 
HP m7480n
HP m7480n Machine Specs: 
The following table was extracted from the Intel literature. You can click on some of the headings and get more info... as of 13 Mar 09... Since it is Intel's, and I don't have a copy of the info you are taking pot luck as to whether or not it is there.
Still to do:
Intro - 25 Jan 07 I was lucky enough, a couple of days ago, to just be talking to my wife at the right time and she said I could get a new PC.
WOW!! I really wanted annnnd ... somewhat needed a new one...but was afraid to ask. With my new ventures into Virtual Machines I needed more disk space and more
RAM. The RAM in my present machine, DIMM SDRAM, is getting difficult to find and the cost is going up. The hard drive is another expense.
In addition, I just received as a present, Real Flight G3, an RC flight simulator and my current graphics card is not powerful enough to handle
everything. My daughter has the first HP that I ever purchased and it is way out of date. My current one is way more than she needs but, she will get it.
So, we both will get "new" PC's, so to speak. I haven't even gotten my new one yet and I am already writting this up.
One reason for starting this early is so that I can document everything that I must do and am going to do. The one saving grace is that I will get it with a Windows XP and NOT that new Vista crap.(hope that if/when I eat my words they taste good) This will be a big change for me anyway. I have one of the original versions of Windows XP and ... I have not been getting all of their updates. I believe that a lot of them were just as intrusive as they were helpful, if you can call them that. I am a strong believer in, "If it ain't broke don't fix it." I'm sure this version that is comming with this PC will have a lot/all of those updates. But then I dual-boot with SuSE Linux and spend most of my time in Linux. Ceptin for these WebPages which I do inside HomeSite, inside Win2K, inside VMware, inside Linux. Hmmmmmmm.... this is gona be a lot of work!! First things first Thanks to the Lord.
He gave me another Super Computer. Only this one is really Super!! One and a half
times the speed, better video and lots, lots more RAM. AND ... at only half the cost!!
(8) Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law.
(9) For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. (10) Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore ... love ... is the fulfilling of the law. Romans 13:8-10 Now we need to back up all that I haven't been backing up. Like everyone else I have been letting my back ups slip away a little. So now I need to move everything that I created, or saved, out to a DVD disc so that I can transfer all this to the new PC. Hope that it, the new 7480, is as well made as this one, the 9995, was. It has served me faithfully since December of 2001. Now here it is almost February of 2007. That is a little over 5 years. Jump or Flash Drive Now what is this doing in here?? I just got one. Again I have had the desire but not the need. Well, the need just came into being. One of my co-workers got a terrible virus on her PC. She wanted to save some new music files and some pictures and her favorites. Unfortunately, she does not have a writeable CD or DVD on her system. In the past, while working on her PC, I had connected to my Network, transferred the files to my PC and then wrote them out to a CD. Well this time I didn't want to connect her PC to my Network. So I got the Jump Drive and copied what she wanted to keep over to it. Then after restoring her system I copied her stuff from the Jump Drive back to her PC. You can perform wonders with 4GB of storage. My very first Hard Drive didn't even have that much space!! It arrived - 30 Jan 07
April 12th, 2013 / 6:27am Wish that we had been 'wise' enough to enter dates and times from the beginning. Would have made a lot of sense on some of this. -But- we are now so, here it is. As stated below, the UPS Truck arrived and they 'usually' come between 2 and 3:00 in the afternoon. So, that is as close as we can get to a time. The date is stated above. Sitting watching TV and up drives the UPS truck. Yahooo!! My new PC arrived. But I have a problem. It is heavy and I am not allowed to lift anything over 5lbs. I just had open heart surgery in December. So my wife helped me move it to the family room. She slipped it up on the couch and we opened the box. Looks like everything is there. Then we just parked on the floor between the TV and my desk while I decided what to do. Later after she laid down for a nap, I got my next door neighbor to put it up on my bench the the Hobby room. I'll get it setup, working and tested out before I replace old faithful, the 9995, on my desk. Besides I can plug it into my Network and transfer a lot of stuff that way. Beats the heck out of sneaker net. I desparately want to just hook things up, plug it in and go BUT I want to write this up so that anyone else can benefit, or not, and for my own record. Besides I have to go to work. Then tomorrow I must set up Danny with the upgrade to Real Flight. And I must deliver the re-loaded PC back to my co-worker. This whole page will concern setting this up ... Hardware, Windows and Linux. Has Asus MotherBoard P5LP-LE -- The 600GB HDD is really two 300GB's
Initial Setup
Monitor Ok. It, the 7480, is nicely packed. Keyboard is in one flat box, the mouse, cables and wireless receiver are in another box. My monitor plugs into the the VGA port on the NVIDIA GeForce 7300 LE TurboCache card. There are also S-Video and Composit Video outputs. I'm initially using my smaller 15 inch ViewSonic VA520 LCD display on the New PC for this setup. It is looking the best it has looked. Not sure how much of that is biased cause I know it is a new PC and a better grapics card ... or it really is.?. Video Card 
NVIDIA® GeForce® 7300 graphics processing units (GPUs) allow you to experience the latest gaming effects without
compromising performance. Boasting the 3D graphics features of today's most advanced GPUs-including full support
for Microsoft® DirectX® 9.0 Shader Model 3.0 and true high dynamic-range (HDR) lighting-GeForce 7300 GPUs also
bring stunning, high definition video and superb picture clarity with minimal CPU usage with
NVIDIA® PureVideoTM technology. For the performance and features you need to play the latest games and
enjoy home-theater quality video, make sure your PC is equipped with a GeForce 7300 GPU.
Refer: nVidia NVIDIA GeForce 7300 LE TurboCache I'm disappointed!! My older system containing
a GeForce 2 had faster graphics than this new fancy dancy dual core, 2 GB one! The only thing that is really noticeably
faster is the damn mouse. And it is to fast! The movements are to jerky. Ok. So we will try to get new drivers from nVidia and see if that will fix it.
Windows XP/2000 32-bit: 93.71_forceware_winxp2k_english_whql.exe Linux Display Driver - x86: NVIDIA-Linux-x86-1.0-9746-pkg1.run Allllrighty Now... I have SuSE Linux and there are special instructions for setting up the nVidia drivers. You can do it through YAST. I decided to do it that way. It not only installed the new drivers but also created a new kernel, a 2.6.18.2-34-bigsmp one. (saved the page, just in case) The new drivers definately help the Linux ops. ( SMP ) I installed the Windows driver and because it was so good already I'm not sure how much it was improved. I read a complaint about this graphics unit on the Web. The person said that there were some frame delays in Call of Duty. I don't have or play the game, so I can not verify, or deny, that complaint. I will have to compare the usage of my new G3 flight simulator. I think it looks better ... but ...
Q: What is the physical memory for the GeForce 7300 LE? Possible Replacement - Not only possible, We Did. January 11th, 2013 / 11:37pm We possibly might need to obtain a new video card. It appears that nVidia is no longer supporting the GeForce 7 series. And we are having troubles with the current Driver, 304.64, in/on our Linux System.
Q:Can a DDR3 graphics card run in a DDR2 Motherboard? New GeForce 210 Card - Thursday April 11th, 2013 / 3:43pm Refer: nVidia 'The Fix'
After installation of this card, the onboard Realtek audio, for our sound system, disappeared. The solution,
which the 'Lord' directed us to, was to go to the
BIOS and Permanently Enable the Onboard Audio. It 'was' set to 'Auto'. Changed it to: The problem was:
Keyboard and Mouse 
Both of these are wireless. Now that sounds good BUT may not be. I have Carpal Tunnel and found that the only keyboard I can use is an OmniKey/Ultra. This was produced by the now defunct Northgate Computer Co. I have tried the keyboards that came with other PCs and I couldn't use them. What I learned from a good friend and co-worker when I worked at Honeywell was ... it is not just the downward pressure but also the up-stroke that causes the problems. I obtained two of these KB's then and had one at home and one at work. They didn't cure me but they did allow me to continue to work in this field and not experience all that pain. My arms were hurting so bad that it hurt just to put my hands in my pockets! Anyone who has experienced this will probably know what I am saying. If you haven't then you won't and I hope you never do. Anyway, there is a receiver that must be plugged in for these to work. The receiver and mouse are packed together. The receiver gets plugged into a USB port. I used one on the back. Linux: Initial scare. During the first part of the initialization I could not use the ESC key to display the verbiage. Later, I presume after the USB code got loaded, I got some valid responses from the KB entries. Note: A complaint on the KB and Mouse. So far the KB hasn't caused any hand or arm problems. But, there are no lites for
the Cap-Lock and Num-Lock. Goes back to the old type-writer days. You have to remember. As for the mouse, it seems to take
to many clicks to get an action performed annndd... it is way to fast in Linux mode with no apparent way to slow it down!!
I'm sure there is ... I just haven't found it yet. Mouse: Allllrighty Now. I took the time to investigate this hi-speed
mouse. Faster computer, faster graphics equals faster mouse. In the Configure Desktop, Personal Settings there is a Peripherals
section. Inside the Periperals section is a mouse section. Inside the Advanced section of the mouse settings is a value field and
a bunch of slider buttons. The two most important ones are the Pointer Acceleration and Pointer Threshold.
Sound The sound is Integrated Audio, Realtek ALC882. I have a pair of amplifed speakers that I usually use with the PC's I am fixing or with my shop PC. I plugged those into the (green) Audio Output on the back. Oooooops No sound in Linux. I do believe that I had this problem over
on the 9995. I did. In version 9.2. Hmmmmm... further examination shows that evidently the sound software never got installed!!
Nope, even further shows that it did. But... an lsmod doesn't show any sound. In my last system an lspci showed: ctaylor@dusty-tr2:~> aplay /usr/share/sounds/alsa/test.wav Well, I looked on the Web and found that another person had problems with sound. It was a review on
SuSE 10.2 by Clement Lefebvre. He had problems with
his hardware getting setup. In the Hardware section of YAST, it detected my sound chip but did not set it up. I had to edit
it and select 'automatic configuration'. Like Clement I am at a loss as to why this was not done at install. At anyrate, sound
now works. Hmmmmmm... need to try a re-boot and see if it still works. More on the sound. This involves RealPlayer 10. I didn't have sound for the net. So I installed
RealPlayer ... as I have before ... but it came out choppy. Through investigation on the net I found a conversation on
LinuxQuestions which centered on this problem.
One of the conversants suggested this fix: Ok. I found out: aoss is a simple wrapper script which facilitates the use of the ALSA OSS compatibility
library. It just sets the appropriate LD_PRELOAD path and then runs the command. Network Last but not least I plugged into my Network through the Ethernet cable. Ooooops Problem with local net again in Linux. This is trying to show my WebPages locally. I will have to setup the http again is all that I think that it is. Yep. Two fold problem. I had to setup the http.conf file and I had to start apache. As I've said before, things don't get started just cause you installed them. Problem at a later date. Could not see dusty-tr2(Linux) from dusty3(VMware). Further investigation showed that smb was running but NOT nmb. Power Up Whilst it was powering up I extended the legs on the keyboard and accidently hit the mute button. It either didn't do anything cause it was in bring up mode or I just didn't press it all the way. Either reason I still have sound. Oooops Problem in Linux mode. No sound. Setup At Power On, the first screen is what HP recommends:
The next few screens describe these options and allow you to say yeah or neah to them. For the first one, I allowed the updates. There was a place to click on and view their Updates FAQ site and I did. However, it did not show (or so I thought). For the support tools you are to click on the Help and Support icon. Also states there are no recovery discs. HP creates a special recovery partition at the front of the HDD. Your normal software and operations can not read this partition. It can only be read by the BIOS recovery section. I'm gona have to ask for CD's from HP. I don't believe that I want the extended service. I rarely have problems with my HP's and after all, I am supposed to be able to fix them. Which I can for the most part. If I can't then I'll just have to pay them to fix it ... if it is reasonable. If not I'll just get another PC. If it is beyond what I can fix myself then it will probably cost as much if not more than a new PC. They have become throw away ... almost. Now we have Register the new PC. I selected later. Browser choice ... I picked Netscape 8 over Internet Explorer 6. They will load IE anyway, I just chose Netscape so it will get loaded and be my default choice. I'm gona install Firefox anyway. Now they want to Protect my PC ... with Norton. Well, I don't want it. I prefer Avast! from Alwil Software. It is free for home use and the Professional one is very inexpensive. I also use Ad-aware from Lavasoft. Both of these products have served me well. I have had problems with both, Norton and McAfee. Setup Finished Allllrighty! Says I am finished with setup. Hmmmmmm, how-bout-that, when the desktop re-appeared the "Updatre from HP FAQs" is showing in MSIE. So that means it got connected to my Network and went on out to the HP site. Not sure if that is good or bad...?? I bookmarked the HP Updates in IE 6. By the By, the wireless mouse and KB are working. I didn't have to do a thing. Well, I did have to slow down the mouse movement. It was way to fast. Recovery Discs!! OH!! And hello. After closing down the Update Window I got a Window that wants me to create some recovery discs. I'm gona say "Yes" ... After I check what kind of blank DVD's I got. Well now, I have some DVD's that my neighbor 'cross the street, Steve, had a problem with. We both have had problems with different DVD's in our original HP dvd100i writers. The "original" DVD'd that HP created when they made these drives, worked great. The engineers were told to create a drive that would create DVD's that would work in any DVD player. They did. Even though the original DVD's were DVD+RW's they worked in my home DVD player. However, HP came out with some new ones and they didn't work with my dvd100i drive. I couldn't write to them. I had to get some DVD's made by Sony. These DVD's from Steve are made by Memorex and they are DVD-R's. The new LightScribe drive, which is in my new PC, is supposed to be able to write to DVD+R, DVD+RW, DVD-R and DVD-RW plus CD-R. I'm hoping that the LightScribe in this new PC is better than the one I purchased and installed in my old PC. I had lots of trouble creating CD's that would work in my truck CD player and my "boom box". I didn't get a chance to try these DVD's from Steve in the LightScribe in my 9995 so, I will try them on this one. Now this is the catch, you can only create one set of recovery discs per PC. They say I can use CD-R, DVD-R or DVD+R but didn't say how many ... yet. Well they just did. 1 DVD(DL) or 2 DVD's or 16 CD's!! I don't have any double layer discs yet, so guess which one I will use. Whoa!! Just go notice of an update while it was/is creating the first back up list of files. I cancelled the update for now, naturally. This recovery creation seems to take forever. Just as I was thinkin that, I looked at the time on the screen. It is an hour behind. That is because the new PC came from California. This time of year they're are an hour behind us. Well, it calims to be writting the first disc. This process is extreemly slow. But we finally finished and I now have some recovery discs for my new PC. Replacing the Lightscribe Drive 15 Feb 2011 Well it is 4 years later and I must replace my Lightscribe Drive. It is failing me, primarily on DVD writes. And CD writes take forever. So, we go to the Net and look for a replacement. Wow!! It is not easy to find a decent PATA drive now-a-days. Everything seems to be going SATA. Looks like an HP dvd1040i would be a good replacement. However, a lot of places that sold them no longer carry them!! Hmmmmmm... is this a sign??? Maybe I had better hurry up and order one ... or two? Nawwww, if this one lasts 4 years I probably will be into another 'Puter by then with different types of drives and connections. So, we'll just go with one. Whilst searching for info I found this which not only is for this drive, but would probably apply to others as well: Installing an HP DVD1040i. Also: HP Reference
The following info is from HP...with minor enhancements and comments from me...
Preserve, edit and share up to 8.5GB of video, photos, and multimedia presentations on one double-layer disc. Quickly back up, store, and transport data. Our dvd1140i 22x PATA Multiformat DVD Writer records double-layer and rewritable DVDs at speeds up to 8x, recordable DVDs at up to 22x, and DVD-RAMs at up to 12x.
My LAN Well, so much for having a hosts file. The new PC stole the IP address for dusty2, my VMware Win2K box. So, I will have to make some changes. I did and the new PC will be dusty-tr2. The 9995 will retain its status as dusty-tr. I have seeing each other. Well, I have the m7480 seeing the 9995. Since I am in Linux mode on the 9995 I can't see the new PC. I'll have to add it to my fstab... or not. This is only temporary and I am copying from the 9995 to the m7480 so there really isn't a problem if I can't see both ways. Removals At boot-up I get this insistant Norton screen that wants me to set it up. I went into startup and removed the Norton that was there. That didn't stop it. Can't remember where I had to go to kill it. Probably in the registry. But there is another way. Went into Add/Remove Progs and removed Norton. Also removed the MS Office 2003 trial since I already have a real version that I purchased. Also dumped AOL, I have Cox cable ,thank you. Power Supply - Replacement Thought that we had written this up WHEN we replaced the Power Supply -but- it didn't get in here. So it will now cause I needed to know what I have. May have to replace the video card and a lot, if not most, of the "newer" cards require more power. The 400w Supply that this beast came with was 'not' even good enough to last very long in the factory setup. Power Supply, an RP600-PCARE2-US ATX12VVideo Replacement
Software Installs
Avast! Installed and allowed it to do a boot-up scan. Didn't find anything but it did an update. Looks good and performing as usual. Ad-Aware Installed, did a scan and found 4 tracking cookies. All from HP. Tracking Cookie Object Recognized! Type : IECache Entry Data : hp_administrator@edge.ru4[1].txt TAC Rating : 3 Category : Data Miner Comment : Hits:8 Value : Cookie:hp_administrator@edge.ru4.com/ Expires : 1-27-2037 8:26:50 PM LastSync : Hits:8 UseCount : 0 Hits : 8 Tracking Cookie Object Recognized! Type : IECache Entry Data : hp_administrator@2o7[1].txt TAC Rating : 3 Category : Data Miner Comment : Hits:21 Value : Cookie:hp_administrator@2o7.net/ Expires : 2-3-2012 8:27:28 PM LastSync : Hits:21 UseCount : 0 Hits : 21 Tracking Cookie Object Recognized! Type : IECache Entry Data : hp_administrator@advertising[1].txt TAC Rating : 3 Category : Data Miner Comment : Hits:12 Value : Cookie:hp_administrator@advertising.com/ Expires : 2-3-2012 8:27:30 PM LastSync : Hits:12 UseCount : 0 Hits : 12 Tracking Cookie Object Recognized! Type : IECache Entry Data : hp_administrator@doubleclick[2].txt TAC Rating : 3 Category : Data Miner Comment : Hits:9 Value : Cookie:hp_administrator@doubleclick.net/ Expires : 2-3-2010 8:26:50 PM LastSync : Hits:9 UseCount : 0 Hits : 9 Tracking cookie scan result: New critical objects: 4 Objects found so far: 4Dumped all 4. WinZip 80 This is an older version but I like the way it operates. Till it won't work I will probably keep using it. Firefox This will be my browser of choice for the most part. I like its simplicity. Pluggins(Linux Side):
Also need win32-codecs and all the xine-lib's... so you can view the wmv's.
Homesite - 11 Feb 07 This is my preferred HTML editor. I Loaded it in Windows today cause this new PC has now become my main one. I have finally retired the 9995. Well, I'm still connected to it cause I need to get the rest of the stuff copied over. Annndd there are all those little notes that I left to myself here and there that I will need to fininish this new PC setup. I guess this isn't really from scratch ... but almost. GTEdit - USB Flash Drive Problem The above first 4 items were taken from the CD that I carry with me when I go on service calls. I don't have GTEdit on that disc so I thought that I could copy it to the Jump Drive and then put it on the new PC. Well now, my 9995 has USB 1.1 and the m7480 has USB 2.0. The Flash Drive claims to be a USB 2.0 device that is compatable with 1.1. However, when I copied the data to the Jump Drive from the 9995 and then tried to install it on the new machine, it kepr complaining that the zip file was not complete. Even though I could look at it on the 9995 with the same WinZip. Ok. Went out to the GWD Editor site and got a fresh copy. Gona let it sit for a while and see if possibly it was cause the copy wasn't finished ... or something. While waiting I investigated using a Flash Drive. There is an action code that you should use ... both in Windows and Linux. It is called "Safley Remove". For Windows there is supposed to be a remove hardware icon on the task bar. In Linux, at least in SuSE 10.2, you click on the Geeko to get the menu and the Computer. Inside that menu all the drives will be listed, including the Flash Drive. Right click on the Flash Drive icon and select Safely Remove. Give it a little time to dismount and then remove it. Nope! Still didn't work!! So, since I can read the spot on my 9995 HDD that contains this file, I am going to copy it from the 9995 to the Flash Drive on the m7480. I did and then did the Safely Remove Procedure for Windows. Removed the Flash Drive, waited a few and then put it back in. Yep, it works I could properly access it. So, maybe it isn't getting properly unmounted in Linux. I'll just get out of Linux back to my WinXP and try it from there. Nope! Must be some incompatability between USB 1.1 and USB 2.0. Leastwise that is the way it is looking right now. At any rate, I got GTEdit installed on the new PC. Printer Setup - Windows XP Well, I found that I don't necessarily know as much as I think I know. But then people who design these things can make them complicated. I tried to setup the Printer on the new PC using the printer wizard in Windows. First off it wanted the name of the printer. I went thru all the names I could think of and none seemed to be correct. Then at last it hit me ... I had to use \\PSD55465\PSD55465_P1. The full pathname. Well, that wasn't correct either. It would take forever for anything to print. I reset all the printer stuff in Windows and all I can say is I messed with it to get it back the way it was. Printing pretty quick after you say print. One thing that I messed with was the connection. I started out with a network connection that took forever ... even though that is what I have. Instead I stated that it was a direct connect. Then I changed the settings in the port connection.
Linux Install
Two HDDs & Linux Well, it turns out that my 600GB HD is really two 300GB drives. Both of these drives are SATA. It appears that instead of hda they are to be sda. Hmmmmmm... I thought that sda was for SCSI.?.? Oh well, I'll just go with the flow. Now in my previous exploits, I believe that I have seen that Windows has to remain on the first HDD.
I don't mind. I still like Windows ... at least a number of programs that must run under it. However, I do remember recovery
problems with my neighbors PC after he had added a second HD. During a restore, or recovery, we had to disconnect the second
drive to prevent the recovery process from installing WinXP on both drives! Then it became totally un-bootable...and a bear to
dump the WinXP on the second drive!! So, on any of his numerous recoveries we had to first disconnect the second drive. I have decided that I want to use the second drive as a data drive and put both, or all, Operating Systems on the first drive. After all, I was running three systems on my previous PC system which only had a 120GB drive. Annndd, I was using a lot of that for storage. Now I can put the OS stuff on one and have plenty of room with the data out on the second HD. Sounds great!! Only if it all works.
Partition Magic Allllrighty. I installed Partition Magic 7.0 on the new PC... under Windows. First thing to see is what it says about the storage areas. This can determine how much storage space is wasted. How-some-ever, there is another concern. The number of drives!! At present there are two HD's, C and D. Two DVD's, E and F. Four SD slots, G, H, J and K. I'm not really sure where it will place a logical partion. Hmmmmmm... this is getting real interesting. Ok now, both HDs are formatted to NTFS. This is good as NTFS only has a 4KB cluster size for all partitions larger than 4GB. But, SuSE Linux can't write to an NTFS partition. So, in my previous PC I had the D and E drives setup as FAT32 partitions. Have to be careful here cause cluster sizes get big in FAT32. It uses inefficient 32KB clusters when applied to partitions larger than 32GB. That means a 4KB file takes up a minimum of 32KB on such a drive, leaving 28KB of unusable slack space. Dropping the partition size to between 16GB and 32GB reduces the cluster size to a more efficient 16KB, and creating partitions between 8GB and 16GB yields 8KB clusters. But this also increases the number of drives and drive letters. But, I need at least one that I can use to swap data. Data? Hmmmmmmmm... does that mean I should break up the first drive for the operating systems and then also re-partition the second drive to get the small exchange space?? On the previous system, Drive D was 10GB and Drive E was 20GB. So we had 8KB cluster size on D and 16KB clusters on E. (C was about 25GB NTFS) So, here is what we will do for starters:
Drive Layout At the first part of the SuSE Install you get to assign the partitions. They came out as follows:
Arrrggg!! Got all the way thru the Installation of SuSE Linux and finally to the last page, the Hardware Configuration. It looked over the system came back with some values, I accepted and then it wrote out the information. Went out to start the system and promptly lost my screen.... OUT OF RANGE!!! (HP 7480 and ViewSonic VA520). Linux Install - Finally Successful After lots of investigation, I found that setting vga=normal in the grub menu.lst fixed the problem. Or at least let me run the system. Monitor is a ViewSonic VA520 LCD screen. This display loss was the only real problem in this setup of Linux on this new PC. But ... I re-did it. I decided to move the new PC onto my desk and move the 9995 out to the shop. I will still be using the 9995 to get info from and... as right now ... I will be taking notes. I installed Homesite on the new PC but that is in Windows Mode only. Whilst I am setting up the Linux portion I don't have access to Homesite. Sooooo, here I am using my old friend and documenting the new one's setup. There is one thing this is teaching me. I need to adjust my WebPages. This ViewSonic VA520 is too small to properly display my settings. After I get the new PC setup, I will concentrate on that.
Linux and NTFS
Linux NTFS This is so new ... and important ... that it gets its own section. I am starting it here on my previous PC but will finish it on the new one where it is important. I have 600GB of disk space. I do not want most of it to go to waste because of an antique file system. There are individuals working on this and if nothing else I can be a testbed for them. I am pround of my newest computing machine and plan on helping others where I can. Wow! WOW!! How stupid can I be??? I got so hung up on the fact that I can't write to an NTFS Partition from Linux that I forgot something... I can read an NTFS Partition from within Linux. Therefore, I can keep most of my data, which is downloads, on the NTFS drive and only use the smaller FAT32 drive when I ocassionally need to write something to a disk that will be read by, or needed in Windows from my Linux system. I still plan on using and testing the NTFS code that is being written but using the two together will give a "safe" way... that won't be to disk space expensive. If you need only to see your files, then you don't need to do anything as NTFS read only access is enabled on SuSE Linux / openSUSE by default. Details for adding write capabilities can be found at OpenSuSE. One of the items is the ZENworks Management, which is used to add a repositorie to the buildserver. Next we add to fstab: Mount info can be found at: Linux mount. fmask(files) and dmask(directories) values are essentially the same as umask. These are used in the newer kernels, 2.6 and above.
Linux Software - Installed
VMware This will be my first main piece of software. Primarily so I can move this documenting over to the new machine. Ok. I lied. First I need to setup my .bashrc, .alias, .xinitrc, and .function. Annnndd... most importantly the permissions. At present time, the files on the Windows drives are owned by root. That is cause I let the system mount them instead of me. That must change. What I changed before was to allow group permissions and I became part of the root group... good, bad or indifferent. Well, I lied again. I'm installing nedit first... cause I like it!! Ok. So we have my favorite editor installed and the above personal files in my home dir. Now for the permissions... after work. Permissions are evidently ok. I was able to download a new copy of nedit and save it on my new L: drive. Further lie ... I decided to setup my Thunderbird E-mail before going any further. Annndd, yep, I had a ton of mail. Some strangely was duplicates. I attempted to copy over my previous e-mail setting and messages and was only partially successful. This time I came from Windows to Linux. Didn't work as well. Alllllrighty now. Back to the VMware Install. We first need to get into root, change to my TRInstalls dir and unziptar the VMware installation files. The first part of the install is performed in root. The second part is to go back to you HomeDir and execute /usr/bin/vmware. This will setup VMware in your area for further use. The initial setup is basic. If you have more than one CD or DVD you will have to add them yourself. As for the amount of RAM ... ? well, we will have to experiment with this. I now have 2GB of RAM in this machine. Twice what I had before and it will accept up to 4GB of RAM!! Wow. (the original computer filled a large room and had one thousandth of the power this desktop model has!!)
Windows 2000
Ok. Got VMware installed with Win2k. Had some interesting experiences which I will relate after work. Have to shut-down and go make some feed money. Alllrighty. All I have to do now is remember. For your first laugh, I got a little confused and forgot that I was working on two different PC's and one of them was brand new. Never had Linux or VMware cross its partitions before. Also being brand new, the hardware is different. Sooooo... you can not just copy over and untar the stuff you have saved from your previous machine!! Arrrggg!! Just suffice it to say that I caused myself some delays over it. Now in the past, I was not updating because I didn't feel that I needed to. Essentially, I still feel that way but... I am updating to IE6 and Win2k SP4.
Networking
Networking and Samba Hmmmmmm... what to say?? Well, if nothing else this is showing the security, and or, lack of it in Windows and Linux. I have had four or more PC's newtworked here at my homestead/shop. Family and customers. The HP9995 has been my main machine since December of 2001. I would setup Linux on the 9995, with Samba and then rule the roost from there. Now ... now I want to change that. I have a new rooster in the house. The HP m7480n. It came with Windows Media Center installed. My 9995 was one of the first machines to have Windows XP. It also contained one of the earlier P4's. Now I have the almost latest technology in my most recent PC. Sooo... what am I leading up to? Well, so far I have this:
At present, the Windows OS's on the new PC can see the files and dirs on the HP 9995. But, the new machine can not see its Linux files from within Win2K. This means that I have to get Samba properly setup on the new PC. My current Samba conf on the 9995 looks like this:
# =============================================================================
#
# A setup for SuSE 10.2 - 1 Linux box, 1 Win98 boxes, 1 VMware WinNT "box", 1 WinXP
# dusty-tr workhorse dusty2 dars-pc
#
# SMB config file for my system. Remember to be careful when setting
# things up with VMWare. You can get conflicts on the Samba parameters.
# You don't really want both running Samba!!! Comments in this file MUST
# be on lines of their own!!
#
# To stop and start on a SuSE system.
# /etc/rc.d/smb stop
# /etc/rc.d/smb start
# Use "testparm" to check the settings.
#
# ======================= Global Settings =====================================
[global]
workgroup = TRComputing
netbios name = dusty-tr
server string = Samba SMB server 3.0.22-13.18
socket options = TCP_NODELAY
interfaces = 192.168.0.3/255.255.255.0
#
browseable = yes
writeable = yes
hosts allow = 192.168.0. 127. 172.16.
log file = /var/log/samba/log.%m
max log size = 50
smb passwd file = /etc/samba/smbpasswd
unix password sync = yes
passwd program = /usr/bin/passwd
user = ctaylor, administrator
security = user
wins support = yes
#
domain master = No
domain logons = No
add machine script = /usr/sbin/useradd -c Machine -d /var/lib/nobody -s /bin/false %m$
read only = No
username = ctaylor, administrator
# ============================ Share Declarations ==============================
[homes]
comment = Home Directories
browseable = no
writeable = yes
create mode = 0755
guest ok = no
printable = no
# [printers]
# comment = All Printers
# path = /var/spool/lpd
# browseable = no
# printable = yes
# public = yes
# read only = yes
# create mode = 0700
[wrkdev]
comment = Directory for Work development - P4.
path = /home/ctaylor/WrkDev
browseable = yes
read only = no
create mode = 0755
guest ok = no
printable = no
[ntfiles]
comment = Directory for NT files -P4.
path = /home/ctaylor/NTfiles
browseable = yes
read only = no
create mode = 0755
guest ok = no
printable = no
[downloads]
comment = Download Directory - P4.
path = /home/ctaylor/Downloads
browseable = yes
read only = no
create mode = 0755
guest ok = no
printable = no
[zip]
comment = Zip Drive on P4.
path = /media/zip
browseable = yes
read only = no
create mode = 0777
guest ok = no
printable = no
[pubht]
comment = Public HTML dir on my Linux Home Page.
path = /home/ctaylor/public_html
browseable = yes
read only = no
create mode = 0755
guest ok = no
printable = no
# ================================================================
[p2zip]
comment = Zip Drive on PII.
path = /p2zip
browseable = yes
read only = no
create mode = 0755
guest ok = no
printable = no
# ================================================================
[windrve]
comment = Directory for my Win Drive E - P4.
path = /windows/E
browseable = yes
read only = no
create mode = 0777
guest ok = no
printable = no
[windrvd]
comment = Directory for my Win Drive D - P4.
path = /windows/D
browseable = yes
read only = yes
create mode = 0755
guest ok = no
printable = no
## Share disabled by YaST
# [netlogon]
Annnnddd... I will want something similar for the new PC. So, I think I will print this out and try to get it right the
first time.I will definately try to organize this better, but right now I want to get all that I can down on paper ... as I am doing it so it won't be forgotten. On the 7480: Someone has created an equivalent "My Network Places" for Linux.
(this has been created for quite a while not just on my 7480. Now then, the big question is ... can I have Samba running on both machines on the same network?? Why do
I ask this question. Well, I ran into trouble when I had Samba running inside VMware. This is similar to two different machines
BUT not quite the same. We will see. I do want the new PC to be the new main master... naturally. I don't think it will be a problem
with physically separate machines cause Scott was using Samba on his PC whilst I was using it on my PC at Telesoft. There were no
conflicts there. The following is the file I created and.... it didn't work the first time. In the Linux Network all I saw was the
same three. Hmmmmmmm.... so what needs to be changed.
# ===================================================================================
#
# A setup for SuSE 10.2 - 1 Linux box, 1 Win98 boxes, 1 VMware Win2K "box", 1 WinXP
# dusty-tr workhorse dusty2 dars-pc
# ===================================================================================
#
# A change in the above on 13 Feb 07. I now have a new HP 7480 and it will eventually
# become the new master. At present in Linux or WinMC it is dusty-tr2. The win2K inside
# VMware is now dusty3.
#
# ===================================================================================
#
# SMB config file for my system. Remember to be careful when setting
# things up with VMWare. You can get conflicts on the Samba parameters.
# You don't really want both running Samba!!! Comments in this file MUST
# be on lines of their own!!
#
# To stop and start on a SuSE system.
# /etc/rc.d/smb stop
# /etc/rc.d/smb start
# Use "testparm" to check the settings.
#
#
# smb.conf is the main Samba configuration file. You find a full commented
# version at /usr/share/doc/packages/samba/examples/smb.conf.SUSE if the
# samba-doc package is installed.
# Date: 2006-11-27
# ======================= Global Settings =====================================
[global]
workgroup = TRComputing
netbios name = dusty-tr2
server string = Samba SMB server 3.0.22-13.18
socket options = TCP_NODELAY
interfaces = 192.168.0.4/255.255.255.0
#
browseable = yes
writeable = yes
hosts allow = 192.168.0. 127. 172.16.
log file = /var/log/samba/log.m%
max log size = 50
smb passwd file = /etc/samba/smbpasswd
unix password sync = yes
passwd program = /usr/bin/passwd
user = ctaylor, administrator
security = user
wins support = yes
#
domain master = No
domain logons = No
add machine script = /usr/sbin/useradd -c Machine -d /var/lib/nobody -s /bin/false %m$
read only = No
username = ctaylor, administrator
#
printing = cups
printcap name = cups
printcap cache time = 750
cups options = raw
map to guest = Bad User
include = /etc/samba/dhcp.conf
logon path = \\%L\profiles\.msprofile
logon home = \\%L\%U\.9xprofile
logon drive = P:
usershare allow guests = Yes
# ============================ Share Declarations ==============================
[homes]
comment = Home Directories
valid users = %S, %D%w%S
browseable = No
read only = No
inherit acls = Yes
create mode = 0755
[profiles]
comment = Network Profiles Service
path = %H
read only = No
store dos attributes = Yes
create mask = 0600
directory mask = 0700
[users]
comment = All users
path = /home
read only = No
inherit acls = Yes
veto files = /aquota.user/groups/shares/
[groups]
comment = All groups
path = /home/groups
read only = No
inherit acls = Yes
#
# ==============================================================================
# Now then, this is basically a copy from the samba file on my 9995, with changes.
#
[wrkdev]
comment = Directory for Work development - P4.
path = /home/ctaylor/WrkDev
browseable = yes
read only = no
create mode = 0755
guest ok = no
printable = no
[ntfiles]
comment = Directory for NT files -P4.
path = /home/ctaylor/NTfiles
browseable = yes
read only = no
create mode = 0755
guest ok = no
printable = no
[downloads]
comment = Download Directory - P4.
path = /home/ctaylor/Downloads
browseable = yes
read only = no
create mode = 0755
guest ok = no
printable = no
[zip]
comment = Zip Drive on P4.
path = /media/zip
browseable = yes
read only = no
create mode = 0777
guest ok = no
printable = no
[pubht]
comment = Public HTML dir on my Linux Home Page.
path = /home/ctaylor/public_html
browseable = yes
read only = no
create mode = 0755
guest ok = no
printable = no
# ================================================================
[p2zip]
comment = Zip Drive on PII.
path = /p2zip
browseable = yes
read only = no
create mode = 0755
guest ok = no
printable = no
# ================================================================
[windrvl]
comment = Directory for my Win Drive L - P4.
path = /windows/L
browseable = yes
read only = no
create mode = 0777
guest ok = no
printable = no
[windrvd]
comment = Directory for my Win Drive D - P4.
path = /windows/D
browseable = yes
read only = yes
create mode = 0755
guest ok = no
printable = no
#
# ==============================================================================
# For some reason in my old setup I had the printers commented out. I think it is
# cause I have a "Network" printer. Have to watch this.
#
[printers]
comment = All Printers
path = /var/tmp
printable = Yes
create mask = 0600
browseable = No
[print$]
comment = Printer Drivers
path = /var/lib/samba/drivers
write list = @ntadmin root
force group = ntadmin
create mask = 0664
directory mask = 0775
Actually ... nothing had to be changed. I just had to be patient and wait till they all found each other.
Printer
Printer Setup - Linux Well, the printer in VMware mode did not work cause I don't have it setup in Linux mode, yet. Went through YAST and setup the printer. Printer Configuration
QPS Ok. I threw in QPS, the graphical version of ps, so that I could look at the processes. Well, guess what?? SMBD and NMBD are not running!! That is why I can not see them. However, I found this out with the normal ps cause QPS didn't list anything... for some reason. I'll have to see what was the problem in the past... like everything else. Alllrighty. As usual there have been updates. I got the latest version of QPS from the net, installed it and we are back in business. Still no samba. Me thinks we been here before. Just cause you installed it, it don't mean that you will get to use it automatically. Think I gota say "Start it" somewhere. Samba Works Well, if you go into the YAST manager and tell it to start and then restart your system, you will find both smbd and nmbd running. Then when you look into the neighborhood you will see your new Linux system.
Bluefish - 28 Feb 07 Installed Bluefish today. Need my Linux HTML editor so I don't have to jump into VMware everytime I want to make a note about this setup.
Harware Info
HP and Compaq Desktop PCs - Noise from Fan Increases or Decreases While the Computer is Used
This document pertains to certain HP and Compaq computers that were built after Fall 2002.
If you notice noise from the computer fan getting louder or softer while using the computer,
don't be alarmed. The computer is designed to increase or decrease the speed of the fan depending on how much work
the computer is performing. In other words it is thermal sensor controlled. Heat is the price you pay for faster operations.
This type of fan design makes the computer more quiet while the computer is not being used.
The design also provides the extra cooling power necessary for removing heat.
Intel Pentium D 900 Series Compared
References: Thermal Design Power (TDP) Memory Info
Q: For a dual core mother board, are all ddr2 240 pin memory RAM OK to mix disregard to their speed on each core channel?
I have a 1g pc4000 ram on my single core cpu. But if I upgrade to a m/b with dual core cpu, can i use my old
pc4000 ram and add the other. say, 1g pc6400 ram and running OK on this new m/b? since they are all 240-pin
ddr2 ram memo...... (4 answers - asked 13 months ago) Q: What is Dual Channel Memory & How do I use it Correctly? A: Dual Channel DDR structure uses Twin Bank mode, and requires two memory modules plugged into the appointed DIMM slots in order to enable 2 Channel DDR. There is no such thing as Dual Channel DDR Memory Modules. Regular DDR is installed two modules at a time, each module controlled by a separate channel of the memory controller.
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The biggest problem is ... I am
only guessing at the model number. It wasn't specified and to small in the picture to figure it out. Seems they had a number of
PC's with 7360 in them... which is what this appears to be. It was ordered today. (Nope. Found out that it is a 7480.)
.)
They simply label it "Network Browsing". In it they have a Samba section. When I look inside I can see dusty-tr, dusty2 and the
PSD55465 printer server. Since my wifes PC is not on, there is nothing else. The point here is that I am seeing the 9995 but not
the 7480... cause ... I don't have a samba conf setup properly yet on the 7480.
| General | |
| Platform Technology | Intel VIIV Technology |
| Type | Media center |
| Product Form Factor | Tower |
| Width | 7.8 in |
| Depth | 16.5 in |
| Height | 15.2 in |
| Weight | 26.9 lbs |
| Processor | |
| Type | Intel Pentium D 930 / 3 GHz |
| Multi-Core Technology | Dual-Core |
| 64-bit Computing | Yes |
| Installed Qty | 1 |
| Max Supported Qty | 1 |
| Processor Main Features | Intel Extended Memory 64 Technology, Intel Execute Disable Bit, Intel Virtualization Technology |
| Cache Memory | |
| Type | L2 cache |
| Installed Size | 4 MB |
| Cache Per Processor | 4 MB ( 2 x 2 MB |
| Mainboard | |
| Chipset Type | Intel 945P Express |
| Data Bus Speed | 800 MHz |
| RAM | |
| Installed Size | 2 GB / 4 GB (max |
| Technology | DDR II SDRAM |
| Memory Speed | 533 MHz |
| Memory Specification Compliance | PC2-4200 |
| Form Factor | DIMM 240-pin |
| Configuration Features | 2 x 1 GB |
| Storage Controller | |
| Type | 1 x Serial ATA - integrated |
| Storage Controller (2nd) | |
| Type | 1 x IDE - integrated |
| Storage | |
| Hard Drive | 1 x 300 GB - standard - Serial ATA-150 - 7200 rpm |
| Optical Storage | |
| Type | DVD±RW (±R DL) / DVD-RAM - IDE |
| Read Speed | 40x (CD) / 16x (DVD |
| Write Speed | 40x (CD) / 16x (DVD±R) / 4x (DVD-R DL) / 8x (DVD+R DL |
| Rewrite Speed | 32x (CD) / 6x (DVD-RW) / 8x (DVD+RW) / 5x (DVD-RAM |
| Disc Labeling Technology | LightScribe Technology |
| Optical Storage (2nd) | |
| Type | DVD-ROM |
| Read Speed | 16x |
| Card Reader | |
| Type | 9 in 1 card reader |
| Supported Flash Memory Cards | CompactFlash Card type I, CompactFlash Card type II, Memory Stick, Memory Stick PRO, Microdrive, MultiMediaCard, SD Memory Card, SmartMedia Card, xD-Picture Card |
| Monitor | |
| Monitor Type | None |
| Graphics Controller | |
| Type | PCI Express x16 - plug-in card |
| Graphics Processor / Vendor | NVIDIA GeForce 7300 LE TurboCache supporting 256MB |
| Installed Size | 64 MB |
| Max Allocated RAM Size | 256 MB |
| Multimedia Functionality | |
| TV Tuner Type | Analog TV |
| Analog TV System | NTSC |
| Radio Tuner Type | FM radio |
| Video Capture Interface | S-Video, composite video |
| Features | Personal Video Recorder (PVR |
| Audio Output | |
| Type | Sound card - integrated |
| Audio Adapter | Intel HD Audio |
| Sound Output Mode | 7.1 channel surround |
| Compliant Standards | Dolby Pro Logic II |
| Input Device | |
| Type | Mouse, keyboard |
| Keyboard | |
| Connectivity | Wireless |
| Mouse | |
| Connectivity | Wireless |
| Technology | Optical |
| Telecom | |
| Modem | Fax / modem - PCI - plug-in card |
| Max Transfer Rate | 56 Kbps |
| Networking | |
| Networking | Network adapter |
| Data Link Protocol | Ethernet, Fast Ethernet, IEEE 802.11b, IEEE 802.11g |
| Compliant Standards | IEEE 802.11b, IEEE 802.11g |
| Expansion / Connectivity | |
| Expansion Bays Total (Free) | 2 ( 0 ) x front accessible - 5.25" x 1/2H ¦ 1 ( 0 ) x internal - 3.5" x 1/3H ¦ 1 ( 1 ) x Personal Media Drive bay |
| Expansion Slots Total (Free) | 4 ( 2 ) x memory - DIMM 240-pin ¦ 3 ( 0 ) x PCI ¦ 1 ( 0 ) x PCI Express x16 ¦ 1 ( 0 ) x processor - LGA775 Socket ¦ 1 ( 1 ) x SmartMedia Card ¦ 1 ( 1 ) x SD Memory Card ¦ 1 ( 1 ) x xD-Picture Card ¦ 1 ( 1 ) x Memory Stick ¦ 1 ( 1 ) x CompactFlash Card - type I/II |
| Interfaces | 6 x Hi-Speed USB - 4 pin USB Type A ( 2 in front ) ¦ 2 x IEEE 1394 (FireWire) - 6 pin FireWire ( 1 in front ) ¦ 1 x keyboard - generic - 6 pin mini-DIN (PS/2 style) ¦ 1 x mouse - generic - 6 pin mini-DIN (PS/2 style) ¦ 1 x parallel - IEEE 1284 (EPP/ECP) - 25 pin D-Sub (DB-25) ¦ 1 x network - Ethernet 10Base-T/100Base-TX - RJ-45 ¦ 1 x modem - phone line - RJ-11 ¦ 1 x audio - line-out (side surround) - mini-phone stereo 3.5 mm ¦ 1 x audio - line-out (rear) - mini-phone stereo 3.5 mm ¦ 1 x audio - line-out (center/subwoofer) - mini-phone stereo 3.5 mm ¦ 1 x audio - line-in - mini-phone stereo 3.5 mm ¦ 1 x audio - line-out - mini-phone stereo 3.5 mm ¦ 2 x microphone - input - mini-phone 3.5 mm ( 1 in front ) ¦ 1 x headphones - output - mini-phone stereo 3.5 mm ( 1 in front ) ¦ 2 x display / video - S-video input - 4 pin mini-DIN ( 1 in front ) ¦ 2 x display / video - composite video input - RCA ( 1 in front ) ¦ 4 x audio - input - RCA ( 2 in front ) ¦ 1 x TV antenna - input ¦ 1 x FM antenna - input |
| Miscellaneous | |
| Included Accessories | Remote control, radio antenna |
| Power | |
| Device Type | Power supply |
| Operating System / Software | |
| OS Provided | Microsoft Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 |
| Software | Netscape Navigator, Microsoft Internet Explorer, Cyberlink PowerDVD , RealPlayer, Microsoft Encarta Online, HP Image Zone, Microsoft Office 2003 Student and Teacher Edition (Trial), Google Toolbar, Microsoft Works 8.0, Adobe Reader 7.0, PC-Doctor 5 for Windows, Microsoft Money 2006, muvee autoProducer 4.5, HP Photosmart Premier 6.0, Sonic DigitalMedia Plus 7.04, Sonic MyDVD Plus 6.2, Quicken 2006 New User Edition, Norton Internet Security 2006 (60 days subscription |
| Warranty | |
| Refurbished Warranty: | 90 Days |
| Manufacturer URL: | www.hp.com |
???