Been a while!

Since I last wrote, I have acquired and used Xandros 4.0 Home Edition Premium, Kubuntu 6.06 in a five CD shipment I received from them (I have given away one of them so far), and I have tested SimplyMEPIS as it approaches release.

Second disk getting well populated

I do not have as much spare time as I once did to do software testing. By day, I am now a software project manager. By niight, I have family and other responsibilities. I do, a couple of times a month, though, downlaod and install various software distributions, so my second disk is finally getting well populated.

Kubuntu and Xubuntu work GREAT!

Kubuntu and Xubuntu have to qualify as two of the most improved distributions this year. In my book, they now rate among the top distributions, at least for my style of custom home desktop system.

New *Ubuntu stuff

I am not a big fan of the base Ubuntu stuff, but I do, from time to time, try out the other Ubuntu derivatives, and this evening, I am downloading and burning both Kubuntu and the brand new Xubuntu, both in Live CD form, and both in release 6.06 Beta Live. I will see how stable they run from Live CD before I decide whether to install them to the hard drive or not.

Trying out more distros

It has been a while since I have been able to either blog or test out distros, but tonight I hope to do a bit of both. Right now I am burning an ISO image for a Debian Live Sid image, and I previously burned and installed a recent test version of QiLinux. I have not had a chance to run either of them, but I have partitions set up for both, and I have installed QiLinux, just have not tried it out yet. I use GRUB to manage the boot blocks for my partitions, so I just have to set up a few new entries and load them both, then later I will give each a try.

I do tend to be partial to Debian based distros. My every day desktop is Libranet 3.0, which is really more of a Debian Sid distro now than anything else, since Libranet's future is uncertain. I really like Kanotix, SimplyMEPIS, and Xandros, too, plus I generally keep a version or two of Mandriva, Fedora Core, a BSD, and sometimes PCLinuxOS around. Right now I have KateOS out there, too.

Disk working fine, time to populate it

Once I took the time to open the case of the system again, I had no trouble locating the source of the problem I was having: the ribbon cable to the second IDE channel became loose or slightly dislodged from its connection to the mother board. I simply checked all of the connections and made sure that they were properly seated, and I found that when I had the system apart earlier, I must have put a strain on this particular cable and caused it to loosen. Simple matter of putting it back securely in place - it was only partially seated in its slot.

Now I have to start putting software on the new disk. Having the hardware does not equate to instant installations! I have many things to do these days, and toying with computers (or blogs, for that matter) do not always hit the top of my priority list).

Got a new disk, now to populate it

I got a 80 GB Western Digital hard drive to complement, and eventually replace my existing 40 GB Western Digital hard drive.

When I installed the disk, I took out a Zip drive, which was set to "Cable Select". I left the new disk at that same setting. The disk was recognized when I rebooted the system, but one of the devices, the DVD/ROM, no longer shows power and does not respond. Not sure if I accidentally disconnected it when I installed the new disk or if I have settings that are not being handled well, but now I have a new disk but no easy way to install software on it!

Will have to open the case again... nuts! I am quite a software buff, very experienced, but I am physically clumsy when it comes to hardware. I can, and have, installed disks, memory, modems, and network cards several times in the past. Each time, the most difficult thing for me is getting the components out or in - beginning with sliding the case out correctly. Hope I can do it right next time.

Dell, the manufacturer of the Dimension 4100 that I am working on, does make everything in modular enclosures to optimize assembly and low cost of parts, assembly, and maintenance. Hopefully I did not disturb the environment, but from the results, apparently I did SOMETHING wrong!