The Vent and Rant Thread - Page 462

dreams · 12-11-2009, 05:51 PM

From pilotbob's post

Quote:

Originally Posted by zelda_pinwheel View Post
1. kitten jumped from the table to my shoulder about 1 meter away. problem : i was completely naked at the time, having just got out of the shower.

2. kitten jumped onto one of my friend's shoulder, from about 1 meter behind her. problem : we were completely naked at the time, having just got out of the shower.

Quote:

Originally Posted by pilotbob

Ok, I can haz fantazy.

BOb

See what happens if you read posts from the bottom up?

This just taught me I'd better read them in the correct order

DMcCunney · 12-11-2009, 07:20 PM

Pet peeve: people who create install packages for software and apparently don't actually test them before release.

I run a Linux distro called Puppy Linux on my old Fujitsu Lifebook. Puppy is intended for older slower hardware, which the Lifebook is, with an 867mhz CPU, a slow HD, and a whopping 256MB of RAM. Puppy has been reported to run on P200 systems with 64MB of RAM, and it's a decent fit for the Lifebook. It's not what you'd call speedy, due to the slow HD, but things run without growing old and grey waiting for them.

But Puppy is a custom distro with its own package format. It doesn't use Red Hat RPM or Debian DEB files, which are the most common package formats. Instead, Puppy uses a package called a PET file, and various Puppy users have repackaged programs as PET files for use on Puppy.

Someone created a PET of Siag Office. Siag is intended as a lightweight office suite, with Word Processor, Spreadsheet, Calculator, File Manager, et al, for lower end machines. It installs fine, with one minor problem...

Linux, like Windows, makes extensive use of shared libraries - common code used by more than one program. On Windows, these are DLL (Dynamic Link Library) files. On Linux, they are .so files. Most libraries live in /usr/lib.

One library used by half of the Linux programs in creation is libtermcap. Programs expect to see /usr/lib/libtermcap.so.2, which in turn is a symbolic link to /usr/lib/libtermcap.so.2.0.8.

The Siag Office pet changes that, making /usr/lib/libtermcap.so.2 a smbolic link to a private copy of libtermcap.so.2.0.8 in an Siag Office directory, which apparently doesn't exist. So anything that needs to access libtermcap can't, because libtermcap.so.2 is a pointer to the real library, which doesn't exist. Try to reboot, and the system goes into an endless error loop, because login wants to access libtermcap.so.2 and cant.

I had to reboot from the Puppy CD, manually mount the hard drive partition where my Puppy install lives, and open a console window to fix the bad link from a command line.

I posted a note on the Puppy forums in the thread announcing the release of the Siag Office package. I can't wait to see the response...

______
Dennis

badgoodDeb · 12-11-2009, 07:30 PM

Poor Puppy ... no wait, that's a bunny suit in your avatar, isn't it?

Sorry about the bad install, though.

desertgrandma · 12-11-2009, 07:38 PM

Everything bad I have ever done or said or thought has just come back and bit me in the BUTT!!!

Laptop is with computer guy.

Corrupted something, couldn't download updates now its toast, and he has to wipe the hd and reinstall os.

Did I back ANYTHING up??? Oh, hell no, why would I do that?? It would never happen to me because I'm to frackin' careful, right?

Over 900 books..........gone.............'sob. Wait.........probably 600plus on kindle SD card......

:bigcry :

There aren't enough bad words in the language to call myself..........

pilotbob · 12-11-2009, 07:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DMcCunney

I run a Linux distro called Puppy Linux on my old Fujitsu Lifebook. Puppy is intended for older slower hardware, which the Lifebook is, with an 867mhz CPU, a slow HD, and a whopping 256MB of RAM. Puppy has been reported to run on P200 systems with 64MB of RAM, and it's a decent fit for the Lifebook. It's not what you'd call speedy, due to the slow HD, but things run without growing old and grey waiting for them.

Looks like the bunny's chasing the puppy for a change.

BOb

DMcCunney · 12-11-2009, 07:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by badgoodDeb

Poor Puppy ... no wait, that's a bunny suit in your avatar, isn't it?

Yes. Specifically, it's Glenda the bunny, the mascot of the Bell Labs Plan 9 open source OS project.

Quote:

Sorry about the bad install, though.

Thanks, but it's an annoyance rather than a disaster. I triple boot Win2K Pro, Xubuntu 9.10, and Puppy on the Lifebook, and I don't keep anything I'd hate to lose on the Puppy partition. (The copy of my ebook library on the Lifebook, for instance, live on the Windows partition. Both Linux flavors can read it, and FBReader will open and display the books just fine.)

Puppy is an experimental testbed, which I've already had to wipe and redo a couple of times. At least I could fix this without having to resort to that measure.

I will be curious to see the response from the packager, which I expect to be a variant of "Oops..."

______
Dennis

dreams · 12-11-2009, 08:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by desertgrandma

Everything bad I have ever done or said or thought has just come back and bit me in the BUTT!!!

Laptop is with computer guy.

Corrupted something, couldn't download updates now its toast, and he has to wipe the hd and reinstall os.

Did I back ANYTHING up??? Oh, hell no, why would I do that?? It would never happen to me because I'm to frackin' careful, right?

Over 900 books..........gone.............'sob. Wait.........probably 600plus on kindle SD card......

:bigcry :

There aren't enough bad words in the language to call myself..........

Oh, NO! So sorry, dg.

Quote:

Originally Posted by desertgrandma

Everything bad I have ever done or said or thought has just come back and bit me in the BUTT!!!

I seriously don't think you could have possibly had much of anything that would qualify for that. At least the laptop can be saved and you have most of your books on the Kindle card. (have to think of some of the good, right?) Now, start thinking of a backup system to use once you get the laptop back.

I hope you have the laptop back soon.

PS>I keep telling myself I will backup the laptop I use for my books and just haven't got around to it yet. I've already crashed the other laptop and it ended up cheaper to buy this one than fix the old one. Then the old desktop PC just greeted me with the screen of death asking for the original system disks (which I didn't have

). I only used it for the Palm and the mobi books.. so decided I'd wait and get a Win 7 system to replace it sometime.

Yikes! Time to just buy an external drive and get with it, before it's me posting the same message.

DMcCunney · 12-11-2009, 08:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by desertgrandma

Everything bad I have ever done or said or thought has just come back and bit me in the BUTT!!!

Laptop is with computer guy.

Corrupted something, couldn't download updates now its toast, and he has to wipe the hd and reinstall os.

Did I back ANYTHING up??? Oh, hell no, why would I do that?? It would never happen to me because I'm to frackin' careful, right?

Computer guy should be able to rescue stuff from the HD before wiping and reinstallation.

When I have to do something like that, I install the drive as an additional drive on another machine. Windows sees it and it shows up as a drive in My Computer. I can access it, and copy stuff I want to keep off of it elsewhere before I wipe and reinstall.

It's also possible to reinstall Windows without wiping the drive, and I've done so. (It's non-standard and non-intuitive, so it's easy enough to not know it can be done.) It removes and replaces the Windows installation without touching the rest of the file system. You still have to reinstall most of your programs, because they require entries in the Windows registry to function, and re-installing Windows wipes and recreates the registry, but your data should still be there and unaffected.
______
Dennis

desertgrandma · 12-11-2009, 09:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DMcCunney

Computer guy should be able to rescue stuff from the HD before wiping and reinstallation.

When I have to do something like that, I install the drive as an additional drive on another machine. Windows sees it and it shows up as a drive in My Computer. I can access it, and copy stuff I want to keep off of it elsewhere before I wipe and reinstall.
______
Dennis

Thank Dennis. Have emailed to see if he's doing this.

I guarantee, I only have to be hit upside the head once.

Just need to decide if I need to go with Carbonite, (heard they lost lots of customer data last march,) or portable hard drive...........

pilotbob · 12-11-2009, 09:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by desertgrandma

Thank Dennis. Have emailed to see if he's doing this.

I guarantee, I only have to be hit upside the head once.

Just need to decide if I need to go with Carbonite, (heard they lost lots of customer data last march,) or portable hard drive...........

You might want to check out Crash Plan. I am thinking of getting the family plan to back up the 5+ PCs we have here.

Here is a quick article/review of it.

http://silvexis.com/2009/09/06/crash...ckup-solution/

BOb

desertgrandma · 12-11-2009, 09:48 PM

$60 yearly to cover all computers sounds like a good deal.

This sounds like a good plan.

Dylrob · 12-11-2009, 10:11 PM

Ugh, I updated my dSLR's firmware... now the manual white balance won't work properly!

kindlekitten · 12-11-2009, 11:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by desertgrandma

Everything bad I have ever done or said or thought has just come back and bit me in the BUTT!!!

Laptop is with computer guy.

Corrupted something, couldn't download updates now its toast, and he has to wipe the hd and reinstall os.

Did I back ANYTHING up??? Oh, hell no, why would I do that?? It would never happen to me because I'm to frackin' careful, right?

Over 900 books..........gone.............'sob. Wait.........probably 600plus on kindle SD card......

:bigcry :

There aren't enough bad words in the language to call myself..........

you had a bunch of stuff not on the Kindle!? oh no!!!! sweetie!!! hugs!

Quote:

Originally Posted by desertgrandma

$60 yearly to cover all computers sounds like a good deal.

This sounds like a good plan.

I have been thinking about getting an external hard drive as more and more of my pictures, music, and now books are on the laptop. let us know what you think of it

wodin · 12-12-2009, 12:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by desertgrandma

Did I back ANYTHING up??? Oh, hell no, why would I do that?? It would never happen to me because I'm to frackin' careful, right?

How do YOU spell http://www.carbonite.com/home.aspx ?

kennyc · 12-12-2009, 06:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by desertgrandma

Thank Dennis. Have emailed to see if he's doing this.

I guarantee, I only have to be hit upside the head once.

Just need to decide if I need to go with Carbonite, (heard they lost lots of customer data last march,) or portable hard drive...........

I'm sorry DGM. I learned this lesson about 20 years ago and am never completely happy unless my important stuff is backed up on at least 2 different media.

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12-11-2009, 07:20 PM	#6917
DMcCunney New York Editor Posts: 6,384 Karma: 16540415 Join Date: Aug 2007 Device: PalmTX, Pocket eDGe, Alcatel Fierce 4, RCA Viking Pro 10, Nexus 7	Pet peeve: people who create install packages for software and apparently don't actually test them before release. I run a Linux distro called Puppy Linux on my old Fujitsu Lifebook. Puppy is intended for older slower hardware, which the Lifebook is, with an 867mhz CPU, a slow HD, and a whopping 256MB of RAM. Puppy has been reported to run on P200 systems with 64MB of RAM, and it's a decent fit for the Lifebook. It's not what you'd call speedy, due to the slow HD, but things run without growing old and grey waiting for them. But Puppy is a custom distro with its own package format. It doesn't use Red Hat RPM or Debian DEB files, which are the most common package formats. Instead, Puppy uses a package called a PET file, and various Puppy users have repackaged programs as PET files for use on Puppy. Someone created a PET of Siag Office. Siag is intended as a lightweight office suite, with Word Processor, Spreadsheet, Calculator, File Manager, et al, for lower end machines. It installs fine, with one minor problem... Linux, like Windows, makes extensive use of shared libraries - common code used by more than one program. On Windows, these are DLL (Dynamic Link Library) files. On Linux, they are .so files. Most libraries live in /usr/lib. One library used by half of the Linux programs in creation is libtermcap. Programs expect to see /usr/lib/libtermcap.so.2, which in turn is a symbolic link to /usr/lib/libtermcap.so.2.0.8. The Siag Office pet changes that, making /usr/lib/libtermcap.so.2 a smbolic link to a private copy of libtermcap.so.2.0.8 in an Siag Office directory, which apparently doesn't exist. So anything that needs to access libtermcap can't, because libtermcap.so.2 is a pointer to the real library, which doesn't exist. Try to reboot, and the system goes into an endless error loop, because login wants to access libtermcap.so.2 and cant. I had to reboot from the Puppy CD, manually mount the hard drive partition where my Puppy install lives, and open a console window to fix the bad link from a command line. I posted a note on the Puppy forums in the thread announcing the release of the Siag Office package. I can't wait to see the response... ______ Dennis

12-11-2009, 07:30 PM	#6918
badgoodDeb Grand Sorcerer Posts: 8,555 Karma: 64462893 Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Harrisburg outskirts Device: Palms, K1-4s, iPads, iPhones, KV, KO1	Poor Puppy ... no wait, that's a bunny suit in your avatar, isn't it? Sorry about the bad install, though.

12-11-2009, 07:38 PM	#6919
desertgrandma Enjoying the show.... Posts: 14,270 Karma: 10462843 Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Arizona Device: A K1, Kindle Paperwhite, an Ipod, IPad2, Iphone, an Ipad Mini & macAir	Everything bad I have ever done or said or thought has just come back and bit me in the BUTT!!! Laptop is with computer guy. Corrupted something, couldn't download updates now its toast, and he has to wipe the hd and reinstall os. Did I back ANYTHING up??? Oh, hell no, why would I do that?? It would never happen to me because I'm to frackin' careful, right? Over 900 books..........gone.............'sob. Wait.........probably 600plus on kindle SD card...... :bigcry : There aren't enough bad words in the language to call myself..........

12-11-2009, 09:48 PM	#6926
desertgrandma Enjoying the show.... Posts: 14,270 Karma: 10462843 Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Arizona Device: A K1, Kindle Paperwhite, an Ipod, IPad2, Iphone, an Ipad Mini & macAir	$60 yearly to cover all computers sounds like a good deal. This sounds like a good plan.

12-11-2009, 10:11 PM	#6927
Dylrob Murderous Mustela Posts: 10,234 Karma: 48000000 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: The other land of schnitzel and beer Device: iPad M1 Pro, Kindle Paperwhite	Ugh, I updated my dSLR's firmware... now the manual white balance won't work properly!