[Tfug] Why EVERYTHING is a learning experience :)

[Jude Nelson]

I'm terribly sorry that happened :(

You are right--Atheros has mediocre support at best.  Whatever card you
choose to replace it, you can see whether or not it is compatible and
possibly how to install it by searching for it here:
http://www.linuxquestions.org/hcl/index.php/cat/10 (linuxquestions.org's
Hardware Compatibility List).  You can also see whether or not it DOESN'T
work by looking here: http://www.leenooks.com/page/show/Wifi (
www.leenooks.com is the Linux Hardware Incompatibility list).  From the
looks of things, I'd avoid Netgear and Broadcom wifi cards.

Also, regarding getting Sayabon Linux to boot from your disk...you'll need
to see whether or not there is a file called "menu.lst" under
/media/disk/boot/grub on your USB disk.  If not, create it and add this
entry:

title Sayabon Linux
root (hd1,0)
kernel /boot/<livecd-kernel> rootfstype=<your-disk-fs>
savedefault

...where <livecd-kernel> is the vmlinuz file in /media/disk/boot and
<your-disk-fs> is the filesystem that you formatted the USB disk with
(should be ext2, ext3, reiserfs, etc).  Once that's in place, run this
command:

sudo grub-install --root-directory=/media/disk /dev/sdb

That will install GRUB (the GRand Unified Bootloader, which most modern
distros including Ubuntu use) on the boot sector of your USB disk.  After
that, reboot, configure the BIOS to boot from the USB disk, and hope for the
best!

Regards,
Jude Nelson
On 8/3/07, Jim March <1.jim.march at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Today's coke spill on my Acer laptop at Buddy's turns out to be an
> interesting and low-cost learning experience.
>
> I flipped it over right away, managed a shutdown in Ubuntu, pulled
> power and battery and then wiped it down.  Left it to dry upside down.
>
> After a few hours at home, I carefully stripped everything and found
> that almost all the drink stayed in the keyboard.  I got it clear of
> everyplace else, washed the keyboard, let dry some more, re-assembled.
>
> I'm typing this on it :).
>
> Only one problem: the inboard WiFi adapter is fried.  I'm up using
> Ethernet straight from my router.
>
> Sigh.  OK, could be worse, right?
>
> The card was an Atheros which works pretty good but isn't perfect in
> Linux ("binary blob" driver of iffy reliability).  Turns out the card
> is a mini-PCI.
>
> Did some digging.  I will NOT be putting another mini-PCI card in, no
> way in hell.  Why?  Because it turns out there are a buttload of other
> things you can do with it - why waste it on WiFi?
>
> :)
>
> Check THIS out:
>
> http://www.globalamericaninc.com/other/mini_PCI_&_AGP.php
>
> Holy crap!  Let's see, we have a mini-PCI SATA *raid* controller(!),
> we've got dual gigabit ethernet controller, we've got improved
> audio(!) - what's in my Asus flat sucks wind.  We've got an entire
> low-end video card with 8megs RAM and a CRT cable included (gotta look
> up the chipset of course).  And for the crem-de-la-oh-my-GOD we've got
> an adapter and 11-inch cable to a pair of full-tilt PCI cards, one
> 3.3v and one 5v.  Can you picture an NVidia card in one?  I sure as
> hell can.  Maybe one in each...
>
> Oh yeah.  We bad.  Throw a custom plug into the access door to the
> mini-PCI area...
>
> ---
>
> This leads to a question: what do I do for WiFi?  PCMCIA comes to
> mind, or maybe USB.  There's a shitload of choices either way, for
> under $40.  Not that I need it right away of course...
>
> So.  If it hadn't been for the coke spill...I'd never have known I've
> got a muthafrackin' honest to dog EXPANSION SLOT!!!  TEH BADNESS!
>
> True, the laptop might not have enough power to drive one external PCI
> and definitely not two, but...the PCI pinouts are well known, splice
> in a small ATX desktop power supply to the dual-card board and snip
> the power lines to the mini-PCI card, good to go, it'll all fit in the
> custom case it would clearly need to one side of te "laptop"...
>
> :)
>
> Jim
>
> _______________________________________________
> Tucson Free Unix Group - tfug at tfug.org
> Subscription Options:
> http://www.tfug.org/mailman/listinfo/tfug_tfug.org
>