Ubuntu Upgrade Followup
I finally had a spare moment to do some testing, and discovered that a lot of the problems I have been having (the slow boot, the remote not working, one or two others) stem from a single problem: the printer. Once the printer was unplugged, the system started up normally (though still a little slower than I would like) and the ATI remote started working. Plugging the printer in post-boot caused it to properly appear in lsusb (it wasn't before - which is why I suspected it as the problem).
A quick reinstall of the printer drivers later and the printer... still doesn't work. I don't really want to fight with it right now (I have my old configs and my new configs battling each other, plus firmware issues to deal with...), so I'll just print to the network printer on the rare occasion that I need to print (not too often since school ended).
Though I have to wonder... my copy of Windows 7 Ultimate shows up in the mail on the day that I am fighting with my Ubuntu install... is that some sort of sign, do you think?
Is Smallville Getting Better?
Well... perhaps. It's been a month since I last watched Smallville, and I have watched five episodes over the last few days. The show has always had its ups and downs, and these episodes certainly seem to show that it is in an upswing at the moment. Time will tell if it is a long-term one or not.
Of course, the obvious followup to the question in the title is this: is Smallville any good? The answer to that is no. It is not good. It has miles to go before it could even be classified as 'alright, I guess'. Just to put things in perspective. It may be better than Heroes, though.
Here are the five episodes that I watched, along with me pointing out why they were so very very bad. Plus! A bonus idiotic computer moment for each episode!
Ovechkin is a Sith Apprentice
Just your average scary-looking hockey goon
And in my left hand I grab this:
Just your average scary-looking sith goon
Headgear, shoulder pads, action stance with the weapon in the right hand... Now I admit, I don't really follow hockey that much anymore, especially not the Washington Capitals (do you blame me?), so it must have escaped my notice when it was revealed that their left winger had turned to the Dark Side of the Force. Though really, how much better would the sport be with lightsabers and Force Lightning? I'd certainly watch. Well, once, at least.
Dawn of the First Day…
Long story short, it has been a crazy week and I don't want to leave this site alone for too long without updating it. I don't have the time or energy to write a full post of anything substantial, so I went back through some old emails and found a review of a game that I had written to my brother. Here is what I wrote in an email to my brother a year and a half ago (slightly edited and with a picture or two):
Majora's Mask is possibly the most creative Zelda game with the deepest story and the most complex and fully-realized world and characters. It goes way beyond 'fight Ganon and rescue the princess'. I don't want to directly compare it to too many other games, but I don't think I've felt such a connection to a game world in such some time. It's pure genius.
Oh, great… another Ubuntu upgrade…
I have been running Ubuntu for years now. I think the first version I installed was 5.10 (the Breezy Badger, to use the whimsical code name), and I have been using it as my main operating system since then. I usually do in-place upgrades when new releases come out (every six months). Generally, these upgrades are painful (I have never had an upgrade go smoothly), but are overall worth it for the speed or features that they bring to the table.
Earlier this week, I upgraded from 9.04 (Jaunty Jackalope) to 9.10 (Karmic Koala). I have not done a clean install on this computer since I first built it back in May of 2008, so that would make this my third Ubuntu upgrade since then. This is by far the worst upgrade experience that I have had to date. The actual install process was relatively smooth (a rarity for Ubuntu), but when it finished, I found that it had created all sorts of issues. Here are the problems that I have found so far since upgrading:
- Significantly longer boot times (both to the login screen and from login to desktop)
- Mythfrontend not working
- ATI remote not working
- Sound and video not working on every boot (it comes and goes)
- Sound (when 'working') full of loud pops and crackles
- Programs crashing and freezing
- Changed a number of default fonts to less attractive alternatives
- Changed default desktop to XFCE from Gnome
Now, these problems aren't altogether major (the system still works, and I can do most of the things I need to - most of the time), and certainly aren't insurmountable (I've already fixed a few of them). I also admit that many of them are due to me tweaking and bolting non-standard bits on to the install in the 18ish months since I first set it up (not the best situation for an upgrade at the best of times). Still, I think it may be the last straw. I'm just tired of fixing and refixing problems with the OS (the sound, mythfrontend, and remote are all things that I have had to fix at least once before - if not more). It can be fun when I am in the right mood and when the problem is new so I can learn from it, but the third or fourth time I need to spend hours messing with and testing sound libraries just to watch a TV show it loses a bit of its charm.
Just for comparison's sake, what about the OS has improved over the previous version?
- Firefox 3.5 (which I could have installed under 9.04 if I really wanted to)
- Other things that I neither notice or use
So the question then is, why did I upgrade? I knew that there wasn't a lot that this release would add or change, and I certainly didn't want to mess around fixing the OS after the upgrade (which I assumed would be necessary - though not to this extent). Honestly, I don't know why I upgraded. Perhaps the need to run the latest and greatest overruled my common sense. It wouldn't be the first time.
Where do I go from here? the way I see it, I have three options.
- Fix my current install (Pros: keep most of my settings and tweaks. Cons: time and frustration, plus need to do it all again in 6 months)
- Do a clean install of Ubuntu 9.10 (Pros: Keep the OS and programs I know and like, hopefully more stable and upgradeable than the current house of cards. Cons:Need to start from scratch on customization, including things I don't even remember doing)
- Switch to Windows 7 (Pros: No need to dual-boot for games, no more living in the Linux ghetto for HW and SW, I really like the OS. Cons: Less customizability, have to find suitable Windows alternatives for Linux programs I use, I want to keep running Linux)
I'm not sure what way I'm going to go. Right now option #3 is looking mighty nice, especially considering I already have a copy of Ultimate on the way (originally intended for the laptop, but I think that can keep on the RC for the time being). I doubt I'll do #2, I don't have the patience for a complete reinstall right now. For the moment, though, I'll probably just let it sit and fix the problems that are really annoying me as they come up.
Perhaps the real question should be this: if this release is the Karmic Koala, then what have I done to deserve this?
Links
Latest from Twitter
- Ranadok: When it does it for every third song like today, I end up suspicious of any song that doesn't have lyrics within the first four seconds. May 9, 2012
- Ranadok: Sometimes my phone puts one of the jazzier stock ringtones into the music shuffle on an infinite loop. Sometimes I don't notice. May 9, 2012
- Ranadok: To whichever sibling I stole this music from: you have good taste. To whichever sibling I stole that other music from: *slow head shake* April 29, 2012
Recent Posts
- A Tale of Two Stigs
- DHCP Cop – A Linux Script for DHCP lease email notification
- Android Updates – Froyo edition
- Books come in Electronic now?
- Okami
- Rogers Tech Support and Android: The Saga Continues
- A tale of two tech supports
- Doki Doki Cross Stitch
- My other little robo-buddy
- Braid is Merely Okay