My Computer Adventures

We decided we needed some daily, -or- close to it, notes. This particulate Template appeared to be just what we needed. A minor -but- somewhat fancy way of date keeping. So, without further ado, we will start/continue.

HP m7480n Desktop and HP dm4-2165DX Laptop will be the main computers of discussion. Others will sneak in we're sure. Yep, one did, our HTC ReZound

 Added 5:25am  We lost our Main HD in the Desktop PC on Feb 1st, 2012. Have been trying to recover ever since. It is now May and we are still NOT back in proper order. That's cause we didn't keep records of all that we had done in the past -and- we didn't properly back up. We now have this Powerful Laptop and a repaired Desktop. The Laptop, which we thought would go unused to much, is instead becoming a big part of our operations. As of this day and time, we plan to have all of our Web Page construction performed via the Laptop. Well, at least most of it anyway.

 Windows7 - UAC/ 6:46am To Admin or to not Admin, that is the question. We found that we had to check the "Run as administrator" for our favorite editor, GTE, before we could save the results... even though we are operating in an Administrator Mode. Don't need it for Homesite though. So far it is working. Thought that we might have had a problem but the reason was found (as described below).

 The <hr> / 7:02am  For some reason the Author(s) placed this element, <hr>, in their CSS file with a "display: none". -And- they only used it once. And the use appears to be just for spacing!! Sometimes... We spent over an hour trying to figure out why the horizontal lines, that we wanted to use, were NOT showing up. Then upon closer, and further, examination we found the culprit in the CSS file for this Template. Needless to say it was commented out. We don't remove anything till we find out what the Author(s) intended.

Big Gap. Haven't done much as far as Computers go in this time frame. Got a Helicopter, model one, and have been playing with it. Also looking up info on it and created a new folder, Helis, under Hobbies/RCair.

One thing that needs to be mentioned and "should" consume most, if not all, of the entries for the next couple of hours -and/or- days. We need to keep our files synced between the Laptop and the Desktop. Mainly these Web Pages. Most of the others will be as will be. We don't do much on the Computers except play with Linux and record our various adventures with various toys and useful products... via these Web Pages. Oh, and like everyone else, read E-Mail. Annnnd... check things out for our Customers; either to help them -or- fix their machines.

 JFileSync / 5:01am  We found this one on the Web and it claims to be able to Sync between Windows and Linux - which is just what we need. It is a Java applet program and requires JRE 5.0 or later. To check IF Java is installed and which version go to Java.com. We had Version 6 Update 31. Version 7 Update 4 was offered so we brought it down... and installed it on the Laptop. The Linux Desktop was left alone. We'll see how it works. Mainly cause we couldn't figure out how to get a later version. One of those Linux - openSuSE things.

This JFileSync is basically one file, jfs.jar, which was placed on our Linux Desktop in a newly created directory - /windows/L/jfilesync/. It is executed on our Linux Desktop, after switching to the library(lib), as "java -jar jfs.jar".

 Added 12:15pm  On the Windows Laptop we created a directory inside /xampp/htdocs called jfilesync/. JFileSync files were copied over to it with appropriate changes. So with this the Java applet will execute on both systems... and it is directly above the public_html dir. Well, the dir containing it is, on both Systems. Now to read up on how to use it.

Helicopters and Computers are conflicting in our time right now. -But- they (the 'Copters) are fun and we are getting back into flying... which was our big hobby in some days gone by. Trying to get it going again.

But, alas, Computers are fun and one of our Hobbies also. Now on to this JFileSync... to help keep some of our things straight. Now then, some may have thought that the rest of our Site is disorganized... well, this particular page will be scrambled. Its sole purpose if for taking notes ... on anything and everything.

The JFileSync has been setup on both Systems and on the Laptop we have created a shortcut directly to the jfs.jar file. This does two things. Gives us quick access -and- most importanly, reminds us that it is installed!!

We just got reminded of one of the things that thrills us about Linux. We wanted to copy and paste some verbiage from the JFileSync Help Info into these notes. We could Hi-Light the words -or- sentences that we wanted -but- could not copy them -- in Windows. However, we could in Linux. Linux has a feature that allows you to just Hi-Light the text and/or graphic that you want and then paste it in another place. Be it the same window or a totally different one. The Hi-Lighting is done normally and the pasting is done with the middle button on the mouse. This feature is not present in Windows. At least not the "normal" version. The following is from the Help file:

JFileSync is used to synchronize 'pairs' of directories. For instance, if you want to ensure that a certain set of files located on your Workstation matches a corresponding set on your Laptop or an external data drive.

 Added 9:03am  According to the Help file, we must first create a synchronization profile. This will specify the directory pairs.

 Hoooray!! 9:35pm  The Helicopter that we had paid $150 for at a local store... we found on the Net for $42.90!!! And the shipping was only $12. We ordered a Blue one to go with our Orange one. It was supposed to arrive sometime after the 17th. It arrived on the 16th while I was at work. Oh extreme coolness!!! The two combined will give us a half hour of flying instead of only 15mins... and then the long hour+ to re-charge the battery. More info on our Heli Page. Hmmmm... that is after we get it going. Again, we are NOT all that bright on "original" designs, so we use the free works graciously provided by many of you out there. We try to give credit where credit is due. IF you read any of these pages and you feel that we have not given proper to credit to code that you are the originator, please contact us and we will correct the error(s). Thank you.

 Added 10:27pm   Soooooprize, sooprize... we could NOT create a back-up of our Web Pages using the Laptop on DVD+RW discs. Its CD/DVD drive is supposed to handle ±RW -but- it would NOT write to the +RW DVD's. After removing many "extras", we finally moved the Templates dir to TRCompu then the dir, public_html, was small enough to save on a CD-RW. The biggest question here is... why couldn't we write to the DVD+RW disc?? Haven't tried a DVD-RW disc... yet. This is supposed to be a Super MultiMedia LightScribe Drive.

Now we have ourselves in a minor dilemma. Before trying out the Synchronization code we wanted to back up these Web Pages to a CD -or- DVD so that they wouldn't get "accidentally" wiped out. That is when we experienced the CD/DVD Drive calamity mentioned above.

Arrrggg!!! We couldn't log-in to our Web Site from the Laptop. Yeah we could view it as a normal user -but- to sign-in and transfer some files... nope. Have submitted a report to the owners and waiting for a reply. Speaking of which... we wanted to get our E-mail on the Laptop. So we can finally, really be Mobile. Naturally, the change over was/is not smooth. Had to hunt down the mailboxes for Thunderbird on Windows 7.

 E-Mail Win7 / 11:01am From about:email

• Select Run... from the Start menu.
• Type "%appdata%" (without the quotes).
• Hit Return.
• Open the Thunderbird folder.
• Go to the Profiles folder.
• Now open the folder of your Mozilla Thunderbird profile (probably "********.default" where the '*'s stand for random characters) and the folder beneath it.

 Added 5:20pm  Using the above we got to our mail area and found that we have "mailboxes" created:

• pop.west.cox.net  - chucktr@cox.net E-mails
• pop.trcompu.com   - chucktr@trcompu.com E-mails
• pop.trcompu-1.com - TR@trcompu.com E-mails

The above are the same E-mails on our Desktop. So, theoretically we can just copy over the mailboxes from our Desktop to our Laptop and everything should be hunky dory. Right????? Maybe.
   From: home/ctaylor/.thunderbird/igm5s8z4.default/Mail/ - on Linux
      To: Users/ctaylor/AppData/Roaming/Thunderbird/Profiles/f9vu4eys.default/Mail/ - on Windows
POP  - Post Office Protocol
IMAP - Internet Message Access Protocol

Of course we are hanging on to our "old ways" and still using POP mail instead of IMAP. Why??? Because. Really, we hang on to most of the e-mails that we receive from friends and relatives WITH the intention that we will read them later -or- we are actually sent an interesting -or- sentimental e-mail and we just want to hang on to it for a little while -and- possibly forward to someone else. -But- they add up and pretty soon -like now- we have a ton of e-mails to sort through. IF we have them on our 'puter, which is where POP mail ends up, then we can have lots of room for lots of mail. -But- if we use IMAP then we have to worry about not enough room on the server for our mail archives. A dilemma.

 Enter the Smartphone /8:33pm   This little hand held device is quite the invention. It almost has as much power as my Desktop!! Powered by Android, which is based on Linux, it has quite the Operating Capabilities. You can surf the Net and read your E-Mail. However, at this time we do believe that the only E-Mail that we can read on the phone is - GMail. Need to investigate that further.

 Added 5:12am  Yep. We have long gaps between our entries. That's primarily cause we have long gaps between our doings on these 'puters. Annnnddd... what we are doing can - and does - change with the wind. That is the reason for these notes. Wish that we had started them long ago. -But- (are ya ready for this excuse???) we didn't have two separate systems. Paper was used at times -but- got lost... or forgotten to transfer... -or- just forgotten. Now with this Laptop, also known as a Notebook... we don't have any excuses... other than laziness -or- the main one - we just plain forgot!!

 May 18th, 2012 / 5:21am   We are including the date and time here for a reason. We just copied over our E-mail from the Desktop to the Laptop... successfully. At least from initial appearances it was. We got the "old" mail, now we need to check IF it will read the "new".

Well, it did... and it didn't. Had same problem on Desktop when we were recovering from our HD crash. The "old" mail that we had saved was readable -but- for some reason the Filters did not get saved or transfered or copied -or- something. Now we are gona have to go through every one of them and tell them where the folders are. The filters are there... they just loose the part on where to move them.

Long gap. Had a service call live and a service call over the phone. Plus yard work, watching races and son's birthday. And investigating. Trying to get my e-mail straightened out. And change it from POP to IMAP. One of the things is holding on to old E-mails... -but- why?? I rarely, if ever go back and read them. So, the thing to do would be to just save my current copies, for possible future reference and just wipe slate and start over with IMAP. That is what Thunderbird wanted to do anyway.

 Added 11:00am  Well, we are gona be interrupted again. The over the phone service call has just turned into a live call. Good-bye.

We got interrupted with a service call and made a couple of bucks. Unfortunately, it was one of those where I felt guilty taking any money. Her connections were not stable and even though she could get connected when I left it was not satisfactory. Had to click on a few things to get it going. NOT normal. She may need a MB repair of her NIC setup -or- a new Modem. Thought about it on the way home and realized I could have checked the modem with my Laptop!! Unfortunately, I wasn't thinking whilst I was there. I'm sure I will get called back and we will check it then.

 Added 7:48am  Well, we didn't get going on the E-mail. Instead we were trying to re-install Windows XP on the Compaq 2100 Presario that was given to us by a friend. Her mother had trashed it... software wise. We found that it was still ok hardware wise by installing our Win2k on it. The proper drivers were missing -but- it worked. A copy of the recovery discs were purchased off the Net and we thing that maybe we wasted $35. As it turns out, this machine, the Compaq 2100, is a dog. It only has 512MB of RAM and a 40GB Hard Disk!! The processor is an Atholon at 1.4Ghz.

The problem with it now is... the Mouse Pad doesn't work. It works with one of our USB mice -but- we do not want to be giving away our mice. Need to find out how to get the Mouse Pad working -and- find out IF it has Wireless -or- NOT. Think it is a not -but- according to what we have seen so far on the Web it should have Wi-Fi.

We had some trouble signing on to our HostRocket Account for some file transfers from our New HP Laptop. Found out that it was a History problem within Firefox. It was the AutoCompletion concept. We had a "portion" of the sign in our bookmarks and when we hit the Enter Key it got completed with an "old" URL. Consequently, all we could get were 404 Page not found errors. The "fix" was as follows:

1. Fire up Firefox.
2. Go to Tools -> Options -> Privacy
3. Select "Never Remember History"
4. Click on OK and Exit all Firefox windows.
5. In the run box at the bottom of the Start Menu enter %appdata% and hit the Enter Key.
6. In the Folders listed; click on "Mozilla".
7. Next click on the "Firefox" Folder.
8. Next click on the "Profiles" Folder.
9. Next is the "Random Name" folder; click on it.
10. Inside this folder you will find a "places.sqlite" file. It is the History. Either rename it -or- delete it.
11. Restart Firefox and sign on to your HostRocket area to ensure it gets into your History the correct way.
12. You can now go back to the Privacy Section and re-enable "Remember History" and it should work correctly.

We found just clearing History was NOT good enough. Had to remove this file. Having the History remembered is very beneficial in many ways so we had to figure out a way to use it and still sign on to our HostRocket account. Brute force method. The History File -and- the Autocompletion suspects were pointed out to us by our friendly HostRocket Staff.

Out mowing the lawn and the sprinklers came on!!! Forgot to check those BEFORE we started mowing. So, we have a little break in the coolness of the house. It is only 77 out there -but- it feels hotter. Guess that is cause we are working.

Anywho... we have finally come up with a plan for the E-mail change. On our Desktop we will first copy, move, save the .thunderbird directory in our home dir. Then we will remove Thunderbird from the system. Then we will re-set it up and let it use IMAP like it wanted to in the first place. Oooopss. Ran out of room on the 'L:' drive. Looks like it is time for some serious clean up of the Hard Drives. Exactly why we didn't want one of those TeraByte Drives. We already have a lot of junk.

 Added 1:06pm  Alllllrighty now. We followed directions and still did NOT get an IMAP email account setup. Sooooo... we did what we usually do, checked with our gracious and glorious staff on HostRocket. Our first attempt, well one of them:
Then after conversing with our ISP we used:
Which got us:
to which we ignored by checking the box.

So we now have our Email setup with IMAP -but- that is all. We do not have our individual folders, nor do we have our filters. Not even sure yet that we can.

 Added 11:40pm  Further snooping has shown that POP Mail and IMAP Mail have their 'own' folders. POP is just Mail and IMAP is ImapMail. So, we can probably keep our "old" Emails that we were concerned about loosing and slowly switch over to the IMAP. Should have read that sooner.
The following list, possibly modified by me, came from: Convert POP to IMAP

• Backup your profile using something like Mozbackup.
• Create an IMAP account using Tools -> Account Settings -> Add Account
• Move the messages from the POP account to the IMAP account, or to folders in the Local Folders directory. Thunderbird 1.5 and later support dragging and dropping a folder to the IMAP account. Otherwise you need to create the destination folder, select all of the messages you want to move (Control-A or Edit -> Select -> All) and then use Message -> Move to move the messages to the remote folder.
• Compact the folders in the POP account using File -> Compact Folders.
• If you have any message filters you can exit Thunderbird and move the "msgFilterRules.dat" file from the directory named after your POP server in the Mail subdirectory in your profile to the directory named after your IMAP mail server in the ImapMail subdirectory. That will let you reuse the message filters. If you used a global inbox the file would be in the Local Folders directory. If this is too confusing just create new message filters.
• Verify the IMAP account is working okay and you didn't forget to move any messages. Then delete the POP account using Tools -> Account Settings -> RemoveAccount.
• Thunderbird doesn't delete the files used in a deleted account. You may want to exit Thunderbird and delete the subdirectory named after the POP server. However, since you emptied and compacted its folders its not wasting a lot of space.

Note about my Trash in openSuSE 11.4. During all this hulabaloo with the email there were lots of deletions. Some of the to the Trash and some just deleted. At any rate, we emptied the Trash Can and then when we tried to add something to it later it claimed that we had reached the max!! Hmmmmm... but it was empty. Investigated and really found nothing -but- in viewing the Trash Can setting we found that they could be changed. We changed it to:
   When limit reached: Delete Biggest Files From Trash
and then deleted a file, emptied the trash and reset it to Warn Me when limit reached. This corrected the problem.

Ok. Once again we removed Thunderbird completely from our Desktop. And once again we are re-installing it as an IMAP version from the beginning.

 ARRRGGGHHH!!!!  After the UN-Install of Thunderbird mentioned above, we RE-Installed it. Then we set it up as an IMAP email client. At the end of these entries it gets signed on to our EMail -and- it starts what looks like... and it says... downloading messages. We thought that IMAP was supposed to stay on the Server.?.? Well, during this "download" of our current Email a couple of the messages took a long, long time. And during this we had an attack!! A flying leap and all four paws of our new 6 week old kitten landed on our keyboard!! Ouch!! A number of non-repeatable things were exclaimed and the kitten removed. However, we no longer got status of our "downloads". Now something that we had been working on for hours, days... looks like it may have gotten destroyed!! In utter frustration, we let it finish. Then we just shut the system down and quit. New kitten, Holidays... work... we'll get to it later.

Today was the Holiday celerbration. Not much done till late... when the kitten was in bed!! Anyway, we once again removed Thunderbird and re-installed it, taking pics of each step and documenting. We sent this info to HostRocket. Waiting for a reply ... which won't come till tomorrow when we possibly call them.

Once again I completely removed Thunderbird from my System and Re-Installed it.
These are the steps -with- pictures.

1.) Installed T-bird 12.0.1 via Yast2 on openSuSE 11.4
2.) Put icon on Desktop.
3.) Started T-Bird by clicking on Desktop icon.
4.) TBirdInst-1.png
5.) TBirdInst-2.png  -- clicked on continue
6.) TBirdInst-3.png  -- as you can see it looked server configuration
7.) TBirdInst-4.png  -- it found some configuration -but it is not correct
8.) TBirdInst-5.png  -- clicked on Manual config and saw these values
9.) TBirdInst-6.png  -- we changed to these values and clicked Create Account
10.)TBirdInst-7.png  -- we got this warning - which we ignored.
11.)TBirdInst-8.png  -- it signed us on and listed our email... we were IN!!
    -- please notice the message count at the bottim.
12.)TBirdInst-10.png  -- we even got to read one of your, HostRocket, messages
    -- then we signed off... exited Thunderbird.
13.)TBirdInst-11.png  -- Re-Started Thunderbird please notice the Email Address
    that it, Thunderbird -or- HostRocket concocted for us..!
13.)TBirdInst-12.png  -- A Larger picture of the password request.

As it turned out, the real problem was in how the "User" was recognized.

1. chucktr - invalid -- Had originally tried this for User and it did fail.
2. chucktr@trcompu.com - valid -- This was the second version that I had tried -and- it failed... and now it works!!
3. chucktr@imap.trcompu.com - invalid --- I did try this one and it failed.
4. chucktr@trcompu.com@imap.trcompu.com - valid --- Personally I never entered this combo in any of the screens. I finally see how it can work -and- it does ... now.

 Added 5:18pm  Ok. Relaxed, watched some TV and thought. Now that we can receive the Email, we need to put it in the proper folders ... automagically. Think that we are gona have to create the folders first. Actually, gona try bringing over our POP accounts again. First have to create the three accounts in order to get them known and then delete them and then copy the old ones over as replacements. This has been done before -and- it worked. During our fiasco event, we had copied them over and thought that they were part of our problem... the problem of getting IMAP to work. Now we are working on the Theory that we can have an IMAP account -and- a POP account with the same name and password. Which will be used will depend on which one you SignOn to. Another reason for NOT having the password remembered -and- automagically entered.

Well,this EMail was quite an adventure. As it turns out, we can not really do what we had hoped to do. We could... -but- we can't. Double talk?? Sorta. After going through all the trouble to get IMAP working in the first place, (Which was a good learning experience) we decided that it wasn't going to really do what we wanted.

We have all of, or at least most of, our EMails filtered into their 'own MailBoxes'. What?? Well, in Thunderbird, and in others, you can create MailBoxes -or- Folders where you can store different EMails. For example; we have one MailBox(Folder) for each of our brothers. And we have some filters that check the incomming and move them to the appropriate "Local MailBox" that we have created. This is how we have been handling our EMail for years. All fine and dandy ... IF ... you only have one computer... which was our case. Now we have two(2) and sometimes three(3). Three??? Yep. The HTC Rezound Smartphone.

Now, you might ask... Why are we including the Smartphone?? Because... it is SMART... -And- we can read our EMail on it ...IF... we so desired. -Or- we will be able to once we get all these setup and co-ordinated. We have decided that our "New Laptop" is going to be the "Master" for our EMail -and- our WebPages. Why?? Cause we will not be experimenting with Linux and Android stuff on the Laptop. It will be for what it is 'NickNamed'... a notes taker... ie; a NoteBook. We by accident, or on purpose (when there is a new SuSE), at times destroy our Desktop Linux. Now some may say it is just as "unsafe" and perhaps more on a Laptop. Well... maybe. -But- what is realy safe??? We are going to try this approach and if it doesn't work we can always do ...like we are doing now... change it.

The start of another day and we decided to do some more with our download of openSuSE 12.2 Beta1. Because of VMware 8 and Microsoft Windows 8 going to 64-bit we are being forced to the 64-bit world. Don't really see a need for it in our case -but- that is what we said about the Smartphone and the HP Laptop. Anyway, because of the other two, Windows 8 and VMware we MUST move into the 64-bit world. Fortunately, our Laptop, an HP dm4-2165DX, came as a 64-bit System... -and- our Desktop came as a 32-bit System -but- the Hardware is capable of 64-bit. Soooo... we are going to persue the 64-bit version of openSuSE 12.2... which will be covered on our NewSuSE 12.2 Page

Even though we haven't installed a copy of version 8 yet, we brought down an Updated version... today. Might as well start with the latest if you can. They have listed a 32-bit -and- a 64-bit version. We thought that they had moved to 64-bit only -but- that may have been Windows 8 and we just assumed that VMware was only 64-bit -OR- they changed their minds and released a 32-bit version latter. Whatever. We have both and will probably try both. The 32-bit on our current openSuSE 11.4 System and the 64-bit on openSuSE 12.2 system.

As it turns out, VMware 8 comes in two versions, 32-bit Host and 64-bit Host -but- they both require a 64-bit Processor. They check on the install and will NOT install unless you have the correct Processor. We investigated and found the we are "supposed" to have the correct processor. Today we will test that.

We fired up the Desktop and got into SuSE 12.2. We installed our "Personal Software" yesterday. One of them being .xinitrc and for some reason on this latest version the initial windows are comming up 3/4 height -and- all the way to the top of the screen. They are not supposed to do that. They are supposed to be nicely positioned. Now when we go into a root window with our alias 'goroot', the window comes up the proper size. Will investigate that later... right now we want to finish the VMware 8

 Later  Well, finish we did. It doesn't work. VMnet and VMblock will NOT compile and load. We've had trouble with these before and usually someone has a fix... -but- not yet. At least not that we have found. Right now we need to take care of Mark's 'puter and Juno.

Yep. There are lapses in time, by both hours and days. We are trying to keep track of not only what we are doing... -but- when... with some reasons why. One of the reasons for the recent lapes is a brand new kitten... a fireball, a streak and very, very playful. We have gotten a real people cat. This one loves to be around us -and- wants to play -ALL- the time... when she is awake. She is still shy of strangers... which is good -and- bad. Our daughter, Kim, loves cats and is diappointed that the kitty isn't as friendly to her as she would like. -But- I guarantee you, IF she were around more the kitty would be all over her.

My other reasons were for Customer repairs. Which is good. We made some extra money.

Not really thrilled about continuing on with the Beta1 version of openSuSE 12.2. Why?? Cause today they are supposed to be releasing the RC1 version. -But- with all the system troubles they have been having ... we doubt that it will be released today. At least it is not out yet.

We are trying to learn more about our Cell Phone and decipher all the "Tech Talk". The various forums throw these terms around like everyone knows and understands them. Guess you should IF you plan on doing anything serious with one of these Android Phones. So we will have to scour the Net for definitions of some of these terms. We "think" that we know what most of them mean -but- we have been burned before by a mis-understanding on our part. Sooooo, we will investigate.

As for SuSE 12.2... we are really waiting for the next release, of whatever. It was supposed to be RC1 -but- there was an indication that it might be another Beta, a Beta2. -And- that the "Final Release" would be moved to September.

Been lax for a while -but- this is not exactly a diary, it is just some centalized notes on our Computer Endeavors.

 Java  Java is really pissing us off!! WE have set it to -NOT- tell us -or- remind me, that an Update is available. However, everytime we fire up this Laptop it pops up with that Notice. We don't want every single update that comes out. "IF it ain't broke... don't fix it."

We decided that some jump points were needed into these notes. So, we investigated placing two columns side by side in our right hand sidebar... -without- using a table. Turns out to be fairly simple. At least for what we wanted.

Well, we have the latest SuSE Beta2 setup on our Desktop -and- we have it talking to our Laptop. Had some difficulties getting the Desktop to interface with the Laptop under openSuSE 11.4. Here with this 12.2 Beta2 it just fell right into place.

Now what is the big deal?? Well, these WebPages. Still do not have a good way of synching them with each other. The Desktop and the Laptop. -But- right now we are editing the files on the Laptop from within Homesite on the Desktop. It is a start. This latest version of SuSE is looking better and better. We are going to keep this one till we know that the 'Final' release is as good.

Haven't been here for a while. Lots of things goin on in personal and professional life. Beta2 was good and RC1 even better. Now openSuSE 12.2 RC2 is out and we plan on installing it... today. -Annndd- we are looking seriously at Grub2. It is becomming the default boot loader of other systems -and- once you read all the Documentation, it has a way that we can use it also. However, there are warnings everywhere that it is still in experimental state... but isn't everything??

 August 6th, 2012  Decided to wait on the Grub change. At this time we have to much else going on. Grub-1 gives us our Triple Boot and that is all we care about for the moment. We will install Grub2 when we make openSuSE 12.2 our Main System.

Well now, this is getting sparser and sparser. Not quite what we meant it to be. -But- things might be improving. Anyway, most of our "important" notes should be in the individual projects anyway. The two three most important ones are:
    openSuSE 12.2
    HP dm4 Laptop
    HTC Rezound Smartphone

 Added 8:07am  We finally got ICS (Ice Cream Sandwich), which is the 'code name' for Android Version 4.0.x. We Rezound owners have been waiting for the last 8 to 9 months for this to arrive. Some not to patiently. We on the other hand were somewhat patient. This was/is our 'first' Smartphone and we were quite impressed with the 'current OS', which was GingerBread(GB), which was the 'code name' for Android Version 2.3.x.

How-some-ever, the happiness did not last for some. Seems that we received version 4.0.3 -and- versions 4.0.4 and 4.0.5 are out. On top of that the next newest version is supposed to be available next month!! The newest one is called JellyBean(JB), which is the 'code name' for Android Version 4.1.x. Got all that???

Whatever. This new Smartphone that we posess is more powerful than our first three computers combined!!! And it is giving competition to our Desktop and and our newest item, the Laptop!! The main 'problem', IF you will, is... the small screen and the small 'Touch Type' keyboard. However, it is easier to carry around than our Desktop -or- our Laptop. Because of that it is usually with us.... usually. And with it you can do a ton of things. Like take pictures. -But- that has a problem too. It is NOT a grab and shoot operation. -But- it is better than nothing at all. We have used it in our work activities. No more sketches on paper -or- napkins. (well NOT most of the time anyway)

Loonnnggg... break. During this time we went back East for our Daughter's Wedding -and- we crashed our system... AGAIN. This time it was our fault... -or- was it?? We got the New Released version of openSuSE 12.2 installed as our Main OS and found that it still had those "Occasional" Lockups or Freezes. During some intense editing the Mouse froze. We thought the whole system was frozen. Circumstances were such that we couldn't exactly tell -and- since we were having this "Freeze" problem with the new SuSE, anyway, we thought that it was a System Freeze. We tried various key combos and mouse movements and click but just couldn't get the proper responses. AFTER all this and shuting down the system -and- then restarting it --- we found that the mouse battery was dead!!!

Now comes the "bad part". We could NOT properly boot up into our Linux System anymore. We could still get into Windows -but- NOT Linux. Extensive efforts went into correcting the situation -but- to no avail. We had to ReLoad/ReInstall Linux. And in this newest install we are still getting those random freezes!

 Added 9:34am  We started, -or- should say tried to, this latest edition of our Notes in TopStyle4 -but- we haven't practiced enough with it and could not find the "controls" that we like to use. In a hurry... again... and just going with ol' faithful Homesite. We will get back to TopStyle4 soon.

Now then, we just Re-Installed Print Shop Pro 12 again. Don't remember what we installed that made it not work -but- it was something dealing with .NET updates. We still haven't fully recoverd from our Hard Disk crash back in February. After all... it took us a couple of years to install all that stuff. Some may never get re-installed ... cause ... some of it may have been installed for a one time use... -or- something like that. Hopefully, we will remember this and record what the problems are/were/was. Later: Believe that it was something to do with updating our Garmin GPS.

Now then, the reason for the PSP12 re-install was for printing our Invoices. We ran out and were embarrassed on our last two customers. Fortunately we had some old versions of the invoices that we could use. Made it today's priority to get some printed. We did and whilst we were printing a couple of our pages we got double page feeds. Thought those problems were over with our last printer repair -but- the climate here in Arizona changes and the dryness does not help in making the pages not stick together. But we got 40.

Still having a hard time leaving Homesite. It has all the features that we desire and we are used to it. Shoot, we still don't even use all its features. We will eventually get over to that new TopStyle4 But right now comfortability is more important. (Isn't that the way it always is??)

Well, this started out at 9:25am -but- we lost it. How?? ---- PERMISSIONS!!! ---- We thought that we would start using some of our Linux Software and try to get out of Windows. Not really leave -but- to start doing more and more in Linux. After all, we boot up in Linux to begin with so, in order to say we are Linux users - we had better start using some of the Linux Software.

We have mentioned, if not previously in this WebPage, then in others, that we have placed our WebPage Sources on our Windows Laptop. This was done because -- we were restoring our Desktop -and- we were having some difficulties with which version to use. This caused some ups and downs in our operations. Because ALL of our experimenting was being done on the Desktop, we decided to just place the WebPage Sources on the most stable system at this time which is our Windows 7 Laptop. 'ANY' system can be Stable IF you don't do much on it.

Well.... Stability is only part of the equation. Proper permissions is the other. Now we have been:

1. Accessing our Desktop -from- our Laptop with Windows Explorer.
2. Could copy files -from- the Desktop -to- the Laptop with Windows Explorer. -And- could copy files -from- the Laptop -to- the Desktop.
3. Inside VMware inside Win2k we could access our WebPage Files via Windows Explorer.
4. Inside VMware inside Win2k inside Homesite we could edit -and- save the WebPage files -on- the Laptop -from- the Desktop.
5. So - this would mean that we could Edit a WebPage file, on the Laptop, -from- the Desktop using Quanta... right???
         ------ WRONG!!! ------
6. Strangely enough, permissions need to be enhanced further. Will get back to this later.

 Added 2:05pm Forgetting about the above permissions thing for now and we are gona concentrate on our Smartphone. Which means that the WebPage Editing will shift over to it.

 File Synchronization:  This has been on our list of things to do since the start of this note taking file. Still haven't taken the big plunge and committed to anything... yet. JfileSync looks promising -and- we almost got going with it. -But- as usual got side tracked and never did get any further. We are going to try again, -but- once again it will be -AFTER- we get our WebPage files saved... backed up.

Now then, we have finally started a WebPage concerning this file synching, which will, like always, contain references to other's work -and- probably some cut and paste of their article or discussion. At any rate view; FileSyncInfo for further information. We don't want to repeat ourselves... to much anyway.

Alllllrighty now... been a little lax on this, mainly cause of the Holidays -but- well.... just lax. Anyway, we need to get ourselves up-to-date here. At this time we are trying to use our New TopStyle5 which we just got installed - yesterday. However, we seem to be having a minor problem. It keeps telling us that "This document has been modified since you last saved it. Save anyway?" and there is NO way that it was modified anywhere else -but- by us and in TopStyle. We have looked on the Web and others have had the same problem -with NO results-!

Perhaps TopStyle's 'File Explorer' is the problem?? Nope and maybe... Now then, on the 'First Save' after the initial open we do not get the message -but- any save thereafter and we get the message.

Ok now, the above "saving" problem was on our Desktop with Windows 2000 inside VMware 8 inside openSuSE 12.2. Just did "First Save" and now entering the info that this whole paragraph is being entered from within our Laptop using Windows 7. Ok. Just did our second save and we did not get the message concerning modified since the last save. So, it appears to be a problem within Win2K and the Software there. Oh well, only supposed to use this on one machine anyway.

 Copied from Desktop  Saved the 'original' on the Laptop and now making changes on the Desktop to see what happens IF we change the same file on both machines -but- differently. Also checking on the 'First' save versus 'Second and Later' saves IF we don't have automatic Backups. Nope. Didn't make any difference on the saves. However the difference in the files was signified by a '?' in JFileSync. Which makes sense. It didn't know which -or- what to do.

Allllrighty now, in JFileSync we can force the copy one way -or- the other. Better know which is correct IF we do 'force' a copy.

We are using the new TopStyle5 -but- we can see that we will still be using our Homesite probably for most of our editing. We are not fancy and Homesite covers most -if not all- of our needs. The primary reason we purchase TopStyle in the first place was to 'Update/Upgrade' our HTML to the more 'Modern' formats and with some of the new 'features' that have been derived over the years. TopStyle5 doesn't have, -or- we should say we haven't discovered anything, that makes us absolutely need the TopStyle editing and coding format... yet. We are using TopStyle5 more than we ever used TopStyle4 because -once again- Homesite meets our meager needs.

Now then, IF we use it more and more we're sure that we will probably find something that will cause us to desire it more and more -but- we will NEVER part with our Homesite. It has been our faithful friend for a number of years. Nick Bradbury created a Gem. Because of the little idiosyncracies of its operation on Win2K, we can see more Homesite use on the Desktop and most of the TopStyle5 use on the Laptop.

Also there some minor -and- some big differences in the way the two editors work. Even though Nick Bradbury was the 'original' author of both... they are different. Guess IF they weren't the later would be just an Update of the first. Now it is an Upgrade/Update?? Anyway, TopStyle is supposed to be a replacement for Homesite. But NOT is our eyes... yet.

 openSuSE 12.3 - 2:56am   We have installed the latest Beta1 and it is working pretty good. Even our VMware 8 is working in it fine. That is what we have had to worry and work on the most in the past. This time it just worked!! However, we are still having problems with our nVidia card. The latest Driver seems to allow a lockup -or- freeze of the system. We are not the only ones to have experienced this. However, two things have apparently helped.

1. In openSuSE 12.2, like in our previous ones, we set up our nVidia card the "Hard Way". As stated elsewhere, it was causing System Freezes. Well, in the discussions and instructions from nVidia, they include the phrase "IF your Vendor or Provider offers their version of an nVidia Driver it is best to use it. Well, we were always getting the latest before SuSE. So we installed it ourselves. This is what is referred to as the 'Hard Way'. Well, SuSE finally got the latest driver in their Repository so we decided to Uninstall ours and install theirs via Yast2. So, far we haven't had any freeze ups -but- we've had a couple of slow downs. This is in our openSuSE 12.2.
2. In openSuSE 12.3 we are having good fortunes with the nouveau Driver. It is the best one that they have produced and it is working fine. Well, almost fine. The screen operations are better with the Native nVidia Driver but, IF we have to, it looks like we could switch over to the nouveau Driver.
3. Course we haven't had as many Firefox's open and researching on our phones like we did. Here soon when we get back into that hot and heavy -and- trying to use this new stuff will 'test' the 'fixes'.

 TopStyle5 - 3:03am  Sticking this in here whilst it is on our mind. Already see some changes that will need to be made. Cut, Copy, Paste, Bold, Italic and BR are gona have to be moved to a central menu bar. And maybe a couple of others. They have some new 'Smart' copy that for the most part eliminates the way we used to do it. Right now we DO NOT like it. There is a way to create your own menu bar and 'move' some commands there -and- there is a way to create your own. However, we could not understand it... yet. Probably simple -but- those are hard. The difficult is always easier.

 OK, doing Smartphone - 3:58am  

 CRASH!! - 9:35am  Well, it wasn't exactly a 'crash' it was a "Freeze". We had another Screen Freeze Up in our openSuSE 12.2 using nVidia 304.64 Driver, which is the latest from nVidia. It was also the version that we had installed from within YaST2. So, we are over in openSuSE 12.3 using the nouveau Driver to test it out and make sure that we don't get any freeze ups whilst we are using it. So, for a while we will be using the 12.3 version... heavily.

We are setting up openSuSE 12.3 RC1 and using TopStyle5 on the Laptop to document it in our Web Pages.

The following quote, from Top 10 Reviews, we believe also applies to TopStyle5. So we will be using it in conjunction with Homesite. A lot of it is just "the little things". TopStyle Pro 4 5 is not going to be an ideal tool for users new to HTML and CSS looking to build a website for the first time. Instead, this web design software is better suited to updating old HTML sites and editing sites in CSS. Thanks to a live FTP editing mode, code checker and code converter, TopStyle Pro 4 is a competent utility for the designer well versed in HTML and CSS.

This entry is of importance -because... this File Synchronizor is written in Java! JFileSync. So, we must readily check to make sure that it still works after a Java update. Fortunately, it still does. Well written program and good Java changes.
We have Java: Version 7 Update 13 on our Laptop

In checking for proper information on Linux app registration -similar- to Windows we found:
     Linux equivalent of Windows Registry.
Another find, along with this, was how to make Windows "liter". That can be found at: nLite.

We just "Synchronized" our WebPages on the two machines and are now changing them on the Laptop. We have been heavily working on openSuSE 12.3 trying to find out all the idiosyncrasies on it that need to be fixed -and- learned so that it can become our "new" Main System. All we want is a stable system again so that we can play with our WebPages and the Smartphone --- and NOT loose it all cause of a system crash... which would be because of the OS -or- the Video.

Speaking of which, it doesn't look to promising for nVidia to be releasing any new Drivers for our card. We are using nouveau successfully in 12.3 -and- even though it 'appears' to be working as good as nVidia's... it is not quite. So, we are gona try the current nVidia Driver on our SuSE 12.3 and see how it works. Hopefully, if it is gona fail it will be one of the early ones and not one that takes days to show up.

Alllllrighty now!! Things are getting just to unorganized in all this. Both Physically, Mentally and Verbally. Would like to re-do our WebPages -but- do you realize what kind of a job that will be?? We have collected all this info over the years... about ten plus. This latest conglamoration was created -or- started March 13th, 2004... -but- we had really started working on this stuff before that.

Found this when looking for info on what we thought was excessive use of <div>'s. Divitis Also has some good info on HTML 5.

This is a test of Homesite inside VMware 8 on openSuSE 12.3 just after the install of the Public Release. We have successfully accessed and are editing this WebPage. It is on our /windows/L: drive, a FAT partition, on our /windows/D: drive from our Windows XP Media Center. Well, we just successfully saved to the L: drive. So, it appears that our Network is networking.

Well, we looked and found another UpDate to our VMware 8. VMware 8

End of support will be September 14th, 2013.

CPU Virtual Info

This is Replenish , a free, fully standards-compliant CSS template designed by Free CSS Templates. This free template is released under a Creative Commons Attributions 2.5 license, so you're pretty much free to do whatever you want with it (even use it commercially) provided you keep the links in the footer intact. Aside from that, have fun with it :)

This template is also available as a WordPress theme at Free WordPress Themes.

We have left this paragraph in 'cause ... well, we just did. The original Authors need to be recognized and given credit. The date of this section is when I started trying to get this particular page going. It was/is just to be for notes -but- we wanted to also have our latest HTML / XHTML efforts involved. What better way to test than with your own stuff. Thanks to the Guys/Gals that created all this ...

by the by... we have made changes so it is NOT in the original format.