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46 lines
4.4 KiB
46 lines
4.4 KiB
WareLogging.
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= debian =
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There's a [Debian] netinstall for the Eee. The ISO weighs in at about 16 megs, so all you really need is a cheap USB stick and a network. So far it works like a charm, although you'll definitely want to read the model-specific documentation.
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* For the 900A I had to fiddle with GRUB a bit to get it to boot off the right device - during install, it may treat the installer USB stick as sda and the target drive as sdb. If you screw up the boot record like I did (it wrote to the stick instead of the SSD), re-image the USB stick and use the rescue mode of the Debian installer to fix the record. Might also need to check /etc/fstab. (I should link to instructions here.)
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* You might as well set [relatime] when mounting the SSD, although reputable sources claim it probably won't make much difference.
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* Wireless works on the 900A, but there's some kind of weirdness where the device (sometimes) loses its ability to spot networks after waking up from a suspend.
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* If you're like me, using Gnome, you will want to turn off "Show position of the pointer when Control key is pressed" under Preferences -> Mouse. Otherwise you'll get this funky concentric ring animation around the cursor all the time.
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* [http://wiki.debian.org/DebianEeePC/HowTo/Install Debian wiki eee howto]
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Stupid retarded regex-based markup in WalaCode. I will fix this eventually.
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= initial impressions =
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<[Brennen]> So I just bought one of these for about $300 (after taxes) at a BestBuy. I think it was a Best Buy. One of those huge stupid electronics + media + too many people asking you if you need any help stores. I got a 900A with a gig of RAM and 4 gigs of flash, running Xandros. Haphazard initial notes follow. Short version: Well-nigh useless out of the box, might improve with an OS upgrade, and if it doesn't I'm taking it back.
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Hardware:
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* The keyboard sucks, but this is almost a given. The touchpad buttons also suck more than seems necessary, but they're not very easy to hit accidentally which I guess is a plus.
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* The "1" key is in a weird place, right above tab. ESC could be a bigger target, but at least it's on the corner and easy to find.
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* I hate touchpads, but not as much as I hate those little red nipple / eraser things.
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* I like the overall case design. It feels pretty solid, doesn't weigh too much, looks pretty classy. Hinges are sturdy. Fake chrome on buttons looks stupid, but there's not much of it. I feel like it'd probably travel well.
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* The sound is better than I would have expected.
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* There's a fan. It makes noise. Not very much noise, but some.
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* Three USB ports (about which more in a moment), ethernet, audio in/out, VGA, and an SD card slot.
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* The screen is tiny, but bright and generally not that bad to read.
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* Some noticeable warmth, but not the kind of scary heat most laptops generate.
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* The fscking LEDs are kind of obnoxiously bright, especially the red battery power indicator when it shines right into your eye. I seriously might put masking tape over these or something.
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Software:
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* The default tab interface is not horrible (it ought to be easy enough for novice users to cope with), but it feels kind of sluggish and there's some clutter. Do we really need a tab full of things like shortcuts to Wikipedia and Google? There's also too much crap in the toolbar.
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* The update manager has a lame UI and seems to be broken anyway.
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* Xandros is a Debian derivative, and uses apt, but the default repositories are broken and a bunch of stuff I want isn't there. In fact, Xandros appears to suck donkey balls.
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** http://wiki.eeeuser.com/addingxandrosrepos - This looks like a pain in the ass.
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** http://www.eeebuntu.org/ ?
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* Default file manager is some KDE thing, and the only immediately obvious way to get to a console is via its Tools menu. Which gives you [Konsole]. Ok, Konsole is not terrible or anything, but why isn't there just an xterm icon somewhere?
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* Wireless configuration works, mostly.
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* Runs Firefox and Flash stuff smoothly.
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Fail:
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I plugged in an iPod. Amarok popped up. So far, so good. About five minutes later the iPod's database had been zapped, the whole system locked up hard, and I wound up having to restore the entire thing to factory defaults in order to get it to reboot. Fortunately, this is easy to do (F9 at startup). Unfortunately, I've now got a device which appears likely to become unusable and lose all local storage & configuration if it gets confused by a fucking USB drive.
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