and they shouldn't go wrong if they buy one.  I haven't set up a wireless network before (although I set up file sharing on Ubuntu with Samba) and so I suggested Cimmy help out.  Poor Cimmy.  She kept whispering "no" over and over again.

I also warned Mom that any lappy she got would likely have Vista; they have XP Media Edition on the desktop.  I mentioned the Dell site.  Opinion I've seen elsewhere is mixed on their reliability but Dell makes it relatively easy to get a laptop with the features you want.  I also suggested HP as that is what they have as a desktop.

Introducing the NEW Dell Studio Hybrid

http://alexpaul.vox.com/library/post/...

"Dell’s most unique, stylish, and conscientious desktop PC. Designed to fit into your environment while protecting the environment. Personalize with 6 interchangeable color sleeves or bamboo Ultra-compact design with Intel mobile technology performance Features include slot-load DVD, HDMI, and...

This post was featured at [technology is good].  Unfortunately, Alex did not enable comments, so I'll simply comment here.

I think the folks at C|Net nailed it in their review (at least from what I can tell):

Standard budget PCs offer better price-performance and more upgradeability; laptops deliver better space economy with similar specifications for the dollar.

This gadget reminded me of HP's Media SmartServer:

HP-MediaSmart-Server

Right now I do troubleshooting for the Runescape clan I belong to, at the phpBB forum they use.  Many of the clan members perform this strange veneration for me since I often seem to know what I'm doing.

My user name here, "hackjobjak", sums up how I feel about that sometimes.  So much of my supposed wisdom was learned the hard way-- I was infected with a number of trojans and spyware before I learned out to deal with them.  Some of it is faked-- I look a LOT of stuff up on Google, and more often than not, I'm directed to some tech forums or a knowledge base site, and I research it from there.

What's slightly amusing is many of the tools I advise them to use just don't apply to Linux environments.  They include the following:

HijackThis.  It's named such because spyware at one time "hijacked" web browsers-- setting home pages to their site, as well as installing their programs, popups, etc.  It's often used by techs as a diagnostic tool because it provides such a comprehensive view of a system and a format to determine whether it has been compromised or not.

The main tool is generating a log file of system information, but it can also be used to generate a log of all programs and services running at startup.

CCleaner.  It's one of the handiest tools I've ever found, because it consolidates a lot of tasks into one program.  It cleans up browser and system caches, and repairs the registry.  The Windows registry *needs* repairing every so often-- installing and uninstalling programs sometimes leaves things behind, and CCleaner cleans that up with fairly little hassle.  If you've ever tried to repair the registry by hand (especially through the basic Windows service regedit), you know what I mean.

O&O Defrag Freeware 2000 or Ultra Defragmenter.  The basic Windows NT defrag tool is horrible, and in some ways, I'd say Vista's implementation is worse, as Microsoft stripped out the graphical user interface (it's done all on the command line) and did nothing else.  Both programs listed are improvements.

Defrag Freeware 2000 is an old version of O&O's disk defragmentation tool, but it is better than the Windows default.  It uses the same Master Control Center (MCC), so it can be literally "snapped in".  You can even get rid of the Windows default afterwards.

Ultra Defragmenter was my choice because it was written in pure C, it handles defragmentation of the page file, and it can be run at Startup for greater speed.

Eraser by Heidi Computers.  It does what it says-- erases individual files up to entire disk drives.  It's more thorough than a disk format because you can do several passes of erasing.

Why is most all of this rendered unnecessary by Linux?  Simple.  UNIX, and all of its flavors (including Linux), have never used a registry.  Nothing to defragment.  No registry entries to repair.  So every now and then, as I'm running Ubuntu (a derivative of Debian), I forget how Windows did something.

Worse yet, I only used Windows up to XP Service Pack 3, and so sometimes I was met by howling choruses of "but that's not compatible with Vista!"  It's got to be quirks of the graphical user interface, and programs not properly integrating with that, because Windows has had basically the same monolithic kernel (NT) since 1993.

And then I had members pestering me in various chats, either on IRC or in the game.  It didn't get better until I asked the Admins to set some ground rules.

An-y-ways... I may write some posts about the things that happen there.  I won't make too much fun of these kids-- some of them have a fair idea of what they are doing (and at least one is our Linux proselyte-- you know how Linux fanboys can be), and some of them have no clue.  But every once in a while I get something that's worthy and very similar to a common tech support joke.  We'll see.