/usr/notes

After 2 days of installing (and re-installing), I finally settled. Hopefully this will stick for a long time.

After POST, the Debian's GRUB2 menu showed and I'm once again able to boot into the computer.

My take on Knoppix 7.2

How I setup Debian starting from a minimal, CLI, base installation to a GUI desktop running LXDE.

And only when I changed all 3, did the hostname change. Really?

Fuduntu à la OS X? LOL!

Trying Fuduntu 2013.1 in VirtualBox. Looks kind of "OS X-ish", don't you think?

This is obviously a parody; no bashing required.

It's been a few months since my personal laptop b0rked on me so I haven't updated in a while. I am using my Windows 7 work laptop but it just feels different...and I don't like using it for personal use because it might get broken and I'd be blamed. I really miss my old setup (Mageia 2, xmonad, rtorrent, Firefox and some essential apps). Good thing though that I could install VirtualBox and get my daily Linux fix on my work laptop. My current setup is Debian Squeeze, Awesome WM, Midori web browser and some essential apps. Trying to ease into Debian because I think I will be stuck with using my Raspberry Pi as I haven't yet any funds to get a new computer.

I use an old [Thinkpad X32](https://duckduckgo.com/?q=Thinkpad+X32) which doesn't come with a built-in wireless networking card. Fortunately, I have a [D-Link DWA-125 wireless USB adapter](http://www.dlink.com/us/en/home-solutions/connect/adapters/dwa-125-wireless-150-usb-adapter) lying around. But it only came with Windows drivers so I had to find a way to get it working on [CentOS 5.8](http://usrnotes.tumblr.com/tagged/centos-5.8). **The Driver** This here is the most critical part of getting your hardware installed and working. As luck would have it, D-Link does provide a Linux driver for this USB adapter. On the command line, do: [usr@hostname ~]$ wget ftp://www.dlinkla.com/pub/drivers/DWA-125/*LINUX*DWA-125*.tar*gz --directory-prefix=/tmp The driver is downloaded and puts it on the `/tmp` directory. **Prerequisite** At this point you do realize that the driver is in its `source` form and you need to build it. So it's best to see if you have the right tools. To be safe, in CentOS 5.8, I installed the `Development Tools` group: [usr@hostname ~]$ su -c 'yum groupinstall "Development Tools"' **Installing the Driver*** Go to `/tmp` and do the following: [usr@hostname ~]$ cd /tmp [usr@hostname tmp]$ tar -xzf *LINUX*DWA-125*.tar.gz [usr@hostname tmp]$ cd 2009_1204_RT3070_Linux_STA_v2.1.2.0 [usr@hostname 2009_1204_RT3070_Linux_STA_v2.1.2.0]$ su - Password: [usr@hostname 2009_1204_RT3070_Linux_STA_v2.1.2.0]# make [usr@hostname 2009_1204_RT3070_Linux_STA_v2.1.2.0]# make install **Starting the Driver** My computer doesn't have a wireless adapter builtin so [I didn't need to blacklist a certain driver](http://people.scs.carleton.ca/~barbeau/Linux/DWA_125_and_Ubuntu%20_10_04.pdf) (PDF). All I needed to do was: [usr@hostname 2009_1204_RT3070_Linux_STA_v2.1.2.0]# modprobe rt3070sta A restart should ensure that the driver is started. And that's it! The driver is now installed and wireless is ready for use.

Not too much [deviation from the default install](http://usrnotes.tumblr.com/post/32592752990/i-finally-got-centos-5-8-up-and-running). Just modified the launchers in the top panel and changed the background. I like this background -- it's way cleaner -- than the default one. I still like `Gnome 2.x` over the new one. It's just easier to configure and stuff.

*This is a general question to all those who might stumble upon this post and happen to use Linux.* I've been using Linux for quite some time now as my prime OS but I feel that I haven't improved as much as I would've wanted to. I mean I can install quite a number of Linux distros and have them up and running. But once I get everything set up, I stagnate. This happens when I finished setting up X, installing a web browser and installing a bit torrent client. Once those are installed, I end up just wasting hours browsing away and get bored. Then I think it's time to "distro hop" and try a new Linux OS. I guess it's the rush of getting a new distro up and running over the weekend that makes me do it ever so often; but I stagnate again. And so I go in this cycle, like I'm caught in an infinite loop. **What I am after when I use Linux is to learn to be better at/with Linux.** But I can't seem to move forward after I set it up the way I want it to be. [This is a good start](http://www.bschaefe.net/going-from-professional-dishwasher-to-professional-linux-sysadmin/) but other tips are welcome.

 After having installed [the minimal version of CentOS 6.3](http://usrnotes.tumblr.com/post/32318937331/so-i-just-finished-downloading-the-centos-6-3) on a VirtualBox machine on my work computer, I decided to make my personal laptop run [CentOS](http://www.centos.org) as well. I really believed that I could [stick with one Linux distribution](http://usrnotes.tumblr.com/post/29970422413/there-are-2-things-to-using-a-not-so-mainstream) for the rest of the year but after a month of using my previous Linux distro, I felt that I needed to try something else (as I always do, apparently). I spent the whole weekend trying to install CentOS on my laptop. First, since I already had the `netinstall` ISO of CentOS 6.3, I tried installing that. Unfortunately, my TP X32 is old so version [6.x wouldn't install because it does not have PAE](http://wiki.centos.org/FAQ/CentOS6#head-d31388203ee81d3a47cb97bfc1c8206c3de85095). I moved down a version and decided to go with version 5.8 instead. The funny thing is, I had to install (and reinstall) it three times! I used a bootable USB drive with the `netinstall` ISO and having a not-so-fast connection, it took around 3-4 hours to complete each install. **First attempt:** Chose to install using the default settings. Ended up getting a `grub>` prompt when I rebooted from install; almost tore all of what's left of my hair out. After one hour of searching the Internet and getting pissed that `grub> ls` is a bad command, I decided to reinstall. During boot, chose the USB drive to be my boot device, and lo and behold! `grub` was installed into the USB! Anyway, I was able to boot into CentOS with GNOME 2.x desktop environment. Tried, for another hour, to transfer `grub` to the hard drive but managed to make the computer loop at the boot sequence. Eff! Decided to reinstall in the end. **Second attempt:** Recreated the bootable USB to the `netinstall` ISO, rebooted the computer, booted off of the USB and did a reinstall. This time, I made sure to choose the hard disk to be where the boot loader will be installed. Turned out the same with the first attempt; the boot loader was installed to the USB. Then an idea struck, but I did another reinstall... **Third attempt:** The idea, remove the USB stick before the installation begins! I was only speculating that once the media has been booted, all things are running from RAM. So when the installer got to the language selection screen, I pulled out the USB drive crossing my fingers that nothing funny happens. And nothing unwanted happened and installation pushed through. Now I have Centos 5.8 up and running with GNOME 2.16.0 and I realized that I miss this desktop environment a lot! It just brings back the memories of my first attempt with Linux, way back in 2008 with Ubuntu 8.10. I wasn't expecting this post to be this long but I really had to note down (and get off my chest) how I triumphed over the really bizarre incidents with the boot loader being installed on the USB drive instead of to the hard drive.