Subj : Lacros
To   : Ky Moffet
From : Barry Martin
Date : Wed Aug 16 2023 07:28:00


Hi Ky!

 >   KM> The problem with a Chromebook is that it's not a standard laptop,
 >   KM> so it needs a distro that's known to work with it. And not all of
 >   KM> them will. But a bunch do.
 > Good information on Chromebook and distribution options -- I'm going to
 > add to my information pool.  And yes, some computers are highly
 > proprietary: good in some ways, bad in others.
 KM> Good only if it's a vertical ecosystem and you don't need
 KM> anything external. This is the Apple model. Bad if you want
 KM> flexibility. This is everyone else. :)
 
Pretty much agree.  Back when I was selling computers we had the IBMs
and the Apples - at the time mainly MacIntoshes -- the G3's with the 
brightly-coloured cases (orange, blue, lime green).  The Rep would come
in every so often, I ask him stuff to learn.  Ends up he's has a 
computer repair shop so is quite familiar with the inner workings --
hardware and software,  

The Macs were great computers but the only way to upgrade was 
externally: no free slots inside.  IIRC the power supply was encased in 
epoxy as a heat sink but also couldn't swap it out.  Right now not
recalling about the hard drive but seems pretty much everything inside 
was not changeable.



 >   KM> I don't know if a Chromebook does a live boot from USB, but if
 >   KM> so, that's the way to test out various distros and see which
 >   KM> work.
 > It may but might also need a secret keyboard combination to do so.
 KM> One of the links that comes up in the DDG search is Google's on
 KM> how to load linux onto a Chromebook. I suppose such secrets are
 KM> there revealed. :)

Google, Bing, etc. are your friends!

And it pretty much took me longer to start typing in the question than 
to get an answer.  First hit:
https://www.wikihow.com/Enable-USB-Booting-on-Chromebook



 >   KM> than from the HD. When I had it on an ancient laptop it was
 >   KM> perfectly fine on 340mb RAM. It is odd, doesn't feel like linux
 >   KM> at all, and I never did get wifi to work. It's easy to use and
 >   KM> runs well even on a 20 year old PC. However... there's not just
 >   KM> one Puppy, there are literally hundreds. Just a few:
 > As for the WiFi, possibly needs a driver installed.  My HP laptop only
 > has 2.4 GHz capabilities so I added a dual-band dongle.  For the dongle
 > to work it needed to have a driver manually installed.  Semi-oddly my
 KM> To be more accurate, Wifi worked ONCE. Then never worked again.
 KM> It would go through the motions but nothing happened.
 KM> If there's no driver, the usual linux thing is the device simply
 KM> isn't available. It won't show up at all. This thought it was
 KM> there.

More or less right: the WiFi device will show up in lsusb but not in 
Settings > Network and other areas.  As for your critter, maybe the 
wrong driver was being used so it was detected but not useable (right 
chip, wrong instructions).


 > Lenovo laptop which pre-dated the HP one by probably ten years accepts
 > both bands.  ...Was going to update the WiFi module in the HP so I didn't
 > need to use the dongle (sticks out, potential for damage, loss); found
 KM> You can get little teeny Wifi dongles. I have some that are the
 KM> same size as a wireless mouse dongle. I have a bunch and have
 KM> found generally the smaller it is the better it works. Larger and
 KM> more expensive usually means older tech. So the $3 tiny one works
 KM> great. :)
 
Hmm: started reading that and thinging my response would be along the 
lines of "the stick-out part of mine is about the size of a thumb nail 
and I really don't use it all that often to warrent the price of a new
one just to be smaller".  Then reading the end and thinking a new-and- 
improved smaller one for a few dollars is something to keep in mind to 
go with those Amazon orders where I need another dollar or two to get to
the free shipping level.


 > one ... something 'odd' about the picture compared to the picture of the
 > original module.  Oh! Three antenna terminals! Duh!  The upgrade module
 > would fit but no 5 GHz antenna to connect to!
 KM> Whoops :)

Fortunately caught before ordering!  Kept finding better prices and 
options but the photos didn't show the antenna terminals.  



                     ¯                                 ®
                      ¯  BarryMartin3@MyMetronet.NET  ®
                     ¯                                 ®


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