Is this how time normally passes? Really slowly, in the right order?

State Of Play

CentOS 5.2 installs but won't boot.
Fedora 10 boots but won't install.

Currently running a yum update on Fedora 10 to get the new ATI drivers.  The current drivers keep blanking out - in text mode.

Update: CentOS 5.2 installs fine but won't boot.  Fedora 10 video handling is completely stuffed.

I guess I'll have to go back to Fedora 8 (which I know works properly, since it's been running on Yurie for a year) or 9, perhaps, and apply 12 or 6 months worth of updates, respectively.

Update: Fedora 9 actually seems to work.  And they've fixed the partitioning doobie.

Let's see if it boots once it's installed.

Update: Fedora 9 installs fine, boots fine, but the video drivers are complete crap.  Back to 8, then.

Meanwhile, my shiny new Radeon 4850 (which replaces my GeForce 9600GT, which worked okay but wasn't what I wanted, which replaced my GeForce 8800GT, which worked great for about 4 hours before a cable got snagged in the fan and it overheated and died, which replaced my Radeon 4850, which never worked right, which replaced my onboard video, which is what is causing all these problems with Fedora) just died. 

Well, I say died, when in fact it works fine as long as you don't install the driver.

Vista automatically installs the driver as soon as you log in.

Maybe it's overheated.  It came up with a grey screen and then stopped working, and I've found references to that behaviour from people who overclocked their cards.  Works fine on reboot until Vista actually starts up, so the card isn't actually dead dead, just slightly dead.

I'm going to play Final Fantasy IV on my DS while it cools off and my 64-bit copy of Fedora 8 downloads.

Yes, it was downloading when it grey-screened.

Anyway, I still have the 9600, so I can just swap cards and get going again if need be.

Update: After having some time to cool down, it's working again.  I've turned off the intelligent fan controller, so that case fans are running at full speed (which is only 1700rpm).  If that doesn't keep it cool, I'll fill the case with ice or something...

Update: Meh squared and cubed.  Gave up, stuck the 9600GT in Haruhi, and am installing Fedora 10 now.

Posted by: Pixy Misa at 01:16 PM | Comments (12) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)
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Christmas Shopping

Just say aargh.

I have four presents for my brother - he's easy to shop for.  Now I just have to get things for everyone else.

Last year I did potluck Ghibli movies - bought a bunch of Ghibli movies (and a copy of Millennium Actress, just to keep it interesting), wrapped them identically, and let people pick one each.

Which worked out great - we all ate too much and then lounged around watching Pom Poko.  But I don't know if it's something I can do two years in a row.  Nor can I think of any other anime I'd want try it with.

Posted by: Pixy Misa at 01:02 PM | No Comments | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)
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I Got Another Grub

Okay, Nagi is up and running (though Tsugumi and Zange-chan are out of commission until I can sort out VirtualBox's notworking), and it's time to wipe Haruhi and install Linux.

So off with the Vista and on with the CentOS 5.2, which installs smoothly, and then I get a grub.

That's it.  One word.  Grub.

I think that's how Yurie ended up with Fedora 8.

So, I says, no worries, I says, I'll load up Fedora 10 instead.  There's really not that much difference, it's a popular distribution, more up to date, and probably has better hardware support.

Except not.

They've enabled a little feature called "kernel modesetting", which is an attempt to de-crappify X's resolution switching.  The only problem is that it doesn't work on many common graphics chips - such as the one in Haruhi and Yurie (AMD 690G / ATI X1200).

That's okay though, since you can disable it at boot time on the installer.  Except not: That brings it up in a resolution my screen can't display.

That's okay though, since you can specify the resolution you want the installer to run at.  Except not.  That still brings it up in a resolution my screen can't display.

Specifying a nice safe 800x600 brings it up in 400x300, which is amusing but of little practical use, and then goes completely blank.  Specifying 1600x1200 tells you that's an unsupported mode, and provides a list of supported modes - including 1600x1200.  If I select that...  It brings it up in a resolution my screen can't display.

I could do a text mode install.  But I want to do some custom partitioning and LVM stuff, and that's a royal pain even in graphical mode.

So Linux in 2008 is zero for two here at Pixy Labs.

Update: Tried CentOS with a dead simple disk configuration.  Grub.  Now trying a Fedora 10 install in text mode with a more complex configuration (RAID-1 /boot, RAID-5 /).  If that works, I can put the GeForce 9600GT back in, do the install, update it to drivers that reportedly actually work, take the card out, copy everything across from Yurie, install the card in Yurie, install Fedora 10 there, update that as well, take the card out again, and then get on with what I was trying to do AT THE BEGINNING OF NOVEMBER.  (Which was: Get polls working in Minx.)

Posted by: Pixy Misa at 11:37 AM | Comments (3) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)
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Blargh!!

VirtualBox pooped on my shoes.

I was wondering why I was having all these network issues, and none of the usual tricks (reset modem, reset network interface, reset computer, swear a lot) was helping.

Then I disabled VirtualBox's NAT driver thingy.  And everything immediately started working.

Bleh.

Posted by: Pixy Misa at 10:32 PM | No Comments | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)
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Need More Computers

Yesterday installed Fedora 10 on Zange-chan.
Currently installing OpenSolaris on Tsugumi.
Then Windows XP on Takako (and Shino as well if I can find a spare key).

Next, I'll wipe Haruhi and load CentOS 5.2 with OpenVZ, and spin off Yuki, Mikuru, Ryoko and Tsuruya as CentOS userlands, variously 32-bit (for application servers) and 64-bit (for databases and stuff).

Then I can move everything off Yurie and load up CentOS 5.2 there as well, and then likewise fire up Mitsue, Matsuri, Miko and Chou-chan.

Hey, that's only 15 computers!  Just wait until I've validated this plan and put it into production.  My plans for '09 involve spreading mu.nu and mee.nu (and their friends) out across at least 20 virtual servers.

Which means I'm going to run out of names very quickly.

Posted by: Pixy Misa at 11:42 AM | Comments (2) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)
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It Was A Crazy Idea Anyway

Xen doesn't work under CentOS under VirtualBox under Vista.

Posted by: Pixy Misa at 12:49 AM | No Comments | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)
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Remember

Always lie to the Microsoft activation robot.

It's not entirely stupid, and doesn't give you a second chance.

Posted by: Pixy Misa at 03:47 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)
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Pon Pon

Since everyone everywhere seems intent on banning everything, here are some animated breasts.

Posted by: Pixy Misa at 08:47 PM | Comments (8) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)
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Meme Plague

My turn!

• What anime are you watching now?

Kannagi, Toradora, and Hyakko.  May return to Kemeko, Index and Macademi Wasshoi as well, but only if I'm bored - or avoiding work.

• What is your favourite time to watch?

The middle of the night.

• And your favourite place?

Lying on my bed, watching it on my notebook, since I have no convenient place to set up my TV.

• Who is your favourite auteur?

Hayao Miyazaki.

• Your favourite OST?

Devil Hunter Yohko.

• What is the most difficult anime you’ve ever watched?

Reign.  I was in a crowded cinema during an anime film festival, and couldn't leave my seat easily (and didn't want to miss the next item, though I've now forgotten what that was).

Reign is terrible.

• What was the first anime you remember watching?

Kimba.  Would have been around 1971.

• Do you have a comfort show that you re-watch?

No.  I have hundreds of unwatched DVDs, tapes, and laser disks, never mind the fansubs.

I do rewatch OPs and EDs though.

• What is the most erotic anime you’ve watched?

I've watched a few hentai OVAs; most of them were crap, but I liked the first episode of F³.

• Which classic should you have watched?

Akira, maybe.

• Which series did you never want to end?

Bleach.  Started off as a very interesting series, and then turned into just another Shounen Jump property.

• What is your most overrated anime?

Neon Genesis Evangelion.  It was the big thing when I was just getting seriously into anime.  It sucks.

• Which character could you have an affair with?

Urd.

Being on the wrong side of 40 puts a majority of anime characters in the ick category when it comes to even hypothetical relationships, but there's always the hot shounen mom brigade.

• Who is your favourite character?

Three guesses.

Actually, probably Lina Inverse.

• Which character do you most dislike?

Right now?  Kemeko.

• Which character do you identify with most?

Lina Inverse.  Except that she gets to blow up the idiots that annoy her.  Only wish I could Dragon Slave me some spammers.

• Which anime changed your life?

Ultimate Teacher.

Posted by: Pixy Misa at 01:37 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)
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My Next Upgrade



(Found while noodling about in Peo the yet-to-be-officially-announced project at my day job.)

Posted by: Pixy Misa at 06:03 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)
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