Well... it seems that I have done it Debian Etch installed and working on my new laptop. It's pretty great! Works good... now.

There have been a few trials.
1. Audio - I like music, I want music. So when the audio didn't work I was a little bit bummed.
Then suddenly its working... Now it ain't kind of intermittent every time I boot up its a question... "Oh is the sound working?" Hopefully I can get this nailed down soon!

1. Wireless not working - This was a toughy. I initially solved it by following the tutorial here [url=http://www.debiantutorials.org/content/view/153/213/]http://www.debiantutorials.org/content/view/153/213/[/url]

And then undid that fix because I wanted to use the network-manager-gnome package. This started working after I actually read the README.Debian file for network-manager (the daemon, RTFM) and recomiled the kernel for 2.6.20 not exactly sure what made the difference the change the manual suggested or the kernel. But I am currently putting my money on the kernel.

1. Fan control - I do not like noisy computers Why all the noise when I am just typing?!?! Driving me crazy luckily I fixed the problem, it seems by "apt-get install powernowd" powernowd couldn't be started for two reasons
2. The virtual file system for accessing the cpu wasn't loaded (uh ok) so the README.Debian says you need to add "sysfs /sys sysfs defaults 0 0" to the /etc/fstab file did that. Then I realized the powernow-k8 kernel module wasn't loaded. So I loaded the module with the command modprobe powernow-k8 and then started the powernowd with the command /etc/init.d/powernowd start and finally added this line to the /etc/modules list so that powernow-k8 to the /etc/modules list so it would load in the future at boot up.

And right now I it all seems to be working.

Gah Finally after reading what seems like hundreds of help lists and all that I finally found the problem with my Gateway 7515 laptop sound. Sound card is an ATI IXP card with built in modem.

To make a long story short all that I needed to do was go to the alasmixer and mute the External Amplifier.

Bango, it worked.

Now if only the ocean glider I am working on would come to the surface and call home...

So I wanted the laptop volume buttons to work...

Turns out it is easy. In Gnome go to Desktop --> Preferences --> Keyboard Shortcuts

Then find the function you want to control, click on it, and then click on the laptop button that you want to control it.

And now it works. yaya.

From [url=http://www.readingboy.com/]http://www.readingboy.com/[/url]

glxgears

You see people using the program to test the framerate (FPS) of their ATI cards. trying to spot imporvements... well the newest version. requires this switch

$ glxgears -iacknowledgethatthistoolisnotabenchmark

to output the fps.

Haha, you gotta love when people are that careful.

You can't make the required kernel module with the sources from ATI and to get your driver up and running. Ugh... how long did it take to find that out.

However you can install the .deb files that you can get from ATI cd /usr/src/ tar xjf fglrx-tar-bzr cd /usr/src/modules/fglrx

then get the patch from [url=http://darcs.frugalware.org/repos/frugalware-current/source/x11-extra/fglrx/fglrx-2.6.20.patch]http://darcs.frugalware.org/repos/frugalware-current/source/x11-extra/fglrx/fglrx-2.6.20.patch[/url]

run the patch using the command patch < /path/to/fglrx-2.6.20.patch

and then compile the modules using following steps of 4.1c here [url=http://www.stanchina.net/~flavio/debian/fglrx-installer.html]http://www.stanchina.net/~flavio/debian/fglrx-installer.html[/url]

Lord bless the smart people that figured all this out!

Mission Log Launch from Bamfield We prepared the glider for launch in Victoria, and had the glider ballasted and programmed for the Bamfield-Ucluelet mission before leaving the Institute of Ocean Sciences in Sidney. On March 6th we loaded Paul Lacroix's truck with the glider and all tools necessary for a complete breakdown and rebuild of the glider, in case any problems arose.

Arriving at Bamfield after a bumpy ride up we unpacked the glider and began going through our pre-launch tests. We found that the ride into Bamfield had proved too much for the glider, and the glider failed its first test. We opened the glider up to find that the large lead weight that sits in the center of the science bay had shaken loose and was stopping the pitch motor from operating. We collected the parts that had become loose and reattached the lead weight where it was supposed to be attached. This failure we believe to be directly resulted from the shocks that the gliders experienced on the drive into Bamfield. Re-launching the glider from the dock we were able to successfully complete the pre launch tests.

The morning of the launch we did a demonstration to a number of people working at the Bamfield Marine Sciences Centre. This demonstration went well, with all missions being completed successfully.

We loaded up the glider and equipment into the Bamfield Marine Sciences Centre boat and headed to the mount of Barkley Sound to launch the glider into Barkley Canyon leaving the dock at 10:00. We arrived on the launch site to find 3.5 metre swells and 20-30 knot winds. Before launching the glider the glider ran through the status mission successfully. We launched the glider and directed the glider to run ini1.mi as our last test mission. The glider dove and surfaced as expected and finished the mission successfully. At this point we sequenced the Bamfield mission to run twice. This meant that if the glider finished the mission or aborted it would try and run the Bamfield mission again and if it finished or aborted that mission it would then wait on the surface for us to pick it up. The glider dove as expected and the launch team headed back to the BMSC dock.

Within thirty minutes of arriving back on the shore, Ralf Bachmayer phoned Jeff Richards to let him know that the glider had aborted the Bamfield mission reporting a leak. The launch team was reassembled and headed back out to the launch site to collect the leaking glider.

Once within Freewave range we were able to receive regular gps fixes from the glider and had relatively little difficulty finding the glider (considering the state of the ocean). A rope was attached to the tail of the glider and it was suggested and agreed that we tow the glider into calmer waters before attempting to pull it on board. However, after two minutes of towing Jeff Richards noticed that something was wrong with the glider. Upon closer inspection we discovered that towing in the heaving seas had broken off the wings of the glider. At which point we decided to bring the glider onboard to avoid further damage. This was done successfully and we safely reached the BMSC wharf once again.

The glider was completely disassembled to search for water and sources of that water. A small amount of water (5ml) was found in the glider in the bow cylinder. The other sections of the glider remained dry. All O-rings and O-ring grooves were inspected, cleaned, re-greased and re-installed. We found that the through hull fitting that connects the CTD to the interior electronics was loose and concluded that tightening this fitting would stop the leak. Analysis of the data showed us that the glider aborted after on its third dive. Being after 16:00 by this time we decided to wait until the following day to attempt to re-launch the glider.

Re-launch from Bamfield Our re-launch took place under very similar ocean conditions seas 3.3 meters and winds around 20 knots. We traveled out to the launch position and ran through the status mission successfully. We launched the glider and ran the ini3 mission. This mission had been modified to force the glider to do some deeper dives. This mission was also completed successfully and the Bamfield mission was again sequenced to run twice. The glider dove as expected and we headed around behind the nearest island to get out of the weather while we waited to see if there would be immediate problems. After one hour of waiting we headed back to the BMSC dock. After receiving one regular update from the glider we packed up our equipment and returned to Victoria.

The glider made regular calls home and was making steady progress on its mission until March 12th. On March 12th we experienced a 7-hour gap with no Iridium telephone calls. Then we received two more calls home before the Iridium stopped working. At this point the glider had just achieved its western-most waypoint. We were receiving ARGOS fixes from the glider and supposed that the glider would be still able to communicate via the Freewave.

Iridium Problems and First Rescue Attempt After three days of hoping for the Iridium to begin working again, we decided that we needed to perform a rescue mission. A team, Dean Steinke and Jeff Richards, traveled to Ucluelet and chartered a boat to attempt to rescue the glider. The chartered boat was the "Discovery" chartered from Subtidal Adventures, a local whale watching company. The boat was a rigid hull inflatable with twin 225 Evinrude outboard motors. The Freewave was mounted on the tallest portion of the vessel approximately 15 feet above the water.

The morning of March 15th we traveled to the most recent ARGOS fix which (Latitude: 48° 46.06' Longitude: -125° 50.19' received March 14th 20:16 UTC) and spent two hours patrolling the area. Unfortunately, with such an old ARGOS fix and low antenna mounting, we were unable to locate the glider. With no new ARGOS fixes coming in and no certainty as to the status of the glider, we returned to Victoria to regroup.

Steady ARGOS Fixes and Second Rescue Attempt March 16th we began to receive more ARGOS fixes. When the ARGOS fixes came with 10 km of the shore we decided to try setting up a shore based Freewave station to try and connect with the glider should it come within range. ARGOS fixes kept coming regularly and we were able to see that the glider was not moving very much. From this information we concluded (incorrectly) that the glider must be sitting on the surface trying to maintain its position so that we could pick it up. This is standard operation for a glider that has aborted its mission.

After speaking with the Coast Guard staff at the Amphithrite Point Station we set up our land based station and waited for the glider to surface. With the Freewave antenna mounted near the top of a tree on a cliff we hoped to be able to connect with the glider. Unfortunately, we were unable to make a connection, we were able to confirm through ARGOS data that the glider had surfaced while our shore-based Freewave station was setup but we did not connect.

The Sunday the 18th we chartered the Galacia, a 40 foot salmon troller that was in harbor to have its stove repaired to go out and hunt for the glider. With the Freewave antenna mounted 40 feet up we traveled to the latest fix that we had received for the glider (Latitude: 48° 50.31' Longitude: -125° 41.43' March 18th 14:19 UTC). Upon reaching this point we traveled southwards two kilometers and then turned around and travelled northward on this line three and a half kilometers before connecting to the glider. We found that the glider was seven hundred metres from our position and we were able to collect it without incident. All told we were on the water three and a half hours.

Conclusion Inspection of the data showed that the glider had in fact been running the Bamfield mission without error the entire time and had been unable to make

I run smbclient -L <hostname> I see all the shares but when I try to actually get a directory listing I get a permission denied error. Grrr..

The solution from [url=http://gentoo-wiki.com/HOWTO_Setup_Samba]http://gentoo-wiki.com/HOWTO_Setup_Samba[/url] I get a Permision denied message trying to access a Windows 2000, XP, 2003: Make sure you have Guest account enabled on Windows machines and Guest have sharing permissions over the shares. Sometimes this is not trivial due to the permissions editing of a carpet is not shown by default in some Windows systems. If it is enabled, right click on the share, pick up the Permissions section and add Guest user with the appropriate rights (probably full control full control can be security risk. "Modify" provides read/write and create/delete without the more dangerous abilities).

And now I can the website backed up. yay

Dean and I hit the waves, best day for me in ages. I like the waves that are big but not too big, small, but not too small. And today was great conditions, not too windy either!!

And I didn't get really freezing cold until the end of the day. All that excercise before lunch time. My body doesn't know what hit it! Now if only I had fixed up my wetsuit, retaped all those seems that are starting to wear and fixed the zipper. Then it would be even better!

Yow!