OK, for reasons I won't go into, I have decided to stick Xubuntu onto my EeePC.

Hilariously, the installer gives you some suggested specs "for best results". These "suggestions" are actually non-negotiable - if you don't have them, then the install won't happen. One of them is that you need over 4Gigs of disk space - which, for those who know the EeePC 701, is a bit of a problem....

You also need an internet connection - so my "straight to install" rather than "try me first" also fails as the wireless connection hasn't been set up....

So, back to the start. Created the USB live disk and used that to boot my Eee. As mentioned, I then had to head back to the Try Me option to get the wireless up and running. The other issue - the hard drive size - needs a bit more geek effort.

The HD size issue I did a quick Google on and discovered this -

http://gobitech.blogspot.co.uk/2011/06/install-ubuntu-1104-on-asus-eee-pc-701.html

So, based on the info there (the 12.04 stuff is near the bottom) I had a go at editing the relevant file. I found it easier to open a terminal . then use sudo and nano as my text editor - bearing in mind that I am installing Xubuntu, rather than the straight Ubuntu with its Gnome tools.

Then, back to installing....

Success! I now get the revised "suggestion" of 3.0Gb (I have of course already got the wireless up).

Kudos to the gobitech blog! A neat bit of work sorting that out.

From here on in, I go with my usual EeePC selections - a single partition, Ext2 file system (i.e non journalised) and no swap space. I go for these because I believe that excessive writing to the SSD card shortens its life - and journalised filesystems and swap space increases writes. This is of course debatable, but I stick to this system.

Installing one of the Ubuntu family (or any other main distro) means installing a mountain of stuff I don't want on an Eeepc - it won't be connecting to a printer for example or to a scanner. Nor will I be editing pictures...
So I shall be doing some serious editing once the system is installed.

The command line is the ideal place to see how large the installed system actually is - bearing in mind that the installer wanted 4.4GB of free space!
The command line command is  df -h and when I run it on the installed system I find that 2.1 GB is used and, incidentally, there are 280 updates....

I am off to firstly cleanse the system of drivel (e.g fonts that I do not use, printers etc..) then look at the updates...

Will post later !

Return of 4G?

The news today mentions that Everything Everywhere - the Orange/T-Mobile link up who where part of the 4G trials here in Cornwall - have been granted permission by Ofcom to start offering 4G connections.
They are slightly different to our trial - these are a different frequency I understand - but still should be a lot better than the "service" I am getting from Talk Talk (alleged 512kb "broadband" which works for 75% of the time...).

The report on the Pirate FM website quotes one of the trialists from back in the summer and then says that the 4G service may well be available in Cornwall by next month....

I shall believe that when I see it!

It will be interesting to see how much a commercial roll out of the 4G system will cost. Bearing in mind the claim the other day that average broadband speeds in the UK are now 9Mb, the stable service we had on 4G was 4Mb - so in theory, we should be paying 4/9ths of the price on average? Even if we allow for the extra expense of setting up 4G, then how about a similar price as the 10Mb ish services offered by the main ISPs? So around 15-20 quid per month?
When asked during the trial, users stated a reasonable price as being 20 to maximum of 25 quid per month - and I am happy to pay that.
I honestly expect the 4G roll out to -

1) Only be available in London
2) Cost a lot more than £20 -£25 per month
3) Be unreliable at first, despite the trials.

I would love to have my Huawei 4G router back! It was relaible, reasoanble speed and a good service.

Damn you IE9!

Just when you thought it was safe to use CSS, IE9 decides to somehow cock it up again....

Anyone who has looked at the source code for the St Enonder OPC website will notice that, to get some little "flyout" menus, I have used CSS rather than javascript. To enable the CSS to work with older versions of IE, you need t oadd a bit of code which detects IE browsers and serves up a static version of the page - doesn't look as nice, but that is what happens if you use a non-standards compliant browser I guess. At least I coded in a bodge for those using IE....

Anyway, I have now had two different people report that neither the flyouts nor the static bodge work in IE9.

So I am going to have to find a laptop with IE9 and see what is going on there....

Will let you know how it goes!