Category Archives: All

My New PC and My Floppy Adventures

Hello everyone! In this post, I want to share my new computer and my adventures with floppy disks.

My new IBM ThinkCentre A51

I recently purchased an IBM ThinkCentre A51, which comes with the following specs:

  • CPU: Intel Pentium 4 3.00 GHz
  • GPU: Integrated into motherboard
  • HDD: 80 GB SATA

It also has a CD-ROM and a floppy drive (3.5 inch). After taking it apart, I discovered that it didn’t have a cable for the floppy drive. But we found one after a few days.

First boot-up

I was pleasantly surprised to find that the computer was not very loud. It had Windows 7 installed, but it was very slow. It took a minute just to boot up and another minute to run anything. But this wasn’t a problem since I didn’t need that operating system anyway.

Installing a new system and CD-ROM issues

I decided to install Slackware 14.2. I inserted the CD, but I wasn’t able to boot from it. The computer kept saying that there was no operating system found. I thought the CD-ROM wasn’t working, so I tried a different CD-ROM that I knew was functional. But I still had the same issue. Then, I tried booting from a USB drive and successfully installed Slackware.

P.S. Later, I found out that the CD-ROM was indeed broken. I don’t know why the other CD-ROM wasn’t working either. It could be because the cdrom has SATA.

How’s using a Pentium 4 now?

I was pleasantly surprised with how well the computer was working. It was fast, and there were no problems with playing music or videos. I originally bought the computer to play around with old systems, but after using it for a while, I decided to make it my secondary main computer. It’s really great, and I plan on using it for a long time to come, of course while also playing with old systems.

My Experience with Floppies

Floppies, floppies, and more floppies!

In this post, I want to share my experience using floppies. My goal was to install Softlanding Linux System (SLS) 1.05 from floppy disks, so I purchased 55 3.5″ floppies.

I started by checking the floppies and copying any data they contained. Most of them had drivers for different operating systems, including Windows, MS-DOS, OS/2, Unix, and boot floppies for Windows 98 SE and Debian 1.2.

After formatting the floppies, I was disappointed to find that only 25 of them worked well. It took me approximately 3 hours and 40 minutes to write data to the floppies.

I finally managed to write SLS to the floppies, but I needed two more floppies for this process. Additionally, I learned about the “–repair” option in fdformat and was able to successfully repair 8 damaged floppies, although they didn’t work perfectly.

I have since ordered 100 more used floppies and am currently waiting for their arrival. I’ve run into some issues with SLS and plan to write about them in a future post once I’ve resolved them.

Thanks for reading, and stay tuned for more updates on SLS and other systems

—

Please send any comments to unixcat (at) anche (dot) no

News #0

Hello, dear reader!

In this post, I want to write all the news I have about what I did and what I want to do.

This was written on 02.03.2023.

Coffee

I was studying coffee-making in a small café and I enjoyed it. I now understand the theory behind many classic drinks, and I will soon be able to put my knowledge into practice. I plan to buy a coffee machine this month, possibly within the next week, so I can start practicing and make nice coffee at home.

Collecting Data Storage Devices

I have decided to collect all the data storage devices that I can afford. For now, I have: a 5.25″ floppy, a 3.5″ floppy (which has not arrived yet), a micro cassette, a cassette, a video cassette, a 2.5″ hard disk drive, a 3.5″ hard disk drive, a SATA SSD, a USB pendrive, an SD card, a microSD card, and more! I will get more devices soon, and when I have the opportunity to take photos, I will write a post about my collection with pictures.

Fixed ThinkPad X200s

As I wrote in my post “How and Why I Use ThinkPad X200s,” I bricked it while trying to flash Libreboot. I took it to a repair center for a diagnostic, and after a week, they finally completed the diagnostic. They tried resetting the BIOS by removing the battery, and it booted. Yes, the fix was that easy; just resetting the BIOS. This is amazing, as I do not have to buy a new BIOS chip or motherboard.

Now I use it as a server for Invidious.

Got new network switch

I recently acquired a Linksys LGS116, a 16-port gigabit switch, which has one 10 Gbit/s port and 15 Gbit/s ports. Now, almost all of my computers are connected to this switch, and I haven’t had any problems. Everything works very fast.

Built PC for Plan9front

I finally built a PC for Plan9front, as previously mentioned in two posts (#0, #1).

Orange Pi 3 LTS is dead

Unfortunately, I think the Orange Pi 3 LTS has died due to power issues. It just stopped working, with only the fan spinning and the LED turned off. There was no output to the monitor, etc. I previously used it for IRC on my second monitor, but have since replaced it with my computer running Plan9front.

I do have another Orange Pi 3 LTS, but I was planning on using it as a server later on.

What I want to do

  • Acquire an old IBM computer (such as a POS terminal)
  • Obtain a ThinkPad X60
  • Purchase a digital photo camera
  • Obtain a small vintage IBM monitor
  • Build a Network-Attached Storage (NAS) device
  • Further my studies of Plan9front

and more things that I will share with you in the future.

Thank you for reading and stay tuned for future posts!

—

Please send comments to unixcat (at) anche (dot) no

Building a PC for Plan9front #1

Hello, dear readers!

In this post, I’ll be continuing from where I left off in my previous post about building a computer for Plan9front.

I recently acquired a case and a 350W power supply for my build, as well as a DDR2-equipped Core 2 Duo CPU and an s775 motherboard. However, I encountered a problem with the case that I’ll touch on later.

I used another computer to write Plan9front to a DVD-RW disk, and I was able to successfully install it on my computer. I installed the necessary software and was pleased with the setup, but I wasn’t a fan of the terminal’s behavior: it wouldn’t scroll automatically, and I had to use the mouse or keyboard arrows to do so. This was particularly inconvenient when compiling programs or using IRC.

However, I discovered a simple solution to this problem: I started using (vt) instead, which worked perfectly.

Worst Post in Ukraine

I used The Post of Ukraine (ukrposhta.ua) and they broke the front plate of my PC case. It’s a very slow and unreliable service. They don’t handle packages with care and there are always long queues with 30+ people. They work so slowly that it takes hours to get anything done.

If you live in Ukraine, avoid using this post. Instead, consider using New Post (novaposhta.ua), Meest (meest.com), or Justin (although I’m not sure if they’re still operational).

What I do on Plan9front

On Plan9front, I mainly engage in the following activities:

  • IRC chatting
  • Web browsing
  • Learning the OS

Software I Use

The following software are what I use on Plan9front:

  • vt.red (a vt with a red/black color scheme, as the default color scheme strains my eyes during nighttime)
  • irc7 (an IRC client)
  • mothra.black (a web browser with a black color scheme)
  • netsurf (a web browser used for websites that mothra can’t open)

Todo

  • Learn how to use authentication, CPU, and file server.
  • Learn how to connect to Plan9 remotely using Drawterm.

My Opinion About Plan9front

I find Plan9front to be an amazing operating system that works seamlessly without any problems. Although it may be considered old and lacking some features found in modern operating systems, I still find it to be a great choice.

I especially like the RIO desktop environment. I’m sure of one thing – I will use it every day for IRC on my secondary monitor.

This post is brief as I am still recovering from being sick and do not have much time for writing and testing.

Thank you for reading. I look forward to sharing more in my next posts.

The front fell off.

—

Please send comments to unixcat (at) anche (dot) no

Building a PC for Plan9front #0

Hello, dear reader! In this series of posts, I will be documenting my journey building and using a PC for Plan9front. In this first post, I will be detailing the hardware I purchased and the initial steps I took to get it up and running.

Hardware List

I bought the following components in one lot from a seller for $18 USD

  • Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-EP35-DS3L
  • CPU: Core 2 Quad q8400
  • RAM: 8GB DDR-2 600 Mhz

The seller was quite slow and it took a few days for the components to be shipped.

And

  • GPU: Nvidia 8600GT from EVGA

For $9.48 USD.

Testing & Troubleshooting

I already had a case, PSU, and HDD, so I assembled everything and it worked! However, when I tried to boot Plan9front (or anything else) from a USB drive, it didn’t work and I kept getting an error message saying “No O/S”. I then tried to boot from a CD using my only available OS, Windows XP, but even after using it to write Plan9front to another CD, it still didn’t work.

The next day, I had an idea to use my old 32GB SSD and transfer the Plan9front ISO onto it using my ThinkPad. To my surprise, it worked and I was able to successfully install Plan9front.

Problems

Unfortunately, the PSU stopped working. I suspect it was an issue with the cables as it’s quite an old PSU. Sometimes when I touched the cables, it would start working again, but it would stop after a few minutes (not always, sometimes it could work for an hour or more). I will need to purchase a new PSU.

Additionally, I use the case to hide some cables and as a stand for a power strip. Every time I remove the case (to work on something inside), it ruins the cables and I have to start from scratch. So, I disassembled the PC yesterday, removed the motherboard, HDD, CDROM, card reader and PSU.

I plan to buy a new PSU and an old case, so stay tuned for the next post where I will document the progress.

How is Plan9front running?

It’s working, but for some reason I can’t set the resolution to “1600×1080”. The wiki suggests using “1600×1200” but that doesn’t work either. I’m confident I will be able to fix it later, but the broken PSU is preventing me from doing so at the moment.

Thanks for reading and stay tuned for the next post in a few days!

—

Please send comments to unixcat (at) anche (dot) no

Why I don’t use Cell Phones

Hello, dear reader!

Today, I want to write about why I don’t use cell phones and why I dislike smartphones.

A brief history

I grew up in a village without internet, and we only used phones for calls and only rarely. To be honest, it was great in some ways. If you wanted to talk to someone (or schedule a meeting, etc.), you had to walk to their house, knock on the door, or call them. Then, you would go somewhere and talk to each other, discussing various topics. Meeting in person was quite common, and it was really great.

Also, I would visit my grandma in another village every summer. As you can imagine, we had no cell phones at all. We would play outside, come up with games, and have a lot of fun! Sometimes, we would play card games or board games like Monopoly. But, after a few years, we all started to have smartphones. And, this all ended up with sitting indoors most of the time, playing games on our phones…

And what now? Many people communicate with each other using their phones and the internet, without meeting in person. Instead of meeting in person, walking outside, etc, people spend their days staring at their phones, watching short videos, scrolling through Instagram, or messaging others.

If you look at kids outside, there are many of them playing with their phones while sitting somewhere outside. Or, one kid will be playing a game while a few others stand or sit around, watching them play. It’s so pointless.

Of course, I am not talking about everyone, but there are really many people like this. I would write more, but most likely, you already know how smartphones have changed our society. Just look around.

Reasons why I don’t use cell phones

My reasons include:

  • Distraction: Smartphones are designed to be highly engaging and can easily distract people from their surroundings, making it difficult to focus on important tasks or engage in meaningful conversations with others.
  • Addiction: The constant access to social media, games, and other apps can lead to addiction, making it hard for people to put their phones down and engage in other activities
  • Isolation: Constant use of smartphones can lead to social isolation as people spend more time interacting with their screens than with other people.
  • Lack of privacy: Smartphones collect a lot of personal data and can be used to track users’ locations and activities, leading to a loss of privacy.
  • Sleep disruption: The blue light emitted from smartphone screens can disrupt sleep patterns, leading to fatigue and other health problems.
  • Mental health: Studies have shown that excessive smartphone use can be linked to poor mental health, including depression, anxiety, and stress.
  • Lack of physical activity: Smartphones can lead to a sedentary lifestyle, as people spend more time sitting and staring at screens instead of engaging in physical activities.
  • Decreased creativity: Smartphones can lead to a decrease in creativity, as people spend more time consuming information rather than generating new ideas.
  • Most smartphones are created to make money, not for the benefit of the user. Companies only care about making money.
  • And more.

If I need to call someone (which may happen once a year), I ask someone else to make the call. Phones are good for quickly taking photos, but I don’t use them because of many reasons. If I really need to take a photo, I would ask someone else to do that. I want to buy a digital camera for taking photos of nature and other interesting things I come across, to post on my site.

Also, you can read more about why cell phones are harmful on these sites:

—

Send comments to unixcat (at) anche (dot) no

 

How and Why I use a ThinkPad X200s

Hello, dear reader!

In this post, I want to explain why I decided to not buy any new laptops or computers and why I chose an old ThinkPad X200s. But before I give my small review and specs, I want to tell you a short history of how I bought the X200s and then how I broke it.

History

I bought a used ThinkPad X200s with 4GB of RAM. It wasn’t in the best condition, but it was still fine. It had a good battery life, but it had two problems: the TrackPoint worked poorly, the middle mouse button didn’t work at all, and the other mouse buttons worked only sometimes. Despite this, I still liked it.

It was love at first sight for me. The great quality, amazing keyboard, and convenient typing experience all won me over. Plus, it’s not heavy and is very easy to carry. The seller even gave me a USB mouse as a gift :3

WiFi card, Libreboot, and Breaking the ThinkPad

I prefer to use free software, and the WiFi card that came with the ThinkPad had no free firmware, so I couldn’t use WiFi. I mostly use Ethernet, and it works great, but sometimes I like to use the laptop while lying in bed. I found a WiFi card that works with free firmware and bought it. I easily replaced the WiFi card, but when I tried to power it on, I got an error message: “Unauthorized WiFi Card Detected”. I had forgotten that manufacturers make whitelists for hardware, and there was no “easy” solution. I decided to install Libreboot and, as you can guess, it was a mistake.

I ordered a clip, and decided to use my Raspberry Pi 4B as a programmer. I had no enough experience, and I tried to connect the clip to the BIOS chip while the Raspberry Pi was on, which resulted in the BIOS chip stopping working.

It was a big mistake, and I regret trying to do that. It would have been better to just use an external WiFi adapter. After realizing that I killed it, I found another ThinkPad, and decided to buy and use it as is.

Thankfully, old ThinkPads are pretty cheap. I found another one, a bit more expensive than my previous one. I texted the seller, and they were in my city, so to save time, we decided to meet in person. We met, I checked if it worked and checked the charger, and I bought it. I brought it home, put the SSD from my previous ThinkPad in it, and it was really great. The condition was much better than my previous one, the TrackPoint and all buttons worked! I am writing this post from this ThinkPad while having no electricity.

Review and Specs

First of all, here are the specifications:

  • CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo L9300 1.6 GHz
  • GPU: Intel Mobile 4 Series Chipset
  • Screen: TN, 1280×800
  • Storage: SATA3 HDD or SSD. It also has a card reader. Some people say it’s possible to use NVMe there, but I am not sure yet. I will write about this later if I find out for sure.

You might think that this CPU is old and can’t do much, but you’d be wrong. It works well and can handle:

  • Simple tasks like web browsing, email, etc.
  • Note about web browsing: Not all sites work well, some new sites with heavy JS code don’t work well.
  • Playing 720p videos without any problems. Videos tested online using Invidious.

Even if you think it’s bad, keep in mind that it costs only $70-80 USD, and for that price, it’s a great laptop. In the USA, it can even be found for as cheap as $30-50 USD.

How I use it

I use two systems on it: Trisquel GNU/Linux and Plan9 (9front). I use it for:

  • Email, IRC
  • SSH to other machines
  • Web browsing
  • Playing videos
  • Sometimes, for music

As for Plan9, I use it when I am relaxing and chatting on IRC. I like Plan9 and its RIO interface. I will write more about my experience with Plan9 later.

Why

After my bad experience with the ThinkPad X240 and MacBook Pro 2014, I decided that I have had enough of new laptops. I also don’t want to pay for power that I don’t use at all. The Core 2 Duo is enough for all of my tasks, and there’s no sense for me to buy something new. Lenovo has destroyed the ThinkPad brand with newer models like the X240, which have worse quality and fragile keyboards. They were also hot and loud, and a bit heavy for me.

What about the MacBook?

After my bad experience with the X240, I sold it and bought a MacBook, and it was a big mistake. I will outline the good and bad sides:

Pros:

  • Screen
  • Keyboard
  • Trackpad
  • Case
  • EFI. It’s very fast, really fast. 1-1.5 seconds and you’re loading OS.

Cons:

  • Price, $300 USD for this… (The hardware is much older than in X240, which cost $150 USD). All MacBooks are overpriced.
  • Very bad cooling, in simple tasks like videos, it could get very hot: 70-80C, mostly 100C.
  • GNU/Linux works poorly on it:
  • Ethical distros don’t even boot.
  • Laggy, unstable, and for some reason it loads the CPU a lot, just running Mate it could get load 30-40C (and yes, it gets hot 80-100C).
  • Because all is bad with GNU/Linux, you’re forced to use macOS and it have its own problems, of course:
  • Non-free software
  • You’re forced to use Apple ID if you want to use their App Store, and Apple ID requires a cell phone number to register it.
  • Very closed system, no customization, you can’t change DE, there’s no virtual terminals even.
  • And more.
  • Expensive hardware:
  • New battery costs $150+ USD.
  • New SSD costs $100-200 USD (depending on capacity).

This is why I decided to get rid of it.

But why X200s?

It’s cheap, and it does everything I need.

Pros:

  • Price
  • Case quality
  • Keyboard
  • Good battery, enough for 3+ hours (for me, it’s fine, and I have two batteries)
  • If something breaks, it’s cheap to replace

Cons:

  • Screen. It’s TN and not the best, but for me it’s fine.

Warning

All of the above is my personal opinion and experience. I am not saying that everyone should “throw away all their computers and buy X200s” or anything like that. If I am wrong somewhere, please feel free to correct me.

Also, this is the first time I am writing a blog, so it probably contains many mistakes.

Written by Alexa Hattori on 01.11.2023.

You can send comments to unixcat (at) anche (dot) no.

Thank you for reading.