Subj : Re: Lacros To : Barry Martin From : Ky Moffet Date : Fri Aug 18 2023 08:40:00 BARRY MARTIN wrote: > Hi Ky! > 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. I had a couple of beige-box G3 systems come through the slushpile when I was the local user grope's hardware dude. I have never seen so much awful packed into such a small space. Two nominally identical systems were every which different inside, like Packard Smell run amok and then through a crusher to make it small. Not worth the trouble to get running... junked both of them. First Mac I was ever called to repair... fan gave out in the power supply. Should be an easy replacement, right? Nope... the PSU was riveted together AND riveted into the case such that you couldn't get at the rivet heads to pop them loose. Owner ended up leaving the case propped open instead (probably better ventilation than the fan provided anyway). I have a G4 of the silver tower era -- it's much less awful, tho was highly amused to discover that everything inside, except for the mainboard and CPU, is an off the shelf PC part. At some point I borrowed the vidcard and have no idea if it got its original back, but it works. Also gave it RAM from the PC drawer, and an IDE SSD. Performance is now much better. Someone paid $3,999.99 for it in 2000... at the time it was performance-equivalent to a P2-500 from 1998 that sold for $600. > > 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! Not me! Here it's DuckDuckGo, or less often StartPage or Yandex. > > 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 See? That was easy! > > > > 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). Picky, picky!! Well, the driver didn't change so why it worked ONCE but then never again is a total mystery. Mind you this was ONCE and then never again on the SAME DAY with nothing between but a restart. Power down did not fix. > > 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 That's about right :) > 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. I keep the things on hand because they're quick and easy and the RealTek chips are recognized by just about anything. So something that lacks a NIC or is out of convenient range of the network kudzu -- no problem! > .. You Matter. Until multiply self x speed of light ý, then you Energy. þ RNET 2.10U: ILink: Techware BBS þ Hollywood, Ca þ www.techware2k.com --- QScan/PCB v1.20a / 01-0462 * Origin: ILink: CFBBS | cfbbs.no-ip.com | 856-933-7096 (454:1/1) .